Information Economics

Information economics or the economics of information is a branch of microeconomic theory that studies how information affects an economy and economic decisions. Information has special characteristics. It is easy to create but hard to trust. It is easy to spread but hard to control. It influences many decisions.

The internet has fundamentally changed how people find and consume information.  Information that was once difficult to attain is now only a quick search and click away.  As a result, there is a demand for information online.  

The online marketing "winners" will be the firms that are able to supply that demand for information.  You need to create an online presence where you position yourself as a trusted resource, a supplier of information for your niche.  This is not attained by simply setting up a website that talks about how great your firm is and running some ads to get people to the site.  Sure this might generate a few leads and prospects, but it is not a recipe for long-term success online.

Success online will come to the firms that are putting out information that makes the web better.  As the article states:

Will you:

• Answer someone’s question?
• Make someone laugh?
• Provide a reasoned disagreement?
• Help solve a problem?
• Make some data more easily understood?
• Fix technical errors?
• Provide a different perspective?
• Leave a thoughtful comment?
• Participate in a discussion?
• Share something new you’ve learned?
• Meet someone new?
• Introduce people to one another?
• Create something aesthetically amazing?
• Review a product or service?
• Recommend a colleague?

Not so different from traditional networking concepts, is it?  However, doing this requires creativity and effort.  You actually have to create good content that is helpful for people.  You need to add to the conversation in some way.  Regurgitating news stories and recent verdicts in the area doesn't really accomplish this.  Neither is stuffing a page full of keywords for search engines.  

Some might argue these methods work or one man's spam is another man's treasure.  However, my larger point is that in order to stand out as a supplier of valuable information in the long run, in order to become a resource people come to, you will need to think about how your marketing is making the web better, not just making more of the same noise that already exists.  Easier said than done.

And as I wrote in Solely Social or Used to Promote?, they demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding about how we communicate.

In one box, they would put communications by lawyer "solely for social purposes, to maintain social contact with family and close friends." These they suggest are not subject to the lawyer advertising rules.

In a second box, they would put "pages appearing on networking sites that are used to promote the lawyer or law firm’s practice." These they suggest are subject to the lawyer advertising rules.

And while some communications by lawyers may fit neatly into one of the two boxes, of course we know that the overwhelming majority of communications will include social purposes, as well as, promotional purposes.

But even if we recognize that communications are intended to convey a variety of meanings, there's really another question here. Should the intent of the communication be the distinguishing factor?

In Legal Blogging vs Advertising & Marketing we examined the Horace Hunter blog debacle. In that example the Virgninia Bar took issue with Mr. Hunter's omission of disclaimer on his "blog". They claimed that at least one purpose of his website to market the firm and attract business.

Which raised the question of whether there true distinctions between blogs, other forms of electronic communications, marketing materials, and advertisements.

As I've written before, at least with regard to lawyer ethics rules, the issue shouldn't be whether the intent of the communication was editorial, solely social, or used to promote.

As Professor Goldman puts it:

"The law doesn’t handle editorial-content-as-marketing overlaps very well, unfortunately.”

In my humble opinion, even The U.S. Supreme Court has trouble making the distinction between "pure speech" and "commercial speech" (much this trouble created by the Court).

And so, in the end, lawyers, at least those in Florida, in order to comply with the silly and child-like rules of their State Bar, must regulate their communications to fit neatly into one of two boxes. Those that are solely for social purposes and those that are used to promote.

I challenge you to answer the hypothetical examples listed here.

Gorillas are the largest extant species of primates. Adult males, also called silverbacks, range in height 1.65–1.75 metres (5 ft 5 in–5 ft 9 in), and in weight 140–200 kg (310–440 lb). Occasionally, a silverback of over 1.8 metres (5 ft 11 in) and 230 kg (510 lb) has been recorded in the wild. Obese gorillas in captivity have reached a weight of 270 kg (600 lb).

In other words, they're big.

Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians (or "irregulars") use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and less-mobile traditional army, or strike a vulnerable target, and withdraw almost immediately.

In other words, it's lean and strategic.

They covered some of the basics of blog SEO and how search engines "rank" web pages.

They also provided some actionable tips, specifically applicable to lawyer-bloggers about both what "to do" and what not to do.

And while the specific blog SEO tips were really quite good, it was a point that Kevin made about how a law firm might think about approaching SEO, and internet marketing more generally, that resonated with me.

His point was that if you are a larger firm with a significant marketing budget, who has been aggressively marketing and advertising in the offline world, you will probably approach internet in a much different way than if you're a small firm or solo, with a very limited (or nonexistent) marketing budget.

In other words, how you approach internet marketing will depend, to a large extent, upon whether you're more a gorilla or a guerilla.

And while this might seem like an obvious distinction, failing to consider in advance whether you're more of a gorilla or a guerilla can have a significant impact on whether you meet the goals of your internet marketing campaigns.

Gorillas

Have you historically spent big advertising marketing dollars on yellow book, television, radio, and billboard advertising? Does your firm use direct mailers?

Does it sponsor industry trade shows, seminars, charity events, and scholarships? Does your firm have a recognized brand?

If so, you might be a web marketing gorilla.

Web marketing gorillas typically take an aggresive comprehensive approach to their web strategy. They usuallly commit large budgets to paid search marketing and have professional paid search managers optimizing their accounts.

