How Can Your Firm Benefit From SPYW?

If a user has a Google+ account and is logged into that account when performing a search on Google, Google will pull information related to the search query from the user’s circle of relationships on Google+.  For example, if a user is searching for a local personal injury attorney and one of the user’s Google+ connections is a personal injury attorney (or has written a comment about or is a friend of a local personal injury attorney), information about the personal injury attorney should appear in the user’s search results.

Thus, the results presented will include both the general search results that appear when a search is done and links to friends and acquaintances Google+ posts that are relevant to the search query.  Google believes that users want relevant information in response to a search query – and what better source to pull from than people the user knows and trusts.

Getting Started.

To find out more about how your firm can connect with prospective clients through Social Media such as Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, and blogging, contact Esquire Interactive.

Ideally, to rank high for particular search terms, such as “Phoenix accident lawyer,” the visible page content and the meta tags should all focus on same terms—“Phoenix accident lawyer.”

However, the web pages of most law firms fail to take advantage of any search engine optimization techniques, and, as a result, their web pages will not rank highly in the search engine results for the legal practice areas that the firm is promoting on these same pages. Additionally, search engines often fail to fully index law firm websites because of their design issues or architectural issues.

These mistakes typically fall within one of the following ten categories:

1.   No Search Engine Meta Tags, or Meta Tags of Very Low Value. Met tags are clues that give search engines (such as Google) information about what a particular web page is about. The first important meta tag is the title tag. The text of the title tag is displayed just above the Internet website address area at the top of the page (when using Internet Explorer, the text is just to the right of the small “e” Internet Explorer logo in the blue or gray box.) The text for the title tag generally should be 40 to 60 characters long. In addition to the title, the other key meta tags are the description tags (longer, more detailed information about the web page, which should be roughly two short sentences), and, less important, the keyword tags.

What’s an easy way to spot a problem with meta tags? Look at the title tags at the top of each web page within a website. If they’re all identical, there’s a problem. Even worse, when a site owner has not inserted title tags, the text area displayed reads “Microsoft Internet Explorer” (if this Internet browser is being used).

Often, title tags of extremely low value are used, such as “Welcome to XYZ Law firm,” on every page. These title tags are of almost no value in searches aimed at finding a lawyer for a particular legal need (such as a search for a “Phoenix accident lawyer”).

2.   Inconsistent and Confusing Page Content. Instead of using title tags, description tags, and keyword tags consistent with the page content—such as “Phoenix accident lawyer”—the tags and page content are inconsistent.

You can see the header, description, and keyword tags for any web page by right-clicking on any page, scrolling down to the item “view source” in the pop-up window, and left-clicking on “view source.” The title follows the tag <title>, the description text follows the <META name=”description” content= tag, and the keywords (no longer considered by Google, but still used by other search engines) follow the tag <META name=”keywords” content=.

For an example of meta tag inconsistency and search engine confusion, let’s look at the following tags:

Title tag: “Welcome to XYZ Law Firm—Windows Internet Explorer”

Description Tag: XYZ law firm is located at 123 Main Street, Anytown, Any State, 12345. The XYZ law firm was formed in 1984, and now has twelve lawyers practicing in a number of areas.

Keywords: Anytown lawyers, divorce lawyers in Anytown, Anytown criminal lawyers, Anytown accident lawyers, Anytown will attorneys, Anytown probate attorneys

Page Content: XYZ Law firm has five attorneys who practice in the area of accident law [more information about types of accidents the firm has handled in the past].

What does the search engine bot understand from these tags?
It first “sees” the Header tag, which indicates that the web page is going to be about “welcoming to XYZ Law Firm.” Then, the next information it sees is that in the description tag, which indicates the web page is about “the location of the XYZ law firm.” Meanwhile, the keywords indicate that the web page is going to be about a number of different practice areas (divorce law, etc.). Finally, the visible text on the page describes different types of accidents.

The result of all these conflicting signals is a confused search engine. Is the web page about a specific firm, a location, or different types of accidents? As a result, the engine will not rank the web page highly for the desirable search term— “anytown accident lawyers.”

3.  Broken Links. Search engine “bots” jump from one page to the next through links to “crawl” or “spider” web page content. When links do not go to the intended page, the link is said to be “broken.” When a broken link occurs, the spiders cannot continue to crawl to the other pages of the website; instead, they are said to “die” on the page with the broken link. When this happens, the search engine may not index the other pages of the website. If the pages are not indexed, then they can’t be displayed in response to a prospective client’s search terms.

