Video highlights of "Nine Steps to Increase Your Online Visibility,"
sponsored and produced by Kates Media, are on the PhillyLegalMarketers YouTube channel.
Studies show that a high percentage of people searching for legal services go online in their search. With over 1.5 million lawyers on LinkedIn and hundreds of thousands of law firm websites and legal blogs, how does a lawyer or firm get found by prospective clients?
To answer this question, the Metro Philly chapter of the Legal Marketing Association held a lunch seminar October 18, 2012, presented by Jason Lisi of Legal Internet Solutions Incorporated and Jessica Sharp of Maven Communications.
Here’s a quick run-down of Lisi and Sharp’s “Nine Steps to Increase Your Online Visibility”:
1. Review the landscape. First search in Google and Bing, starting with just the lawyer’s name. Then expand the search by adding practice areas, city, etc. Because most Web browsers, such as Chrome, skew search results based on your viewing history, it is important to search in an incognito window (e.g., under Chrome’s File menu, choose New Incognito Window).
2. Set up Google Alerts. After making changes to the website, see if and when they show up in the Google Alerts.
3. Gather profile info and join online directories:
5. Publish on legal topics, and link back to the bio:
- on blogs the firm owns.
- on blogs the lawyer owns.
- on microsites dedicated to a topic or practice concentration.
- on article sites like JDSupra.
6. Constantly change the firm’s website to increase search-engine optimization (SEO).
- At every mention of a lawyer’s name on the firm’s website, link to the bio.
- Add summaries of a lawyer’s media coverage to the firm’s website and link from and to the bio.
- Add bylined articles and client alerts to the firm’s website and link from and to the bio.
7. Enhance the web bio. The bios are the biggest driver of Web traffic to a firm’s site.
- Put keywords (i.e., search terms) up front, including specific industries and clients.
- List client matters, describing what was done for the client (using client names if possible, or generic descriptions of clients).
- Include links in the bio to articles, media coverage, etc.
- Update the bio frequently.
8. Complete the LinkedIn profile.
- Make the headline descriptive. Not “Partner at Smith Jones LLP,” but “Product Liability Defense Attorney Focused on Aviation.”
- Write a complete and detailed summary with search terms.
- Use LinkedIn section applications, such as Blog Link, SlideShare Presentations, and Lawyer Ratings [Martindale Hubbell].
- Share an update on recent news, publication, event, etc., with a link.
- Engage with Groups and their Discussions (and include a link).
- Customize your LinkedIn public-profile URL. If a search term is in it, this increases SEO.
9. Now, promote!
- On LinkedIn, share updates, publications, group discussions.
- Ask other bloggers to link to your content, or ask to be a guest blogger.
- Send e-alerts.
- And a bio link to your email signature.
In short, Jessica Sharp and Jason Lisi advocate using SEO, blogging, social media, and online biographies to strategically increase online visibility while still maintaining control over information about the firm and individual attorneys.
Event recap by Metro Philly LMA member Richard Alonso.
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