Prior to the expansion of the power of the Internet and the pervasive way that Google finds and delivers relevant content, one of the common lawyer marketing tactics used to generate new business was public relations (PR). Having a respected source write a story in an authoritative publication about the successful outcome of a case influenced other attorneys to refer cases and also helped predispose injured victims in need of legal help to have a good feeling about the law firm, when and if they could be reached.

As the circulation among various publications has diminished, more and more lawyer marketing professionals have turned to online PR for lawyers to fill the void and take advantage of the psychological impact that reading articles written by attorneys and published on key influence engines can impart. Psychologists refer to one phenomenon that causes readers to be positively influenced as confirmation bias. Confirmation bias refers to the way people search for information and also how they interpret the information they have. A perfect example of this phenomenon is how two people from opposing political parties can watch the same debate on TV and both draw opposite conclusions about who won. And neither one will change their opinion about who to vote for.

Research has shown that consumers tend to search for information and interpret it in a manner that supports their first impression or opinion. That is why it is so important to have an ongoing and consistent marketing program that includes online PR for lawyers. By crafting articles, white papers, blogs and commentary then syndicating the content across the Internet, your lawyer marketing program can help create the perception that your firm is an authority in your areas of practice. The more opportunities that are offered to the news reading public about your firm, the greater the chance to create the favorable perception that influences consumers to believe that you are the right attorney for their case. As they continue their search for information and help, the more times they see your expert content and your website, the more predisposed to take the call to action and contact your firm they will be.

Also important to mention is the recent Google Panda update which makes the use of fresh content, including legal blogs, articles and even videos more important to their algorithm and therefore will also help improve the ranking of your attorney  in the search results. The best content isn't always the best written, the briefest or even the most earth shattering. Quite often it is that which meets the needs of your target audience and provides them with the authoritative answers to their questions about navigating the legal process and why your law firm is the right choice for them.

For help with your challenges with online PR for lawyers or more information about how to get started with content marketing and online PR for lawyers, contact Rene Perras, lawyer marketing pro or visit Cepac.com.

San Francisco, CA--As I have said before, “content is king” when it comes to your lawyer website and securing page one rankings on search engines. But, not all content is king, instead some content is more like the jester—who is there to entertain, but doesn’t really do anything to help your presence on the Web.

This content also known as duplicate content, can be articles, web pages and other pieces of information that have been recycled or leased from other sources, and were incorporated into your lawyer website as your own. This content can be extremely detrimental to your lawyer marketing efforts and can create a lot of grief. Many of the major law firm marketing groups do not dedicate the personnel or resources to developing fresh, relevant and current content specifically for your law firm website, which is why they recycle or lease content. These tactics are typically put into motion when clients have been persuaded by unscrupulous law firm SEO professionals to leave and to try a new approach.

Lawyers need to beware. The best way to do this is to read your agreement with the law firm marketing company you hired to create content for your lawyer website. If it is not stated in black and white, ask them how they generate the content and make sure that the content on your website and blog posts belong to your law firm alone. If they don’t have a team of writers to craft optimized and quality content specifically for your attorney website, my advice is to look elsewhere for an attorney Internet marketing firm who can provide those services. 

Having duplicate content not only diminishes your credibility if someone else finds the same content on another website, it will hinder search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. Fresh, new and relevant content is the key to creating visibility, establishing authority and boosting your lawyer website to page one of Google. In addition, search engine features like Google Caffeine, give more weight to fresh user-generated content. Each time that your content is changed, added to, or updated on your law firm website, Google Caffeine will consider the updates as new content, potentially allowing for better placement and relevancy in search engine results pages (SERP).

If you are the victim of an unscrupulous lawyer marketing company, that populated your attorney website with duplicate content and are considering leaving for greener pastures, seek the expertise of a Google SEO consultant, before you suffer more irreversible harm.
                   
About the writer:
Rene Perras is a law firm SEO consultant, who has worked alongside law firms of all types to help build effective attorney Internet marketing campaigns for over 20 years. For a free consultation about law firm SEO, please contact Rene Perras at 720-ONE-RENE or visit Cepac.com

Dallas, Texas-- Lawyer Web design today is much different than it was 10 years ago, because now there is an immense amount of interactive and flashy tools and features that you can incorporate into your lawyer website. Many law firms are looking for that “wow factor” and want to stand out from the competition when creating their law firm’s website. But, the bells and whistles could actually overshadow your law firm’s core message.

Too often we focus on the bells and whistles that come with a website and miss the core message that our prospects/clients want and need to see. Instead of focusing on the “wow”—focus on your audience, who is on your lawyer website for a reason: They need a qualified attorney to represent their case.

The focus should always be on the user experience, not on what massages our egos or the programmer uses to impress you. Usability should be the top priority when working with a web designer to create your attorney website; because if the potential client can’t navigate your page easily, then you’re not going to get new cases. In fact, a flashy site can be more cumbersome to navigate.

A few areas of usability an effective lawyer website should focus on include:

• Navigability: Visitors to your lawyer website should be able to easily locate all your information on the site through navigation menus, search boxes and links. Having a well-placed navigation bar, like on the top of the website, can help your potential clients find and access important information easily. This will help eliminate your website’s bounce rate and keep people on your lawyer website.

• Readability: Consumers are on your lawyer website to learn more about your law firm, so give them something to read. Having quality content on your website’s pages, which isn’t heavy in legal jargon, can help give the potential client a better experience and help SEO efforts. Incorporating a law firm blog on your site is also another good idea to create content and establish confidence with the potential client.

• Accessibility: Almost everyone needs a lawyer at some point, including people with disabilities. Incorporating features that cater to the disabled can broaden your reach with potential clients. In addition, the mobile Web is an up and coming avenue in which people are accessing the web. Making your lawyer website mobile Web-friendly will allow people who are using smartphones, tablets, iPads, web-enabled TVs and game consoles to access your website easily. By failing to include these features, your law firm can miss out on a large pool of consumers who are seeking the assistance of an attorney.

• Speed:  If your website is taking more than a minute to load, chances are people are clicking off as fast as they clicked onto your attorney website. Having a fast website is key in eliminating the bounce rate and keeping potential clients from leaving your site for another lawyer website. In today’s society no one has patience, so if it’s taking forever for a consumer to access your website’s information, they are likely just going to move on to the next lawyer website.

