Legal Internet Marketing Blog

At our most recent tweetup, the SLS Consulting team discussed press releases, and how, although the Internet has changed since they were first implemented, they still play a critical part in every legal Internet marketing strategy.

These days, attorney press releases have to be carefully optimized, though not excessively, in order to rank well in search engines for relevant keywords and terms. Having an optimized press release gives a website valuable backlinks for credible news sites, which only serves to further increase the ranking of the website for those keywords. Press releases also have long-term SEO value since they are indexed and maintained on third-party sites. It is an important distinction to make that press releases are not blogs; rather, they are more extensive and focus more on unique, newsworthy items, while blogs tend to be more general interest and information pieces.

We also talked about what makes a press release bad, and conversely, what makes a press release good. The following were a few tidbits that were shared:

• If a press release is stuffed with keywords, it’s not readable, and therefore less likely to be shared and distributed.
• If a press release has too many links, it seems like spam. Two links per 500-600 words is a good goal to have, and it focuses search engines on relevant terms.
• It is vital for a press release to have a social element; as in, ways for people to comment/Like/tweet or otherwise share with their networks, otherwise it won’t go anywhere.

Several other helpful tips regarding press releases were discussed, including what should be done once a press release has been submitted. One suggestion is to share the press release on popular bookmarking sites such as Digg and StumbleUpon. According to a recent Mashable article, StumbleUpon now drives over 50 percent of social media traffic.

To read more of the discussion and to learn more tips about press releases, you can read the full transcript of our tweetup, “The Do’s and Don’ts of Press Releases,” on our page on Facebook. You can also send us a direct message on Twitter—our account is @LegalBlogs.

We’ll be taking a break from our weekly tweetups for the Labor Day holiday, so the next tweetup will be on September 9. We plan to discuss Facebook fan pages, and how attorneys can best utilize them in their legal Internet marketing campaigns. If you would like to participate, find us on Twitter at 10 a.m. on Fridays, and include #knowSEO with your tweets, or send us a direct message for more information. Talk to you soon!

During our most recent tweetup, the team here at SLS Consulting talked about Twitter, and how lawyers and law firms as well as other businesses can best utilize this valuable marketing tool.

While most attorneys are aware that they can use Twitter to share links to their blog posts and press releases, many forget that Twitter is another social media platform and fail to actually be social. Talking with other attorneys, discussing what’s happening in their local community, answering legal questions… there’s unfortunately so much lawyers fail to do on Twitter. Showing online audiences your personality can make them want to engage with you further.

We also talked about many common mistakes lawyers and law firms make on Twitter, such as only sharing links, and not including a description of the link when posting the tweet. Both actions scream, “SPAM!” Attorneys should also shy away from including trending hashtags with their tweets in order to appear in Top Tweets searches, unless including the hashtag is actually relevant. Consistently tweeting is also key; users will be turned off if an account has a flurry of activity only to not tweet for days or even weeks at a time.

Importantly, links on Twitter are valuable, particularly when tweeted from established accounts. In particular, when a link is retweeted, doing so is found to translate to rankings increases in organic search. Search engine giants Google and Bing incorporate data from Twitter as well as other social media platforms into their search results, making the activity on Twitter all the more valuable.

We also discussed what can make Twitter accounts successful. For that information and more, read the transcript of this tweetup, "Successful Twitter Accounts and SEO", on our Facebook page or send @LegalBlogs on Twitter a direct message or tweet.

This coming week, the topic of our tweetup will be the value of LinkedIn for attorneys. To participate, join us on Twitter on Friday at 10 a.m. PST and include #knowSEO with your tweets. Be sure to search the hashtag to follow the discussion, and feel free to ask questions! We hope to talk to you soon!

For our sixth weekly tweetup, held on August 5, the SLS Consulting team discussed the popular social networking platform Facebook, as well as using it as a part of an effective marketing strategy for attorneys, law firms, and other businesses.

Many attorneys balk at the idea of marketing themselves or their law firm on Facebook, but doing so can be incredibly valuable. Having a Facebook Page provides an opportunity to highlight the firm’s strengths, facilitate discussion by sharing interesting articles relating to the community or law, as well as a place to interact with others, which is critical.

Facebook users are looking to interact with a real person behind a business, so it is of vital importance that Facebook Pages be real, and not just a place to automate your blog posts and only talk about your law firm. It’s also important for lawyers to address comments made on their Facebook Page, whether good or bad. Responding to negative comments can speak volumes about them as a person and of their law firm. In our tweetup, we also touched on several unique ways lawyers can interact with users on Facebook, as well as some do’s and don’ts when it comes to etiquette.

