Attorney Marketing

As you know all too well, the web is littered with blogs written by and for attorneys. While we are not quick to recommend most, there is one that we regularly read. Attorney at Work is a great resource for legal professionals. The content, contributed by experts throughout the industry, covers everything from marketing to professional development and practice management. This week, they featured an article written by Bob Denney exploring the hot trends in the legal industry in 2014.  

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:

Last year, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced nearly 1,300 new Top Level Domains that are being released throughout 2014.  In the world of online marketing, there has been much discussion surrounding these new internet properties and how they will impact websites and SEO.

Firms often host free seminars as a way to share their expertise with the community and connect with prospective clients. While attorneys spend a great deal of time fining tuning their talking points and Power Point presentations, they very often overlook the steps needed following the event – the almighty follow-up. If you’re hosting an event, consider the following connection tools which will help to create a relationship on the day of the seminar and long after it’s over.

With major advances in technology, marketers have more resources and data at their fingertips than ever before. Google Analytics is one of the great tools allowing webmasters to better understand visitor behavior and improve their websites to increase traffic and shift behavior patterns.

As we develop websites for attorneys, we are often asked what exactly visitors are looking for when coming to a legal site. While this differs greatly by practice area and even by geographic location, Analytics data has allowed us to identify a number of pages which almost always top the most visited list. If you are looking to strengthen your practice’s web presence, take time to carefully develop graphics and messaging for the following heavily visited pages on your site:

Next week, Amicus Creative Media will be co-sponsoring a free CLE for NY attorneys. The presentation, led by our CEO Fred Cohen, will explore effective marketing strategies for law firms and examine some key ethical considerations that attorneys must be mindful of when it comes to advertising. This course is appropriate for both newly admitted and experienced attorneys.

Registration is free but space is limited! Learn more and sign up today.

Many law firms have a number of forms on their websites. These forms may be for new contact inquiries, to request a free white paper, register for an upcoming seminar or schedule an initial consultation. Whatever the reason for the forms, the main goal is to have visitors engage with your firm by completing them. Below, we’ve included some expert tips on maximizing the number of online submissions you receive each month:

If you’re like most attorneys, you have a receptionist answering calls and support staff scheduling appointments for your office during business hours. But what happens after-hours, or over the course of a weekend, when a visitor is perusing your site and wants to schedule an appointment?

Over the past few years, the web has seen an influx in services like ZocDoc that allow for convenient scheduling for healthcare providers. These sites have grown in popularity because they allow web surfers to accomplish their goal– arrange a time to speak with a professional regardless of the time of day. Of course, this idea of self-scheduling is a bit more problematic for attorneys. Before an initial consultation is scheduled, you likely want to have a more in-depth understanding of the legal matter at hand so you can run a conflict check and make sure your office is the right fit. So what’s the best solution?

At Amicus Creative, we offer firms an online consultation request where site visitors can give a bit of background information and indicate the best days/times for an appointment (without actually scheduling one). The submitted information is immediately sent to the firm who can then run a conflict check, consult the most up-to-date calendar, and confirm the request date/time (or propose an alternative). This system is the perfect solution for firms who want to give site visitors the flexibility of scheduling an appointment after hours but retain ultimate control over their calendars.

Contact us today to learn more about this great feature.

Last week, we hosted a webinar on "Harnessing the Power of LinkedIn", exploring the ways in which attorneys can use this social network to effectively connect and engage with colleagues. We were fortunate to have Allison Shields, president of Legal Ease Consulting and one of the authors of LinkedIn in One Hour for Lawyers, Second Edition, share her expert insight. Allison shared valuable tips on optimizing your profile to effectively showcase your experience and credentials, connect with individuals and groups on the network, and key ethical considerations to keep in mind.

If you couldn’t join us for the live event, we encourage you to check out this presentation on demand to learn how you can create a more powerful presence on the “world’s largest professional network

If you’ve created a professional website with high-quality content, you want to take every opportunity to showcase it to the world. Unfortunately, far too many attorneys miss valuable opportunities to promote their websites to contacts in everyday communications. Consider the following places to include your URL:

A logo is an essential part of any company’s brand. Many times attorneys overlook the importance of this graphic, seeing it only as a fancy graphic on the firm’s business cards and letterhead when, in reality, a professional logo can be representative of a practice’s expertise, commitment to excellence or a reinforcement of their dedication to their clients. If your firm is working to develop a logo in the year ahead, consider the following pointers: