Content

Writing Your Website

Law Firm Web Site Advertising: Effective Marketing Content

Converting Visitors to Potential Clients

What are your law firm's practice areas? Where do you practice law? Why should a potential client call you rather than some other attorney? These are essential questions that your FindLaw marketing copywriter will answer on every page of your Web site. You may have heard the phrase "Content is King on the Internet", and our content writers know how to write about law firms - because that's all they do.

A Web site is a challenging writing - and advertising - task. It is not like a brochure or legal brief with a cover and pages presented in a specific order. There is no way of knowing which page of your Web site will be the first page a visitor sees, so we will make sure every page effectively presents your law firm's capabilities, guides visitors through your site, and gives potential clients an opportunity to contact you.

Contact FindLaw legal marketing consultant Jon Reiter - 30-minute free consultation - 303-947-1737

When you talk with legal marketing consultant Jon Reiter, he will suggest a legal marketing solution tailored to your law firm's specific needs. On your initial call with our FindLaw creative team, we will discuss that plan and gather information to use in writing about your law firm's services to best advertise your firm's services online.

•· Your FindLaw marketing copywriter will ask you questions so that we can better know your law firm and write content tailored to you and your potential clients.

•· You are different from any other lawyer - even those who practice in the same areas of law that you do. What are your strengths? What do your clients appreciate about your law firm? What special services do your offer? That information can be the foundation for marketing copy that persuades a site visitor to contact you.

•· We will ensure that the Internet search terms (i.e., keywords) your potential clients will most likely use are present throughout the content of your Web site. Your search engine optimization consultant and content writer will work together to integrate those terms into your marketing copy to effectively advertise your Web site.

•· Your writer and FindLaw designer will work together to ensure that your marketing messages are highly visible to site visitors.

Content

A rule of thumb: What attracts and holds the attention of site visitors will also improve search engine rankings. Regularly updated content, for example. A search engine's spider looks for fresh information to index. Straightforward, easy to browse design also makes a difference. The same slow-loading, overdone graphics and multimedia bells-and-whistles that drive web users up the wall also drastically decrease the likelihood of your web site being found in a search result.

One of the most important factors in search-engine-optimizing your web site is to intelligently use keywords that promote your marketing objectives, fit your geographic location and practice areas, and match the words that prospects use when they conduct a search.

To use keywords effectively on your site, remember to:

•· Put yourself in your prospect's shoes. Prospects won't necessarily use legal terms of art when conducting a search. Incorporate layman's terms for your key practice areas. Include "lawyer" and "attorney" and "law firm." Cover your geographic area in all its permutations: city, state, even neighborhood if you're in a big city.

•· Keep it readable. Keyword stuffing - repeating key words and phrases over and over - makes for a poor user experience and could get your site flagged by search engines. Your goal should be keyword-rich language that's also natural and easy to read.

•· Own a niche. While the typical search generates thousands (or even millions) of results, most users click the first few links. So it's key to target your specific market niche and location. You're better off, in other words, scoring high in a unique search than chasing the most competitive, generic keywords like "divorce lawyer" or "criminal-defense attorney."

Keywords should also be incorporated into the behind-the-scenes programming of your site. Properly written title tags, meta descriptions and alt tags are a few of the key elements that can help keep you at the top of search engine rankings.

Content really is king. So if you work with a web-site provider, make sure they know the legal industry and how to write for it, and understand how search engines evaluate and rank law firm web sites like yours.

Ongoing Process

Search engine optimization is a straightforward, common-sense process, but it's important to keep at it - to regularly measure your site traffic and conversion rate, audit the content on your site and adjust it as your marketing goals, and the legal issues facing your clients, change.

Then republish your site as necessary. If you outsource your online marketing, look for a provider who can assist you throughout that process - from traffic analysis to writing and design services to the nuts-and-bolts of site management.

That will help ensure that the time, money and creative energy you've invested in your web site pay off. Search engine optimization is a terrific opportunity to make smart use of the Internet to generate more leads, and ultimately more cases, for your firm.