Nolo's Lawyer Blog

Lawyers: Learn how to increase your online visibility, generate more traffic and get more clients from your website with these top ten tips.

This is the first in a series of posts on the most important things attorneys can do to optimize their websites and increase bottom-line results. Learn how to rank higher in major search engines and drive more qualified traffic to your site by following these simple top ten tips. Here are the four major goals for improving your website:

• Search: Get listed higher on major search engines like Bing, Yahoo and Google
• Traffic: Increase qualified traffic to your website
• Visitors: Get more people to your site and keep them browsing longer
• Convert: Convert site visitors to clients

People search online for good, relevant information, so the most important element of your website would be good, relevant content. Using search-friendly text and key words that help inform potential clients about you and your practice are critical . But what is the best way to create that content and what do I do after I've got all of my information ready?

For now, we'll start with important tips to improve your website, with more detail on each in our upcoming blog posts.

1. Strategy Overview: Do a basic review of your website and online marketing strategy and set realistic goals for improvement.
   
2. Website Analytics: Implement some basic tracking capabilities on your site to measure visitors and traffic, like Google Analytics.
   
3. Website Content: Create good, relevant content and topic-specific articles for your site.
4. Blogs: Create a blog to keep your site fresh and current.
5. SEO: Optimize your site's page titles with relevant keywords so that search engines can better find you.
   
6. SEM & PPC: Consider search engine marketing and Pay Per Click (Google Adwords) advertising.
7. Link Building: Let other sites know you exist and have them link back to your site.
8. Email Marketing: Invite your visitors to join an email list for periodic newsletters about your practice.
   
9. Social Networking: Learn to utilize Linked In, Face Book and Twitter to help drive traffic qualified traffic to your site.
10. Client Intake Form: Convert site visitors to paying clients by adding a simple intake form.

Online marketing, like any form of marketing, is a step-by-step process. Check back with us next week to learn more about how you can improve your online strategy.

Formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA®), AAJ held its 2010 annual meeting July 10 - July 14 in one of the world's premiere cities, Vancouver BC.

Lawyers from all over the US, Canada and beyond converged to attend more than a hundred section and litigation group meetings and events that took place at the Vancouver convention center.

Sessions included a broad range of subjects like pharmacy and products liability litigation, several different types of accident and transportation law; bicycles, motorcycles, cars, railroads, trucking, aviation and maritime, employment, housing, criminal, civil rights and more. There was even a group meeting to discuss electrical blankets and heating pad accidents along with the Gulf Coast oil spill and pending litigation (good news to hear its been capped and is not leaking!)

Since Vancouver is such a fantastic destination for so many people from around the world, it seems that most of the attorneys spent most of their time outside of their sessions,outside of the convention hall.

Despite the lower-than-expected traffic to the exhibit hall, we connected with several good attorneys from key markets where we need help like New York, Seattle and Southern California.

West Coast Tech Talk from Legal Tech in Los Angeles, June 23 & 24, 2010


Beyond the NBA championship team, Los Angeles played host to this year's west coast Legal Tech trade show, held at the downtown convention center. Nolo was in attendance, checking out the various solution providers and their latest products and services for law firms. From document management to turn-key client billing and account management solutions, hundreds of attorneys and tech support staff were on-hand.

The LACBA (Los Angeles County Bar Association) made quite a presence on their home turf, representing their more than 20,000 member attorneys. ALM itself had a major impact with their host of media publications and products, including Law.com,

The American Lawyer, and The National Law Review, as well as state specific publications like Texas Lawyer and California's Recorder.

One of ALM's most interesting products was their Virtual Legal Tech show, lead by ALM point-person Scott Pierce. Avatars roamed the virtual exhibit halls while presenters dished out the CLE seminars via webcams and streaming video. Is this virtual environment going to replace face-to-face contact amongst clients and vendors? No, but as the bandwidth pipeline continues to expand, expect to see many of these visions of the future become a reality sooner than you might expect.

Check out Nolo attorney blogger Carolyn Elefant's most recent post on her My Shingle blog on the joys of small law practice.

"Back when I worked for others, my heart was tight and mean.  My cramped vision of the legal profession as a zero sum game left little space for generosity or good will towards my colleagues.   Each time I learned that one of my classmates made partner at a big firm, or that another lawyer at my agency received a promotion or that a fellow associate would first chair a hearing, I seethed with envy.  I bad-mouthed my bosses and cursed the fates that consigned me to jobs where I couldn't thrive. 

I never questioned my behavior.  After all, I was surrounded by colleagues who acted the same way.  I simply assumed that living in a perpetual state of resentment came with the territory of being a lawyer or was part of growing up and growing jaded.

