Online Marketing

In business, it is often said that what others say matters most.  When building your law firm’s website, it is a good idea to consider including client testimonials which are a form of intermediated word-of mouth marketing.

Strong client testimonials have the ability to set your law firm apart from your competitors and can serve as objective evidence that claims of expertise or experience you make throughout your website are credible. When utilized correctly, testimonials can be very effective. In fact, research shows that adding testimonials to your marketing copy can improve response by around 30%.

Amicus Creative recently launched a new Facebook page which will allow us to keep all of our fans informed of the latest improvements to our attorney website system, search engine optimization techniques, special offers and online marketing strategies. Follow the link below to visit our page and begin receiving these great updates!

Start Following Amicus Creative Media on Facebook

The main purpose of most attorney websites is to drive an online marketing campaign, capturing the attention of potential clients and informing them of the services your firm offers. At the same time, many attorneys and law firms also strive to develop a website which serves as a resource for current clients.   In fact, many of the law firms we serve want to offer more resources to current clients and just enough information to potential clients to spark their interest and propel them to make contact with the firm.   Amicus Creative’s Site Manager allows firms to easily create custom pages which may be password protected. With this feature, your firm can create a “Client Resources” section and post articles, forms, video, audio and other exclusive materials to which only clients will have access when they login using a special username and password. This is a great way to promote your firm’s website among your client base and encourages potential clients to contact you to gain access to such exclusive resources.  Contact us today to learn more about creating password protected pages on your firm’s site.
 

The success of your law firm’s website is a driving force in any marketing campaign. When determining just how well your site is doing, you cannot rely solely on contact inquiries submitted through the website forms. You must also consider visitors, searching for an attorney, who learn of your practice areas and services through your site but contact you in a different manner. A good way to get a comprehensive overview of all visitors to your website is through Google Analytics.

This free service offered by Google gives you a keen understanding of who is visiting your law firm’s website and what they are doing once they arrive on the site. This can serve as an effective tool in strengthening your online marketing efforts.

These traffic reports may assist you in the following ways:

Determining the effectiveness of your site’s content
Google Analytics gives you a detailed report for each page on your site allowing you to see how many times it’s been viewed, how long the average visitor stays there and how many people leave your site from that page. If you find that the average visitor is staying on one of your practice area pages for a very short period of time or is leaving your site upon visiting that page, you will want to reassess the information stored there to learn what is deterring potential clients from making contact with your law office.

Discovering what keywords are leading visitors to your site
This service tells you where your site’s visitors are coming from (various referrers might include multiple search engines, other websites with links to your site or email marketing campaigns) and what keywords users are searching to find your law practice. If a keyword central to your practice is missing, you should edit your content accordingly.

Identifying your site’s visitors geographic locations
Once you log in to your Google Analytics account, you can also determine the geographic locations of visitors to your website by country, state or city. This information is especially helpful if you have multiple locations or are trying to reach several cities or states.

Google Analytics is a free service and registration only takes about five minutes. If you would like to get started with this valuable service and learn how people find your site and navigate through it, contact us for additional information.

Adding audio or video files to your website is a great way to deliver additional information about your firm’s services and practice areas to potential or current clients. Using Amicus Creative’s exclusive Site Manager, it is easy to add these files to any custom page within your website. When uploading a file, you may add a title and description, and the Site Manager will automatically program a player to accommodate the file you’ve uploaded.

If you have recordings of a seminar you’ve hosted, a podcast or a television segment in which you’ve appeared, we encourage you to upload these files to your site. Website visitors who view or listen to this media may get a better understanding of you and your work further encouraging them to contact you. To learn more about adding audio or video files to you website, contact our customer support team today.
 

The ABA Law Practice Management Section stresses the importance of effective attorney websites writing, "Above all, remember that your Web site is your most visible first impression. It also has a chance of being your second and third impression, if it is compelling enough to draw visitors back."

In developing the first impression you want to convey to visitors, it is important that you determine who you are trying to attract with your web presence. The primary focus of your site might be recruiting new clients, networking opportunities with other advisors, providing updates and materials to current clients or even to serve as a recruitment vehicle for job and internship openings at your firm. With the right design and content, your website can be customized to appeal to any one of the groups listed above or to multiple audiences all at the same time.

New Clients:
The majority of law firms use their websites to recruit new clients. In order for this goal to be achieved, there must be strong search engine optimization techniques in place but also effective content which will appeal to those individuals searching for an attorney in your field.

When building and updating your legal website it is important to note that new clients will come across hundreds of lawyer directories and websites so it is essential that your content is easy to read and a good indicator of the type of services you provide. Be sure to clearly list your practice areas, your experience and what sets you apart from your competitors. Furthermore, if state ethics regulations allow, you may want to add testimonials from current clients who sing your praises. Our custom testimonial page allows you to easily add as many client testimonials as you see fit and formats these entries perfectly on your site every time.

Networking Opportunities with Other Professionals:
When someone refers your firm to another professional in your field or a fellow advisor reads an article of yours in a local publication, the first thing they are likely to do is Google your firm; with this search they are attempting to learn more about you and what you have to offer. Like potential clients, they may be interested in learning of your education, experience and your practice as a whole. Furthermore, they may be looking for notable cases and even big-name clients you have represented.  You may consider having an “Advisors” section where you can list relevant articles for these professionals demonstrating your expertise and illustrating the mutual benefit which they may reap from working with you.

As a Resource for Your Current Clients:
In addition to attracting new clients, your site may serve as resource for existing clients. You may want to post client forms, toolkits or surveys on a “Clients Only” page. Amicus Creative’s Site Manager even allows you to password protect pages, meaning that you can make certain pages in your site reserved for clients who will use a shared username and password to gain access.  If your clients rely on you for explanations of current laws or cases in the news, you may want to send out newsletters or post new blog entries that explore the impact of the law.

To Recruit New Attorneys, Staff and Interns:
Posting your employment opportunities on major job sites can be expensive and quite time consuming as they often result in hundreds of resumes which must then be reviewed. A website that can be easily updated provides a perfect venue through which to recruit qualified and interested parties for open positions at your firm. An attractive site which outlines the strengths of your firm may catch the eye of promising interns who scour the web looking for summer jobs which will provide them with great experience under knowledgeable mentors in their area of law. Also, posting employment openings to your site allows clients or colleagues to review the information and refer potential employees. As with all job postings, it is important to provide a description of the position, requirements and preferred method of submission for resumes.

The Amicus Creative Site Manager allows all of the previous suggestions to be easily implemented. With the ability to add unlimited custom pages and articles at any time, you can create unique sections that appeal to the many audiences you are trying to reach.