• Experience: Overall, this is the most important factor for your lawyer website. If potential clients don’t have a good experience while visiting your site, then they are likely not going to call your law firm to speak with an attorney. The best way to find out how well consumers are experiencing your website is to talk to them about it and ask them to fill out a survey about your website. Through that information, you and your web designer can work together to make your website fit better to the consumers needs.

About the writer:
Rene Perras is a lawyer Web design consultant, who has worked alongside law firms of all types to help build effective lawyer Internet marketing campaigns for over 20 years. For a free consultation about an attorney website, please contact Rene Perras at 720-ONE-RENE or visit Cepac.com

Montreal, Canada--It’s no secret that the World Wide Web and video-hosting sites contain millions of videos to pique any and all interests of a consumer. This can be intimidating to lawyers who are considering the launch of a lawyer video marketing campaign. It’s easy to think: “Well, why bother? There’s no way consumers are going to find my lawyer videos among all the competition and clutter—let alone watch them and take action.” But, you’re mistaken—because that’s simply not true.

With the help of an experienced lawyer marketing agency, that is knowledgeable in how consumers respond to lawyer videos and how to obtain top ranking on search engine results pages; your law firm videos can be found and viewed by consumers, potentially leading those prospects to call your law firm. The thing about lawyer Web videos is that the people who are watching your videos are not looking for recreation; they are looking for a lawyer to represent their case.  The practice of law is need-driven, so if consumers are watching, they are interested.

Crafting short, sweet and to the point lawyer Web videos covering the topics that consumers need to know, will help to get potential clients interested and wanting to know more about your law firm. To engage consumers, lawyer Web videos need to capture the attention of your prospects and answer the questions that your legal experience tells you that they are seeking the answers to. Preemptively addressing their needs and putting a personal face on your law firm makes your website stickier and helps reduce the bounce rate.

After creating your lawyer videos, it’s important to syndicate the videos and upload them to video-sharing sites like YouTube with appropriate keywords, categories and file names to help boost SEO tactics and ensure that potential clients find the videos on the Internet. The Google Universal algorithm allows videos to appear on search engine results pages (SERPS) giving you the chance that both your website and videos appear on page one of search results.

Law firms can help turn lawyer Web video viewers into new clients by creating videos that:

•    Talk about the potential client and their needs; not entirely about your law firm.
•    Create videos that talk about common client questions and concerns.
•    Talk about past cases and how you were able to help those clients.
•    Educate the consumer on your fields of practice and position yourself as an expert.
•    Provide short answers to client questions—be quick and to the point. Consumers typically want quick information.
•    Be yourself and let potential clients get to know you.

Overall, if you craft quality lawyer Web videos that speak to and resonate with potential clients—instead of just trying to sell your law firm—you’re likely going to see an increase in the number of people contacting your law firm or visiting your lawyer website to learn more about your attorneys.

About the author:
For over 20 years, search engine marketing specialist Rene Perras has worked with law firms of all legal practices to create successful lawyer video marketing campaigns. For a free consultation and more information about lawyer video marketing, please contact Rene Perras at 720-ONE-RENE or visit Cepac.com.

Changes are in store for attorney advertising in Florida because of a recent Appeals Court decision permanently prohibiting the Florida Bar from enforcing certain advertising rules for lawyers in the state.

Florida has always had some of the most restrictive attorney advertising rules in the nation. While the Bar’s goal of maintaining the image of the legal profession and protecting consumers from unscrupulous tactics by some attorneys may be noble, many view their oversight as overzealous and at times arbitrary.

The story began in 2008 when Jacksonville attorney William H. Harrell, Jr. of the firm Harrell & Harrell, a long time advertiser that promoted the firm’s services in print ads, on his lawyer website and on TV, filed suit against the Florida Bar supported by the nonprofit group Public Citizen.

The suit alleged that the Bar prohibited advertising techniques common to many other industries as irrelevant to a consumer’s decision to hire a lawyer or not factually verifiable and therefore misleading to the public. They further alleged that the restrictions placed on typical advertising methods, such as client testimonials, jingles, tag lines, background sound effects and descriptions of the attorney’s skills necessary to differentiate one law firm from another, were “vague arbitrary and contrary to US Supreme Court precedent holding that attorney advertising is a form of protected speech” and violate an attorney’s First Amendment rights.

All Florida attorneys must follow the Rules of Professional Conduct when crafting attorney advertising and must also submit their proposed ads for review prior to dissemination to the public.  Some of these rules effectively eliminate the essence of advertising, which is to draw distinctions between a law firm and its competition.  The rules forbid the use of “any background sound other than instrumental music,” ads that promise results, compare the quality of a firm’s services to other firms or use “visual or verbal descriptions” that are considered “manipulative.”  Mr. Harrell and Public Citizen contended that the rules in question are vague and offer no real direction as to what would be allowed, therefore resulting in inconsistent enforcement by the Bar.

By way of example, Harrell’s firm had been using the tag line in their ads “Don’t settle for less than you deserve” since 2002.  In 2007 the firm submitted their new ad campaign for Bar approval and the ads were subsequently denied for the exact same tag line because according to the Bar, the phrase characterized the quality of the services offered, in violation of the attorney advertising rules. The exact phrase was approved and used in the past and had been definitively associated with the brand, but now its use would have caused the firm to be disciplined. This finding was upheld on appeal to the standing committee, which is the appeals body of the Bar. Ultimately, it was this decision that forced Harrell & Harrell to seek remedy in court rather than through the final arbiter of the Bar, the Board of Governors.  His 2008 suit claimed that nine of the requirements of the Bar’s attorney advertising rules were unconstitutionally restrictive of his right to free speech and were so vague that they offered little direction and were enforced in an arbitrary manner.  He presented several examples of his own advertising and those of other attorneys to demonstrate how arbitrary the Bar rulings had been.

The district court found that Harrell did not have standing to challenge the rules and issued a summary judgment in favor of the Bar. Harrell subsequently filed his appeal.  The appeals court found that the lower court had ruled in error  and that for several of Harrell’s issues he was entitled to his day in court.