They may also make significant investments in paid online legal directory advertising, content distribution platforms, and a variety of other internet advertising programs.

Gorillas also invest heavily in web design and development. They often purchase complex websites with custom designs, video integrations, live-chat features, and a host of other web bells and whistles.

Some gorillas will be able to leverage in-house resources like attorney-writers, subject-matter experts (like doctors, engineers, nurses, etc).

Typically, the gorillas we have worked with have benefitted from high-level agency strategy support, managing, maintenance, and consulting.

Whether they're looking for a quarterback for their existing efforts, or want more turn-key solutions, the common theme is that they want to cast a comprehensive online net and measure, track, and analyze how these different moving pieces are working to increase the firm's online footprint, and ultimately deliver new business.

They're usually not interested in getting mired down in all the specific details and prefer the 30,000 ft. view of how the internet is adding value to their practice.

Guerillas

Are you a solo or small firm lawyer? Do you typically stick to only the most proven and efficient forms marketing and advertising? Are you committed to doing most of the heavy-lifting yourself?

Would you rather invest your time than your money into building your practice? Do you find yourself analyzing where the competition is weak and positioning yourself against those weaknesses? Do you prefer the scalpal to the shotgun?

Then you're probably a web marketing guerilla.

Typically, guerillas put a higher priority on efficiency and effectiveness. They want maximum bang for their buck and aren't looking for a lot superfluity.

They put a higher priority on marketing strategies that are lean, versatile, and affordable.

They're willing to spend some of their own time learning and executing proven web marketing strategies.

They want a professional web profile, but not necessarily all the bells and whistiles. They usually handle the majority of content development, link acquisition, and campaign management themselves.

The guerillas that we've worked with have benefitted more from individualized education sessions where they can get answers to specific questions about a specific aspect to web marketing.

They're interested in understanding the role the web can plan in word of mouth referrals.

They usually appreciate someone watching over their shoulder to make sure that they're avoiding common mistakes.

They like having access to professionals to help point them in the right direciton, but prefer to execute the various strategies themselves.

Why It Matters

Determining whether you're a gorilla or a guerilla should be a huge factor in how you build your web marketing program.

For example, if you're a gorilla, you might be disappointed with campaigns that don't provide you maximum online exposure across several channels in a short period of time.

On the other hand, if you're a guerilla, and you elect a campaign that attempts to take gorillas head-on, you might find yourself exhausting your budgets before they are able to generate a return.

Understanding your identity in this respect will help you structure your marketing initiatives in a way that makes the most sense for your specific goals.

Nonetheless, whether you're a gorilla or guerilla, before you spend a lot of time or effort on a particular strategy or to hire a consultant, you should:

• Spend some time learning about how the web and search engines can actually serve to complement your existing marketing efforts.
• Think about your specific marketing message, budget, and short and long-term goals.
• Talk to similarly situation lawyers about their experiences with various strategies, consultants, and vendors.
• Before you hire anyone, ask a lot of questions about "how this stuff works" and what level of transparency, accountability, and reporting is available.

While implenting the "right" internet marketing plan can serve as an excellent piece of your firm's greater marketing campaign, getting stuck with the wrong plan can put a dent in your pocketbook, harm your professional reputation, or even get you into legal ethics hot water with your state bar.

There's just no substitute for learning about internet and search marketing before you dive in head first.

First up, Essential Do's and Don'ts for LinkedIn Users by Dan Pinnington. Dan writes:

With over 120 million users in more than 200 countries (including at least a million lawyers) and Web traffic that ranks it as the 13th most visited site on the planet, LinkedIn is the social networking tool of choice for professionals. It is far more than a glorified way for job hunters to put their CV online. LinkedIn profiles are optimized to perform well in search engines, specifically when someone looks for you by name. In fact, it’s not uncommon for a LinkedIn profile to rank above your firm’s website!

With the recent claim, of at least one lawyer, that LinkedIn is a waste of time, Dan's article provides some perspective, as well as, some actionable tips about how to, and how not to, use LinkedIn.

Dan is also right about LinkedIn's performance in search results. If you claim, complete, and optimized your LinkedIn profile, it's likely to be one of the most visible profiles for searches of your name or firm name. As Dan notes, it's even likely to outrank your firm website and blog for branded searches, depending of course on the authority of your other sites.

Next up, Law Firm Marketing: What's the ROI? by Christopher Petrini-Poli and Paul Grabowski. I'm always shocked by how little lawyers focus, measure, and analyze returns on marketing and advertising investments. To me, this article nails the keys: Defining Goals and Calculating ROI.

It's incredible how many law firms explore marketing and advertising campaigns without clear goals in mind. This quickly leads to "black holes", campaigns that run wildly without any identifiable measure of performance.

Further, those that do identify goals, either limit their marketing goals to straight dollars out dollars in and fail to recognize the "one-offs" that various marketing initiatives can have. These one-offs can include network and relationship development and professional reputation enhancement.

Finally, some of the firms that actually discuss goals, fail to put into place systems for measuring, tracking, and calculating whether these goals are being met. Admittedly, whether or not certain types of goals are met can be exceptionally difficult to measure. The authors suggest a 5-step process:

1. Track the number of pieces you are mailing or sending electronically. For advertising, use the number of impressions either in print or electronic form.
   
