Legal Marketing & PR

A Majority of Law Firm Marketers Are Investing in Website Redesigns

By Larry Bodine

53% of law firm marketers said that their firm had recently redesigned their website (since January 2008), according to Great Jakes, a web marketing firm in New York. "If you consider the dismal state of the law business, this seems to show significant faith in web marketing," said Robert Algeri, head of of business development and operations.

Law firm marketing now includes a commitment to promote their law firms by using online social networking. 

• Nearly all of the firms (85%) are at least 'experimenting' with social media (LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs).
• 47% of the respondents said that their firm was attempting to coordinate the social media efforts of its attorneys. However, 'coordinate' to some firms means 'encourage' and to others means 'control.' The takeaway is that these firms are taking an active interest in social media.
• A small minority of firms -- 13% of the respondents -- said that they were experimenting with Twitter as an attorney marketing tool. "This is remarkable," Algeri said, "considering that 6 months ago this number was probably zero. Our poll numbers align nearly exactly with a poll by blogger Amy Campbell.

In my opinion, a website should be a potent marketing vehicle that makes the phone ring. It should generate new business for your lawyers. But if your law firm website is an unchanging "billboard in a cornfield," you are wasting your money. It's essential that they:

• Display the Three Things Clients Look for on Law Firm Web Sites.
• Conform to web site usability principles.  Your site should not need an instruction manual.
• Eliminate Flash graphics (which Google cannot index), delete any scrolling text, and remove any animation that distracts readers away from your text.
• Be updated regularly.

Find out more about making your website an effective marketing vehicle. Contact me to discuss an analysis of your current website, a plan for your new website and inexpensive ways to get it online fast.

Full post as published by Larry Bodine's LawMarketing Blog on May 07, 2010 (boomark / email).