Ultimately the US Appeals Court granted a summary judgment that affirmed some of the lower court rulings, reversed some of the lower court rulings and returned for further review a portion by the lower court.

The court found that the attorney advertising rules that prohibit “manipulative” ads and the requirement that the ads contain only “useful, factual information” too vague and are permanently prohibited from being enforced.  Additionally, the rule prohibiting “any background sound other than instrumental music” violated First Amendment rights and also can no longer be enforced.  The court also found that in this specific case that the Bar’s was wrong and that Harrell’s tag line was not misleading and allowed its use.

The court ruled in favor of the Bar with regard to the rules governing lawyer ads that promise results or characterize the quality of a lawyer’s services finding that they were not unconstitutionally vague.

While this victory represents a great step forward in attorney advertising in Florida, lawyer marketing programs still face challenges and must strive to clearly differentiate themselves from their competition while still working within the Bar guidelines, but more importantly with an eye towards uplifting the profession and finding justice for injured consumers.

Palm Beach, FL-- In order to achieve high visibility, Internet traffic and top placement in Google, Yahoo and Bing’s search results, attorneys employ many different attorney search marketing tactics to reach their desired Internet marketing results. In many cases, search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns are used as two distinct attorney search marketing strategies. But, the lawyer Internet marketing experts at Cepac lawyer marketing, say SEO and PPC can create a robust and comprehensive attorney search marketing campaign when used together correctly.

In the world of lawyer Internet marketing it’s easy for law firms to get confused by industry jargon and the endless amount of Web marketing tactics available to attorneys.  To best explain the difference between the two attorney search marketing tactics, they are defined as:

• SEO:  Search engine optimization is used to improve the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines, like Google, Yahoo and Bing through natural or un-paid search results.

• PPC:  Pay-per-click is used to direct traffic to websites, where advertisers pay the hosting service (Google, Yahoo or Bing) every time a consumer clicks a PPC ad.  The cost of the search term is based on how competitive it is.

While SEO and PPC are two different marketing approaches, each with their own set of pros and cons, they both can work together and complement each other in the attorney search marketing arena, and this is how:

• Drive Website Traffic: People are searching the Web versus looking through the Yellow Pages for an attorney to represent them in their case. If your law firm utilizes SEO and PPC, your lawyer website can be positioned directly in front of your target audience on page 1 search results in multiple places on the page. Obtaining page 1 placement on Google, Yahoo and Bing, with the help of an experienced lawyer Internet marketing firm, can drive Internet traffic to your lawyer website—turning inquiries into cases.

• Generates Higher Web Visibility: Combining SEO and PPC marketing tactics helps to create more exposure on the Web. Generally, the first three spots on search engine results pages (SERP) are PPC ads, and by utilizing both PPC and SEO—which ranks for organic listings—your law firm can dominate the organic and inorganic top SERP ranking positions. This will boost your law firm’s visibility on the Web and increase traffic to your lawyer website.

• Boost Social Media Visibility: By incorporating PPC ads on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter, your law firm can create ads that target a very specific group of people. By doing this, your law firm can start to weed out the lesser performing keywords from the ones that are successful with your target audience. These keywords then can be used to help refine your SEO efforts, creating more of a success rate for your search marketing efforts.

But, law firms must remember that visibility of some information on social media sites—like Facebook—may only be available to account holders, because of its “closed network,” as reported in “Why Facebook and Social Media Can’t Replace Attorney Websites.” This means the PPC ads may only reach the social media’s users and may not be able to be found by the general public using search engines like Google.


About the author:
For over 20 years, attorney search marketing specialist Rene Perras has worked with law firms of all legal practices to create successful lawyer Internet marketing campaigns. For a free consultation and more information about lawyer marketing, please contact Rene Perras at 720-ONE-RENE or visit Cepac.com.

San Francisco, CA-- Its easy to think, “I’ve got a Facebook page, so what do I need a lawyer website for? Potential clients can communicate with my law firm through this popular communication channel, so why bother spending thousands of dollars on a lawyer website?” But, this way of thinking could quickly kill your law firm’s chances of gaining potential clients and could cause your attorneys to lose opportunities for new cases.

Yes, social media has taken the world by storm, and with 750 million active users on Facebook it may seem silly to some to invest in a lawyer website when everyone is spending all their time on social sites. 

But, you first need to understand that Facebook—not your law firm—owns your lawyer social media real estate. This means Facebook can control everything and anything on your lawyer social media page, from having the ability to take down your lawyer social media page at any time to dictating whether some posts are in “violation of their terms and services.”

Often what people don’t realize is that Facebook is a “closed network,” which means there may be no connection to the outside Internet. Any information you post on your lawyer Facebook fan page may not be indexed into Google and may not be found by the general public using a search engine. To view certain information and communicate through your law firm’s Facebook page, a consumer must create a Facebook account and log in; whereas your law firm website can be found through a search engine like Google, without logging into any social media networking site to view information or contact the law firm.  Because of this, search engines are known as an “open network,” due to information being shared freely, without having to obtain a membership to access its information.

At the end of the day it is imperative for law firms to invest in lawyer websites for a number of reasons:

1.    Creates an Internet Presence
2.    Potential clients who find you on social media sites will still look for your lawyer website on the Internet.
3.    A lawyer website showcases your law firm’s practice areas, past verdicts and settlements, contact information and other crucial information potential clients may be searching for.
4.    Lawyer websites are the foundation when building a relationship with potential clients.
5.    Your lawyer website is indexed into search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing so that people searching for a law firm for can find your lawyer website on search engines.
6.    An architecturally sound lawyer website, fueled by SEO, can place your lawyer website on page 1 of Google, Yahoo and Bing.
7.    A well built lawyer website helps your law firm stand out from the competition.

About the writer:
Rene Perras is a law firm Internet marketing consultant, who has been helping law firms of all types with search engine marketing for over 20 years. For a free consultation, please contact Rene Perras at 720-ONE-RENE or visit Cepac.com

Dallas, Texas (Law Firm Internet Marketing News)-- Search engine marketing (SEM) for lawyers is an ever-growing avenue for law firms to promote their legal services—and for good reason. According to a Pew Internet survey, 92 percent of online adults use search engines to find information on the World Wide Web, which includes 50 percent of adults who do so on a typical day.

