• Customer Login
• List Your Firm
• Legal Events

Publication Center

• Publication Center

Legal Publications

• Articles
• Articles by Industry
• Books
• Dictionaries
• Forms
• Journals
• Libraries
• Marketing - Attorneys
• Marketing - Law Firms
• News
• Publishers
• U.S. Court Cases

Experts Publications

• Expert Witnesses
• Marketing Experts
• Medical Experts

Legal Events

• Events Calendar
• Add your Event
• Update your Events

When it comes to marketing your practice on the Internet, do you understand exactly what you need to have a successful Internet marketing campaign? Most law firms fail to incorporate all the elements that are crucial to successfully marketing your firm on the Internet. So what are these five elements that your law firm’s website needs?

• Web Popularity
• Design of Your Site
• Website Content
• Conversion Strength
• Web Analytics

1. Web Popularity

Web popularity refers to the overall visibility of your website on the Internet. Typically there are two ways a potential client can find your site: Through a search engine (such as Google, Yahoo or MSN) or via directories and other websites (such as a listing on Hieros Gamos or Superpages.com). When it comes to the search engines, if your website does not show up on the 1st or 2nd page of the most common search phrases used by consumers when their online looking for an attorney, your site is not going to be found. Typically consumers search by typing in a geographic qualifier, along with a practice area and then the word lawyer or attorney. For example, “San Diego personal injury attorney” or “Arizona criminal lawyer”. Ask yourself, does your website show up at the top of the search engines for those types of searches? Is your site listed in high traffic legal directories? If the answer is no, don’t expect to generate consistent business through the Internet. A high web popularity is the single most important component in successfully marketing your firm on the Internet.

2. Design of Your Site

One of the most often overlooked but incredibly important factors in successfully marketing your firm on the Internet is having a website design that is visually appealing. A visitor will generally make a judgment about you and your website within three seconds of visiting your site. If the site looks outdated, has text difficult to read, a navigation system that makes it difficult for a user to find what they’re looking for, poor color schemes, etc., well you can say goodbye to that visitor. They will leave and go to the next site and now you’ve lost a potential client. It’s crucial to have a visually appealing website that is organized in a way that will make it easy for visitors to find what they are looking for. It’s also important that your site is designed in a search engine friendly manner, as certain design elements can prevent the search engines from finding important information on your site. Some of these elements include flash, Javascript, the use of  frames and other code that can essentially make parts of your site invisible to the search engines.. Having a search engine friendly site design is a must if you want to be able to rank high in the search engines.

3. Website Content

It’s not enough to simply have a few lines of text describing your various practice areas. Consumers are looking for information and the more informative your site is to visitors, the more you look like the expert in your field. Your content must be compelling and essentially needs to convince a visitor that you are the right firm to handle their legal matter. In addition, the more original content you have on your site, the more search terms your site will potentially show up for. Search engines tend to favor sites with plenty of high quality content since those are the types of websites that are typically most helpful to consumers.

4. Conversion Strength

Once a website starts get good traffic, the question then becomes, “What can I do to increase conversion rates of those visitors?” Conversion in this situation is when you get a visitor to call your office or send a case evaluation request via an email or web form on your site. Certain elements can help increase the conversion rate of your site. Ask yourself these questions:

• Does my site clearly indicate why a visitor should choose my firm to represent them?
• What makes my site stand out from my competitors?
• Is my phone number prominently displayed throughout the site? Is it easy to find?
• Do I have a form when consumers can contact me via email on my site?

Anything that can help convince a visitor to contact you will help the conversion strength of your website. For example, a case results page that shows some of the results you’ve achieved for other clients or even a video on your website that tells people about your firm and why they should call you. The bottom line is your website needs to sell your law firm to your website visitors.

5. Website Analytics

Web analytics is the process of monitoring visitor behavior of your website visitors. It’s not enough to simply have a stat counter that tracks the total number of visits to your website. Your site needs a web analytics program that can inform you of how many new visitors your site is getting, where those visitors are coming from, how long they stay on your site, how many pages they are viewing on average, which websites are referring you traffic, which keywords someone typed in to find you and much more. Every firm should have a web analytics program installed as it can help you improve the overall performance of your firm’s website.

Summary:

If you can incorporate these five elements into your Internet marketing campaign, watch your business grow! The Internet can be an incredible source of business for those firms that know how to market their practice online.

About the Author:  Michael Perez is President of Internet Lawyer Marketing, a company specializing in search engine optimization, search engine friendly website design and legal content writing services. You can contact him at mike@ilawyermarketing.com