It’s pretty clear when you read through the comments on the blogosphere backing Findlaw that either:

1. These are Findlaw employees defending Findlaw
2. The people defending Findlaw do not understand the situation completely.

Let me make this perfectly clear: Findlaw is lying to their clients and to the public. They ARE selling links to law firms.

Now why would they lie? Why would they say “No, we are not selling links to law firms” when they are? The short simple answer is money. As an ex Findlaw employee I can say through experience that they are more concerned about profit margins and sales numbers then they are about the success of their clients. Findlaw does not want to refund any part of the millions of dollars the sales of the links packages has generated (read the comments of FormerFL Rep who by the way is not me).

There’s a lot of good people over there and I have friends there. But that doesn’t change the fact that what they are doing is wrong. Law firms come to Findlaw to help them with their Internet advertising and sometimes Findlaw does a good job of that. Their legal directory gets a large amount of traffic and it can be a good source of attorney referrals. However, what most attorneys are concerned about is getting their website high visibility in the search engines, namely Google since that search engine dominates search market share and thus provides the best opportunity for generating new clientele. By breaking Google’s rule against the sale of links that can impact rankings, Findlaw is putting their clients at risk from being able to generate clients from the best source when it comes to the search engines. Google webmaster guidelines state:
“Practices that violate our guidelines may result in a negative adjustment of your site’s presence in Google, or even the removal of your site from our index.”
Google’s webmaster guidelines also state:
“Ultimately, you are responsible for the actions of any companies you hire”.
This means law firms can be punished for buying links from Findlaw. Even if they don’t know that it breaks Google’s guidelines. The great majority of lawyers have absolutely no idea that this goes against Google’s rules but unfortunately they are still responsible. What happens often in cases like these is Google will prevent the links pages that Findlaw is selling from passing any link value to the law firm websites. So, you have some law firms spending upwards of $30,000 a year for links that do not help their rankings. That is just sad. These links are definitely not meant to provide traffic so that is not even a possible argument. You can see some of the pages that Findlaw is selling by clicking on the “more” link located in the footer. That page leads to a page that links to a handful of the links pages. Obviously, that is not meant to provide traffic considering it is practically hidden at the bottom of the page.

Law firms who are considering buying the links packages from Findlaw need to know all this. Does anyone really believe that law firms would buy these links packages if they were told that they could be penalized by Google or that the links could potentially be worthless? I don’t think so. I don’t blame the Findlaw sales reps though because the reps don’t even know that it’s against Google guidelines. They say what they are told by corporate and corporate is not telling their sales reps the whole story.

It was only a matter of time. Findlaw, one of the nations leading lawyer marketing firms, has been penalized by Google for selling paid links. Over the past year, Google has made it clear that purchasing links that have the sole intent of trying to improve your website rankings goes against their search engine guidelines. If you’re a Findlaw client and you’ve purchased these link packages, you may be at risk of losing your rankings on Google (that’s if you are ranking well…we know plenty of Findlaw clients who are not ranking very high on Google). What typically happens in cases like these is the links that used to provide your site with a boost in rankings will lose its power to give any more “link juice” to your site. Todd Friesen, one of the best SEO’s in the industry, noted these emails that Findlaw was sending out:

Greetings,

xxxxx xxxxxxx
Account Executive, Corporate Sales Department

Another email that Findlaw was sending out said this:

Hi xxxx,

Account Executive

Pretty blatant about what the point is. Buy our links and they will help your rankings. Now this is different than the what they are selling to law firms but the practice and the promises are the same: Buy our links package and your rankings in Google will go up. The prices to law firms are higher than $1,000/month. The price of the link packages they sell to law firms range anywhere from $1,600 to $2,500 a month. The attorneys that have come to me asking if they should purchase this product in the past had mentioned the cost was over $20,000 a year. Here’s the deal Findlaw. If you’re providing SEO services to lawyers and are responsible for helping them generate business online, then you can’t go against Google’s guidelines just to generate revenue. Well…sure..you actually can. But since Google provides the best traffic and is the best engine for providing referall traffic and potential clients, it has to matter. When you care more about the bottom line then your clients…it’s only a matter of time before it bites you in the ass. Now I wonder if Findlaw is going to let those people that committed to spending $20,000 to $30,000 a year on the links packages out of their contract? For those law firms that did spend that money, I hope so. I worked at Findlaw for a almost two years and getting out of Findlaw contracts is really tough but I really hope they do the right thing here.