Furthermore, the study noted search is most popular among the youngest adult Internet users (those age 18-29), 96 percent of whom use search engines to find information online. But, the 30 to 49-year-old and 50 to 64-year-old demographics didn’t fall far behind. The study showed 91 percent of people in those demographics use search engines to find information on the Internet as well.

Search engine marketing includes many of the tactics of Internet marketing widely used by law firms to promote their lawyer websites by increasing their visibility in the result pages of search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. Visibility is achieved by using pay-per-click (PPC) ads, contextual advertising, search engine optimization (SEO) and paid listings—also known as inorganic results.

Consulting with an experienced law firm Internet marketing company—like Cepac lawyer marketing—that is knowledgeable about SEM for lawyers and SEO—law firms can begin to harness the power that SEM has to offer for attorney advertising efforts.

Before the Internet boom, consumers turned to the Yellow Pages to find a lawyer in their area, but those days are long gone and consumers have instead turned to the World Wide Web. A robust SEM campaign, with the support of SEO, can help potential clients find your lawyer website, yielding an increased amount of need-driven Internet traffic to your attorney website—turning inquiries into new, potentially profitable cases.

About the author:
Law firm marketing specialist, Rene Perras, has been helping law firms across all fields of legal practice with search engine marketing for over 20 years. For a free consultation, please contact Rene Perras at 720-ONE-RENE or visit Cepac.com

New York, NY (Attorney SEM News)--If you don’t have a computer or you’re on-the-go, the evolution in technology has made it possible for consumers to access the Internet from virtually anywhere via their smartphones, like Apple’s iPhone or Google’s Android. Because of the ability to connect to the World Wide Web from any location, it has become even more crucial for law firms to utilize mobile search engine optimization (SEO) so potential clients can find your law firm locally via their smartphones.

Mobile SEO is a new form of traditional SEO. Mobile search engines use different bots and algorithms than Web SEO, which evaluate your website as if it was being rendered on a mobile phone, and than rank search engine results partially based on how well the page will load on the type of phone (i.e. iPhone, Android, Samsung etc.) that submitted the query to the search engine.
 
Nearly 60 percent of those relying on smartphones use at least one location-based service, according to a new Pew study. These location-based services—like Google Local, Facebook, Foursquare, Yelp, Around Me, Neer and Loopt—can help consumers find places and businesses in that consumer’s area by locating the user and returning searches with local restaurants and other nearby storefronts—like law firms. Furthermore, the study showed the key demographic group of 18 to 49-year-olds, are even more likely to rely on location-based services to find businesses. This group of consumers is a particularly important demographic for lawyers, because they are a tech-savvy, smartphone-using group who are also drivers and working individuals that may be the most likely to be involved in an injury or fatal accident.

It’s apparent that the mobile Web is an up-and-coming avenue for consumers to access the Internet, which is why hiring an SEO company for law firms that thoroughly understands mobile SEO is crucial in tapping into this market.

You never know when you’re going to need a lawyer. Traffic accidents, slips-and-falls, injuries and other incidents can occur at anytime, any place—which is why being found locally through location-based attorney search engine marketing (SEM) tactics is so important. Attorney SEO marketing efforts include an array of approaches, but the most common include mobile-Web compatible lawyer websites, mobile-Web friendly tags, content, mobile site maps and implementing coding that is adaptable to both the World Wide Web and Mobile Web.

In the minutes following an injury or fatal accident, a victim is dazed and confused—not to mention scared—and may decide to consult with a lawyer directly from the accident scene via their smartphone, through location-based services, to ensure they are covering all their legal bases. This is where hiring an experienced SEO company for law firms can result in your law firm acquiring new, and potentially lucrative cases.

Once a potential client locates your law firm from their smartphone, with or without the help of a location-based service, it is even more important that your lawyer website is mobile Web compatible. Having a mobile Web friendly lawyer website gives the smartphone user a better experience while visiting your attorney website. Easier navigation and access to your lawyer website—with all of your law firm’s contact information readily accessible—will keep that potential client on your lawyer website due to convenience of viewing your information. If your lawyer website is not mobile Web compatible, it can take longer to load, will be harder to find and view your law firm’s information which creates frustration with potential clients, who will likely give up and move on to the next law firm—which employs a mobile friendly attorney website.

About the writer:
Rene Perras is an attorney search engine marketing consultant, who has helped law firms of all types with search engine optimization (SEO) for over 20 years. For a free consultation, please contact Rene Perras at 720-ONE-RENE or visit Cepac.com.

Montreal, Canada (Lawyer Internet Marketing News)---Personal injury lawyers face a wide array of clients who are suffering from a variety of ailments, injuries and emotional stress as the result of an accident. These people are hurting, on the inside and out because of the negligence of others, and lawyers should keep that in mind when creating their attorney marketing messages.

Attorney marketing for personal injury lawyers is unique, because injury attorneys market to people who have been injured, or have become the victim of someone else’s negligence and are in unfamiliar territory. The vast majority of potential clients are scared, worried and have no idea about the services that they seek. It’s the lawyer’s job to make potential clients feel comfortable, relaxed and confident that their law firm will do everything in their power to obtain the justice they deserve.  This is a factor personal injury lawyers can capitalize on to help connect with the target audience and leave them with a lasting, positive impression of your personal injury law firm.

By putting your finger on the pulse of the injured victims, you can effectively use public relations techniques that communicate with potential clients through advertising on a level that will benefit your law firm in the long run. Incorporating emotion, a sense of understanding and feeling that your law firm isn’t just after the next case, but really cares about bringing justice for your clients, is where your law firm can make a deeper connection with potential clients.  It is a fact that no considered purchase, or decision to hire, is made strictly on facts. Many marketers miss the emotional component to their marketing and ultimately fail to make the connection and convert prospects to clients.

In addition to more conventional avenues of attorney marketing like television, radio and targeted direct mail advertising, attorney marketing agencies like Cepac lawyer marketing, have advised law firms to write articles, become a social media presence and actively market on the Internet, while incorporating that emotional approach.

