It's What Distinguishes Us from the Animals

There's a huge flurry of excitement over blogging, internet websites, and social media. For lawyers, this sphere is quickly becoming the new yellow pages. Recently, there has been a great influx of movement toward the internet, and I suspect more lawyers will "get online" with their law firms.

The problem, as I've beaten profusely, with "getting online," is that it's not only about getting there, it's also about being there.

Here's two examples:

Yesterday a new attorney moved into our office. He's leasing a space, and was looking at a senior attorney in one of the other offices (I share my offices with several other attorneys) for advice to get his website in place. The attorney wasn't around, so he asked me to let him know the young guy was looking for him. Actually, the conversation went more like this:

        Attorney:  Where's X? He said he was around later to talk about creating a website.

        Me:  A website? You don't want to talk to X about a website.

     Attorney:  Why? He said his [closely related computer savvy individual] can design a site for like, $300.00.

        Me:  Really? $300? Have you seen X's site?

        Attorney:  No.

        Me:  Look. [Type in the name of extraordinarily long website].

        Attorney:  Oh.

        Me:  Here's my website. [Type in the name of mediocrely long website].

        Attorney:  Wow. That looks good. (I know he's blowing).

     Me:  Here's a secret: the key to visibility on the internet is visibility. You have to have content to encourage the search engines to care. Otherwise, you're just another website.

        Attorney:  Oh.

        Me:  The problem with X's site is that it sucks. There's not any content.

        Attorney:  Yeah, he said his site's pretty ineffective.

        Me:  That's because it's static, it has words on a page, but nothing else. Dynamic content. That's what drives the internet. You want to know about using the internet, you talk to me, not X. You talk to X about BigLaw legal practice and old school legal services. If you're interested, I'll give you the tools to use, and the information needed to get you successful. The problem is, most attorneys don't want to do the second stage: the work.

It was about this time, we were interrupted by Attorney 3, the second example:

           Attorney 3:  Have you seen my website? It's bi-lingual? It's awesome.

           Me:  No. What's the address?

           Attorney 3:  Uh...not sure. Try X.com.

           Me: Nothing.

           Attorney 3:  Maybe it's not published yet.

           Me: What about the one I helped you set up? [Typing in website.com].

           Attorney 3:  Yeah, that one sucks. We don't use it.

           Me:  But it's your name, what's easier than that?

           Attorney 3:  Couldn't figure it out, so we gave up.

           Me:  Oh, that's logical.

         Attorney 3 to Attorney: The key isn't the internet, the key is word-of-mouth. You'll get more clients from word-of-mouth referrals than having a website.

         Me: That's true. However, for some new attorneys, all you have is time and no word-of-mouth referrals. So, if it's me, I'm going to work on developing credibility via the internet.

           Attorney 3: But I don't get any hits from my website, so it's not an effective way to do things.

           Me: Well, I get referrals, but I also get at least 1 client call per day from my internet work. Again, it's not about just having a website, it's about dynamic content. Search engines put you up at the top when your content is relevant and changing.

            Attorney: Yeah, he just showed me that he's 2 and 3 on Google.

         Me: Those are just two examples of my key metrics and their placement. I have other terms that perform equally well. I want people to find me after searching for those terms, so all my work focuses on including those key metrics in my legal work.

            Attorney: But doesn't it take you a long time? How do you come up with stuff to write about?

            Me: On average, 30 minutes...

            Attorney 3: ...that's 30 minutes you'll never get back.

            Me: True. But if done correctly, I just picked up a client who cost me little to nothing to find, but likely will reward me with at least 10 times my investment. Not too shabby. I find stuff to write about by reading blogs or discussing topics that are important to me.

            Attorney 3:  Blogs? I don't have time to read those, I'm doing real lawyer work.

            Me: And that's the reason my website succeeds and yours doesn't. Part of my real lawyer work includes marketing my practice, and establishing my small niches.

             Me to Attorney: You want to learn about websites and internet marketing, talk to me. You want to learn about referrals, talk to Attorney 3. If you're computer savvy, I'll show you how to get your stuff set up in about 2 hours, for cheap. Not savvy, then I know a gal who does this professionally, she can help you.

Internet marketing is the future. If you're not having success with your marketing scheme, you're doing it wrong. You'll likely continue to chase every whim that you deem effective. The problem for most attorneys is patience. Getting sighted by Google and the other engines requires time. Be patient, follow your scheme, and exercise diligence in the work. That's how you develop an effective marketing scheme.

           

Getting "Searched"

In the world of blogging, SEO, and Google, content is king. You cannot expect a wide range of searches, hits, and site visits, without constant Google content.

The problem though, is not just any content will work. What I'm learning (because we the Google search algorithm is such a secret) is that you must tailor your content to your audience, but also include enough key components that will allow the Google robots and spiders to "feast."

Recently, I had a guest post on my blog. I thought that this would be an excellent way for me to drive some business to my firm (referring it to the guest), and tap into a potential alternative market. It didn't work out that way. In fact, I haven't had a single inquiry/search result for the keywords I specified. That's disheartening, but very enlightening for me.

Here's what I learned:

1. The searchable content must include key word phrases, but also some generic words too. This is important because Google wants to see the variety. Google wants to see that you used FBI and Federal Bureau of Investigation together, and not just the acronym. This type of usage "tricks" the robots and spiders into to believing your relevancy.
2. You must have fresh content. You cannot expect that 1 post about social security law or medical malpractice will bring in those clients. Similarly, you cannot expect the search bots to associate the "value" of your site with that single post. You must have constant, recurring posts on the subject. Again, this shows the search bots that your firm is relevant and current.
3. Outside links are valuable. Don't just hog all the glory of your own "brilliance." Give plenty of credit to others by showing them love. Outside links to other sites show the search engines that you care about what's going on in the greater population. Google is all about "power to the masses." So why shouldn't their search engine function the same way? Would you expect Google to add "value" your side by placing you at number 1, if you weren't giving things away to other? Add links to other articles.

I think if you'll take a few minutes to truly think about the type of content you're giving your clients and potential clients, you'll find drastic ways to change it up. Remember, it's not so much about what your write, as how you write it.

I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts. Please add your comments.