Larry Bodine Law Marketing Blog : Law firm marketing, legal editor, legal marketing, attorney marketing, business development, marketing consultant, legal consultant, business development

Attention Attorneys: You have only 6 seconds to make a connection with a website visitor.

Six short seconds from the time a visitor lands on your website to let them know what you're focusing on, how you can help them, and ultimately to prompt an inquiry from them.

Even if you drive thousands of visitors to your website every day, that traffic is of very little value to your law firm if you're not converting those visitors into inquiries.

Ready to make changes to your website that will prove results?  Join Cindy Greenway, Editor in Chief of LawMarketing.com and Tanner Jones, Marketing Director of ConsultWebs.com on Thursday, September 12th at 1pm Eastern / 10am Pacific, for a complimentary webinar.

5 Must Haves For Your Website Conversion.

Here's what you learn when you join us for this webinar:

1. Five top items you MUST have on your website to convert visitors to prospects
2. How to design for human eyes:  ensuring you are approachable
3. Proven ways to maximize your website conversion
4. Which data is worth tracking and how it impacts your bottom line
5. The top conversion tools that are critical for today's Web browsers

This webinar is complimentary. Click here to register.

Samantha Miller, Vice President of Product, Web Visibility Solutions at LexisNexis, wrote an important piece back in November about the importance of optimizing your firm's website for mobile users.  Here is an excerpt. Read it at the source, here.

Have you ever tried to navigate a website with your mobile phone or pad, when that site was NOT optimized for mobile devices?

The text is too small and the images are too large. There is way too much content and that material is basically unreadable. Pictures are not sized or placed properly. If you can even find the scroll bar or tabs, you have to keep swiping. And forget about trying to find any contact info.    

In short, the website looks and feels terrible.

If you are a consumer in urgent need of legal information or actually need to find an attorney, you're moving on to another firm's site.

This was a recent article posted on LexisNexis.com

Does your law firm's website generate enough traffic and leads each month to grow your business?

And are the leads your website is producing in the areas of the law that you practice? (E.g.,a website for a bankruptcy firm probably should not generate requests for consultations on personal injury.)     

Statistically speaking, there is enough online activity that your website should be producing leads. After all, three out of four consumers seeking an attorney over the last year used online resources at some point in the process, according to a recent survey of adult Internet users.*

So where are all your leads?

To hire your firm, prospective clients searching for legal services online first need to find your firm. And when they find your firm, they need to be inspired to contact your firm and request a consultation.

If that's not happening, you don't have to be an expert developer or webmaster to know you need help. 

"Would I Hire Me?": Take Our Simple Website Self-Assessment

Assume the mindset of a consumer who has a problem related to the area of law you practice, and turns to Google for help. Ask yourself these hard questions and BE OBJECTIVE:

• What types of questions would my target prospects enter into Google when researching their legal matters? When I key in those questions, does my website appear? (E.g.: My husband is cheating. How do I plan for a divorce?)
• If a consumer is looking for an attorney in my market, who practices in the area of the law that I practice, will he/she be able to find my firm? (E.g.: Chicago Bankruptcy Attorney; Albany Divorce Lawyer.)
• When I land on my website, is the content engaging, readable and written in a consumer-friendly manner?
• As I review my site, how easy is it to call or email to request a consultation?
• How does my website look when compared with my top competitors'?
• Is the area of law I practice obvious or ambiguous?
• Does my website look fresh and current, or does some of the content appear stale?
• Would I hire me?

If you asked yourself these questions and do not like your answers, or just want to learn more about the latest in law firm marketing, contact us to speak with a Law Firm Marketing Specialist. And don't forget: You should always be as critical as your most discerning prospective client.

* Source: Based on a survey of 4,000 adult Internet users (Internet users comprise 78% of the U.S. adult population** and the U.S. adult population comprises 235 million according to the U.S. Census 2010) conducted by The Research Intelligence Group (TRiG), March 2012.  ** According to The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project's Spring Tracking Survey conducted April 26-May 22, 2011.

LexisNexis® Legal & Professional ( www.lexisnexis.com ), a leading provider of content and technology solutions, last Thursday announced results from the latest LexisNexis® Martindale-Hubbell® study on how international B2B law firms are using their websites as part of their marketing programs.

Based on initial qualitative interviews conducted in April 2012 and an online, quantitative survey in July, the study "The Use of Websites in Law Firm Marketing" reflects the views of 209 law firms across six world regions (excluding the United States). Amongst all participants, offline tactics currently account for just over two-thirds of all marketing spend, compared to 38% for online - though many respondents expect this to change in the future as online methods become more widely adopted in their marketing programs.