4.   No Google Site Map. A Google site map is different than a typical site map for a website. A Google site map is created by using a software program that generates a site map code for Google spiders. The code ensures that the spiders can crawl and index all of the relevant web pages of a law firm’s website.

5.   Not Submitting Website to Google and Other Search Engines. Once your website is live, you should submit the url for your firm’s website (i.e., www.mylawfirmswebsite.com) to Google and the other primary search engines. Search engines cannot and do not automatically “find” websites. Instead, they find websites through two avenues: the first (and the easiest) is by website url submitted to them, and the second is by “finding” a site through a link from another website. If there is no such other website link, and if the website url is not submitted, it’s unlikely that the search engine will find the website (at least not anytime soon). Remember—if the search engine doesn’t know your website exists, your website won’t be indexed, and your website’s links won’t be displayed in the search engine results when potential clients search for the same services offered by your law firm.

6.  Spam Meta tags. This problem is the opposite of Item 2 above, and it was popular in the early days of the Internet. Spam meta tags consist of the repeated use of the same term, such as “Phoenix accident attorneys,” over and over. Search engines recognize this repetition as spam and penalize the website in search engine results by giving it lower rankings.

7.  Placing Too Much Page Content in Images. Search engines can’t read text included in images. While some of the text in an image can be placed in what is called an “alt” tag included in the web code, search engines don’t give as much weight to “alt” tags as they do to on-page content because they can’t verify the text in the picture. The lesson here is that search engines like text: try to ensure that there are at least 400 or more words on any pages important for search engine ranking purposes.

8. Flash Generally. Flash is good if used sparingly; however, search engines generally have difficulty in reading (and thus indexing) content embedded in Flash. Similarly, Flash links can look awesome; however, because search engines have difficulty with Flash, they may not be able to follow the links to the right pages. If this happens, the search engine will not find these other pages, and they won’t be indexed. Use Flash sparingly.

9. Overemphasis on Keyword Meta Tags. A common misperception is that “more is better” when it comes to keywords, and some firms load the keyword meta tags with dozens of keywords. Google now completely disregards the keyword meta tags; other search engines are placing less emphasis on the keyword tags.

10.  Not Understanding the Importance of Search Engine Optimization. Search Engine Optimization (“SEO”) is the primary way that clients looking for your firm’s services will find your firm by searching on the Internet. If your firm’s website links are not listed high in the results pages (ideally on the first page), it’s unlikely that prospective clients will find your firm’s website, resulting in your firm not being considered.

In most cases, you should undertake a proactive SEO program to achieve high rankings: firms receiving high rankings usually do not receive them simply by accident.

The bottom line is that if you build a website, your visitors won’t come unless you prime it for them with consistent and compelling content and tags. Esquire Interactive’s SEO Program is designed to work with your firm’s website to help boost rankings in your practice areas.

EI Ten Word Learning – Optimize Your Website to Take Advantage of Search Engines.

Why, then, does Google list your firm as number 126 and bury it on the thirteenth page of its search results? Who is behind this ranking? Don’t these mysterious web search gurus read your partners’ resumes or your firm’s ranking in the legal magazines and newspapers?

The truth is that no person at Google ranks law firms—or companies, restaurants, or other subjects. Google’s rankings are completely automated—no humans intervene to sort out the rankings.

Instead, Google and other search engines  use complicated algorithms to determine search order results. When a person initiates a search, the search engine compares millions of web pages to determine their “relevancy” based on many factors to the specific search term(s) used.

These factors include page content and meta tag information, the number and “quality” of links to the page, and many other super-secret factors. The exact factors used, and, more importantly, the weight accorded to each factor, are proprietary trade secrets of each search engine company—and they’re guarded more closely than KFC’s secret spices (which is why the same search in different search engines usually leads to a completely different list of results).

As a result, the website of a newly minted attorney who has yet to try a case may rank higher in the Google search results than that of a long-established, white-shoe firm with partners who have years of litigation experience.

When reading a firm’s short description on the Google search results page, potential clients likely won’t have any idea which firm has more experience. In fact, a prospect may click on the link for the new attorney’s firm, like what he or she sees on the website, and give the rookie a call.

It’s more important that your firm receive high search results rankings for search terms prospective clients use when searching for an attorney than to appear at the top of a search results page for a search done to find the “best law firm” in a particular city.