After I'd been practicing on my own for a couple of years, I noticed a surprising change (read more).

Nolo representatives Catherine Berryessa and Greg Roden headed from Berkeley to Orlando, Florida for the 2010 National Association of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) annual meeting - "Planning for Change." There were more than two hundred member attorneys who focus on elder and special needs law attending general sessions, CLE's, networking mixers and more throughout the week. Nolo was very well received and we gave out more than 150 elder law related books to attorneys interested in becoming Nolo members.


Most of these attorneys were focused on estate planning, conservatorships, special needs trusts and general "end of life" planning. Many NAELA members we spoke with shared how the field is growing past just wills, trust and estate issues to encompass inter-disciplinary areas of law including family law, tax planning, social security, and medicare / medicaid issues.


Attorneys who know Nolo were pleasantly surprised to see us in attendance, and were very interested in learning more about how they can partner with us. We gave out a lot of books that were a hit with attorneys, including Long-Term Care, Special Needs Trust, and the 15th Edition Social Security, Medicare & Government Pensions.

We look forward to attending the fall NAELA conference in San Diego in November and thank all of the attorneys here in Florida for the warm welcome to our first-ever NAELA annual meeting!

Please introduce yourself: where are you from, where did you grow up or go to school, are you married, any kids, pets?

I grew up in San Francisco. I'm married and part of a non-profit that rescues German Shorthaired Pointers who are extremely energetic and very smart dogs. Growing up in San Francisco was like growing up in a small town, because I can meet anyone now, and we do the six degrees of separation in about two minutes flat.

Tell us a little about your sales background? Any previous experience that lends itself to talking with attorneys?

My marketing background really lends itself to helping attorneys market their practice.  I worked with abusive media buyers for many years so attorneys are a piece of cake. There is a tremendous amount of problem-solving that we do, and we're constantly assessing situations and making recommendations. I feel I have a unique background that gives me a lot of credibility with lawyers. Having sold radio, broadcast TV, print and now online gives me a great overview to help attorneys be competitive in today's rapidly changing market.

What are the most important things an attorney can do to get the word out to generate more clients?

Attorneys need to find a good balance between hyper-local opportunities in their community and be very selective about their internet advertising. Nolo can be a very important part of their overall strategy and attorneys really need to be clear about their overall marketing goals.

What do you like most about working here at Nolo?

As one of the very first representatives for the directory, I've been able to have an impact - a voice - in a challenging start-up environment. It's a little like jazz; there's a lot of improvisation. Ironically, my first sales job was at a jazz radio station - KJAZ - in Alameda, CA.

Tell us something about yourself that most people don't know.

Everyone thinks I'm Italian but Berryessa is actually Spanish. I'm a seventh generation Californian and my family came over from Spain in the 1700's.

What do you like to do when you're not working? Personal interests, hobbies, secret obsessions?

I collect cookbooks on Southern Italian cooking, and I love to make preserves. It's meditative for me and I like to follow the seasons, chutney in the fall and jams in the summer.  I get a little obsessive about farmers' markets and have been known to attend them twice in one weekend!
 

This year proved to be the largest NACBA show ever with more than 3,000 bankruptcy attorneys in attendance for CLE's, seminars, networking and more in downtown San Francisco.

Many of our Lawyer Directory team came out to distribute Nolo's popular bankruptcy books to qualified attorneys across the country.

Only a couple of months old, our newest title, Bankruptcy for Small Business Owners, was a big hit. Co-author Steve Elias was on-hand Saturday and Sunday to answer questions and sign copies of his books.

We also debuted another  title - The Judge Who Hated Red Nail Polish - humorous stories from the courtroom and beyond which also went over well with the attorneys in attendance.

Tom Foley, Nolo's Lawyer Directory NACBA specialist says, "We always enjoy meeting NACBA members from all over the country.  It was great to have them visit us on our home turf."

As a thank you to our Lawyer Directory members, we treated a group of NACBA attendees to a sunset Bay cruise aboard the Adventure Cat II out of Fisherman's Wharf. Check out Tom Foley's pics here.

Did you know that Nolo books are often the most frequently stolen books from US public libraries? Yes, it's true.

Nolo and libraries go hand-in-hand, as libraries remain the ultimate depots for user-friendly information.  Nolo is all about helping the public sort through their legal issues and deciphering the law.

The good news is that we regularly replace these stolen books for our library customers free of charge.  Librarians love Nolo too, and consumers regularly ask for Nolo legal guides by name. Talk about the power of the Nolo network!

To help celebrate National Library Week, show your support by visiting your local public library, write your representative in support of library funding, make a donation, or at a minimum, read a book!