Steve Corney, senior digital marketing manager at LexisNexis International, commented: "The study shows that the legal industry is finally recognizing the role and importance of online content in lead generation, alongside traditional offline techniques. The 38% of marketing budgets allocated to online tactics now brings the legal sector slightly above the market average of 36%."*

As the table below illustrates, survey respondents across firms of all sizes do seem to be prioritizing their budget in online investment - reporting to allocate at least 3% of their marketing spend when developing a new website, and a further 1% on sourcing external support for the site once launched:

Firms that responded to the survey perceive their website to be 'very effective' (34%) in helping to build their reputation and awareness of their brand. A disparity, however, lies in the role that their websites play to help generate new work. Here respondents are seemingly more ambivalent, with more than one third (36%) feeling that their website fails to sufficiently support lead generation - though this view was more prevalent among respondents from smaller law practices and firms that had not revamped their website for more than three years. On average, all firms surveyed tended to run their websites for two to three years before considering a re-design.

A quarter of all respondents report taking a formal approach to managing content on their website, with 25% (small, medium and large firms) using a content calendar to schedule regular updates, whilst the majority (66%) have yet to put this structure in place. When asked about the most popular content on their website, lawyer biographies are the most visited pages (85% of respondents), followed by information about practice area/sector expertise (52%) and thought leadership articles, case histories, etc. (50%).

The popularity of such content helps to explain why respondents also ranked online legal directories (61% 'very' and 'somewhat' effective) as the third most effective lead generation tactic, behind their website (74%) and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO, 62%). Adding relevant content about their lawyers, market expertise and thought leadership to online directories provides firms with further SEO benefits beyond their own website and helps to surface their content to a wider online audience to help prove credibility and generate new leads.

Whilst 71% of firms do take time to track how content on their website is used, many recognise that there is room for improvement in this area. Of these firms, only 11% report extensively using the available reporting tools and data to help measure effectiveness and return on investment, whilst 43% make little or no use of the data available.

Derek Benton, director of International Operations at Martindale-Hubbell, commented: "Technology is one of the factors that is changing the competitive landscape in the legal sector. It is positive to see how firms are using relevant content on their own website and third party sites to help produce leads more cost effectively, rather than rely only on offline channels. The challenge for marketers is to use the available reporting tools to monitor engagement and continually measure and improve the impact of online content to deliver the best return on investment."

Download the full report of "The Use of Websites in Law Firm Marketing: Examining how corporate law firms use their websites in marketing and business development" here.

*Source: "The Marketing Budgets 2012 Report", Econsultancy, in association with Experian Marketing Services, Feb 2012.

About LexisNexis Legal & Professional

LexisNexis® Legal & Professional ( www.lexisnexis.com ) is a leading global provider of content and technology solutions that enable professionals in legal, corporate, tax, government, academic and non-profit organizations to make informed decisions and achieve better business outcomes. As a digital pioneer, the company was the first to bring legal and business information online with its Lexis® and Nexis® services. Today, LexisNexis Legal and Professional harnesses leading-edge technology and world-class content, to help professionals work in faster, easier and more effective ways. Through close collaboration with its customers, the company ensures organizations can leverage its solutions to reduce risk, improve productivity, increase profitability and grow their business. Part of Reed Elsevier, LexisNexis Legal & Professional serves customers in more than 100 countries with 10,000 employees worldwide.

Martindale-Hubbell® helps international law firms to enhance their online presence and drive more prospect enquiries through professional profiles on martindale.com® and coordination of Martindale-Hubbell lawyer ratings. martindale.com is a leading online law directory with over 13 million unique visitors every year.

LexisNexis has rolled out Site Essentials, Site Edge and Site Exclusives, a suite of updated website development products and services — complete with blogging features and mobile device optimization — designed to help law firms establish an effective online presence and attract more clients.

“LexisNexis has updated its website development services to provide law firms with solutions that help them establish an effective web presence, generate robust site traffic and accelerate and track their web-based lead generation efforts,” said David Palmieri, vice president and managing director of Marketing and Consumer Solutions at LexisNexis. “When law firms engage with us, we can deliver higher return on investment with a wider variety of products and services that meet firms’ marketing goals.”

The new LexisNexis® Site Essentials product offers firms:

• An effective, professional website, designed and hosted by LexisNexis, that can be implemented in as little as two weeks
• A creative consultation
• Home page content with suggested content for practice area descriptions
• A website performance dashboard to track key site statistics including phone and email inquiries
• A content management system enabling users to make copy adjustments and site updates
• Basic search engine optimization
• A mobile-optimized version of the site
• Ongoing technical assistance from LexisNexis website experts.

Additionally, LexisNexis® Site Edge includes copywriting assistance as well as the addition of five articles each from three practice areas which update every two weeks, giving visitors a reason to come back to the site. Site Edge customers can also add a professionally produced video to their site.

Also available is LexisNexis® Site Exclusives, a custom, end-to-end web development product. In addition to providing all the features of the other two services, Site Exclusives gives customers significantly more copywriting and ongoing technical assistance, while also providing a fully customized site design and architecture and hosting services for up to five videos on the firm’s website.

While websites from all three services are optimized to render on mobile devices, LexisNexis® Mobile Website Personalization service gives firms the option to create versions of their site optimized for specific devices or to target specific clientele. According to a 2010 report from Gartner, Inc., mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common web access device worldwide by 2013, making it more important for firms to communicate their expertise and capabilities effectively on the mobile web.

