The Rainmaker Blog : Law Firm Marketing and Business Development : The Rainmaker Institute : Stephen Fairley : Professional Legal Marketing

Local search is becoming increasingly important when trying to improve the ranking for your law firm website on Google and other search engines. After all, someone searching for an attorney in Scottsdale will not care about a lawyer in Scarsdale...and Google knows that. Google is all about delivering relevant search results to its users...hence, the importance of doing whatever you can to rank well for local search.

How to do this? The infographic below from The Search Ninjas lays it out for you:

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Get All the Law Firm Marketing Strategies You Need to Create A 7-figure Law Practice with Rainmaker In A Box: Volume 2!

Newly released! Rainmaker in a Box: Volume 2 includes:

8 Proven Steps for More & Better Referrals


Discover the proven step-by-step system used to double your referrals from current and former clients and how to build a network of strategic referral partners. Top attorneys have used this exact system to double their referrals in 6 months or less!

7 Strategies to Recession Proof Your Law Firm


Watch and learn as I walk you through the specific strategies top lawyers are using to increase their revenues in this tough economy-and it doesn’t include reducing their fees!

6 Keys to Unlocking the Secrets of Social Media


Social media has emerged as the fastest way to build a massive platform of prospects! I pull back the curtain and let you in on little known secrets of how attorneys are generating dozens of leads every month from social media.

5 Core Components for Highly Successful Websites & Blogs 


My interview with nationally recognized personal injury attorney John Bisnar on how his law firm uses search engine optimization and internet marketing to drive tens of thousands of unique visitors every month to his 30 websites and 10 blogs. Discover proven techniques for converting website visitors into paying clients.

Data DVD: 
Includes all 4 PowerPoint slides for all 4 presentations. We recommend you print all these off and take notes on them as you experience these information-packed DVDs!

***For Blog Readers, Facebook Friends, Twitter Followers and LinkedIn Connections – we are offering you a $50 discount for Volume 2 and a $100 discount for both Volume 1 and Volume 2 because of your social media presence with The Rainmaker Institute.

Click here now to order!

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Although Valentine’s Day was two weeks ago, I just came across the great infographic below from Content Crossroads that synthesizes in plain English what you should be doing to make Google love your website.

Some of these things you can do yourself right away; some will likely require the help of your IT person or SEO consultant to be sure the architecture of your site is up to snuff. 

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FREE REPORT: How to Use Blogs as a Secret Weapon in Your Online Arsenal

One of the secret tools of Internet marketing for attorneys is the power of having a targeted blog. According to HubSpot, B2B marketers with a blog generate 67% more leads per month and B2C marketers generate 88% more leads per month than those without a blog.

Here’s what you’ll discover when you read this report:

• Why you must have a blog in order to stay relevant
• 3 keys to successful blogging
• 7 Guidelines for achieving ROI
• Your 3 choices for managing your blog and social media efforts
• And much more!

Click now for your FREE REPORT: How to Use Blogs as a Secret Weapon in Your Online Arsenal.

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Just finished reading a great guest post over on the Duct Tape Marketing blog about the latest trends in SEO. Love what this guy has to say about:

Content as king. Low quality content – article spinning and output from cheap content farms – will not only do your website no good, it will get you penalized by Google. Bad content really is yesterday’s news, and that is great news for those of us who spend a lot of time producing stuff that people really like to read.

Content isn’t just words. A good mix of shareable content – sharp articles, videos, infographics, interesting photos and social media posting --- all counts in driving traffic to your website and getting some Google love. 

SEO is no one-trick pony. Good SEO practices today consist of great content, link and citation building, site optimization strategies, social media participation and mining your date for insights. 

Long live great writers. Sites with great content that people visit time and again to get information on subjects of interest to them establishes those sites as authorities, which Google sees as a primary ranking factor. If you are not a great writer, hire one. But many attorneys are great writers, so this bodes well if you will make the effort to contribute regularly to your blog or website. Just remember your target market and go easy on the legalese. 

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Becoming a Rainmaker: Business Building Strategies for Lawyers

Based on Stephen’s highly successful seminar series by the same name, this 3-audio CD program covers dozens of practical recommendations and step-by-step sales and marketing techniques for solo practitioners and small law firms.

More than 8,000 attorneys from law firms all over the country have experienced powerful results from attending the Becoming A Rainmaker seminar. It has been sponsored by more than 22 of the largest state and local bar associations.

In this information-packed audio program, you will discover:

• How to generate more leads by using education-based marketing
• The relationship between credibility, visibility, tangibility, and consistency
• How to position your small firm as an industry leader
• The importance of being perceived as a specialist
• Why most advertising is a waste of your money
• What to expect from a Yellow Pages ad
• The 3 marketing strategies that will produce 80% of your results
• How to influence the Know, Like and Trust factors
• Common marketing mistakes lawyers make and how to avoid them
• How to answer the question, "Why should I buy from you?"
• Specific ways you can set yourself apart from low-cost lawyers
• What to do with the 15% of the population that always buys on price
• Ways to attract your Ideal Target Market
• The 6 stage sales process you must follow for maximum success

Click to order Becoming a Rainmaker: Business Building Strategies for Lawyers.

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The new LexisNexis® Martindale-Hubbell® Attorney Selection Research Study was just released yesterday and is something every attorney needs to review.  It is chock full of interesting findings from an in-depth look at how people look for and hire an attorney.

Over the next several days, I am going to post about those study results and provide specific action steps on what attorneys can do to capitalize on this new learning.

First, some numbers:

• 110 million U.S. consumers have sought legal counsel at least once;
• 58 million have looked for an attorney in the past year;
• Of those who looked for an attorney, 57% hired one, 15% decided to use a DIY approach and 13% continued to search

The study found that 76 percent of consumers used the Internet to search for an attorney in the past year.  Most consumers used a four-stage process in their search for an attorney: gather information about a legal issue/case, find a lawyer, validate a lawyer and select a lawyer.

So what sources do consumers use on the Internet to gather information?  The study found:

• 39% used online search engines, primarily Google
• 34% visited online legal forums
• 31% used online directories
• 31% visited law firm websites
• 29% visited legal blogs
• 26% used social media sites

Translated into law firm marketing terminology, in order to be found by a consumer searching for an attorney in their first stage of search – the gathering of information – attorneys need to:

Employ skillful SEO tactics on their websites and blogs (see post on Law Firm Marketing SEO: Don't Forget The Basics)

Answer consumer questions on online legal forums (see post on The Do's and Don'ts of Answering Legal Questions on Avvo )

Beef up profiles on Avvo.com, Lawyers.com, etc. (see post on Social Media for Attorneys: How to Leverage Avvo's Marketing Power to Generate Leads)

Have a content-rich, SEO-compliant law firm website (see post on Transform Your Law Firm's Website into a Client Generating Machine)

Have a blog (see post on Law Firm Marketing: Top 10 Ways to Generate Leads From Your Blog)

Participate on social media sites, especially Facebook (see post on Social Media Marketing for Lawyers: How to Increase Your Facebook Fan Engagement)

Of course, we cover all of the above in-depth at our two-day law firm marketing boot camp, the Rainmaker Retreat.  There’s one coming up next weekend in Orlando and two others later in the Fall:

October 26-27, 2012 – Scottsdale, AZ

November 16-17, 2012 – New York City, NY

You can still get in on our Early Bird Discount for our upcoming Rainmaker Retreats, so be sure to register now to receive the $200 discount.  The Early Bird Discount for our Oct. 5-6 in Orlando ends this Friday, Sept. 28.

Go to www.rainmakerretreat.com or call 888-588-5891 to register now.

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First impressions are lasting ones, not just in person but also online. So how do you ensure that a prospective client or referral source that is Googling you likes what they see? 

As the infographic below illustrates, most people – 94% -- only look at the first page of search results on Google. If they don’t find you there, you automatically lose credibility. 

See that stat that says only 2% of people own their first page of results? I happen to be one of those people. Google my name and you will find that the first page of results is made up of my websites and profiles, meaning that I am firmly in control of my brand online.

You want to own as much of the first page as possible, which means you not only need to have a website with relevant content and keywords, you also need to have profiles on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Google+ (the big 4), a blog, videos on Vimeo and YouTube and more:

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Stop Wasting Precious Time and Money!

Feel like you don’t have time for marketing?  Let us show you how to make a plan that runs on “autopilot” – one that attracts new and lucrative clients while you focus on your practice.

Learn how easy it can be to create an effective law firm marketing plan that performs by getting our Free Guide: 5 Easy Steps to Create Your Law Firm Marketing Plan. 

After working with many ultra-successful lawyers we found five common threads in their marketing plans. This guide outlines these shared elements to provide insight into strategies that work and how to make them work for you.

Click here to download, and start using these proven strategies today!

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Ever hear of long-tail keywords? Even if you’re new to the search engine optimization (SEO) game, you may have heard the term but are not really sure what it means. 

If you know what a keyword is – a search term that people use to find you on the Internet – then a long-tail keyword is just a more specific search term, like “Dallas DUI lawyer”. As this graphic illustrates, long-tail keywords now account for 70% of searches:

Long-tail keywords are usually at least three words long and deliver more targeted traffic to your website, which in turn means better conversion rates.   There is also less competition for long-tail keywords, so your site is likely to rank higher for those specific keywords than others that just use the term “lawyer” or “attorney”.

More and more people are using longer search phrases to find what they need – like “what to do if you are in a car accident” or “how to find a good divorce attorney in Santa Ana”. If your website includes these phrases, it is more likely it will appear near the top of search results for prospects you want to contact you.

This SEO tip and others are what we cover extensively during our two-day law firm marketing boot camp, the Rainmaker Retreat. See below for more information.

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FREE Rainmaker Retreat Preview DVD – Learn Before You Go!

If you want to learn more about the Rainmaker Retreat and why it is a proven legal marketing system that has helped over 8,000 attorneys find more and better clients, then click here to receive a free DVD of your colleagues (and even your competitors) describing their experiences at our 2-day law firm marketing boot camp, the Rainmaker Retreat.

Upcoming dates for the Rainmaker Retreat include:

September 14-12, 2012 – Orange County, CA

October 5-6, 2012 – Orlando, FL

October 26-27, 2012 – Scottsdale, AZ

Instead of us telling you how these 2 days will transform your practice, listen to your peers describe their experiences in their own words by clicking here to order your complimentary DVD right now.

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There are eight basic SEO elements that should remain consistent on your website to achieve a high Google rank, no matter how many times Google tweaks its search algorithms – which it does at least once a day!

Summarized, here are the rules of the road to higher rankings:

Basic keyword SEO rules – including your target keywords in your URLs, meta tags, titles and descriptions as well as in your page content.

High quality inbound links – creating high quality, unique content that others will want to link to and reference can have a huge impact on your website ranking.

Authority – build authority for your site through participation in social media, providing commentary and links to other authoritative sources in your space and quality inbound link building.

Quality user experience – Google rewards sites that are well designed, easy to navigate, load quickly and keep visitors engaged (low bounce rates).

Fresh content – creating new content and updating old content regularly boosts authority and news ranking.

Content diversity – Google prefers diversity in format and content, so include photos, videos and presentations wherever possible.

Feedback – syndicate, promote and provide people with an easy way to share feedback via a blog hosted or linked to your website.

Browser compatibility – your site needs to be compatible with the latest browser versions, including mobile.

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FREE Law Firm Marketing Strategy Session with a Rainmaker Advisor

Having an Internet presence is a must for attorneys who want to effectively market and grow their firms. 