How can that be? Think about it this way. When potential clients search for a lawyer, their search terms tend to be about the specific problem they have, such as “Chicago divorce lawyer,” not “best attorney in Chicago.” Thus, the focus of your law firm’s search engine optimization (“SEO”) program should be on the terms that your prospective clients actually use.

At Esquire Interactive, our search engine optimization program for law firms enters on identifying the key search terms a firm’s clients are likely to use and creating optimized web pages focused on those terms.

EI Ten Word Learning: Optimize web pages for search terms used by potential clients.

1. The Successful Use of a Public Relations Firm is More Cost-Effective Than Spending Dollars on Advertising. On a dollar-for-dollar basis, successful law firm public relations efforts are more effective than advertising. Consider the exposure you’ll receive from being featured as the expert on a local news program. Immediately, you’re not only featured in front of thousands or tens of thousands of potential clients, but the media has deemed you as an “expert.” The implied message is that when the TV station or news reporter needed “expert” advice, it went to you.

You Don’t Become a Media Expert by Accident. PR firms have the contacts and can match you up with the right people to get you on the local TV news, in the newspaper, or in magazine articles. You may even be seen on Nancy Grace.

2. Successful Law Firm Public Relations Involves a Detailed, Ongoing Marketing Plan. A public relations strategic plan involves identifying specific goals to achieve, a timetable for achieving the goals, and a detailed plan outlining how to achieve the goals. The more time you take to develop a Public Relations plan, especially when developed with a PR representative, the more likely you’ll achieve your goals.

3. Issue Press Releases on a Regular Schedule, Preferably With Items That Will Benefit Others. Often law firms only issue press releases to announce the election of new partners or new lateral or law school hires. Not only is there little interest in these releases outside the law firm community and the families and friends of the people involved, but firms issue these releases so infrequently that they do not keep law firms in clients’ minds.

Instead of infrequent press releases, establish a regular schedule, such as monthly or bimonthly, and stick with it. In determining the subject of the press release, ask yourself what is newsworthy for potential clients or the public? Maybe your firm has developed a new practice area focusing on a particular area of law, or maybe it has redeveloped its website to include information that might be of use to potential clients.

4. Make Sure Your Press Releases are Optimized for Search Engines. Once issued, your press release will likely be published in a number of online publications. Such publications can not only spread the word about your law firm, but they can also increase your firm’s search engine optimization efforts, which will help your law firm’s website rank higher in the search engines.

5. Press Releases Generally Have Specific Formats and Restrictions. You should write your press releases in collaboration with a PR firm. The PR firm will be able to advise on the structure of the press release and how to format the release in a specific manner to promote the firm.

6. Determine the Method of Press Release Distribution. With each press release, you have not only a number of different distribution opportunities but also a number of different firms that can take care of your firm’s distribution needs. Typically, geographic distributions are the most effective.

7. Develop Your Law Firm’s Contact List of Reporters and Other Media Contacts. Newspaper, television, magazine, and other media outlet reporters are busy people. You should not expect that simply because you sent your firm’s news release to a reporter’s newspaper that the newspaper will run the story. Professional PR firms have developed relationships with the key news media in a particular market, and they will cultivate relationships with others that are crucial for your law firm.

8. For Each Press Release, Develop a Specific List of Speaking Points. Since reporters have limited time, they may not initially read your firm’s press release. This is where a good PR representative is invaluable. The PR expert should be able to very quickly convey the speaking points to the reporter while also presenting them in a manner that will make the reporter want to read the release and hopefully print a story.

9. PR Firm Costs Can Initially Seem High: Take the Time to Understand Exactly What Is Involved in Any Proposal. PR firms typically want to have contracts that extend for at least three months, and more typically six months or longer. These contracts almost always involve a set minimum monthly fee. A skeptic might believe a PR firm is trying to ensure its rent will be paid for the year through these fees and somewhat long-term commitments. Understand that this is not the case.

Solid PR efforts take months to develop and implement. PR firms invest a significant amount of time to develop the PR plan, create a comprehensive list of contacts, understand the law firm’s goals, and map out a strategy for success. If the law firm is not willing to commit to a certain level of time and expense, the PR firm knows that the law firm cannot achieve its desired goals, which will likely lead to its dissatisfaction with the results.

