Legal Internet Marketing Blog

Mashable has designated June 30 as “Social Media Day,” and around the world, people are getting involved in celebrating the revolution of media becoming social. According to Mashable, the day “honors the technological and societal advancements that have allowed us to have a dialogue, to connect and to engage not only the creators of media, but perhaps more importantly, one another.”

How are people celebrating? By being social, of course! There will be 1,400 “meetups” scheduled across the world, with over 7,000 attendees in six different continents on June 30 to discuss and celebrate the technological advancements that allow everyone across the globe to connect with real-time information and communicate with one another from thousands of miles apart and have their voices heard. Tweets shared on Twitter that include the hashtag #SMday will appear on Mashable’s steam on their website for Social Media Day at http://mashable.com/smday/.

What’s also fascinating is that several cities have come forward and officially recognized Social Media Day. Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia; Toronto, Ontario; San Jose, California; San Carlos, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Dublin, Ireland; and the entire state of Arizona have signed proclamations that declare June 30 to be Social Media Day.

Are you part of the social media conversation? It’s no longer something that can be ignored or undervalued; it is an essential part of your legal Internet marketing strategy. Engaging with others across the globe as well as within your local community on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites not only provides you with an opportunity to share exciting things about your law practice and things relevant to your practice areas, but also enhances your social reputation. What are you waiting for?!

Sources: http://mashable.com/2010/06/30/happy-social-media-day/; http://mashable.com/2011/06/29/mashable-at-social-media-day/ and http://mashable.com/2011/06/30/social-media-day-cities/

“Hey! Didn’t you want to talk to us about legal Internet marketing the other day? You did? Great! Let’s Tweet-Up later…”

For those of you who may not be as well versed in Twitter-speak, a Tweet-Up is a virtual meet-up with friends/followers on the micro-blogging site, Twitter. The way it works is fairly simple. One Twitter user declares that he or she is going to be readily available on Twitter on a certain day and at a designated time. This Twitter user then serves as an administrator for online discussion about a particular topic, or variety of related topics. Other Twitter users can ask and answer questions during the Tweet-up, officially labeling themselves as part of the discussion by using a predetermined hashtag.

So, what does this mean as it pertains to legal Internet marketing for attorneys and law firms? Well, it represents an opportunity for attorneys to establish themselves as trusted authorities in their respective fields (and remember, with a maximum use of 140 characters, both the questions asked and their answers are rather limited in their scope). It allows attorneys to be interesting, personable, and even funny. In short, it helps establish a relationship between an attorney and his or her audience, which is the ultimate goal in creating a well rounded social networking presence on the web.

Be Social!
For attorneys however, a Tweet-Up shouldn’t be judged according to how many potential clients contact your firm. In fact, no social networking profile should be used as a means to acquire clients. That may eventually happen, and we hope it does, but social media should primarily be utilized to connect with others, not blatantly market towards them in order to acquire their business. Ultimately, the end goal is be social, and positive word of mouth is hopefully what results from your efforts.

SEO Tweet-Up
Here at SLS Consulting, we want to connect with our audience on a more individual basis. Do you want to Tweet-Up with us and talk about marketing, social media, blogging, and web content? Every Friday, at 10:00AM PST, the knowledgeable staff at SLS Consulting will be available to answer your legal Internet marketing questions and just talk shop. To join us on Twitter, you have to first have an account. Once you’ve created your Twitter profile, log into your account at the above mentioned time and be sure to use the hashtag #KnowSEO so that we can easily find your question/comment. And remember to keep in touch with us too!

FOLLOW us on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/legalblogs
http://twitter.com/slsconsulting

And don’t worry, if you don’t have a Twitter account and aren’t sure about how to go about creating one, you can always contact SLS Consulting and ask us about our Social Media package. For attorneys who want to establish a presence on Twitter and other social networking sites, please contact SLS Consulting at 323-254-1510.

Mashable reports that Google unveiled Google+, a social network designed to go head-to-head with Facebook. A very limited test field was rolled out on Tuesday, June 28, and will become available to the entire public at an undisclosed date.