If you’d like to read the transcript of this tweetup, as well as learn more about how to market your law firm on Facebook, you can visit the SLS Consulting Facebook page or reach out to us on Twitter. We’re tweeting from the @LegalBlogs account.

To join our weekly tweetup, find us on Fridays at 10 a.m. PST on Twitter. All you need to do is include #knowSEO with your tweets to participate. This Friday, we will be discussing Twitter, and how it can be utilized best by lawyers and law firms, as well as other professionals and businesses.

If you have questions, send us a tweet or direct message! We hope we will be talking with you soon!

On July 29, the team here at SLS Consulting hosted our fifth tweetup, an ongoing discussion on Twitter that discusses key issues that relate to attorneys and Internet marketing. For our fifth tweetup, we talked about blogging, and why so many attorneys are resistant to the idea of blogging—and why that opposition should be overcome.

There are many benefits to an attorney or law firm blog. In addition to building links and helping web content get indexed, blogging can showcase how much experience an attorney has in their area of law. However, lawyers need to take care not to overwhelm readers with legal jargon. Blogging provides attorneys with the opportunity of disclose legal information in a less formal way. Having a blog also offers lawyers with the chance to discuss other relevant issues pertaining to their area of law, in addition to talking about local issues, firm news, and more. Blog comments from users also supply attorneys with a place in which they can have an honest discussion and a place to respond to feedback, negative or positive. This discussion can also cause users to return to your blog, which is the ultimate goal of a blog.

To read the transcript of our tweetup in its entirety and learn more about attorney blogging, visit our page on Facebook. Next week, we plan to talk about Facebook, and in the weeks after that, we’ll continue to get specific and share our tips and knowledge regarding Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.

If you’re interested in joining our weekly tweetup, you can join us on Twitter every Friday at 10 a.m. PST! We’ll be tweeting from the @LegalBlogs account, and to participate, all you have to do is include the hashtag #knowSEO with your tweets. Be sure to ask questions and respond to the questions we and others ask. Hope to see you there!

During our most recent weekly tweetup, the knowledgeable team here at SLS Consulting continued to discuss important issues relating to Internet marketing. Specifically, we talked about web content, and why it’s an important part of websites and online marketing strategies that can often be overlooked.

There’s been a lot of chatter about content recently, particularly since Google’s most recent algorithm change, Panda. Such search engine algorithm changes serve as a reminder that well written content is king; not content that is stuffed full of keywords and isn’t written with a target audience in mind. We also covered how content helps in establishing yourself as an attorney and/or your law firm as an authoritative figure by boosting search engine rankings and business. In addition, we discussed several helpful tips in making content more appealing to readers. We talked about the most beneficial way to add new content, and how to draw readers in with your new content by using the “social media cycle”: sharing it on your blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

You can read the transcript of this tweetup in its entirety on our Facebook page. For our next tweetup, we’ll be conversing about blogging; and after that, we’ll get specific and share our knowledge and tips on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+. To join us, find us on Twitter at @LegalBlogs every Friday at 10 a.m. PST! All you need to do is include #knowSEO on your tweets, ask questions, and respond to what we and others ask. We hope we will be talking with you soon!

In case you haven’t already heard, we here at SLS Consulting have been hosting a weekly tweetup to discuss SEO, blogging, social media, and more in relation to lawyers as well as in general.

For our second tweetup, we decided to exclusively discuss the many issues facing attorneys and law firms when it comes to Internet marketing. For many, social media is seen as being for younger audiences, and some don’t realize there is great value in engaging with such a large audience participating in social networking. We also covered the pros and cons of using accident victims’ names in blogs, which is a controversial topic in the legal community. We talked about whether it appears as though Google+ can benefit attorneys while the social media platform is in its beginning stages, and discussed why law firms and attorneys should have a mobile site for their website. Lastly, we talked about how press releases, typically seen as “old school,” fit into today’s fast-paced, social media-heavy marketing plans.

If you would like to read the transcription of this tweetup, visit our page on Facebook. And of course you are more than welcome to join our tweetup every Friday at 10 a.m. Pacific Standard Time! We’ll be tweeting from @LegalBlogs, and all you have to do is ask questions and participate by using #knowSEO with your tweets! See you there!

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!