Legal Internet Marketing Blog

Running a business, including a law firm, does not automatically allow time for Internet marketing plans and establishing ways to attract your target audience. You have to make the time. Why is this important? First of all, the types of visitors to your website that you want are the ones who actually need your services. Even if a visitor does not end up being a potential client, if you can assist them in some way either through your initial contact with them or through the informative content on your site, then your marketing efforts are helping establish your website as a reliable source. While increasing visitors plays a role in establishing your website’s rankings and online presence, if you want contact form submissions filled out and phone calls made, you need to make sure that your website has the proper ingredients to draw in the visitors that you ultimately want to help.

Appealing to your target audience comes in stride. It takes time to build on tactics to help you accomplish this, such as link building, developing and adding relevant content to your website and blog, as well as many other Internet marketing strategies. And you can’t rely on any one approach over another. Search engine optimization, social networking, and many other modes of Internet marketing all work together to help increase the amount of visitors who are actually seeking help on matters that you have the experience and knowledge to handle.

Keyword choice, placement, and optimization also play a major role in drawing your target audience in. It helps to put yourself in the shoes of your client base. What terms would you enter into the search engines when looking for the services that you provide? And what would variations of those terms be? Also, don’t be afraid to ask your clients how they found you and what made them choose you over another.

If you’re looking for a new and effective approach to attracting your target audience and build your presence online, contact our boutique legal marketing consultant group to find out how we’re not your average company.

Then it probably is, right? Well, it depends.

If I were to tell you that our legal Internet marketing company can expand your client base and web presence through a visitor-friendly and informative website with SEO to help your firm get solid search engine rankings, you may have your doubts. However, you’d only have to take a peek at our client testimonials to see that SLS Consulting has done this time and time again.

But what about an email offering you a free service from an Internet company you’ve never heard of? This song has a different tune. Some attorneys, and most likely other businesses as well, have been receiving emails and contact form submissions offering a free listing and a meeting to “put a face with a name.” Many of these companies are even more than happy to personally deliver an authorization form directly to your office at a time that is convenient for you. Sounds wonderful, but most of these companies do not actually provide a business with a free listing unless it purchases their SEO services.

When an offer says that something is “free” and that there is “no catch”, it may not be that easy to refuse. However, it is probably a good idea to take a step back and evaluate whether what is being promised will actually be provided at no cost.

This is not to say that these companies do not provide effective services to their clients. The question though, is why a company would offer something free of charge that a business will end up paying for anyway. Do you really want a company in charge of your online brand and marketing to operate under false pretenses?

While you cannot always filter who sends you emails, these offers can be an eye-opening look into the different types of solicitations that often find a way through the system.

Every law firm is on the look-out for maximum exposure on the Internet and the most effective way to do so. While there are many factors that can help you and your firm get more clients, one major tool you can utilize, often goes unnoticed.

Neglecting to write and submit press releases about your law firm is a great way to miss out on a perfect opportunity. However, you don’t want to submit just any press release, just like you don’t want to put just any content on your website. This is especially true since relevant content is essential in helping a press release get noticed by the search engines, and the same information can only be valid so many times. Here are a few tips to help you get started:

• Services - When it comes to submitting press releases on the Internet, some services are free and others require payment. It’s worth the time to look into what you’re willing to pay for in relation to what will be provided and try out a few sites to see which press release service works best for you.


• Topics - When writing a press release, keep in mind that you are announcing something newsworthy relating to your law firm or individual accomplishments within the area of law that you practice, such as a groundbreaking verdict or settlement, or even a new website.


• Structure - It is also important to consider the organization and layout of your release. Does the title include keywords that are descriptive and pertinent to what your press release addresses? Is the most critical information included in the beginning of the release? Do you have a closing paragraph that provides additional information about your firm?


• Length - Don’t make your press release a novel. It’s important to keep it short and sweet to ensure that the main points get across without getting lost in tangents and elaborate descriptions. A press release should be focused on the recent news of your firm, which is a valuable achievement, so let the words speak for themselves.

In submitting a press release, you are not only providing informative material, you are also building links to your website, blog, and social networks, depending on what type of links you are allowed to include in the release. By gaining more exposure online, you will establish web saturation that will help your press release get attention from various sources. This is a cost-effective way to get more online traffic and provide valuable information about your firm to the public.

If you've seen a movie lately or read the entertainment section of your local newspaper, you're probably aware that "The Social Network" will soon be hitting theaters. Basically, the movie centers-around the dealings pertaining to the founding of Facebook. Although it is admittedly a dramatization of how the social networking company was actually created, it still represents Hollywood's first foray into basing a movie on social networking. And it may not be the last, particularly since the rights to Ken Auletta's "Googled: The End of the World as We Know It" were recently acquired by two producers.

You may be asking what this has to do with law firms. Well, the Facebook and eventual Google films may not directly have much to do with the practice of law, but they do represent how mainstream social networking has become over the last few years. Who would have thought five years ago that Hollywood would be making a movie about a website started out for college students? Who would have thought that such a site would eventually eclipse over a million users, then ten million users, then well over one hundred million users? If anything, these films should represent how important social networking has become in our society. For law firms, social networks should represent a means of getting your expertise out to the masses, establishing yourself as an authority on a particular type of law, and indirectly influencing the users whom you interact with to spread your message to their friends, particularly those who may need legal advice.

A sound legal Internet marketing strategy includes not only an eye-popping website, but a website that is properly built as well. Exposure on social networks and blog forums is also necessary to help get your message across, as are proper use of keywords and search engine optimization. If your legal website isn't doing all it can to get its name out there, it might be best to rethink your legal Internet marketing plan. With social networking now a mainstream part of society, it's never been more important to make sure that you have an online presence where Internet users, followers, fans, friends, and connections want to be and can easily find you.