Legal Marketing Technology

• Top 10 Website SEO Mistakes Law Firms Make

  If your firm website is not on the first page of Google search results, it could simply be a lack of special HTML tags, inconsistent page content, broken links and lack of a Google site map, according to search engine expert Jeff Lantz.

• Find More Clients Via Social Networking than Email

  Americans spend a third of their time online using social networks, playing games and reading email, in that order, according to a new Nielsen survey.

• As Smartphone Use Increases, Law Firms Must Create PDA-Friendly Websites

  A quarter of US households has a smartphone that can view the Internet, and potential clients are using them to view law firm websites.

• Law Firms See Payoff in Blogs

  Of the top 200 U.S. law firms, 96 now publish blogs, according to LexBlog Inc. That’s up from 39 firms in 2007. Blogs at McKenna, Long and Smith, Gambrell have been worthwhile investments.

• 67% Have Reconnected With People Through Social Networking Sites

  New research proves that potential clients interact with businesses and brands like law firms by using online social networking. By end of 2010, almost 9 out of 10 corporate businesses will engage through social networking portals.

• Guess Who Doesn't Tweet: Almost Everyone

  Only 7% of Americans tweet, according to tech writer Eric Sass. In comparison, Facebook has been online twice as long and has six times the number of users. Twitter resembles the first blogs, which eventually went dormant because the authors couldn't keep up a regimen of daily updates.

• Seven Steps to Conduct an Effective PR Campaign using Social Media

  Don't bother sending press releases to get publicity. You'll get better results by methodically using Twitter, Facebook, youTube and LinkedIn, according to PR expert Barbara Rozgonyi.

• The Bubble in Social Media

  The next big bubble is here, and it is online social media, in the opinion of Erik Sass. Symptoms include media frenzy, characterized by breathless, only occasionally well-informed reporting about trends real and imagined.

• Google Android Phones Now Selling More than iPhones

  Android-based phones outsold the iPhone in the U.S. for the first time last quarter. This is important to law firms creating iPhone, Android and Blackberry apps to market themselves.

• LinkedIn Gives Users the Ability to Follow Companies

  By using the new "follow company" feature, lawyers can use LinkedIn to detect management changes at clients, initiate contact with prospective clients, and see where a company is staffing up.

• 41% of Social Media Traffic is on Facebook

  Facebook and YouTube are taking over the social web, according to new data from comScore.

• Online Social Networking Doubles in Two Years

  Nearly half of Americans belong to an online social network, according to a new survey. "Social networking has become a part of mainstream media behavior," said Tom Webster, VP of strategy and marketing at Edison Research.

• Virtual law offices and ethics – Practicing Safely in the Cloud

  Clients have an overwhelmingly positive reaction to VLOs as an option for obtaining legal services. VLO software is typically provided on a subscription basis, with no setup costs and low monthly fees, so that lawyers can establish “offices” anywhere, with minimal overhead.

• Elawyering Award Goes to North Carolina Divorce Firm

  The family law website, North Carolina Divorce founded by Lee Rosen, has grown into a massive resource featuring articles, calculators, forms, answers to questions, videos, podcasts, forums, live call-in internet radio shows and e-courses.

• Wait Until Your Computer Dies Before Getting Windows 7

  A recognized technology expert says you should keep your Windows XP computer until it dies. Only then should you buy a new computer with Windows 7 on it. There is no compelling reason to upgrade.

• Firms Must Wise Up To Digital Marketing

  Online social networking is a lucrative business development tool, but you must have an online policy in place, according to several experts.

• Social Media: Give 'Em Something To Talk About

  Social media tools (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.) are neither as magical nor fear-inspiring as they may seem. They are merely new — sometimes better — ways of doing old things -- especially public relations, according to John Hellerman.

• Americans Spend an Average of 2.7 Hours a Day on the Mobile Internet

  The mobile phone is becoming the most powerful online device, according to a new study by Ruder Finn. Mobile phones are social connectors that are highly useful in law firm marketing.

• The Rise of Local SEO and the Death of the Yellow Pages

  Chances are your telephone book is gathering dust, while your clients are actively searching for the services you offer on the Web, according to SEO expert Dev Basu. They're also searching via their mobile devices, enhanced 411 services such as Google 411, and finding you on a web map.