One of the biggest differences between Google+ and Facebook is Circles, in which users are able to sort their friends into different social circles, such as friends, family, co-workers, and more. Users are able to share photos, links, posts, and other content with multiple circles or just one circle. Facebook users are able to limit who can see what, but it is not as easy to manage, nor is it as central of a feature, as it is with Google+. Another significantly different aspect of Google+ is that it has a free, multi-user video chat feature, called Hangouts. Currently Facebook does not have anything similar to this. Within Hangouts, users and their friends are able to search for and watch YouTube videos together as a group. (Google owns YouTube.) All users in the chat are able to search, play, or pause a video.

Another crucial difference between Google+ and Facebook is Sparks, which is essentially a recommendation engine that helps users find interesting content based upon their interests. Sparks is a collection of articles, photos, videos, and other content that is recent and relevant and is grouped by interest, such as “Movies.” Sparks is algorithmic, meaning it relies on information from other products from Google, such as Google Search, in addition to what is being shared by Google +1 buttons as well as within Google+ itself. Facebook users are able to become a fan or “Like” a product, place, etc., but users are not able to fully cultivate their interest. Sparks, in contrast, delivers content from across the web based upon terms a user enters, which are able to be returned to anytime to sort through new content. Users can also add Circles or individuals to an item to share with them. It appears as though Google+ will attempt to become the one-stop destination not only for sharing content, but also for finding it.

With the failure of Google Buzz and Google Wave, the search engine giant has been struggling to effectively battle Facebook. No doubt Google+ will be closely scrutinized once it becomes available to the entire public. While it remains to be seen how successful the new social networking site will be, once again we are reminded of the high value search engines like Google place upon content that is both relevant and interesting, in addition to its appeal to users.

Is your law firm blog/website full of content that is likely to be read and shared by users with their friends? As you can see, it is becoming more and more crucial that websites and blogs have content that is appealing, relevant, and interesting. If you have doubts about the effectiveness of your website or blog’s content, contact SLS Consulting to learn more about legal content development.

Sources: http://mashable.com/2011/06/28/google-plus/; http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow/story/266334/6-Things-Google+-Can-Do-That-Facebook-Can%27t

At SLS Consulting, we are always striving to connect with our audience and stay on top of the latest Internet marketing trends in relation to social media, blogging, web content, and more, particularly in regards to attorneys and law firms. While legal Internet marketing is a unique niche and we certainly have extensive knowledge in that field, our work experience also grants us a high level of general expertise that can be applicable to others outside of the legal realm.

It was this understanding and our desire to interact with a broader audience that led us to establish a weekly tweetup. For the past few weeks, well-informed members of our staff have been on hand to discuss issues relating to search engine optimization (SEO), Facebook and Twitter, blogging, content, and more. We have been joined by several others, both inside and outside the legal community, and we look forward to others participating with us in the future.

For our first tweetup, we discussed the challenges in attorney Internet marketing; specifically, finding the perfect balance in staying true to the legal world while incorporating effective SEO that is both reader and search engine friendly. We talked about the reasons why some lawyers have been so resistant to blogging and social media. We also talked about the importance of involving yourself in not just one social media platform, but many; while keeping in mind which platform your target audience spends their time on. Additionally, we discussed ways of making blogs, in general, not just law firm blogs, more interesting and engaging.

To read our tweetup on this topic in its entirety, please visit our Facebook page. If you want to participate in our discussions, join us on Twitter at @LegalBlogs every Friday at 10 a.m. Pacific Standard Time and use #knowSEO with your tweets!

When it comes to Twitter, there are generally two types of people: those who see the point, and those who don’t understand how it can possibly be useful, especially from a marketing standpoint. Rest assured, for those attorneys and law firms who currently use the micro blogging service, Twitter use will only benefit one’s marketing efforts.

Thanks to Twitter’s recent creation of the “Follow” button, it has now become much easier for lawyers and law firms to integrate the micro blogging service into their website marketing efforts. Whereas previous Twitter integration mainly consisted of “Tweeting” or sharing an article link from a third-party website to one’s own personal Twitter account, Twitter has now made it possible for website visitors to Follow companies and individuals straight from that third-party webpage. Basically, the Twitter Follow button now bridges the gap between an Internet user’s Twitter account and a law firm’s Twitter account. Now, if a company has a presence on Twitter, that company will be able to promote that presence with a simple Twitter plug-in on their primary marketing source. The new Follow button will allow Internet users to discover companies on Twitter without having to search Twitter’s website to do so.

