Attorney Website Design Blog

A domain name is a key component of website development, so it’s no surprise that we’ve covered the subject of domains in the past. We’ve written about key considerations when selecting a name, understanding the various settings associated with a domain (the DNS) and even the correlation between SEO and your domain name. Each day, however, we encounter dozens of questions from our clients surrounding domain names. Below we tackle some of the most common questions that we are asked during the website development process.

Each year, Google makes hundreds of algorithm updates, many of which go undetected and have a relatively minor impact on a very small number of sites. In the past few weeks, however, Google rolled out Penguin 3.0 which was both a data refresh and an algorithm update; this update is expected to have impacted a much larger number of sites across the globe. Much like the earlier versions of Penguin, this update looks to further penalize sites with spammy backlinks.

There is a lot that goes into effectively marketing your firm on the web. If you’re like many attorneys, you likely find yourself using a hodgepodge of applications and software providers to manage it all. Every day, we hear from firms whose marketing “tool kit” consists of:

Increasingly, with the rise of social media and technology, individuals are becoming more accustomed to real time results.  With most daily tasks, we can complete them immediately. Want to hear the weather? You don’t have to wait for the segment on the morning news, just head to the app on your phone. During your late night T.V. viewing, you see a commercial for an upcoming comedy show but the ticket office is closed; no problem, Ticketmaster online is open 24/7. We are increasingly becoming conditioned to expect instant gratification. The same is true of your website visitors. Are you providing real time value and ways to connect with your practice immediately?

At Amicus Creative Media, we’re always looking for ways to improve our services and make the practice of online marketing more efficient and effective for all of the firms we have the pleasure of serving. We often hear from attorneys who have made changes to their websites and then, for whatever reason, need to revert back to the old version of the page before it was updated. To help with this request and give firms the option to press the “reset button” on website copy and images, we are pleased to store all versions of clients' home pages, practice area pages and custom pages in their respective Site Manager accounts.

This functionality allows firms to view all past versions (including copy and images), along with the corresponding date and time of each update. Reverting back to an older version can be done with just a click of a button. This is just another way in which Amicus Creative helps firms to more efficiently manage their websites and deliver greater peace of mind in their marketing efforts. Contact us to learn more about this feature!

At Amicus Creative, we are committed to serving as a reputable source of online marketing information and delivering value to the legal community. On October 30^th, we will be co-sponsoring a free CLE for N.Y. Attorneys. The course will consist of two sections: 1) Effective (and Ethical) Online Marketing and 2) Issues that May Arise when Using an Expert Witness. Our CEO Fred Cohen will be sharing his insight and experience in online marketing as the presenter of the first section. Attendees will be eligible to receive 1 hour of ethics and 1 hour of skills credits for the successful completion on the course. This event is free to all licensed N.Y. attorneys but space is limited. Be sure to reserve your spot today!

Each year, the Web Marketing Association holds its annual WebAwards, evaluating websites across 96 different industries. Each site is reviewed by 3 or more judges evaluating a number of site components including design, innovation, technology and ease of use. We’re so pleased to announce that four websites developed by Amicus Creative were recognized in this year’s competition!

The following websites received awards for “Legal Standard of Excellence”:

TrustBuilders Law Group

Manos & Associates, P.L.

Pozzuolo Rodden, P.C.

The site for Attorney Allan Weinberg received an award for “Outstanding Website” which is awarded to industry-leading sites that receive an impressive score of at least 60 points (out of a possible 70).

While just four of our clients’ sites took home awards this year, we know that all 800 firms that we serve are winners, working hard to deliver high quality information to their clients and colleagues, and we’re so grateful to share in their successes each and every day! 

If you’re like most attorneys, you’ve probably been approached by an SEO consultant about  search engine marketing (SEM) or pay per click (PPC) campaigns which they claim can help to generate high-quality leads for your firm in a matter of days. While the promise of new business can be alluring, these campaigns can be incredibly costly and, if not executed correctly, they can decimate your marketing budget and generate underwhelming results. In a few weeks, we will be hosting a webinar on search engine marketing and whether it is worth the investment for your law practice.

During the presentation, we’ll explore:

• The key components of a successful campaign
• Budget and CPC
• Setting reasonable goals
• Conversions and measuring effectiveness
• Going at it alone or hiring professional assistance

This event is free for all legal professionals. Register online.

We have a lot of joyous moments at Amicus Creative Media: having a new attorney join the Amicus Creative family, watching the firms we work with grow and of course, launching a new website. This summer was truly a great season of highs and we got to experience all of the above; most notably, we launched 50 new websites! Now it’s not the number that gets us excited, it’s the fact that 50 practices have incredible websites that will allow them to connect with prospective clients, colleagues and current clients, and help them build a powerful web presence. 

Below you’ll find a small sampling of some of our summer launches:

Borowsky & Hayes LLP, a San Francisco Business & Civil Litigation Firm: borowsky.com

Kirkpatrick Law Firm ,  Palm Beach, FL Estate Planning & Employment Attorneys:  palmbeachflattorney.
Read more . . .

Not just an annoyance but a downright security threat

Most law practices build websites to be found by prospective clients and generate new leads. With these firms, the main objective is to encourage site visitors to make contact (and come in for a consultation) so naturally they take great efforts to bold the telephone number and prominently display a contact form. We are often asked whether attorneys should also include their email addresses on their respective websites, after all, isn’t that the ultimate sign of accessibility? Our stance has always been no, but in the wake of increased malware email campaigns, our response to that question is a resounding NO.

Here’s why your email address should NOT be included on your firm’s website:

Many attorneys invest thousands of dollars in search engine optimization (SEO) campaigns in an attempt to improve their ranking in the search engine results and increase their firms’ visibility on the web. On several occasions, we’ve written about black hat techniques that are often employed by SEO consultants; while these strategies may produce quick results, once they are discovered by the search engines, the consequences can be devastating to a firm’s online presence resulting in the ultimate penalty – having your website deindexed.