Strategic Online Partnerships

In our efforts to provide more exposure and online visibility to Nolo member attorneys, Nolo has partnered with a few key legal websites to form the Nolo Legal Network.

Meet Justia

Former CEO and co-founder of FindLaw, internet legal guru Tim Stanley now heads up Justia, providing premium web sites, blogs and online marketing solutions to law firms. Justia also works with organizations like Nolo that provide free legal information to the online community.  All Nolo member attorneys receive a free enhanced placement listing on Justia's lawyer directory as well as a 'verified by Nolo' badge. Through Justia and its strong web affiliations, Nolo is able to connect its member attorneys with some of the best legal sites on the web.

Cornell University's Legal Information Institute (LII)

The leading provider of free public legal information, Cornell created the Legal Information Institute, the first legal website on the Internet back in 1992. Known for listing all opinions handed down by the United States Supreme Court since 1992, together with over 600 earlier decisions selected for their historical importance, Cornell also lists attorneys--including Nolo member attorneys--as a service to members of the public with questions about the law.

OYEZ - US Supreme Court Multimedia Archive

"Oyez aims to be a complete and authoritative source for all audio recorded in the Court since the installation of a recording system in October 1955. The Project also provides authoritative information on all justices and offers a virtual reality 'tour' of portions of the Supreme Court building, including the chambers of some of the justices" (from the Oyez website).

These are just a few examples of the growing list of leading legal information providers that Nolo proudly calls its partners. Find out more about becoming a member of the Nolo Lawyer Directory today!

"Not Guilty! Making It Happen with Cutting-Edge Defenses"

NACDL Mid Winter Meeting - February 24 - 27, 2010 Austin, TX

Criminal defense attorneys from all over the country have descended upon the state capitol of Texas to learn more about the art and practice of criminal defense law. Many federal public defenders are here as well as solo and small firm practitioners, all looking to fulfill their required Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits while enjoying some of that world-class Texas hospitality and charm, fabulous BBQ and nightly live music that Austin has to offer.

Conference topics range from "Storytelling & the Art of Persuasion" to "Building, Running & Enjoying the Million dollar Solo Practice" and have been well received by the attorneys that we've spoken with.

"A lot of criminal defense attorneys are isolated, like on their own islands, and come to our meetings for the camaraderie and networking opportunities to meet with other defense attorneys," says Jim Bergman, Director of Sales & Marketing for NACDL. "Things change so fast in today's legal world and these attorneys want to be up on the issues."

Nolo is here to connect those attorneys in different parts of the country where we have strong consumer demand and who are able to and willing to take on new clients. Ironically, most attorneys that we've spoken with are not familiar with Nolo but are very receptive and open to the benefits of working with us and helping out our consumers.

Please introduce yourself: where are you from, where did you grow up or go to school, are you married, any kids, pets?
I grew up in Chicago and attended Francis W. Parker School for 14 years. Went to school in California but then back to Chicago, where I worked at a progressive rock radio station. I then moved to CA in 1986 and am now married; our teenaged daughter is a dedicated softball pitcher.

Tell us a little about your sales background? Any previous experience that lends itself to talking with attorneys?
After 35 years of selling media, including radio, print and internet, I have an excellent grip on marketing. I've worked with major retailers, professionals, event advertisers and food brands. Marketing is universal - how to best reach your target. That's why I'm happy to be working with Nolo's Lawyer Directory.  It's so amazingly focused. I have forsaken all other media for internet because it is the marketing of the present and the future.

What are the most important things an attorney can do to get the word out to generate more clients?
Besides a Nolo profile, networking with other attorneys is important. Also, do a good job so that your clients will send you referrals. Make sure someone is answering your phone. Put good content on your website!

What do you like the most about working here at Nolo?
I love the environment and the casual atmosphere. I strongly believe in Nolo's mission - informing people about their legal problems - and it's easy to sell a product that you believe in, in which you have confidence.

Tell us something about yourself that most people don't know or wouldn't know?
Besides being a softball Mom, I love the end of the day when I get to walk my dog Rocco, a jumbo dachshund, in the beautiful Oakland hills.

What do you like to do when you're not working? Personal interests, hobbies, secret obsessions?
I play golf with my husband; I like going to movies and reading the New Yorker cover to cover, and love long novels. I'm a subscriber to the Berkeley Rep and am always amazed by their creative stage work. I've traveled a lot and seen many beautiful places, but my favorite is the tiny hamlet of Inverness in West Marin.