• An Old Firm Learns New Web 2.0 Tricks

  Curtis, Mallet-Prevost created a “master feed” that automatically distributes updates to the firm’s Facebook page, its LinkedIn group, Twitter feed, blogs and website. The online initiative cost no out-of-pocket expenses.

• Web Strategy Chart: Google Buzz vs. Facebook vs. MySpace vs. Twitter

  Now that Google has entered online social networking with Buzz, blogger Jeremiah Owyang analyzes the effect it will have on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.

• Five ways lawyers can utilize the Kindle

  Lawyers can use Kindles to release their own books by self-publishing. Plus you can read depositions, take private records home, keep up on blogs and save on printing costs.

• Arnold & Porter Creates an iPhone App for Law Firm Marketing

  Need to read Arnold & Porter's Consumer Advertising Law Blog? There's an app for that. It is the first major law firm to publish an iPhone app, making the online blog content available offline.

• Law Firm Marketing RFP Response Required in a Tweet

  FMC Technologies required law firms to state in a Tweet on Twitter why the company should retain them. Eight law firms did so and made the final cut.

• The Little Known Secret to Getting Page 1 Google Rankings

  Search-engine optimized video gives you a 53 times better chance of getting your website a Page 1 Google ranking, according to author Steven Strauss.

• Get Into the Secret Directory that GCs Use to Find Law Firms

  We all know about Chambers, Best Lawyers, Leading Lawyers and other directories. But Serengeti Tracker has a near-secret online directory that corporations and in-house counsel actually use to find a law firm.

• LinkedIn Business Development Checklist

  To get new business from LinkedIn, you can't stop by simply creating a profile. You need to build your network, join a group, participate in a discussion, and monitor and meet your contacts.

• What the Yahoo/Bing Combination Means to Law Firm Marketers

  Bing will be the default search engine provider on Yahoo's websites, in a deal just finalized. As a result, you may want to adjust your law firm marketing initiatives to maximize your online search results.

• Using CRM to Improve Client Services

  By implementing ContactEase CRM, law firm Doerner Saunders implemented a superior client communication system that has brought the firm new business.

• The Lawyers' Definitive Guide to Video Marketing

  Attorney Gerry Oginski offers numerous tips on lawyer marketing with online video. Follow his practical advice and you too will get callers from across the country as he does.

• New Tips for Effective PowerPoint Presentations

  When making a PowerPoint presentation, keep your audience listening to you and don't talk to your slides. Marketer Helen Hammonds advises not to let viewers switch to reading your slides, because then they stop listening.

• Lawyers Use LinkedIn to Create New Relationships

  Lawyers are joining LinkedIn by the thousands, but few are taking full advantage of the online social network. Once you've created a profile you should get recommendations, join a group and start discussions.

• Lawyers who blog for client development are succeeding: New Survey

  Lawyers who blog professionally have greater visibility in their industry, said clients purchased services, find they are regarded as a thought leader and are asked to speak at conferences, according to a new study by Technorati.

• Top 20 Ways to Quickly Becoming a Recognized Subject Matter Expert on LinkedIn

  Nearly 1 million lawyers have profiles on LinkedIn. Barbara Rozgonyi advises that lawyers can stand out by posting questions for a survey, adding your LinkedIn URL to your email signature block, and hosting a LinkedIn meet up.

• How to Develop a Social Media Policy for Your Employees

  The goal is not to shut down an employee’s access to the information superhighway. Rather, it is to build guard rails that keep your employees and your firm from skidding off the road, according to Womble Carlyle's Henry Fawell.

• Survey: Substantial Growth in Online Social Networking by Lawyers

  One-third of corporate counsel and half of lawyers in private practice participate in online social networks every day, according to Leader Networks. In contrast, 94% of lawyers do not use Twitter.

• Closing the Facebook - Why Some Members are Moving on

  A small but notable number of Facebookers are leaving because of stalkers, spam, advertising, the waste of time and novelty wearing off.

• Supercharge Your Referrals with Technology

  Social networking sites are free services to connect to others to obtain business referrals and build new alliances for future business, according to Steve Matthews and Reid Trautz.

• Book Review: The Lawyer’s Guide to Practice Management Systems Software

  This is not an easy read, according to reviewer Ellen Auwarter. Marketing and Technology should split the chapters between them, form a task force internally and collaborate extensively – lest they overlook the vast research and experience behind the dense content.