It should be no secret that the Internet is one of the most cost effective lead sources for attorneys today. Even if a portion of your client base includes referrals, you can be sure that they are checking you out on the Web before they give you a call.

But how do you know you are going about it the right way?

Please give us a call at 888-588-5891 or click here to sign up for a free one-on-one Strategy Session with a Rainmaker Advisor who will listen to your specific marketing challenges. 

The Rainmaker Advisors are hand-picked and trained to identify marketing strategies that you can implement to grow your practice.

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If you’re a regular reader here, you know that I’ve discussed many times how Google loves fresh content and their recent Penguin (why the name? search me!) algorithm update makes having SEO-friendly content more important than ever to rank favorably in organic search results.

Here are five tips for creating SEO-friendly law firm marketing content on your website or blog:

1. Keep it fresh. Add updates to existing content and keep building page links from within your own site from external referral sites. Update headlines and enable comments on your posts, which refresh the content as well.

2. Be original. Cutting and pasting content from another site is not only plagiarism, it also is of absolutely no value to you whatsoever in Google’s eyes. You can rewrite content to create an original post, so if you see something you like, rewrite and repurpose it.

3. Size matters. When it comes to content contributing to SEO, less is not more. Strive to create posts or articles that explore a topic deeply enough that others will want to link to it as an authoritative source.

4. Be an authority. Creating authority takes time on your own, so while you are dedicating yourself to that, have others who are already recognized online authorities on your subject matter contribute to your blog or website.

5. Think local. Local search is becoming more important than ever because people generally search by geography... i.e., a “Phoenix divorce lawyer”, not just “divorce lawyer.” Include location references in your content.

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Stop Wasting Precious Time and Money

Feel like you don’t have time for marketing?  Let us show you how to make a plan that runs on “autopilot” – one that attracts new and lucrative clients while you focus on your practice.

Learn how easy it can be to create an effective law firm marketing plan that performs by getting our Free Guide: 5 Easy Steps to Create Your Law Firm Marketing Plan. 

After working with many ultra-successful lawyers we found five common threads in their marketing plans. This guide outlines these shared elements to provide insight into strategies that work and how to make them work for you.

There are two versions: one for Attorneys in Solo Practice and one for Attorneys in a Small Firm.  Click here to download, and start using these proven strategies today!

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I blogged earlier this week on Search Marketing for Law Firms: Everybody on Board the Google+ Local...or Else, in which I discussed how Google’s integration of Zagat reviews and review system into search results and its migration of Google Places to Google+ Local shows exactly how seriously Google is taking social signals when it comes to search results.

The fact is, attorneys cannot ignore Google+ and here’s why: when it comes to Internet search, Google owns the playing field.

In the new Google world, social rules. To gain a top listing on Google, you are going to have to have reviews, and lots of them. Of course, you want positive reviews because, after all, the idea is to attract new clients, not put people off.

Attorneys are going to have to embrace the review to reap the rewards of showing up well in search and driving traffic to your website. Here are some tips for doing this:

Just ask.  Most people enjoy sharing their experience with service providers, especially if it’s been a good one.  Just the simple act of asking a client to provide you with a review lets them know what they think is important to you – which makes them feel good.  You can start by contacting your old (happy) clients and asking them to provide a review.

Create great client experiences.  Cultivating a culture of great client service is a must for gaining positive reviews. Think about the greatest customer service experiences you’ve had and try to emulate them in your firm.

Implement a process for getting reviews.  Attorneys need to create a process for making reviews happen. Always look for those moments in your relationships with clients to create a review opportunity – when you have won a case for a client, when you have helped someone avoid litigation – all opportunities for you to generate a great review.

Remember that before they can post a review, your clients must have a Google+ account. Make it easy for them to review you by providing them with information on how to create a Google+ account (they automatically have one if they use Gmail) and how to post a review on Google+.

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It’s been said that if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.  And what I love about my work is interacting with hundreds of bright, passionate attorneys like those I meet at our two-day law firm marketing intensive, the Rainmaker Retreat – people like Nashville personal injury attorney, trial consultant, and the former President of the Tennessee Association of Justice Phillip H. Miller.