It is likely that an injured person or a family member of someone who suffered a life-threatening or debilitating injury—like a traumatic head injury—is scouring the Internet searching for the best treatments, what their injury means, how it will effect them, and if they have a legal case or not.  Lawyers can capitalize on this by blogging about medical advances, treatments, the legal process and other information related to the field of work your personal injury law firm specializes in. Some potential clients may not even realize they have a case while looking for the most cutting-edge treatments, and by coming across your law firm’s article, they become aware that perhaps they should contact a personal injury lawyer. 

Talking about and showing genuine interest in the issues surrounding your areas of practice can better connect you with potential clients. This shows the injured victim that you care not just about getting a new case, you’re emotionally involved and understand the trials and tribulations your client is experiencing.
   
About the writer:
Rene Perras is a lawyer Internet marketing consultant, who has worked alongside law firms of all types to help build effective attorney marketing campaigns for over 20 years. For a free consultation, please contact Rene Perras at 720-ONE-RENE or visit Cepac.com

Palm Beach, FL (Lawyer Social Media News)--There is no filter to weed out embarrassing social media public relations disasters on Facebook and Twitter, which pop up on your Facebook wall and Twitter page. These PR faux pas can range from a harmless link that doesn’t necessarily meet the law firm’s brand image to a disgruntled client who decides to air their dirty laundry in a public forum.

These lawyer PR blunders can include controversial opinions, statements taken the wrong way by readers  or comments from a former client who was unhappy with a case outcome.

These slip-ups can do serious damage to your law firm’s brand, image, and business if they are not taken care of properly and because of the nature of social media, these missteps can spread like wildfire on the Internet. It’s easy to get caught up in the moment after seeing an unflattering comment made on your law firm’s social media page, but you can actually cause more damage if you act on your emotions.  Always be a responder, not a reactor.

Taking a breather, analyzing the situation and consulting with an experienced lawyer marketing and public relations firm is your best bet to recover from the lawyer social media disaster.

The lawyer marketing specialists at Cepac lawyer marketing advise attorneys on how to handle lawyer social media missteps:

•  Be Honest: The cliché still proves true: “Honesty is the best policy.” Even in lawyer PR blunders, the public wants honesty. If you posted a comment on your lawyer social media page that inadvertently offended someone enough for them to comment, own up to your mistake. Instead of arguing with your audience, offer-up some good old humility. Coming clean that you made a mistake, and even by making light of it, can help wash away the bad taste in potential clients mouth.

•  Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously: Mistakes happen. A fan of your law firm may inadvertently tweet or comment on your law firm’s page about something totally unrelated to your law firm. Instead of sounding off and blowing it out of proportion, make light of the situation.

For example, a comment was posted on a law firm’s Twitter page: Lets get hammered tonight. See you at Joe’s bar. #letsparty.
This could easily be handled by tweeting back saying: “The lawyers at [insert law firm name] drink responsibly. Have fun, party responsibly and get a DD.”

• Don’t Delete the Unflattering Comments: Deleting unwanted comments won’t serve your law firm well. For social media fans that see the comment and then notice an hour later that it is gone, it doesn’t show transparency between the law firm and its clients or fans. Handling the comment in professional manner, even inviting that person to call your office so that the issues can be rectified is a more appropriate way to handle the situation.

• Provide a Sense of Context: If you or one of the attorneys at your firm posted an opinion that sparked some irritation causing less than flattering comments to be posted by a reader, provide the context that caused you to share your opinion if you don’t feel any differently about posting it.

The law firm marketing experts at Cepac Inc. are skilled at creating and implementing top-notch social media campaigns, which target relevant consumers, turning “friends” into clients. Cepac offers effective social media campaigns, which implement proven tactics to build your law firm visibility, awareness and client base.

For more information on law firm marketing, social media campaigns for lawyers or Smart News Technology contact Rene Perras or visit Cepac.com.

Palm Beach, FL (Attorney Internet Marketing News)—There’s been lots of talk about the highly anticipated launch of Google+’s brand pages and how it may or may not kick social media marketing into the stratosphere. The attorney Internet marketing experts at Cepac lawyer marketing are among the many Internet marketing agencies that see promise in Google’s latest attempt to knock Facebook and Twitter from their social media thrones.

While much is still unknown about what Google+ brand pages will offer, the speculation and chatter is nothing but positive. Attorney Internet marketing firms are optimistic that the social media platform will help to boost lawyer social media campaigns.

It is suspected that Google+ brand pages will incorporate Google’s revered analytics, giving marketers and their clients a better understanding on how to target their preferred audience. This will help minimize the amount of money spent on attorney Internet marketing efforts in areas where the audience demographics are less clear.

The search opportunities within Google+ brand pages are also expected to be a strong feature for the social media network. Google has long been a top choice for search, pay-per-click and display advertising among attorney Internet marketing firms for achieving top visibility for their law firm on the Internet. For lawyers who already use Google search and display marketing in their attorney Internet marketing plans, it will likely enhance their lawyer marketing efforts and help to direct more relevant potential clients to their lawyer websites. But, even if your law firm doesn’t use Google in its lawyer marketing campaigns, Google+ will likely still prove to be valuable in lawyer social media campaigns.

In addition, Google also is allegedly going to fully support its brand pages with its Google Display Network, AdWords and DoubleClick advertising products, allowing for more attorney Internet marketing opportunities.

Google+ brand pages also are likely to be equipped with more customization features, unlike Facebook business pages that are all virtually the same. These customization features could set your law firm apart from the next attorney, which can help eliminate consumer confusion in the marketplace.

While it will take a little longer to determine if Google+’s mere 20-million user base can grow to compete with Facebook’s whopping 700 million users, Google still offers marketing opportunities that Facebook does not. Regardless, Google+ holds a lot of promise for attorney Internet marketers in their Web marketing efforts, which may prove more valuable than Facebook.
The law firm marketing experts at Cepac Inc. are skilled at creating and implementing top-notch social media campaigns, which target relevant consumers, turning “friends” into clients. Cepac offers effective social media campaigns, which implement proven tactics to build your law firm visibility, awareness and client base.

For more information on law firm marketing, social media campaigns for lawyers or Smart News Technology contact Rene Perras or visit Cepac.com.

Much has been said about how attorney blogging can help lawyer marketing programs by creating fresh web content and by "link baiting" other bloggers into picking up your content and providing a link back to your website. While content marketing for lawyers can be an effective tool, both the content written and the manner in which it is shared on the web can have dramatic effects on the degree that it helps your law firm marketing program.