Keven over at LexBlog has a great post on the topic if you want to read more.

Video can be an extremely powerful tool to help promote your practice on the Internet. It’s no secret that many Internet users love watching videos. A recent comScore study showed that in January, nearly 123 million people in the U.S. (70 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience) viewed 7.2 billion videos online. Those numbers wil continue to grow for years to come. What does that mean for law firm’s who market their practice on the Internet? Well, video can be a great tool to help generate new clients. Here are five reasons why your law firm should take advantage of video to generate more business for your law firm:

1. Video can help convince a visitor to contact your law firm -When visitors come to a law firm’s website, one of the most commonly viewed pages is the “about us” or “about the attorney” page. Consumers want to know more about you before they contact you. Pictures are helpful (people want to know what you look like), but a video on your website is a much more powerful way to help convince that visitor that your law firm is the right law firm to call in their time of need. In addition, having video on specific topics can make you look like an expert in that area and providing that kind of information can help improve your website conversion rates.

2. Google is now incorporating video into their search results - Here’s a search on Google for “San Diego trial attorney“. If you look at the results, you’ll see at the top of the page is a thumbnail of the video and you can even watch the video right there in the search results without even leaving that page. Google is always changing and looking for ways to improve their search results and this is definitely a great improvement on their part.

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(click the image to see a full size version)

We’ve had good success optimizing videos to show up for search terms like “San Diego auto accident lawyer“. That link shows a video we recently did targeting that search term. See this search on Google to see that video in the search results.

3. YouTube! - YouTube is a great way to promote your law firm. While there are plenty of video sites on the web, YouTube dominates with over 70% of U.S. visits to video sites. YouTube videos are often found in Google search results today (as in the example above). If you have videos, you definitely need to upload your videos to YouTube. Many people today are actually starting to use YouTube as a search engine so that’s another great way to increase exposure for your law firm. Over 5 billion searches were conducted on YouTube in August 2007 according to a comScore study.

4.Videos on your website can give you the advantage over your competitors! - When most consumers are online looking for an attorney, they don’t just look at one site. Most look at multiple websites and then will make their selection on who to contact after reviewing the law firm’s site. Video is a GREAT way to differentiate yourself from your competition in a way that words on a page simply can’t do. It can help inform visitors about specific legal topics and can be a great way to comminicate important aspects of your firm that you would want a visitor to know about your firm.

5.Video marketing works! - As this graph from emarkerter shows, video advertising works. I can also speak to the fact that video has improved conversion rates of website visitors for our clients who have added video.

My advice is jump on video marketing for your law firm now before it becomes common place and then everyone is doing it. Video really is a great way to help your law firm generate more clients via the web. Here’s a sample of our work and maybe can give you an idea of what can work to help convince visitors to contact your law firm.

One of the difficult things that many attorneys deal with is trying to determine what advertising sources are generating their new business leads. If you’re advertising on the Yellow Pages, the Internet, TV or Radio (or any other form of avertising), do you know what sources are generating leads for your law firm? If you’re like most law firms the answer is “NO”. Most lawyers who target consumers advertise in both the yellow pages and on the Internet. If you fall under this category, you should be using call tracking phone numbers to determine the source of your leads. Your website should have a different phone number than your Yellow Pages ad so you can determine where you should increase or decrease your marketing spend. Keep in mind that unless you have high visibility on the major search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN, your website is probably not generating any leads for you. Call tracking phone numbers can tell you exactly how many calls are being generated by your website and that’s always important to know (especially if you invest heavily on Internet marketing.)