NACBA 2010 - San Francisco

This year's annual NACBA -- The National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys -- meeting will be held in San Francisco starting on April 28, 2010. Nolo will be out in force for the show and will also be taking a small group of Nolo-NACBA member attorneys out to sea on a sunset bay cruise aboard "Adventure Cat 2",  a luxurious 65-foot catamaran.
NACBA bankruptcy attorneys attending the San Francisco meeting are invited to join Nolo, Captain Hans and his crew aboard the beautiful Adventure Cat for this hour-and-a-half long sunset cruise.  Our cruise will take us around Alcatraz and under the Golden Gate bridge (check out this cool video)!

We will be departing from Fisherman's wharf at 6:30 p.m. sharp on Saturday, May 1, 2010.

There is no cost for qualified attorneys to participate, but space is limited so sign-up today by calling 1-877-NOLO-LAW or email Tom Foley directly at tfoley@nolo.com.

Clicks, hits, visits, uniques, impressions, page views, conversion rates, click-throughs, CPM (cost per thousand impressions), RPM (revenue per thousand impressions) CPC or PPC (cost per click), CPL (cost per lead), CPA (cost per acquisition), ROI (return on investment) -- what does it all mean?

Are you drowning in a stormy sea of unfamiliar terms and conflicting information, trying to quantify and measure the success of your online marketing? Are legal marketing companies making promises based on SEO metrics and page one placement with major search engines like Google and Bing?

Value vs. Volume

The bottom line for attorneys, especially solo practitioners and smaller firms: it's a competitive landscape out there, and at the end of the day, you're just trying to attract more clients who want to hire you. You can have all the "traffic" in the world, lots of clicks and unique visitors, but how do we qualify this traffic, and how many of those qualified visitors end up becoming clients?

Let's take a closer look at overall online marketing and advertising strategies and try to get to the bottom of the great traffic debate.

Online advertising continues to drive the majority of revenues with the big four search engines; Google, Yahoo!, Bing and AOL, leading the pack. According to Price Waterhouse Coopers, "search revenue accounted for 47 percent of 2009 second quarter revenues, up from the 44 percent reported in the second quarter of 2008. Display advertising, the second largest format, accounted for 35 percent, followed by Classifieds (10 percent), and Lead Generation (7 percent) of 2009 second quarter revenues", totaling $5.5 billion.

Different advertisers and marketers are paying for different types of online exposure. But exposure alone doesn't necessarily mean more customers. Paying for clicks, hits or visits on one site might not provide the same ROI as another site, depending on visitor demographics and how qualified the traffic is.

Here at Nolo, for example, we pride ourselves on being a full-service legal resource center where millions of visitors come for help with their legal needs. When a consumer browses our thousands of pages of free legal content, we provide geo-targeted attorney listings related to the information our visitors are seeking. A site visitor who clicks on one of those attorney listings should be a more likely client than one who clicked on a paid Google link through a general key-word search.

Despite the promise of absolutely trackable results and metrics for every dime invested in online marketing, the age-old adage of "there are no guarantees in advertising" still rings true -- buyer beware.

Nolo Member Attorney Interview with Blackie Burak

Nolo catches up with busy Walnut Creek, CA DUI attorney Blackie Burak on why he became an attorney, best practices for lawyers just starting out, as well as tips on what makes a good DUI lawyer.

Blackie Burake Interview_edit.mp3

SEM vs SEO - What's the difference and what does that mean for lawyer websites?

"If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it really make a sound?"  If you build a website, and no one visits, how can you generate more business online?  Okay, not quite the same comparison but still applicable for today's internet businesses. How do you promote your website once you've transitioned your law firm online?  It might be time to consider investing in some form of "Search Engine Marketing", or SEM.

Not to be confused with SEO "Search Engine Optimization", covered in a previous post on the Nolo Lawyers blog, SEM is the general practice of increasing a website's visibility in search engine results.  Most commonly, SEM refers to greater search engine visibility through pay-per-click advertising and paid placement.

SEM can be part of a comprehensive overall online strategy to boost your website's visibility in search engine results, but other important factors include unique content, link building, social media marketing, and optimizing a website via SEO. The primary function of SEM is to affect your appearance in search engine results and know that consumers can find you.

There are agencies that can help you implement an SEM program, or you can go it alone with legal directories, Google AdWords, and other forms of paid advertising. When choosing an SEO consultant, make sure to follow some if not all of these best practices.

At the end of the day, it's all about results and the ability to measure them. Make sure that you have a historical baseline of metrics before implementing an online strategy and allow time for your efforts to take hold.  For example, do you know how many unique site visitors you get each month, and what sites they most originate from?  Using a month or two's worth of data might reflect exceptions in the marketplace, or peaks and valleys with times of year, rather than a true reflection of your return on investment.  Metrics also allow you to understand what might be resonating most, or least, among potential clients, and how they're most likely to find you.