Here are three tips on how to write content for attorney blogging that works.

Write about subjects that are important to your targeted clients. Potential clients are really new to the law, whether it be injury law, family law or wrongful death. If your prospects are already familiar with the process and what to expect, it probably means that they have been through it before and have a lawyer to call.

Don't use legal jargon. We were recently brainstorming for a client whose practice focuses on premises liability. We all had varying thoughts about how a prospect might search for an attorney if they were in need. While there were different opinions about how each of us might search, we all agreed that the average person had no idea what premises liability was or that a broken glass door cutting a patron as they entered a restaurant fell under the same practice area as an assault in the parking light due to negligent security. If you were to blog about negligent security, it would make sense to talk about poor security or inadequate security and use everyday language in your long tailed key words.

Inform and have a sense of purpose. If you educate your prospects about your services, what you have done to help others or to change corporate behavior through your actions, and discuss changes in the law you have an opportunity to build credibility for your law firm. Be genuine and show some of your personality. That connection can go a long way towards minimizing lawyer shopping and turn a prospect into a client.

In addition to the content and the manner in which it is written, how your articles get distributed is also important. If your articles just sit on your blog, then they will probably be crawled and indexed by Google, but they only provide the benefit of fresh content. While content may be king, the more consumers and other bloggers that see, pickup and link to your content the better for your attorney blogging and SEO efforts.

Cepac lawyer marketing created an online private label newsroom product to offer law firms the ability to directly syndicate articles, firm announcements and press releases to the Internet without the need for expensive and cumbersome press release services. This platform enables law firms to have their news transmitted across a large and continuously growing array of newswire partners, with the goal of being picked up by Google news and other major Internet wire services. Virtually no other product offers attorneys the unique ability to create high visibility and improve site rankings through this powerful link building news software platform that also provides assistance in optimizing the content.

For more information on attorney blogging or other lawyer marketing programs please contact Rene Perras or visit Cepac.com.

(Law Firm Social Media News)--Attorney marketing companies like Cepac lawyer marketing, that utilize social media for lawyers, recommend that law firms start building a presence on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to increase their personal social media network; but your law firm could be committing several “social media sins” without even realizing it.

Social media for lawyers is one thing that the old cliché, “build it and they will come,” doesn’t apply to. Building your law firm social media page is the easy part, but acquiring followers, leads, inquiries and directing potential clients to your social media page is where the heavy lifting comes in.

Without the guidance of a knowledgeable and proven attorney marketing agency, your law firm could be making costly and detrimental mistakes in your law firm social media campaign. Some common law firm social media mistakes include:

· Just because your law firm has a social media page, doesn’t mean you’ll get followers: Just because you built a social media page doesn’t mean your firm will begin accumulating followers. Building and then abandoning your law firm social media page will lead to inactivity and a loss of followers, who become disengaged and forget all about your law firm when they need to hire an attorney. Attorney marketing campaigns using social media for lawyers requires many hours of work to build a potential client base. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your law firm social media presence won’t be either.

· Failing to have consumer interaction: People visiting your law firm social media page are there because they are interested in learning more about your attorneys. If no one from your law firm is answering questions or becoming involved in discussions, potential clients will lose interest and confidence, before moving on to the next law firm social media page; possibly causing your law firm to lose a new lucrative case.

· Losing your cool: You can’t control what others say on Facebook or Twitter about your law firm, so keep your cool. Refrain from making unprofessional comments that you will regret. Employing public relations tactics to handle the negative comments in a professional manner will help your attorneys to soften the negative comments, while still making your law firm look good.

· Believing that social media site maintenance is something that can be done on your free time: Law firm social media pages need regular maintenance and updates. This law firm social media tactic is not something you can do in your spare time; it’s a full-time job. Your law firm needs to generate conversations, buzz and engagement to keep people coming back and to gain new followers. Failure to properly maintain your law firm social media page can result in a loss in followers and confidence.

· Failing to develop the proper social media network: This is the biggest and most important social media sin lawyers can make. Failing to have the right type of followers will not help your lawyer social media efforts, as well as your lawyer search engine optimization or lawyer SEO, as this is the crux of the problem. What most law firm marketing efforts fail to recognize is that SEO is the thread that connects all of the elements, web pages, images, videos, PR, articles announcements and social media on the Internet. .

The legal advertising team at Cepac lawyer marketing is skilled at creating and implementing top-notch law firm social media campaigns, which target relevant consumers, turning “friends” into clients. Cepac lawyer marketing offers effective social media campaigns that utilize proven tactics to build your law firm visibility, awareness and client base.

For more information on Cepac lawyer marketing or law firm social media campaigns contact Rene Perras or visit Cepac.com.

(Lawyer SEO News)—Search engine optimization (SEO) is not a simple “recipe,” it is constantly in evolution and the changes in the search engine algorithms, especially Google, are occurring seemingly every week. This is why law firm marketing on the Internet requires a qualified lawyer Internet marketing agency to handle their law firm SEO campaigns. Attorney website rankings and positioning on search engine results pages (SERP) can quickly be destroyed, potentially extinguishing your law firm’s total lawyer Internet marketing campaign in one fell swoop as a result of poor lawyer SEO tactics.

Lawyer SEO continues to become extremely technical, especially since the great “social media boom” that continues to affect the Internet and search engine algorithms, which is a well defined mathematical process or method used in calculating how websites are ranked. These algorithms are determining what portion of your lawyer Internet marketing effort is dedicated to social media.

Search engines like Google, just recently began launching their own spin on social media called Google+ and Google +1 which is similar to the Facebook “like” button, but instead the +1 is used for “liking or recommending” websites to their Google network friends. Microsoft’s search engine—Bing—also incorporated their own Facebook plug-in tool, which factors Facebook “likes” into their SERPs.

Lawyer SEO is constantly being affected by social media variables as these social media sites continue to rise in relevancy in our society and among consumers. Search engines aim to deliver the most relevant information based on the consumer’s query; and if consumers are relying heavily on social media for recommendations, it only makes sense that search engines would begin using Facebook and Twitter as factors in their algorithms.