   
2. Determine the overall cost for production of the piece, including costs for graphics and staff time.
   
   
3. Divide your costs by the total number distributed or impressions. 
   
   
4. Track your responses from recipients. Divide this number by the total number distributed to provide you with a percentage of impact.
   
   
5. Depending on the response from the recipient, if it is a request for work to be performed (or if actual work is completed), estimate the revenue generated versus the cost to produce. This will give you an expected ROI.

Don't continue to spend money on marketing and advertising that isn't carrying it's own weight. Give campaigns enough time to get a representative data set. Constantly analyze each component of your marketing and advertising to decide whether it's "worth it."

Next is Nicholas Gaffney's The Lawyer Raters: In Their Own Words:

Ratings are proliferating across all the goods and services we buy, and the legal industry is no exception. Over the past several years legal rating services and lawyer ranking lists have grown tremendously. Gone are the days where one single institution determines the best lawyers or the top firms. Today, there are many different ways to evaluate legal services and it’s important that as practitioners you have a better handle on what’s happening both online and offline and understand how it impacts your reputation and your business.

Like most people, lawyers are uncomfortable being rated, reviewed, and judged. However, for better or worse, the way people judge professional service providers, like lawyers, has expanding rapidly.

In the past, when someone was referred to a lawyer, that person was likely to call the lawyer or meet with the lawyer directly. Today, that person is much more likely to perform some research about the lawyer online. So the questions become, what will they find, and what can a lawyer do to manage that experience?

When someone searches for a lawyer on Google, what will they find:

• The lawyer’s website, that has been +1′d by someone the guy knows on Google+.
• The lawyer’s Google Places listing with several reviews from clients and other lawyers.
• A .pdf file of the lawyer’s resume.
• The lawyer’s Avvo profile with reviews, answers, and license history.
• The lawyer’s LinkedIn profile that contains testimonials and answers the lawyer has provided on LinkedIn’s answers.
• A YouTube video of the lawyer discussing the anatomy of a car accident case.
• The lawyer’s Super Lawyer profile.
• A local Adwords Express Ad containing ratings, address, and phone.
• An article in which the lawyer is quoted on a local news site.
• The lawyer’s JD Supra profile containing guides for accident injury victims.

For those lawyers who embrace the fact that these rating and review platforms are out there, whether they like it or not, there is huge opportunity for competitive advantage.

In fact, as just one example, lawyers that have reviews on their Googl Places profile can steal clients from competitors that have higher search engine visibility.

Finally, Adam L. Stock discusses How Lawyers are Using Video:

Not only do the videos convey what services and expertise the attorneys can deliver, but they also show how they might deliver those services as well.

The web is rapidly evolving. Gone are the days of the read-only text web. Here are the days of the interactive multimedia web. Soon, your clients will begin to expect to be able to find video of you online.

Here are some of Adam's tips:

Understanding that video is an online social medium is critical to its marketing success. We have borrowed what we’ve learned from successful blogs.

Publish frequently: Volume matters in gaining followers and viewers. We publish approximately one new video per week, making them available to clients who access our videos through a subscription.

Keep videos short: Like blog entries, shorter is better. Based on our experience, online video is best at 1½ to 3 minutes. We may go up to five minutes for a very technical topic.

Tag and share: Like blog entries, tag content and share it through social networks and use syndicators to push out content.

Account for a short shelf life. Videos have a limited shelf life, so don’t make one that will take too long to produce, otherwise the information will be outdated by the time you release it.

Integrate. Integrate online video into your other forms of marketing. For example, you may find that marketing both through email and video may yield a better result than each of these media alone.

Measure results. Like all online media, you can measure views, referrals and the number of times videos are shared. Monitor this information and learn what works for you.

You don't have to look very hard to find lawyer videos that are done well, not so well, and just plain badly. Just like everything else you do, both online and offline, you want your videos to put your best and most professional foot forward.

All in all, I was pretty impressed with this issue of Law Practice Magazine. And that's a pretty good endorsement considering I usually think most of the marketing/advertising information in the legal sector is either out-of-date, not very clear, or just downright poor.

Further, the articles highlighted here were certainly not the only good ones in the issue. They just happened to be the ones that I found most applicable to what I do. I recommend you check out the full issue yourself.

And before the internet, the person who was referred was likely to call or visit the lawyer to inquire about retaining the lawyer's services.

And as part of that inquiry, that prospective client would be likely to ask the lawyer about her experience, maybe her background, and probably a bunch of specific questions about their specific legal matter.

And based on this interview, the prospective client would make a decision about whether or not to hire the lawyer.

And this, or something relatively similar to this, was pretty much how word of mouth legal referrals went.

That was, until the internet.

Instead, legal services consumers are more and more likely to research the lawyer online.

They might search for the lawyer in Google. If they have the address, they might visit the lawyer's website or blog directly. Or they might visit a variety of third-party legal websites, directories, informational portals, or directories.

And so the questions become, what will they find and how will what they find influence their hiring decision?

Will they find anything about you at all?

Will they find an obviously outdated website?

Will they find your clients writing positively about you?

Will they find other lawyers writing positively about you?

Will they find that you are regularly quoted and interviewed in the media?

Will they come away with the feeling that you are the right person to help them?

These are just some of the ways that the internet can influence word of mouth referrals.

And while not every person who is referred to you will necessarily search for you online, more and more people are.

