Legal Internet Marketing Blog

While no blogger should ever feel ashamed of their downfalls – and we all have them – it can be difficult to admit to ourselves, let alone to others, what needs improving.

Nevertheless, here are 10 New Year’s Resolutions no blogger ever wants to say out loud, but may catch themselves realizing they should, so as to tackle them with initiative in 2012!

1. I will not go an entire month without posting a blog!


2. I will not go an entire week without posting a blog!


3. No longer will I post blogs without having someone proofread them first.


4. If I’m tempted to rush through writing a blog, I will slow down and take my time so I can make it worthwhile for others to read.


5. Before I publish a blog, I will pause and ask myself if there’s anything I can improve about the way it looks and what it is trying to say to my target audience.


6. I will stop rambling and get to the point!


7. As I conduct research and think about blog topics to write, I will also make the time to read other blogs within and outside of my niche.


8. I will not focus on the quantity of blogs I publish, but the quality of what the blog discusses.


9. I will make an effort to leave relevant comments on other blogs that apply to my field as well as respond thoughtfully to comments left on my blog.


10. After I publish a blog, I won’t stop there – I will utilize social networking sites and other platforms to effectively distribute and share what I’ve written.

Hopefully, you were able to skim over the majority of these points because you already do them. If not, don’t beat yourself up about it. There is plenty of time to change your ways so that you can blog more effectively for your business or law firm.

The key to New Year’s resolutions, whether they are personal or for your business, is that they should be reasonable. Push yourself, but don’t set the bar so high that you end up losing sight of your goals. Take things in stride and evaluate your Internet marketing plan as a whole and in pieces as you think of how you can achieve your ambitious, but realistic, long-term and short-term goals.

Here at SLS Consulting, we wish you and your business a prosperous, gratifying, and productive New Year!

'Tis the season for legal marketing,
Law, Law, Law, Law, Law
Law, Law, Law Law

That’s right. As we spend time with family and friends this holiday season and ring in the New Year, it’s important not to neglect your legal Internet marketing resolution: rank better! So, without further ado, we present our holiday-themed Legal Internet Marketing To-Do List:

• Be sure to DECORATE your home (page): Is your home page eye-catching? Does it have that special something extra that’s going to make people want to explore your site? If not, think about sprucing it up a bit.


• Remember to INVITE friends and family (to social media sites): It’s difficult to get fans and followers after you’ve created a Facebook fan page or Twitter account, so start out by asking those closest to you to lend a “liking” hand.


• Make sure you have your wish LIST(SERV) ready: Try offering a free how-to-guide on your site, requiring those who want it to enter their email address to gain access and offer the option to opt in for future announcements from your firm … reminding people about your firm (in moderation) can’t hurt.


• Don’t forget to CONTACT loved ones: How easy is it for clients to contact you via your website? Make sure the process is simple and allows you to obtain the preliminary information you need to get back into contact with your potential client.


• BE SOCIAL, and don’t neglect new people you meet: the most successful social media campaigns never fail to neglect new followers, fans, or connections. Send a quick thank you message or tweet to recently acquired social media friends.

By keeping the above checklist in mind, you’ll not only be doing your customers a favor, but you’ll also lay the groundwork for an effective marketing campaign that is bound to pay dividends in the future. Make sure your site is eye-catching, be sure to make it easy for potential customers to contact you, and be social. Everything else will fall into place after this.

At SLS Consulting, we work hard to ensure that our clients reach their goals online and develop their client base. Our legal Internet marketing firm is offering a free guide download, A Beginner Facebook: Do People LIKE You?, which provides some basic tips and insights into how to best utilize Facebook for your business. If you’d like more information about how to obtain higher search engine rankings and launch an effective marketing and social networking campaign, call us today at (323) 254-1510.

When it comes to business, the financial bottom line is ultimately what dictates whether a business sinks or swims. If you sell a product or service that people have a need for, you’re in the right business. If you sell a high quality product or service, then you’ve distanced yourself from the majority of your competition. But if you’re not properly marketing your product or service, you’re missing a huge opportunity to expand your market base, which can have a significantly negative impact on your company’s bottom line.

This time of year, a lot of companies are choosing to allocate leftover funds from the marketing budget so that they can write the cost off as a business expense for the current tax year. If your company is contemplating hiring an Internet marketing firm, be sure to do your research before entering into any sort of contract. Don’t just hire a company because you want to write it off on your taxes – hire a company because it has a proven track record of success and satisfied clients.

Time and time again, our clients explain to us that word of mouth is where they obtain many of their clients. This is no different than how we obtain our business. Having recommendations from satisfied clients is one of the most effective ways to help secure new business, both for us and for our clients. Being able to point to past successes as an indicator of future success gives potential customers peace of mind, and shows them that you and your company are capable of performing a job well done.

Remember, if you want to effectively market your company online, it’s important not to neglect input (both good and bad) from your past customers. Feature your biggest advocates on your website testimonials page, ask current customers to Like your fan page on Facebook, and be sure to consider both criticisms and praises when building your future marketing campaigns.