Many attorneys are still heavy believers in the yellow pages but the amount of people that use the yellow pages has steadily declined over the past few years. Today, over 70% of Americans use the Internet. When it comes to making important decisions (like choosing a lawyer), you can bet that most people will use the Internet to help them choose which lawyer to call. The reality is that most attorneys just don’t know what sources are driving new business so they’re afraid to cut back on their various types of advertising. Using call tracking phone numbers will help your firm determine where to “trim the fat”. If you are not getting a solid ROI from your Yellow Page spend, cut back! If you’re not investing in search engine optimization for your law firm, you need to wake up! It’s the year 2007, Rip Van Winkle. People use the Internet to find lawyers. If your website is not generating leads, then you need to find a company that can help you pick up new business on the Internet. Lucky for you, we know of a really good one. And they use call tracking numbers.

So one of the fastest growing avenues of marketing is Internet video marketing. Spending for Internet video advertising in the US is estimated to nearly triple this year at $640 million (up from $225 million last year). By the end of the decade, that number will grow to $1.5 billion. Have you considered using Internet video to market your law firm?

Law firms who understand how to market their firm on the Internet have seen the way the web can be used for new client generation. The goal of any type of Internet marketing that law firms conduct is to pick up new clients, right? In order to make that happen you must do whatever you can to increase the conversion rate of visitors to your website. So what is it that you can do to convince a visitor to pick up that phone and call you or submit that case evaluation form on your website? One of the most powerful ways is by adding video to your site. Your potential clients want to know more about you and putting video on your site can do just that if it’s done properly. A video, if done properly, can help convince a visitor that you’re the right law firm to handle their legal matter. With video, you really can sell yourself in a way that just can’t be done on paper. If done professionally, it can really help you increase your conversion rates and ultimately should help you turn more visitors into actualy clients. Consider doing this now before all your competitors start doing it. Some law firms are already capitalizing on video advertising. I suggest using video to help market your law practice now before it becomes commonplace and loses it’s luster with your website visitors. Do it before your competitors do it and gain the upper hand.

For most small law firms and sole practitioners, marketing their practice is a crucial part of business success. When it comes to law firm marketing, their are plenty of ways to market your practice but few with the potential that the Internet provides. I’ve been working with law firms for over 8 years and in my experience, the Internet has provided the best ROI of any marketing venture for firms that understand how to successfully advertise on the web. Now, that being said, most firms do not do a good job of Internet marketing. Those that complain that the Internet does not work are firms that have an outdated law firm website, do not show up for the most popular terms used by consumers searching the web for an attorney, and/or have limited content on their website. I’ve said this before, if you want to have success on the Internet you need to have great visibility for targeted search terms, a good looking site design and your site needs to be informative to your visitors. So how do you find the right company to handle your firm’s Internet marketing? You probably have had plenty of calls from law firm marketing companies, right? Here are some tips to help you find the right company to market your practice.

1. Can they show you 1st page results for their existing clients on Google?

Without question, the most important part of successful Internet marketing is for your site to have great visibility on the search engines. Hands down, the search engine that provides the most traffic is Google. There are plenty of search engines out there, but really only three that matter. Google, Yahoo! and MSN. Market share for each as of December ‘06 was 47% for Google, 29% Yahoo! and 11% for MSN according to comScore. When I analyze traffic, even for sites that have good visibility in all three search engines, percentage of traffic provided by Google is much higher than 47%. I’ve seen it provide over 80% of traffic so the one search engine you really should care about is Google. Can the company selling their lawyer marketing services show you results on the 1st page of Google for commonly used search terms? Everyone searches a different way, but most consumers search the web for an attorney with this formula:

How Consumer Search = (city/state)+(practice area)+(attorney/lawyer)

For example, “California personal injury attorney” (without the quotes) or “Las Vegas immigration lawyer“. Do their clients show up on the 1st page of Google for those types of searches?

Make sure you understand the difference between organic results and sponsored listings (paid listings which appear at the very top of a Google search in blue and on the very right side of the screen)

2. How many competitors of yours do they work with?

This is especially important. Many companies that do Internet marketing for attorneys will take an unlimited amount of clients on. What does mean? Well, the 1st page of Google only has 10 results. Even if they are good at search engine optimization for Google, not everyone is going to be happy if they take on too many clients. You really need to be on the 1st page of Google if you want to see good results. So, if you meet with any company selling you their marketing services, ask them how many clients they work with in your geographic area that handle the same practices you do. If it’s more then 3, you may want to look elsewhere.