Hiring a lawyer Internet marketing agency that is highly experienced in developing social media for attorneys and SEO for lawyers can raise or maintain your attorney website SEO rankings, despite these ever-changing factors used in determining how websites are ranked on search engine SERPs.

An experienced law firm marketing company like CEPAC lawyer marketing, with a proven track record in creating and implementing top-notch SEO campaigns for lawyers, can be the difference between top positioning on SERPs and being hidden in the Internet clutter.

For more information on effective lawyer SEO strategies, lawyer web marketing campaigns or any other of our attorney Internet marketing programs contact Rene Perras, or visit Cepac.com.

(Attorney Website Design News)--- For attorneys the days of focusing your total lawyer advertising budget exclusively in the Yellow Pages are long gone and the Internet has taken its place as the go to spot to search and find relevant information on your law firm. The difference between a well-executed attorney website design and an attorney website with poor law firm website architecture is in the number of potential clients your attorney website succeeds in converting into  calls or form submissions, resulting in the hiring of your law firm.

In today’s society your attorney website design is the single most important law firm marketing element, not only because people are turning to the Internet to search for a lawyer; consumers are looking for more than just a listing—they want to learn about your law firm before deciding to pick up the phone.

Without an experienced lawyer marketing company that knows how to build a top quality law firm website design, your law firm could make mistakes that could cost you valuable business.

Some common attorney website design mistakes include:

• Failing to stand out from the competition: If your attorney website design is out-dated, of poor quality and doesn’t offer the potential client anything to look at and become engaged in, then it is likely they will click off just as fast as they clicked on. Your law firm website design needs to eye-catching and draw the potential client in, piquing their interest so that they will want to continue exploring your attorney website.

• Failure to employ consumer engagement: Lets face it, if your attorney website design doesn’t offer the potential client something to look at or become engaged in, such as lawyer web videos and social media connections; the potential client can become bored and move on to the next attorney website, which employs such tools.

• Weak content: Content is one of the most important factors in your attorney website design. A quality attorney website has content that educates the potential client about your law firm, your practice areas, verdicts and settlements and an array of other information. Potential clients are visiting your attorney website to learn more about your law firm, your expertise and what your legal expertise are, so give the potential client an incentive to pick up the phone and call.

• Hiding important information: What’s the point of having a top-notch law firm website design if the potential client cant find your law firm’s contact info? Make sure your law firm’s phone numbers, email, and address is front and center and easy to locate.

• Failing to have user-friendly navigation: No one wants to scour an attorney website looking for information, it will only discourage the potential client and increase your attorney website click-through rates. Having simple user-friendly navigation buttons on your attorney website makes the overall user experience of your attorney website a well-rounded one, because potential can easily find and access legal information, contact information, past settlements, and information about your attorneys.

At CEPAC lawyer marketing we are experienced in developing law firm website designs that build the foundation for positive attorney-client relationships. CEPAC-engineered lawyer marketing websites are consumer and SEO friendly, giving your law firm website the fastest possible website that can be found on Google, Bing and Yahoo.

Working with a team like CEPAC lawyer marketing, that is cognizant of the user experience and expert in search engine optimization and marketing for law firms will ensure that your firm has the best possible chance to grow your business now and into the future.

For more information on lawyer website designs contact Rene Perras or visit Cepac.com.

More lawyer marketing professionals should include social media, like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other sites in their media mix to enhance their Internet marketing efforts. As social media becomes more entrenched in the every day lives of an ever-growing number of consumers, research has begun to show both the dramatic pervasiveness of social media and its impact on behavior offline.

According to new research by the Pew Internet & American Life Project reported by eMarketer, "31% of social network users are on Facebook several times a day and an additional 21%of respondents use the site about once a day." Further, the study found that 57% of female respondents and 48% of male respondents posted a comment once a week." Even more importantly, the article reports that in a study by ROI Research it was shown that 60% of social network users were "at least somewhat likely to take action when a friend posted about a product or service on a social media site."

While lawyer marketing professionals can't be certain what type of action would be taken based on comments made about their clients' law firms or lawyer blog postings, the trend could certainly be toward recommending the law firm to more of their social network. Social media has become the new word-of-mouth in lawyer marketing resulting in peer-to-peer referrals that have always been the mainstay for capturing new clients in nearly all law firm marketing efforts.

Lawyer marketing programs should include social media in all elements of its Internet campaigns, not limit social media to its own silo. Including social media sharing tools on websites, lawyer blogs and other online channels can help create word-of-mouth that can elevate your law firm's brand and online presence.

Just having an informative, user-friendly lawyer website is only the starting point for attorney Internet marketing. The benefits of a legal blog and social media platforms integrated into all online efforts clearly are the way to go to take advantage of the influence of social comments on prospect behavior.

For more information on integrating social media for lawyers into your lawyer marketing program or websites for attorneys, contact Rene Perras.

(Lawyer Marketing News)--For many car accident lawyers advertising on the radio has been the way to go. By advertising on the radio, you’re able to keep your law firm’s name in front of your target audience in a setting where they may potentially need to hire your attorneys.

We have all heard the catchy car wreck lawyer radio commercials reminding you if you have been in car accident to call the law firm of John Doe. But lawyer marketing on the radio waves goes further than broadcast radio; Internet radio is steadily becoming a popular way to listen to music and advertise your law firm, and it’s something law firm marketers should be keeping their eye on.

While broadcast radio remains the number one choice for consumers, Internet radio is growing in popularity and preference. It has been estimated that “37.5% of US internet users ages 12 and up will listen to internet radio—including online streaming of terrestrial broadcasts and online-only radio stations—or podcasts at least weekly this year. On a monthly basis, 44.3% of web users will tune in to online radio,” reported eMarketer.

In addition, eMarketer estimates that nearly 80 million Internet users will tune in to Internet radio stations weekly in 2011. That number is expected to double to 158 million by 2015, due to a technology innovation that allows radio streaming through smartphones and Wi-Fi connected in-dashboard players.

For law firm marketing companies this is a new burgeoning medium to market their attorneys. While it may still take some time for Internet radio to develop into a powerful law firm marketing tool; it is definitely an attorney advertising avenue that lawyers should be keeping an eye on.