Is your Google Places listing accurate? Have you created a Google Places account, claimed your listing, and edited the incorrect information only to find that your listing information stays the same? If you’re like most marketing professionals who handle your business’s local listing accounts, chances are very good that you’ve encountered plenty of frustration when trying to correct information on a Google Places listing. However, while it may be time consuming, a Google Places listing can be edited to reflect a company’s most recent information, such as address and phone number, albeit in a relatively indirect manner. Allow us to explain…

The first thing you should realize is that while Google appreciates the information you provide it about your company, that information does not represent the end-all, be-all of data Google uses to create your listing (that’s right, Google creates your listing…not you). Google scours the Internet, searching for any information about your company it can find. The majority of this information comes from listing directories, so suffice it to say that, if you don’t have a well balanced legal Internet marketing campaign already in place, you’re going to run into roadblocks on your way to ranking well in Google Maps.

This brings us to the second thing that you need to realize. Creating and maintaining accurate and strong ranking local listings takes a lot of work, even if all you’re concerned with is your Google Places listing. Because Google relies on a multitude of other websites whom it considers authoritative in terms of business listing information, marketing professionals must make sure that all of those listings are accurate as well. So, while all you may be concerned about is Google, it isn’t the only site you’re going to have to deal with in order to obtain an accurate Google Places listing.

So, with so many marketing companies out there promising unsuspecting businesses page one placement in Google, it’s important to understand the actual process behind acquiring a page one ranking. A lot of effort has to go into a multitude of listing sites, strong SEO must be present throughout your website, and dynamic content needs to be regularly updated in order for search engines (Google included) to favorably rank your website. If the company you’re dealing with promises to do the above, you’re good to go. If not, you may want to rethink who you choose to help you with your legal Internet marketing campaign.

For most business professionals, having a LinkedIn profile is fairly commonplace. Taking the form of an online resume, LinkedIn serves a valuable purpose in that it not only gives others insight into your background, but it also allows you to connect with other industry leaders. Aside from individual profiles though, LinkedIn also offers the creation of company pages.

At this point in time, LinkedIn Company pages are pretty minimal. LinkedIn allows you to connect your company profile with your blog, post job listings, offer descriptions of your various services, and even links to individual employees at your company who have indicated on their Linkedin profiles that they work at your company. While the job listing option is certainly practical if you are looking to hire new employees, it’s not terribly useful when it comes to SEO and establishing a well-rounded social media presence on the Internet. With that mind, be sure to take advantage of the other areas of LinkedIn’s Company pages:

• Be sure to highlight your Services using keywords that you want your company to rank for…remember, LinkedIn Company pages are public, and therefore indexed by search engines.


• Post regularly to your blog, not just for the sake of your LinkedIn Company page, but because regular posts made to your blog will help it rank well and create additional opportunity for others to stumble across your brand’s presence on the web.


• If your employees are willing to associate with your company on LinkedIn, make sure that their individual profiles are completely filled in as well…for example, if your company offers social media consulting, there is no better way to convince potential clients that your services are worthwhile than showing them that your employees and company know how to optimize their own LinkedIn profiles.

So, if you want to establish a presence on LinkedIn, be sure to not just have a profile, but to create a Company page as well. It gives your blog additional exposure on the web, gives your company name an additional spot amongst search results, and gives your overall legal Internet marketing campaign a strong link. Remember, LinkedIn is not only for working professionals, it’s now for companies too. To find out more about how LinkedIn benefits attorneys, read this blog post or call SLS Consulting for a free growth assessment at (323) 254-1510.

So, you have a blog that you regularly post to. Chances are fairly good that you either write your blog, or you employ a marketing company to write it for you. Either way, you probably read the content prior to it going live, so it’s important that you ask yourself one question: If this blog wasn’t published by your company, would you still read it? Let’s examine the dynamics of a properly optimized, yet interesting and readable blog that people would want to subscribe to.

First, let’s preface this conversation with one simple truth: there are some subjects that are just plain boring. If you’re in the type of industry that is regularly referred to as uninteresting, you’re at a slight disadvantage, but certainly not one that you cannot overcome. An interesting, thought provoking, well-trafficked blog is attainable regardless of the subject matter. Ultimately, it all depends upon the writing style.

There are a variety of writing tactics that you can employ to help make your writing more interesting. For starters, you don’t need to talk solely about your company. While it is a good idea to discuss a topic that is at least related to your industry, you don’t need to use your blog to solely peddle your services. Talk about your competitors sometimes. Realize that if someone out there is reading your blog, that person may be reading other blogs within your industry (i.e. your competitors). If you’re solely talking about your own company, it may be construed that you’re avoiding your competition, when this should never be the case. In the end, you should be proud of your services, and willing to put those services up against those of your competition. Readers will recognize your willingness to compare yourself to other brands, and will reward you for it by continuing to read your blog.

You can also talk about services that may not be directly connected to your industry, but that are indirectly connected to it. For example, if you own a moving company, it would be perfectly logical to write a blog about the housing market, particularly if new home sales are on the rise (i.e. new home sales increasing = more people moving = greater demand for moving companies). In the end, it’s important to remember that your blog is not only supposed to peak interest enough to obtain subscribers, it should also be properly optimized with keywords and phrases so that it ranks well amongst search results. If your blog cannot be found with (relative) ease, then no one is going to potentially be reading it anyway.

In short, make use of your keywords, but be interesting and conversational. Work key phrases into your writing in an organic way. Don’t sound like you’re trying to pitch your company, and don’t use industry jargon that people won’t necessarily appreciate. Think of your blog like a conversation you’re having face-to-face with someone on the street. If you anticipate that person tuning out what you’re saying, you’re doing something wrong.