3. Do they have impressive website designs?

An often overlooked but extremely important part of the formula for successful lawyer marketing is having a great website design. Consumers tend to judge a law firm by the way their website looks. In many cases, it’s their first impression of your firm. I’d compare it to the first time someone steps in the door of your firm. If your firm is in a bad part of town or is dirty and unorganized, that’s not going to leave a very good impression on a visitor to your firm. The exact thing can be said about your web design except it’s a hell of a lot easier for them to leave your site. A poor or unorganized design, and they are gone in a flash. You have essentially 3 seconds to impress a visitor to your website and I’ve even seen studies that say website visitors make a judgment in a blink of an eye about you just by glancing at your site. Blink of an eye, 3 seconds…whatever. The point is you need a great design that will convince a visitor to stay on your site. Now design is completely subjective so everyone will have a different impression but it needs to look professional. A site put together by your nephew or your son is not going to cut it (I’ve probably seen 1 good design out of 100 by attorneys who had a relative or friend design their site). The rest made me throw up a little in my mouth. Don’t go cheap on web design. It makes a HUGE difference and could be the difference between you getting a big case or someone that has left your site because your website gave them no confidence in your firm. In the mind of a consumer, a better web design means a better lawyer. Not even close to true of course, but that’s what they think. So, have them show you some of their best law firm web designs and hopefully you will be impressed.

4. Do they include web analytics on their websites?

Web analytics measures visitor behavior and traffic to your website. It can monitor things like how many visitors came to your site, how they found your site, what they typed in on the search engines to find your site, what website referred them, how long those visitors stayed, how many pages they viewed on your site, what are the most popular pages people look at on your site, etc. Analyzing web analytics is crucial to improving performance of your law firms website. Any company that does not regularly include a web anlaytics program is obviously not very good at marketing. Understanding your web visitor’s behavior is extremely important and can also help you get new ideas for improving your website.

5. Do they lock you into long terms contracts?

I hate the long term contract. With Lebron James or Peyton Manning it’s fine because you know what you’re getting. But in the world of Internet marketing, often times it’s like what Forrest Gump said about life and chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get. Once you’re locked in to these contracts, they make it practically impossible to get out of. For me, a long term contract could be a deal breaker. Where’s the motivation for the company once you’re locked in? I’ve seen way too many lawyers who were incredibly unhappy about their Internet marketing but they were locked in to long term contracts and just stuck. Read the fine print! (Do I really have to be telling lawyers this????)

Of course, you must always keep in mind price. Good companies are never cheap but the right one can give you an incredible return on your Internet marketing investment. If you’re spending $4,000 a month but generating $20,000 a month on average, that’s a good spend of your money. Just don’t go for the cheapest one or you really will pay for what you get.

So there are tons of lawyer directories out on the web. There’s larger ones like Findlaw, Lawyers.com, i-Lawyer Source Lawyer Directory, iLawyer Directory (that one’s a Southern California directory) and then there are tons of other small directories organized by either geographic location or practice area. So which ones should you list your practice in? Well, that depends on a few things. Most importantly, what is the goal of getting your firm listed in these lawyer directories? Is it to get traffic to your website or is it for link building purposes? Of course the bottom line is you want to generate more cases for your practice, but let me talk about those two reasons for getting a listing in an attorney directory.