So ask yourself, what do people who are referred to you find when they go online?

If this isn't a good enough reason to start learning how to develop your professional profile online, I don't know what is.

And I don't mean to pick specifically on 1&1 MyWebsite websites either. Other major hosting providers also provide cheap sitebuilders that I usually don't recommend.

Unfortunately, due to lack of understanding about what's available, many small businesses, including law firms, are attracted to these basic sitebuilder applications provided by hosting companies. Which, when you consider what some legal website deisgn firms charge for a new site design, is completely understandable.

Now look, I'm not saying that making a considerable investment into your firm's website design and development is necessarily wrong. The design of your site will have a huge impact on the way the internet users and searchers view your firm. An unprofessional, outdated, or simply poor design can have a very negative impact on your firm's web presence, and may cost you clients.

On the other hand, you better know what you're paying for. I have yet to see a law firm website design that is worth tens of thousands of dollars. And let me tell you, there are firms that still pay that much for a design today.

That's not to say that there aren't websites that may be worth that kind of investment. For example, if part of the site build includes professional photography, videos, live chat, and extensive pages and content, then a firm should expect to make a considerable investment.

Firms should spend some time learning about what's available and shopping around to see what are reasonable prices for site design, development, and of course marketing.

Opting for the most affordable sitebuilder solutions, like 1&1's MyWebsite product, typically isn't the best balance in terms of price, affordability, professionalism, and functionality.

Since Rand did such a nice job articulating the differences between interruption and inbound marketing, I thought it worth applying these concepts to some ways legal services consumers use the internet to when they think they need a lawyer.

Here's a recent television commercial I saw here in Chicago:

So that's there's no confusion, I don't know this attorney. I don't know what the cost of this campaign was. And I have no idea what kind of return it generated.

However, I do know that when their potential clients think they might be in need of a lawyer, they might do this:

And they might see this:

And some folks might not know whether they even need a lawyer yet. So they might ask a question like this:

And some of those consumers may have been referred by friends. So those folks might do this:

And they might see this:

And this:

And they'll eventually find this:

And they may even get to this:

Whether they're directly searching for a lawyer, trying to get answers about their legal issues, or vetting a referral that they received from a friend or family member, the way legal services consumers find information about their legal issues has been forever changed by the internet.

I don't know if interruption marketing will ever completely die. However, I am pretty confident that providing your potential clients with content that demonstrates your knowledge, skill, and experience, when they are looking for it is much more likely to motivate them to contact and hire you than when you interrupt their favorite television show or sports game.

And the internet provides a variety of ways for you to do that. And most of these are much less expensive than their interruption counterparts.

What follows are 5 places on your website you should try using a call to action.

This is one that seems obvious yet is often missing on law firm websites and blogs.  People will enter your site on many different pages.  If they find you through a long tail search result or via a link from a blog, they are most likely going to land on an interior page, not your homepage.  This is why having a call to action at the top of your sidebar is a good idea.  You want to make it very easy for an individual to contact you no matter how they enter your site.

Additionally, it's a good idea to have the call to action or contact form as the very first thing on your sidebar.  The further down the page it slides, the conversion of the call to action will be effected.

2. After A Post or Article

It's a good idea to try a call to action at the end of a blog post or article.  However, don't assume that just inserting "If you have been injured as the result of an accident call us at....." is the best call to action at the end of the article.  Offer a free guide download relevant to the article or perhaps offer the ability to subscribe to your blog like they do over at the Crime In The Suites blog:

The advantage of using a call to action in this space is that the visitor has just finished reading your entire article so obviously there is a higher level of interest once they reach the end as opposed to a casual browser to the site.  

Additionally, the call to action is directly in line as they read so they aren't as likely to "miss it" due to banner blindness.  I'd also recommend mixing it up to see if using a call to action with simple text or a graphic like Crime In The Suites uses is more effective.

3. On Your Attorney Profile Page

I'll bet if you dig into your analytics you'd find that a lot of visitors check out your attorney profile page before making a decision on contacting you.  With that in mind, why not use this as an opportunity to capture a visitor's attention?

4. Using A Lightbox Pop-Up

This one is a little more controversial because a lot of people think it's quite annoying. I'd say that this can be quite effective, but it really depends on your audience.  People serving higher-end clientele should probably avoid this type of call to action.  However, for more volume based law firms dealing directly with consumers, this is a good technique to try out.

The lightbox pop-up could include a request to join a newsletter, a free consultation offer, a live chat, etc.

5. Your Website Footer

While not everyone makes it down the end of your page, when it does happen usually they are checking your site out more closesly.  This is why including a call to action in the footer of your website is a good idea. 

Unlike in the offline, brick-and-mortar world, websites don't offer any visual cues about what exactly they are until you visit the site.  All domains have the exact same format (http://subdomain.rootdomain.tld for example http://www.attorneysync.com).  Because of this, it's important that you choose a name that helps identify you as a law firm and better yet, one that can help a client understand your practice.

All things being equal, it is my belief that you should use a keyword rich domain if you have the option.  For example, if you are a bankruptcy lawyer in Montana named John Doe, I would recommend securing Montanabankruptcylawyer.com over JohnDoe.com.  This helps not only with search visibility, but it also provides cues to the site visitor about what your site is about.  Montanabankruptcylawyer.com provides much more information than JohnDoe.com.  While there are reports about Google dialing down the effectiveness of a keyword rich domain in search results, there is still value for the user and I believe it will always play some role in the search algorithm even if that role is "dialed down."