10. Hire a PR Firm—Don’t Try to Do It All In-House. As noted above, successful PR efforts require a significant investment of time and expertise. They also require a lot of work that most lawyers would rather avoid—specifically, compiling lists of key contacts and making calls to them (typically, reporters). In addition to the PR expertise these external firms offer, they have the relationships and can lend the credibility necessary for an effective PR campaign.

EI Ten Word Learning: PR spend can be much more effective than advertising spend.

Other risks also exist that these regulations don’t necessarily address. For example, prospective clients may disclose facts or other information to the law firm that could create an ethical conflict with the firm’s representation of its current clients. For this reason, law firms should limit the amount of information prospective clients can disclose through their website “contact us forms.

One way firms can prevent the disclosure of such information is to limit the amount of information clients can include in the “contact us” forms.  Instead of using an open-ended question, such as “How can we help you?,” these forms should include drop-down items from which the client must choose.  Such items may include not only the prospective client’s title but also limit the legal area relating to the client’s matter. Further, law firms can limit the number of characters that can be added in any “contact us” description box, which can also help prevent the client from disclosing more information than the law firm might want to know at this stage.

One final ethical issue can occurs if a prospective client from another state seeks legal advice from the law firm.  If the lawyer or law firm is not authorized to provide legal advice for the jurisdiction, the firm can set up an auto-responder in conjunction with the “contact us” form to provide a short message to the person thanking the person for the inquiry but also advising that the lawyer cannot provide advice on the matter because it falls outside the lawyer’s jurisdiction.

Esquire Interactive can work with your law firm to create the type of contact us forms that will encourage potential clients to contact your firm and minimize any potential ethical issues.

EI Ten Word Learning: Minimize problem-specific information in “Contact Us” forms.

While two men are camping in the woods, an angry grizzly bear approaches their campsite.

Seeing the grizzly, one of the men, named Joe, pulls off his hiking boots and begins furiously lacing up his running shoes.

“Joe,” says the other man, “I know you’re fast, but there’s no way you’re going to outrun this bear.”

“I don’t have to,” Joe replies. “I only have to outrun you.”

As is true in many competitive situations, an important first step is recognizing who your competition is so you can determine how to beat them. In the joke, Joe realized his campmate was his competition and that to “win” he only needed to run faster than his competition, not the bear.

We can apply this same analogy to both litigation and search engine marketing.

In a trial, your goal is not to give the greatest opening argument or the most in-depth presentation of the facts; rather, it’s simply to win. Sometimes a shorter opening argument or less in-depth presentation better serves your goal.

Similarly, with search engine optimization, your goal should be to land at the top of the search results page for terms prospective clients of your firm’s services use. Where your firm ranks for “best law firms” and other search terms not keyed to your services are irrelevant.

As part of our search engine program, Esquire Interactive conducts a keyword analysis to determine what keywords those seeking the services your firm provides are actually using. Once we know the appropriate keywords, we analyze where your firm’s website ranks for these keywords in comparison to your competition across the major search engines (Google, Bing/Yahoo!). Once we understand the competitive market for these keywords, we can advise you on how you should change your website so that your firm’s website will rank higher in the search engine results.

EI Ten Word Learning: Know your competition so you can beat them.

At Esquire Interactive, we understand legal practice and marketing.  With a founder who practiced law for more than a decade, we appreciate and understand the ethical considerations that affect law firm marketing  that don’t apply to other companies.

We also understand the language that you speak. You won’t need to educate us about what different practice areas mean. For instance, we understand that if your firm aims to represent insurance companies, you likely won’t want to harm the relationships with your corporate clients by also representing plaintiffs in insurance claims against non-clients.

With our understanding of law firm practice, we can help write website content to describe your firm’s practice areas and help provide insight into branding and positioning your firm in the legal market. This understanding is critical, because when a potential client types keywords into a search engine, you and your firm have one shot at appearing at the right place at the right time in response. And when a prospective client visits your website, you have all of fifteen seconds to hook that prospect and begin to forge a relationship.

With Esquire Interactive, we work with you to ensure your online presence not only reaches, but hooks your target clients. You don’t offer one-size-fits-all representation to your clients, so why settle for a generic web presence like other law firms that use trite images of gavels, courtrooms, and columns to send the same tired messages to prospects? While you focus on providing top-notch representation to your current clients, let Esquire Interactive manage your online presence so you offer a credible, dynamic, and differentiated service to your prospective clients.

EI Ten Word Learning: Websites for Attorneys built by an Attorney.