Phillip practices personal injury law and we first met a couple of years ago when he attended a Rainmaker Retreat.  Phillip has a true affinity for personal injury law and for helping people from all walks of life.  He and his firm are deeply involved in the Nashville community, supporting the Tennessee Head Start program for the past 19 years, the Nashville Humane Society, and the Southern Poverty Law Center.  Phillip is an attorney who walks the walk. 

Phillip Miller was recently honored to serve on the faculty of a national program on trial advocacy at Harvard Law School, sponsored by the American Association for Justice.  He is one of only six attorneys on the faculty, and the only Tennessee attorney to serve as a faculty member for this prestigious program!

After attending our Rainmaker Retreat, Phillip became a member of our Attorney Mastermind group, which he says he found highly useful as a way to find out what other top rainmaker attorneys are doing, what works and what doesn’t work. 

We continue to work with Phillip designing, writing and sending out his e-newsletter to interested prospects, clients, and referral sources. Many of our clients have found a monthly newsletter is one of the most cost effective forms of marketing their law firm.

In addition, we have been working with Phillip on generating more business using Internet marketing and search engine optimization. As of last month, his Nashville personal injury website was on the first page of Google for 32 terms of which he was ranked in the #1 position for 18 of those terms!

If you've been reading our legal marketing blog for long, then you will recognize the importance of being found on the first page of Google for your key terms because 90% of people never look beyond the first page when searching for a service provider!

Being on the first page of Google for 32 of his top key terms, like “Nashville car accident attorney,” positions his website ahead of almost all of his competitors. Phillip Miller told us it has resulted in a significant increase in traffic to his website:  “It all comes together.  The link-building The Rainmaker Institute is doing for me raises my website in search results, which leads to more traffic, which has generated cases for my law firm as a result!”

If you are interested in learning how we can help you stay connected with prospects, clients and referral sources with a monthly newsletter or you want to get to the top of Google for your top key terms, then we invite you to give us a call and set up a complimentary Strategy Session with one of our Rainmaker Advisors. You can reach us at 888-588-5891.

We also invite you to learn more about our Rainmaker Retreats:

March 30-31, 2012 – San Diego, CA

April 27-28, 2012 – Chicago, IL

May 18-19, 2012 – Houston, TX 

Join us and learn why the Rainmaker Retreat is the one law firm marketing boot camp you cannot afford to miss this year!

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Free CD: Insider Small Law Firm Marketing Practices

Get your free CD on Insider Small Law Firm Marketing Practices by #1 Best-Selling Author And Nationally Recognized Law Firm Marketing Expert Stephen Fairley, and listen as he reveals A Proven System To Generate More and Better Referrals, Find New Clients Fast, and Fill Your Law Practice! Discover:

• How 1 piece of simple technology in your practice will drastically increase your communication with prospects, clients and referral sources – resulting in a major revenue boost
• 5 ways to market and position yourself as a recognized expert
• How 2 Attorneys promoted their law firms to over 100,000 people for less than $100 in 2 hours
• The 1 item you must absolutely have to create a Million Dollar Law Practice (hint: Not having this will almost guarantee your failure!)
• 6 BIGGEST secrets to generating more and better referrals
• How to create a proven network of 30 new Strategic Referral Partners in the next 90 days

To obtain your free CD, click here now.

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If gaining new clients is important to your business, then making sure your site is optimized is vitally important. If your site doesn’t come up on top when people are searching for keywords related to your services, you are missing out on getting new clients – and your competitors are likely picking them up.


Here is some important information that explains why Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is important to attorneys:

Validation: Potential clients may have already decided that they are likely to hire your firm or possibly a specific lawyer at your firm due to your existing reputation or based on a referral. However statistics and Internet studies show that now, more than ever, people are searching online to help establish trust and comfort before engaging someone’s services. They want to see pictures, read credentials and they also try to get a glimpse of your vibe and style from your website. They may search by an attorney’s name or the firm name, but they are also likely to search by keyword phrases like “family law attorney in Los Angeles”.