Using our example above, a lawyer might choose to use their name John Doe instead.  In this instance, I believe you are better off adding "law" or some legal modifier to help identify your website as legally related.  In other words, JohnDoeLaw.com is more advisable than simply JohnDoe.com.

All The Best Domains Are Taken

I understand that the legal space online is brutally competitive and many of the best domain names have already been secured.  This means that in order to secure a keyword rich domain you will have to get more creative.  For instance, in our example above there is a good chance that MontanaBankruptcyLawyer.com or your local, geographic permutation for this name is already taken.  You can try adding a suffix such as "group", "blog", or "info" to your desired domain name and check it's availability.  You will simply need to get more creative than just checking on the availability of an exact match domain and calling it a day.

That being said, here are a few things to avoid when choosing your more creative domain:

Avoid uncommon top-level-domains - A top-level-domain is the extension that proceeds the domain name you choose (.com or .net are top-level-domains).  Avoid registering TLD's such as .info, .cc, .ws, and .name as they are indicators of spam.

Avoid domain names longer than 15 characters - Names that get too long appear spammy and are difficult to type into the address bar.  The following is a real website domain name for a law firm http://nursinghomenegligencemalpracticeaccidentsabusephiladelphiapa.com.  Needless to say it is too long and filled with too many keywords to be an effective domain.

Beware of permutations - In the book Search Engine Optimization Secrets the author gives a good example of this.  the owners of ExpertsExchange.com built a brand and large website before they realized that the name could be misinterpreted as ExpertSexChange.com.

Finally, when you are researching possible names to use, I recommend using a domain search engine such as domize to make your life easier.

Photo by Ivanpw (http://www.flickr.com/photos/28288673@N07/)

Everyone has moments in their past that they wish they could hide from the professional world. Unfortunately, Facebook friends have a way of bringing up those past indiscretions for everyone to see.

The whole objective behind Facebook is to exchange information with friends, family and colleagues. Yet if a friend posts a photo of you doing something you don’t want to be seen doing and tags you in that photo, the people in your network are going to see it. In fact, if your privacy settings aren’t set properly, you may find that even total strangers are able to see them too.

So here are some security and privacy considerations for Facebook that lawyers should put to good use.

It’s very possible to edit and customize your permissions for sharing information about yourself. Log into your Facebook account and you’ll see on the top right hand side a drop-down menu for “Account”. Inside this menu, you’ll see a selection for “Privacy Settings”.

Use this section to customize the level of privacy you want. Don’t simply click on the “Friends Only” option, unless you want people within your professional network to see photos of you or your kids as well. Instead, use the Custom option and select the level of privacy options you want to apply.

For example, you may choose to only allow people in your friend network to see photos of you or post on your wall. You may even choose to block anyone who isn’t in your friend list from seeing any of your information at all.

There is also the option to hide certain information from view to everyone except you. This is a handy feature if you don’t your contact information, your email address or your phone number visible to anyone online at all.

Tagged Photos and Videos

While you may have reset and reconfigured your sharing permissions, this won’t actually stop someone else from uploading a photo of you and then tagging you in it. Those third-party pictures of you can be seen by people in your network, as well as by the people in the network of the person who posted the photo.

If you’re not comfortable with people loading random photos of you for anyone to see, you can keep track of when anyone tags you in a post or in a photo. You can also choose to hide any externally uploaded photos and make them visible to only you.

To do this, select the drop down menu on the upper right hand side that says “Account” then select the option for “Account Settings”. This will take you to a page where you can control what information you choose to share.

You can also set your account to send you notifications when a person tags you in a post or in a photo. This is an important consideration, as you cede a large amount of reputation control by allowing others to post images of you at will.

Encrypt Your Facebook Sessions

While you’re in the “Account Settings” page, select the “Account Security” option. This allows you to conduct any of your Facebook sessions over a ‘https’ secure connection. You have the added security of knowing you’re not sharing your information with others, which can be very handy if you’re using the Wi-Fi at a Starbucks or at the airport, or other public location.

This section also allows you to monitor and receive notifications of any other activity within your Facebook account.

Across the top of the Account Settings page are several tabs. You can allocate various levels of notifications for different events and occurrences on Facebook.

This post was written by Lior Levin who is a social media consultant to an E2 Visa lawyer from New York who likes to engage in deep social media initiatives.

Photo by kchbrown http://www.flickr.com/photos/phillykevflicks/

If you've ever spent any time online (or even using email), someone has probably told you that you need links to your website in order to "rank better in google."  Next, they probably tried to sell you some links.  Sound familiar? What they aren't telling you is that not all links are created equal.

Link Farmers

Unfortunately, many legal web marketing services sell links like hay. They will say something like, "get 100+ PR 3+ links to your website for $100."  In other words, they are selling links in quantity. Of course, when you push them to tell you where these links will be coming from, there is either no response or we begin to travel down the mysterious rabbit-hole of jargon that many legal SEO service providers will concoct to obfuscate their scam.

Further, some of these "link farmers" will actually groom websites for the purpose of selling links.  Not to mention that this is a clear breach of Google's webmaster guidelines, it just doesn't work very well. So, at best, you spent a lot of money for these completely worthless links, and at worse, you spent a lot of money to get "kicked-out" of Google (yes, that can happen).