1. You want to generate more traffic to your law firm’s website

All lawyers get calls from companies who offer marketing for lawyers on a daily basis. These companies are selling law firm website design, law firm directory listings, search engine optimization services, etc. etc. When it comes to the directories, how can you tell which ones are right? Simple. Do some searches on Google and Yahoo and see if those legal directories are showing up. For example, if you’re a Seattle divorce lawyer, do a search for “Seattle divorce lawyers” or “Seattle family law attorney” on Google. Now, it’s always better if the directories show up in the organic (unpaid) search results. If you can find directories in the organics, those will get better traffic than legal directories that only show up in the “sponsored” listings on the very top (shaded in light blue) or on the very right side of the screen. However, people still click on the sponsored listings on the top and right as well so as long as it’s the 1st page of results than people will still find those directories. Now, just becase a directory is on the 1st page that doesn’t mean it will work. The most important question is how easy is it for a visitor to find your listing if you get placed in one of those directories? Take for example Findlaw’s listing. In Findlaw’s directory, they place 5 law firms at the top of their page. Those top 5 results appear in random order each time the page is visited. If you’re not in the top 5 however, the situation is not as good. If you’re not aware, Findlaw has 3 different tiers. “Top spots” which allow up to 5 law firms, then the 2nd tier listings are called “spotlights” and then general listings. Spotlights appear below the “topspots” and also appear in random order. The reality is you probably won’t get too much traffic in the 2nd and 3rd tier listings. However, it all comes down to ROI. If a 2nd tier listing costs $150 a month, we’re talking $1800 a year. You just need to pick up one case to make it worth while right? Probably worth the cost then. Take the same evaluative approach with the other directories you see (Findlaw is one of the more expensive directories so you can usually find better directories at a cheaper price).

2. You want directory listings for link building purposes

Link building is important if you want to improve your website’s rankings in the search engines. Many companies offer link building services, but few actually do a good job of link building. The reality is that most links out there are virtually worthless from a standpoint of improving your rankings. Why? Many pages that your link would be listed on are not cached (part of the index) of Google or Yahoo or they have no “link juice” (a link that gives your site a boost in the rankings). I don’t want to get into the technicalities of this on this post, but I will say that many links are not direct links to your website. Sure, click on the link and you will end up on your website but that doesn’t mean that’s how a search engine spider sees it. Many links are redirected links (take for example the links in Findlaw’s directory). If you’re looking for links that will give you a boost in the rankings, make sure that # 1 the page you will be listed on is cached by Google and # 2 the link is a direct link. You can determine this by right click on the link and selecting “properties”. Look at the “Address (URL)” and this will reveal the actual URL a search engine spider sees.

Hopefully this helps you in choosing the right law firm directories to list your firm in.

When it comes to marketing your practice on the Internet, one of the most overlooked aspects is the design of your law firms website. While the most important aspect is high visibility in the search engines, the design of your law firms website is a critical component in turning a visitor into a potential client. A website is often the first impression made about you to a new potential client. I compare it to the first time someone walks into your office. If it’s old, unorganized and filled with ugly furniture, that’s not the kind of impression you want to make on your clients, is it? But if your office is nice, clean, organized, comfortable, etc. that makes a client much more comfortable to be in your office. It’s the same thing with your law firm’s website. If it looks old, outdated and it’s not easy for visitors to find the information they’re looking for, then your visitors are more likely to leave and look for a website that looks nice, professional, modern and easy to find information. Trust me, from analyzing web analytics and website visitor behavior this isn’t a theory. It’s proven fact. Have an ugly website and visitors leave. Bottom line. Do not overlook to importance of having a great looking website. Make sure your website is more graphically appealing and filled with better content than your local competitors and you give yourself a much better chance of turning a visitor into a client. In the end, that’s what having a website is all about.

This site focuses on Internet marketing for law firms and the three keys of success when it comes to marketing your practice on the Internet:

1. Increasing visibility on the Internet
2. Graphically appealing and user friendly website design
3. Developing compelling content for your website.

All three are crucial to maximizing your Internet marketing. Two out of three may work, but not to the extent that having all three elements will bring you. Without visibility, it doesn’t matter how great your site looks or how good your content is because no one will find you unless they know your name. Most people who look for an attorney online do not know the name of an attorney. If you have great visibility but a old, outdated, and visually unappealing website, many of your site visitors will leave and look for another website that they feel looks more professional or where they can find the information they look for easier. The most often overlooked element of a successful web marketing campaign however is your websites content. Informative and compelling content is crucial to get those visitors calling your firm and not your competitors. Unique, compelling and high quality content is also crucial if you want to have high visibility in the search engines. When done the right way, Internet marketing for lawyers can be an incredible way to grow your law firm’s business.