For firms looking to increase online engagement via their website, LexisNexis® Blog Basics is an easy-to-use integrated blogging tool. LexisNexis Blog Basics provides customers with another effective way of promoting authoritative firm content and maximizing lead generation. According to a 2010 study released by HubSpot, companies that blog have 55 percent more website visitors and generate 88 percent more leads.

To learn more visit the Law Firm Marketing Center at http://lexisnexis.com/law-firm-marketing.

Did you know that 68% of marketers did a website redesign in the last 12 months and they spent a median of $10,000 doing so, according to Hubspot's Science of Website Redesign. This belies the myth that a major law firm has to spend north of $50,000 to revamp their website.

What's more, only about half of website redesign projects finish and launch on time, according to the data, and 1/3 of marketers were not happy with their last website redesign. The data came from surveys of 100+ consumers, 100+ marketers and 100+ agencies.

"Most people think you should redesign your website every one to two years," according to Mike Volpe CMO of Hubspot. "Your website should be a living, breathing, chaning being. Edit and improve it constantly."

55% of the time the marketing team initiates the idea for a website redesign, although the CEO starts it 30% of the time. As to who actually undertakes the redesign:

• 44% of website owners hired an outside company for the majority of the project.
• 53% did the maority of the project internally.
• Satisfaction with the results was the same whether the work was outsources or handled in-house.

It generally takes 4 to 5 months to redesign a website. Lightning speed is one month but it can take up to two years, as many law firm marketeres know.

Good and Bad Metrics

How can you tell if the redesign was successful. Here are some better metrics:

• Visitors
• Leads
• Sales
• Conversion %
• All of the above, but by source

Worse Metrics

• Bounce rate
• Time on site
• Page views
• Pages / visit
• "Hits"
• Google Pagerank

The key takeaway is that what visitors want most is a website that is easy to use -- not Flash, fancy design or artwork. Find out more about website redesigns that get marketing results.

Join us as we check in with the $50,000 marketing makeover contest winner, Case, Rajnoha and Boudreau in St. Louis to examine their new site and learn about developing an effective online legal marketing presence.

LexisNexis will host the free “ultimate law firm marketing makeover” webinar Tuesday June 23rd from 12:00pm – 1:00pm EST, featuring a discussion of best practices for online legal marketing and mid-year progress report on the firm. The three-lawyer firm won the contest in January and work has proceeded behind the scenes since then.

I was one of the judges who picked the winner and will give you my online marketing perspective during the webinar.

Topics to be discussed include:

• Online marketing versus print
• Could you use an online marketing makeover?
• What does a good online marketing plan look like?
• How did LexisNexis incorporate best practices into Case, Rajnoha, and Boudreau LLP’s marketing makeover?
• Challenges and successes in online marketing

If you are interested in attending this free webinar, please register here.. .

Web experts working with Case, Rajnoha and Boudreau, LLP will review progress made to the new site as they implement a customized online marketing program for the contest winner. Margaret Boudreau, a partner from the winning law firm, will also offer perspective on her firm’s marketing progress since winning the makeover.

The $50,000 makeover grand prize delivered a suite of services ranging from web design, video production, search engine optimization (SEO), development of a robust profile on Lawyers.com, martindale.com and more.

From Hubspot: We all know our website is a key part of our marketing and lead generation strategy. But when prospects visit your site, what are they looking for? What do they want to see, and what do they consider most important? To find out, RainToday surveyed more than 200 buyers of B2B services -- in companies of all sizes -- to rate the importance of various elements of a service provider's website.

The top 4 elements should come as no surprise:

•  Service descriptions (87%)
•  Description of industries served (78%)
•  Success stories / case studies (73%)
•  Professional website design and presentation (69%)

These elements are the core of most firms' websites. If something is amiss here, it will raise major questions with buyers from the get-go. Getting these elements in place is just the price of entering the game.

However, if you want to win clients, don't overlook the remaining six elements. Even podcasts and audio content, at the bottom of the list, were rated by 40% of decision makers as being "extremely" or "very important" when deciding to make initial contact with a service provider. 

Whatever marketing you are doing, the first stop for most buyers is a visit to your website. It can either draw them in further with online resources and content, podcasts, videos, and news, or it can say the same thing as your competitors' sites, providing a laundry list of services and a nice look, but neither helping nor hurting your chances to start or enhance a relationship.

Web Elements Working Together - An Example

Say you are going to run a webinar. You may send an invitation by email (a top way to generate attendance at webinars), directing buyers to register for the event on your website. During the registration process, you can ask them to sign up for your newsletter, allowing you to add them to ongoing marketing communications. And, on the confirmation page, you can direct them to blog posts, case studies, or podcasts on related topics to the event, further engaging them with your brand and thought-leading content.

Pull People to You

You can go a step further and share information about the webinar and the related content items via social media such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Doing this allows you to reach your followers and fans, some of whom may not be on your email list, as well as enhancing your Web presence. As more people use the Web to find services, you want to make sure you have compelling content that is findable in search engines and draws people to you.

Buyers may not indicate elements such as blog posts, podcasts, and video as being the most important features of a website, but leveraging content can really help your product or service stand out in a crowded market space.

What type of content do you have available on your website?