Link Magnets

Instead of building or paying for links like bushels of hay, you should think of ways to attract links to your website like a magnet. And while there are several ways to attract links, there is really no better way than to simply write something that is interesting, useful, and linkable.

Now admittedly, this is often more easily said than done, which is why it actually works. You see, Google's main goal is to organize information on the web based upon relevance to your search query and popularity.  And when we say popularity, we mean true popularity, as in other people who have websites (or administrative access to websites), who actually link to your website through a citation or endorsing link.

SEO for attorneys is much more about attracting quality links by developing, publishing, and publicizing valuable pieces of content than it is raking link-hay into bushels.

Author: Gyi Tsakalakis is now taking your questions and socializing at: gchat: gyi.tsakalakis | @gyitsakalakis | LinkedIn | Facebook. Hire me at AttorneySync.

Photo By: (http://www.flickr.com/photos/drb62/459468443/)

A recent Travelzoo study in the UK seems to indicate that 81% of vacation planners base choice of hotel on web reviews. However, it's been very well-known, for quite some time, that a significant number of online review sites contain fake reviews.

The truth is, the web provides an excellent platform for the unscrupulous.  At least for now. However, this trend is rapidly changing. And in the end, to the trusted, go the spoils.

So, what does this mean for legal professionals? First, in my humble opinion, publishing or paying for, fake online reviews and testimonials is a clear violation of ethics rules (false and misleading statements). Second, even if you escape your state bar unscathed, the moment that your scheme is revealed, you have lost all credibility with your audience, your colleagues, and Google.

Google?  While perhaps not nearly as important to many of us (despite the fact that an overwhelming number of lawyers sacrifice professional reputation to "get rankings") as our reputation to prospective clients, current clients, and peers, breaking trust online will eventually hurt your reputation with Google. Which means, you guessed it, lower rankings and less visibility.

Legal blog meister Kevin O'Keefe writes:

But as social media evolves -- as people learn to follow people they trust and more people share information via social media -- we're going to go with people we trust over search. Google knows this. As I blogged last month, social media is receiving higher priority in Google search results. LinkedIn knows this. That's why they're launching LinkedIn Today.

And so, for even those that "pray at the alter of Google", building trust remains of critical importance.  Don't believe me? Ask Google.

And trust is one of those things that takes a very long time to build and a very short time to destroy.

So, while the allure to engage in practices that break trust may be enticing, it's simply not worth it. It's not worth your credibility, it's not worth your reputation, and it's not worth your law license.

Online video is becoming a first stop for many customers. It is akin to what the Web page was a decade ago — something that can give early adopters an edge over competitors. It gives them a channel to talk directly to customers in ways previously accessible only to large companies that could afford TV advertisements.

As Google continues to increase the visibility of videos in its universal search results, the value of producing videos for your business will undoubtedly continue to rise. However, like other forms of web content, not all videos are created equal.

If you go to YouTube and perform a quick search for lawyer, it is likely that you will find an abundance of very poorly executed lawyer video advertisements. These are remnants from the TV and Yellow Pages advertising days. They are simply ineffective on the web. Here's why. People use the Internet for a variety of reasons. However, looking for advertisements simply isn't one of them. If you want to advertise online, buy advertising. It's that simple. Then compare the performance of your online advertisements to other web strategies (like blogging).I bet that you will find that there is really no comparison. That's not to say that online advertising is bad. It's just different.

Effective online videos do provide early adopters a competitive advantage. In other words, as of now, there's a lot less competition for video visibility than there is for organic search visibility. However, how will the consumer react when they do see your video? Will you have provided them with something helpful? Or will you have told them how awesome you are?

If you follow what's going on in the world of search engine marketing, you likely have heard something about Google's Recent Panda-Farmers-Content Update:

Many of the changes we make are so subtle that very few people notice them. But in the last day or so we launched a pretty big algorithmic improvement to our ranking—a change that noticeably impacts 11.8% of our queries—and we wanted to let people know what’s going on.

 

This update is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites—sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful. At the same time, it will provide better rankings for high-quality sites—sites with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on. We can’t make a major improvement without affecting rankings for many sites. It has to be that some sites will go up and some will go down. Google depends on the high-quality content created by wonderful websites around the world, and we do have a responsibility to encourage a healthy web ecosystem. Therefore, it is important for high-quality sites to be rewarded, and that’s exactly what this change does.

In the wake of this most recent update, we've received a lot questions from law firms wondering how this might impact their website traffic. And the answer, like most other online answers, is that it really depends.

If you write your own unique website content and blog posts. If you research your posts and provided your opinion, analysis, or even remotely articulate something resembling a point, you will likely not be greatly impacted by this most recent update.

On the other hand. If you copy (or scrape) content from other websites. If you buy content that has been copied or spun via software. If you pull news headlines off of news sites and follow them with the first 100 words of the news articles. If you're using a blog feed of disaster (as Kevin O'Keefe warns against), your website or blog's traffic and rankings may be at risk.

While some of these "strategies" may have worked to increase traffic to your site in the past, they are likely to do more harm than good. Both to your search engine visibility and to your professional reputation.

So here's my advice:

Naturally, I can hear the question from many of you ‘What do we do now?’ So here are a couple of statements that we can make without question.