Lawyers should eventually take advantage of the interactive medium of Internet radio, because unlike broadcast radio, Internet radio can be accessed in more ways then your car radio or home stereo. Internet radio can be accessed via voice command in cars, via mobile phones, PCs and even TVs; thus creating more settings in which the potential clients can come into contact with your lawyer radio commercial. In addition, Internet radio is available in on-demand formats, which allow for more creative and interactive connections with your target audience—and for lawyers a new case—a new client.

The interactive format of Internet Radio also allows attorney radio commercials to incorporate a law firm marketing video along with the commercial to keep your potential clients engaged in your law firm’s message. In addition, since your target audience is listening to Internet radio and are connected to the Web, feel free to give a shameless plug to your lawyer website to give them a call to action after listening to the law firm radio commercial.

“There are a range of visual opportunities in the online radio industry that creative directors should pay attention to…these websites host videos, rich media and banner ads that music enthusiasts will see—and some will engage with. Impressions go beyond the audio portion of the listening experience,” stated Lisa E. Phillips, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, “The Internet Radio Audience: Personalized, Mobile and Targetable.”

In addition, Internet radio providers like Pandora have a registration form for consumers who use their services, which collects demographic data about its listeners, giving lawyer marketering agencies more precise ad targeting capabilities. This ensures that your law firm’s “San Francisco car accident lawyer” radio commercial isn’t playing in New York, far away from your target demographic and area.

At Cepac lawyer marketing we are experienced in creating top-notch law firm radio spots, as well as lawyer Internet marketing campaigns. For more information on lawyer marketing, attorney marketing for Internet and broadcast radio, as well as lawyer websites, please visit Cepac.com.

(Lawyer Marketing News)--Yet again Facebook has come out on top of Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and AOL as the number one site for U.S. display advertising impressions. With 346.4 billion "impressions," or views of display ads, Facebook claimed has claimed a third of the 1.11 trillion display ads delivered to U.S. Internet users in the first three months of this year, according to comScore.

These results even trump Facebook’s own impressive stake in display ads in the third quarter of 2010, when the social media site captured 23 percent of all Internet display ads, resulting in 297 billion ad impressions; which is more than Google, Microsoft, Fox and Yahoo sites combined.

“What lawyers will come to realize is that Facebook isn’t just a website to reconnect with friends and family, it’s a powerful tool to have in your law firm marketing arsenal. Not only can you gain exposure for your law firm, you can form relationships that can benefit your lawyer marketing campaign as a whole,” stated CEPAC lawyer marketing specialist Rene Perras.

It is becoming apparent that there are an astounding number of people who are on the social media sites that are being exposed to the law firm display ads. If consumers are seeing your law firm display ads on Facebook, it is likely that some of these need-driven consumers will migrate to your Facebook page as well. 

For many law firms the display ads are also a way to get consumers to visit their Facebook page and “like” it, giving them a “vote of confidence” that will be broadcasted to the consumer’s network of friends, thus creating exposure and visibility for attorneys. That “like” of your law firm Facebook page sends a notice to all of the consumer’s friend’s Facebook walls stating, “Danny liked the New York Personal Injury Law firm of John Doe.” If someone in his or her network needs a lawyer, and sees this posting, it will basically act like a recommendation to that user.

In addition, search algorithms are moving in the social media direction. Now more than ever, search engines like Bing are taking Facebook “likes” into consideration when ranking websites on search engine results pages (SERP). The more “likes” you have, the better your law firm website will rank on Bing. Facebook is essentially a link that can drive your entire lawyer Internet marketing campaign.

“Facebook didn’t claim nearly a third of all U.S. display advertising impressions because no one was looking, so why not take advantage of it and build a law firm Internet marketing campaign that incorporates Facebook,” CEPAC lawyer marketing specialist Rene Perras explained.

CEPAC, a lawyer marketing and legal advertising agency, is a leader in the law firm marketing arena. Cepac offers effective social media campaigns, which implement proven tactics to help transition social media users into new clients and cases. Cepac not only maintains your social media accounts, but implements strategic tactics that will place your law firm’s brand among relevant blogs and conversations, which link back to your law firm website.

For more information on law firm advertising, social media campaigns for lawyers or Smart News Technology, visit Cepac.com.

(Law Firm Advertising News)-- Speculation is swirling whether “Google Instant Previews,” will be the death of the click, which is an important component that law firm Web marketing companies use in their lawyer Internet marketing campaigns. 

Google Instant Preview gives consumers a glimpse of what comes after the click of a law firm search ad without having to actually click on the law firm pay-per click ad itself. Now, consumers can just click on a magnifying glass alongside the law firm landing page, per-per-click ad and in the search engine results pages (SERP); this allows a window to pop up giving potential clients a glimpse of what is to come if they decided to click on that law firm search ad.

For lawyers this means potential clients can see what your law firm landing page looks like before ever clicking on it, allowing consumers to make a snap judgment right then and there, as to whether or not they actually want to continue on past the click of the law firm search ad. This ultimately means more transparency for potential clients, but fewer clicks for Google, explains the attorney marketing professionals at Cepac lawyer marketing.

Many lawyer Internet marketing campaigns involve placing ads on Google, which is where the importance of the “click” comes in.  If consumers can see that your law firm landing page is of poor quality and isn’t relevant enough to continue on, chances are they won’t make the click, which causes the lawyer advertising firm to lose lawyer Internet traffic and potential revenue.

Lawyer Internet marketing campaigns can fix that by creating interesting, engaging and thought-provoking ads which transition onto a quality landing page that fulfills the promise of the ad and continues to market to the potential client after the click. If your law firm landing page is relevant to a potential client, they will likely continue onto your lawyer website to learn more about your legal practice and attorneys, which can turn into new inquires and cases.  Law firms should have multiple landing pages and ads to test the success of each. Split testing of  lawyer landing pages can help determine which is the most successful.

Ultimately, if your law firm ad appears on a consumers search, it’s because they are searching for legal representation. Searching for a lawyer is not an impulse buy, so pull them in with a compelling advertisement and a targeted landing page that generates more qualifying clicks. By incorporating these two elements into your law firm pay-per-click campaign, your law firm can actually increase click through rates, rather than minimizing them.

For more information on effective lawyer marketing campaigns using Google, private label attorney newsrooms, SEO, or building a mobile friendly lawyer website, visit Cepac lawyer marketing at Cepac.com.