• The State of Legal Social Networking

  Lawyers should concentrate their online social networking efforts to LinkedIn, Martindale-Hubbell Connected and Legal OnRamp, in that order.

• How to Mine Legal Biz out of Social Media

  Social media sites have been sprouting like dandelions: Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Naymz, Spoke, Plaxo, Martindale Connected, Legal OnRamp, JD Supra, thousands of lawyer blogs, and Twitter. Marketer Richard Alonso reports which offer actual return on investment and which can be ignored.

• E-mail Subject Lines that Generate Leads and New Business

  The 50-character subject line can make or break you email campaign. Lyris Listmanager software offers 10 rules to get your subscribers to take action.

• 64% of Marketers Now Considering Firm Sites on LinkedIn or Facebook

  A survey of professional firm marketers shows a major change in attitude favoring two popular online social networks -- especially among smaller firms.

• How to Use Blogs for Effective Public Relations

  Blogs are a pervasive part of your clients lives, according to PR expert Rodger Johnson. They are an essential element of public relations, because 80% of bloggers post product and brand reviews.

• How To Choose Very Strong Passwords That Are Easy To Remember

  Do you use the same login password repeatedly, making you vulnerable to hackers? Tech whiz Dewald Pretorius shows you how to choose very strong passwords that are easy to remember and are different for each website.

• Twitter is Killing RSS

  RSS has lost ground with website publishers as a way to promote new website content and syndicate content. A Tweet can lead readers back to a publisher's website, and permit them to interact with the author.

• Social Networks Now More Popular than Email

  Two-thirds of the world’s Internet population visit social networking or blogging sites, accounting for almost 10% of all internet time, reports public relations expert Brian Solis. What's more, Facebook has surpassed MySpace.

• How Patton Boggs Uses Technology to Drive Marketing Efforts

  An award winning combination of a custom magazine, podcasts and an Internet radio show have brought Patton Boggs new visibility -- and new clients, according to CMO Mary Kimber.

• Using Twitter for Business – Perhaps!

  Everybody's talking about Twitter, but what's the business development angle? Digital technology coach John Jantsch created a practical guide for marketers wrestling with yet another social medium.

• How to Use Social Media for Business Development

  Law firms need to know about engaging in the Web 2.0 conversation, because it has become a powerful marketing strategy for many professional firms, according to authors Elgé Premeau and David M. Freedman.

• Top 10 mistakes People Make on LinkedIn

  Don't use a photo of yourself in a baseball cap and don't leave your employment history incomplete. Marketing consultant Christine Pilch spotlights the most common mistakes on the legal profession's major online social network.

• TV vs. the Web for Law Firm Marketing

  Which is a better marketing medium: TV or the Web? Experts in law firm marketing, advertising, web development, public relations and strategy responded. A majority favored spending marketing dollars on the Web because of its ability to target clients and measure results.

• Portland Law Firm Boosts Website Visitors who became Leads by 400%

  A Portland law firm multiplied the number of visitors to its website by a factor of 9, and increased the total number of visitors into leads by 400%. Sean McMahon shows how search engine optimization plus paid search marketing got the results.

• Get Alert with Electronic Caffeine

  New clients come through relationships, so maintaining them via alert services is an important business development activity. E-alerts are the guarana, taurine and caffeine of business development.

• Raising Your Profile on Second Life

  In this excerpt from his new book, The Opportunity Maker, writer and business development coach Ari Kaplan explains how a new generation of lawyers are harnessing this “3-D virtual world” for networking and business development.

• Using Wikipedia Marketing to Market A Law Firm or Practice

  A carefully crafted Wikipedia entry can be a valuable marketing tool, enlarging your Web presence and increasing traffic to your firm's Website, writes legal marketing and public relations expert Miranda Sevcik.

• Insight on Free Business Intelligence

  Many firms and lawyers use subscription services to conduct competitive intelligence, but there is an abundance of online resources where you can get intelligence for free, according to Business Development Advisor Larry Bodine.

• Tech Offerings Make Two U.K. Firms Shine

  Two London-based law firms — Pinsent Masons and Wragge & Co. — can teach U.S. law firms a thing or two about using technology to market their firms. Each firm developed home-grown software to save their clients money and to distinguish themselves from the competition.