• If you are scraping sites and mashing content together – Just stop what you're doing right now.
• Make sure that any content that is published to your website or blog is unique. Also, if you are publishing articles on your blog and then syndicating them on other sites without altering them – You should stop doing that too.
• If you're going to syndicate content that you have published to your own site or blog, only put unique content on your site; and wait before syndicating a modified version of your content elsewhere.
• If you publish external content (i.e. guest blog posts, etc) make sure that it is unique.
• If you comments turned off on your blog, turn them on. Moderate them. Respond to them. This tells Google, and more importantly, your visitors that you are listening and actually care that they visit your site. 

I recognize that online publishing may not be a high priority on your list of daily tasks. I also realize that not all lawyers are great writers. While I don't think that outsourcing content for websites and blogs is bad per se, you must have an editorial review process in place for any content published to your website or blog. You should also establish specific guidelines for anyone that contributes content to your site or blog. The truth is, more often than not, you will be the best at writing for your own law firm website and/or legal blog.

This really should come as no surprise. As it has been since ancient times, people call upon advocates to help them solve their problems. Whether it be answering questions, counseling through difficult decisions, or litigating their matters at court, lawyers have always been called upon to solve our problems. And so, the first step to any online professional reputation development should be brainstorming your potential clients' problems.

What Is The Problem?

Unfortunately, many legal professionals conclude that the problem their prospective clients are facing is that they don't know enough about them. That is why they spend so much time and effort adding biographical information about themselves. They write about how hard they work and how much experience they have. They include images about professional awards that they have won and the number of years it has been since they first got their license. But is this truly the problem that prospective clients have? Are they out looking for this information? Perhaps eventually, but not at first.

Solving Their Problems

The first problems they are trying to solve have to do with them. How can I get out of this financial mess? How will I pay my bills now that I can't work because of an injury? What amount of jail time may I be facing for my drunk driving arrest? These are the problems that Internet using prospective clients are trying to solve. And these are the problems that legal professionals should be helping to solve online.

And so, your online professional reputation building should be invested in techniques that solve problem. Here are some excellent ways to help solve-problems online:

• Blogging - Blogging about the problems that your prospective clients are facing, and more important, how you can help them solve them, is one of the most effective ways to communicate the value of your services online.
• Q & A Sites - Sites that provide forums for questions and answers are another great opportunity to help prospectice clients solve problems online.
• Content Syndication - In addition to developing problem-solving content, it's important to get that content in front of those that have the problems that you're trying to answer. That is why content syndication is so important.
• Commenting on Blogs - You may be surprised as to how effective blog commenting can be in terms discussions and problem solving.
• Educational Materials - Whether in the form of guide downloads, e-books, traditional books, or videos, providing a variety of educational materials geared at solving problems is extremely effective online.

So the next time you find yourself tweaking your "about us" or "attorney profile" pages, spend some time thinking "about them". What are their problems? How do you help them solve those problems? How can you effectively communicate your ability to help them solve those problems.

Once you have addressed their problem and how you may be able to help them solve it, only then is it time to communicate your adeptness for solving those problems. Interestingly, it has a lot less to do with where you went to law school and how long you have practiced than it does about how you are able to communicate your ability to solve their specific problem.

Before you buy online legal marketing, make sure that you have spent some real time analyzing your marketing message and position. Ask yourself the tough questions of what you can do better than your competition and how you can most effectively communicate that message through all your marketing efforts. Don't try to be all things to all potential clients. This is likely to result in a diluted message.

Additionally, spend some time researching online marketing strategies. So many legal professionals lock themselves into long-term deals with marketing agencies that simply can't generate results with the methodologies that they are implementing. Like anything else, in order to maximize your chances of success, you need to understand some basics about how online marketing and search engines work. Who knows, you may find that you can handle a majority of your strategies on your own.

It's common knowledge amongst bloggers that crafting an interesting, catchy headline can help to increase the click-throughs and readership of your article.  It's also well known that incorporating photos into your posts is a great way to grab your reader's attention (If this wasn't well-known to you then it is now).

But there is a component of your blog posts that you may be overlooking (I know I was).

Captions

Photo captions are the most read body type in a publication. According to Drew Eric Whitman, Captions under photos get 200% greater readership than non-headline copy.  Of all the content on your blog article, only the title or headlines have higher readership than captions.

The point is that if you fail to include captions underneath your photos, you are missing an opportunity to further engage your readers.

How Does A Reader Interact With Your Pictures On Your Blog?

This article from the University of Kansas discusses reader behavior:

When writing a cutline with or without a caption, it is useful to have clearly in mind the typical reader behavior when “using” a photograph and accompanying text: 

• First,  the reader looks at the photo, mentally capturing all or most of the most obvious visual information available. Often this reader look is merely a glance, so subtle aspects of the picture may not register with many readers.
• When that look at the photo sparks any interest, the reader typically looks just below the photo for information that helps explain the photo. That's when captions and cutlines must perform.
• Then, typically, the reader, after digesting the information, goes back to the photo (so be sure you enhance the experience and explain anything that needs explaining).

What Does A Reader Want To Know About Your Photo (or What Makes A Good Caption)?

• How the picture relates to the post?
• What is happening in the photo?
• Who is in the photo?
• Where or when is it happening?