So, why is this new update and a Twitter presence important? Law firm websites are notoriously informational, and rightfully so. Visitors to a law firm’s website want reassurance that the attorney or firm they are about to hire is an authority on a particular area of law. Unfortunately, this informational content rarely sets one law firm apart from another, particularly if it is clear and concise in both instances. Twitter and other social media websites are therefore the ideal place for attorneys and law firms to set themselves apart from the rest of the pack.

Rooted in the idea of community, social networks are where attorneys and law firms can be friendly, funny, and establish an identity that is worth paying attention to. In essence, when comparing attorneys, the social attorney is probably going to be the more memorable attorney. Thanks to the new Follow button, attorneys and law firms can now invite website visitors to follow them on Twitter where they can hopefully further establish a positive word-of-mouth effect that may lead to additional business in the future.

Recent data provided to Mashable by Cisco found that Internet traffic worldwide is estimated to quadruple between 2010 and 2015. By then, close to three billion people will be regularly using the Internet, which will be over 40 percent of the projected population for the world at that time. On average, there will be more than two Internet connections per person in the world, largely as a result of the explosion in popularity of web-enabled mobile devices.

In North America, a 26 percent increase in online traffic growth is expected, with other regions, notably the Middle East and Africa, seeing larger increases in Internet traffic. However, in North America the number of devices per person is expected to dramatically increase: It is estimated that there will be approximately 5.8 devices per person, meaning people will be connected like never before.

It is estimated that tablets will increase worldwide production by about 750% from 2010. Ereaders are in second place in regards to growth, expected to increase worldwide by about 550%, and smartphone growth expected to increase by 194%.

What does this mean? It means people all over the world will be accessing the Internet from not only their desktop or laptop computers, but via tablet, ereader, and smartphone as well. Whether they are at home, work, or out and about on the town; wherever they are, people can (and will) be online.

Will your law firm be a part of it? Now is the time to capitalize on the increasing Internet traffic by making your legal website easily searchable, engaging on social networking platforms, and sharing your message and news about your law firm with others online.

Source: http://mashable.com/2011/06/09/global-internet-traffic-infographic/

Ten years ago, cell phones were predominantly used to make phone calls. Five years ago, most cell phone users were relatively acclimated to communicating via not only voice call, but text message as well. Today, cell phones are used not only to communicate, but to research, locate, entertain, and perform a multitude of other tasks. Consequently, mobile websites for attorneys and law firms have never been more important, particularly since the mobile Internet market is still in a somewhat young state, and will undoubtedly expand exponentially in the years to come. Just as technology will inevitably improve over time, so too will the relevance and importance of well optimized and fully functional mobile websites.

Today’s legal Internet marketing campaigns are more extensive than they were just half a decade ago. From blogs to mini-sites to social networking profiles, attorney and law firm marketing plans now include more than just a single website. Functional mobile sites are merely another example of the ever expanding world of effective legal Internet marketing, and making sure that your firm has a mobile site is becoming more and more necessary.

According to mobile statistics, more than 85% of new cell phones in 2011 will be mobile Web ready worldwide. In the United States and Europe, 90% of mobile phone users already have mobile Web capable phones. In the very near future, it’s safe to assume that all mobile phones will be mobile Web ready, which means that the practice of searching the Internet on a cell phone rather than on a desktop computer or laptop will become much more commonplace. Couple that notion with the ever expanding world of fast mobile Internet services (3G, 4G), and surfing the web on one’s cell phone is becoming easier and easier.

So what does this all mean for attorneys and law firms in regard to their legal Internet marketing strategies? Well, for anyone who’s recently upgraded their phone or purchased a new one, it’s very likely that applications like Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr were already pre-installed on the phone, namely because these services are so popular amongst cell phone users. So, while it may not seem terribly relevant to have a presence on social media sites, a lack of presence will only ensure that mobile web users will never come across any sort of information related to your law firm. And, if you don’t have a functional mobile site that users can get to from those social media profiles, then you are certainly missing out on reaching billions of mobile web users worldwide.

In part two of our mobile site blog series, we will discuss the importance of having a mobile website that compliments your primary website and social media profiles.

Source: http://mobithinking.mobi/stats-corner/global-mobile-statistics-2011-all-quality-mobile-marketing-research-mobile-web-stats-su