In short, a caption should help clarify the photo and it's use in the article for the reader.  You should not use a caption to explain something obvious a reader can tell from simply looking at the picture.  An example is a photo of Michael Jordan taking a jump shot.  A caption stating "Basketball player takes a jump shot" isn't nearly as helpful as "Michael Jordan hitting the game winner".

Photo by Lady Madonna

In one section of the book the authors discuss the concept of out-teaching the competition.  The idea is that through education-based marketing, you can gain an audience that trusts and respects you.  They write:

Instead of trying to outspend, outsell, or outsponsor competitors, try to out-teach them.  Teaching probably isn't something your competitors are even thinking about.  Most businesses focus on selling or servicing, but teaching never even occurs to them.

Teach and you'll form a bond you just don't get from traditional marketing tactics.  Buying people's attention with a magazine or online banner ad is one thing.  Earning their loyalty by teaching them forms a whole different connection.  They'll trust you more.  They'll respect you more. 

I couldn't agree more.  We have found the education-based marketing approach to be invaluable for our own consulting business as well as for the law firms we work with. 

The law can be a very foreign, difficult to understand subject for most people. The firms that have the ability to explain it in plain English and use education-based marketing will reap the benefits including: 

• Building more value into your service
• No longer having to sell on price
• Positioning yourself as an expert in your field
• Building trust in the beginning of the relationship
• Providing transparency into your thoughts, process, and business
• Making the competition that is hard-selling, using manipulative tactics, and telling half-truths less relevant

So How Do I Go About Education-Based Marketing?

Today there are more opportunities than ever before to utilize teaching and education-based marketing to get more clients.  Here are just a few suggestions to get you started:

1. Start Blogging - There is no better online forum to express your thoughts, ideas, skill sets, and expertise than through a blog.  It fosters conversations and allows for a more detailed explanation than a Tweet or Facebook post.

2. Answer Questions - Be generally helpful to others online.  Using question and answer services such as LinkedIn Answers, Avvo's Ask A Lawyer, or newer services such as Quora (here is a post we wrote on Quora if you've never heard of it) can help build your expertise and get people asking about how you can help them.

3. Video Marketing - Use an online video as an opportunity to help educate someone as opposed to just advertising your firm. Anyone can talk into the camera telling everyone "how hard they will fight for you". Take the opportunity to teach them something about the law that actually helps inform the consumer.

Photo by DRB62

Social Media Signals Merge with traditional SEO factors: Google undertook some radical changes in 2010, including Google Instant and the merging of Google Places listings within the organic search results. Both changes were incredibly significant in my view, and only a sampling of what Google has prepared for us in 2011. Danny Sullivan’s recap on the increased weight being given to social media endorsements is the starting point for my 2011 SEO prediction. As Sullivan notes, neither Google or Bing are using “ReTweets” or “Likes” as a major factor in their organic search rankings, yet. By the end of 2011, I expect one of the two major search engines (my guess: Bing) will turn SEO on its head significantly by increasing the ranking impact of social media endorsements within their ranking algorithm.

What does this mean? First, if you haven't done so already, I recommended adding the Big Steve Feed, to your reader app. Next, you need to begin thinking about your law firm web marketing in terms of both social, as well as, local signals.

While traditional seo shall still remain an important component to successful law firm Internet marketing, it's essential that legal professionals don't omit social and local strategy from their web presence strategy.

Back in October, when Google made its Place Search update, everyone started to freak out. Lawyers that hadn't considered local signals in their seo campaigns found themselves losing out to firms that may have had weaker traditional seo profiles, but had focused on local seo.

I think it is likely that we see a similar (albeit less severe) trend with social signals. Ignore them at your own peril. However, keep in mind that trying to "tweet" or "like" yourself to the top of google results pages is an effort in futility and may even do harm to your professional reputation and relationships.

Instead of chasing followers and friends, focus on building credibility within small social networks and social circles. "Socialize" with those that share similar interests or that you know personally offline. Don't hyper-focus on the time you spend, number of tweets you post, or articles that you like. While being mindful of your social media metrics is good advice, you're better-off engaging in real participation and just seeing where it takes you. You just might be surprised to learn that social media isn't just for the kids.

According to the firm, the results from the local campaign hadn't been very impressive.  Since the firm's contract with the local search agency was expiring at the end of the year, we advised them to finish out the term and then we would take over the local optimization.  However, when Google made a change towards the end of October to how they displayed local search results, the importance of the firm's Google Places listing took on a more prominent role.  We advised the firm to let us take control of the local campaign in November and we would perform the additional work as a component of our service.

This is when the trouble began.

Needless to say, the firm now has a mess on their hands.  While there are outlets they can pursue to help resolve the issue, it's an annoying situation to have to deal with.

What Steps Can You Take To Protect Yourself?

As always, you should perform due diligence before you hire a service to perform marketing on your behalf.  Speak to references.  Ask more in depth questions than did you get higher rankings.  Ask about the customer service and how the agency is to deal with.  Do they respond quickly?  Are they responsive when asked to do something?

In addition, make sure accounts are being setup under your email and logins or that you are supplied with the login information right upfront.  In the case of Google Places accounts, once you give up the pin number, the agency will be able to connect your Google Places account with any account of their choosing.  This needs to be an account you own or at the very least an account you have access to.  

Photo by Paul Bence