Searching is a habit: It has been noted that a lot of people (probably more than you think) use Google instead of typing in a URL. They often have Google set as their home page and find it easier to just search for a keyword phrase or your name or firm name, rather than type in a URL. Even though it is usually pretty easy to get ranked on your name or firm name, that isn’t always the case and they may not find you unless you have good search engine presence.

Hitting the Web before the pavement: Before going to physical office locations, consumers are using search engines to find service providers and doing research before calling or going for a consultation.

Local Search and Geo-targeting: An increasingly popular vertical of the search industry is local search, especially with the advent of smart phones and mobile Internet access. People are more often searching for region-specific products and services. We see more and more searches like “Los Angeles criminal attorney” and with geo-targeting, people no longer even need to type in the regional parameter. The engines can pinpoint your location to within 7 miles of where you are from your IP address (the exception to that is AOL, where it appears that everyone is in Virginia).  So a search for “criminal attorney” by someone in Los Angeles would turn up different results than the same search done by someone in San Francisco. Making sure you are optimized is important so your site comes up on top – especially if someone is searching on their Blackberry and looking specifically for a local office.

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Free CD: Insider Small Law Firm Marketing Practices

Get your free CD on Insider Small Law Firm Marketing Practices by #1 Best-Selling Author And Nationally Recognized Law Firm Marketing Expert Stephen Fairley, and listen as he reveals A Proven System To Generate More and Better Referrals, Find New Clients Fast, and Fill Your Law Practice! Discover:

• How 1 piece of simple technology in your practice will drastically increase your communication with prospects, clients and referral sources – resulting in a major revenue boost
• 5 ways to market and position yourself as a recognized expert
• How 2 Attorneys promoted their law firms to over 100,000 people for less than $100 in 2 hours
• The 1 item you must absolutely have to create a Million Dollar Law Practice (hint: Not having this will almost guarantee your failure!)
• 6 BIGGEST secrets to generating more and better referrals
• How to create a proven network of 30 new Strategic Referral Partners in the next 90 days

To obtain your free CD, click here now.

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An excellent post today at SearchEngineWatch.com provides the eight basic SEO elements that should remain consistent on your law firm marketing websites to achieve a high Google rank, no matter how many times Google tweaks its search algorithms – which it does at least once a day!

Summarized, here are the rules of the road to higher rankings:

Basic keyword SEO rules – including your target keywords in your URLs, meta tags, titles and descriptions as well as in your page content.

High quality inbound links – creating high quality, unique content that others will want to link to and reference can have a huge impact on your website ranking.

Authority – build authority for your site through participation in social media, providing commentary and links to other authoritative sources in your space and quality inbound link building.

Quality user experience – Google rewards sites that are well designed, easy to navigate, load quickly and keep visitors engaged (low bounce rates).

Fresh content – creating new content and updating old content regularly boosts authority and news ranking.

Content diversity – Google prefers diversity in format and content, so include photos, videos and presentations wherever possible.

Feedback – syndicate, promote and provide people with an easy way to share feedback via a blog hosted or linked to your website.

Browser compatibility – your site needs to be compatible with the latest browser versions, including mobile.

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Sept. 28 Webinar: How to Answer the Question, "Why Should I Hire You?"

One of the toughest questions attorneys get from a potential client is, “Why should I hire you?”

When faced with this question, most attorneys fall back on talking about the quality of their services, their experience and the size of their law firm.

Prepare to have your eyes opened to the truth when you attend our one-hour How to Answer the Question, “Why Should I Hire You?”: Creating a Unique Competitive Advantage webinar on Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET:

• Why quality does NOT matter! (Yes, you read that correctly, quality does not matter when it comes to closing a prospect)
• The #1 reason why prospects “shop you on price”
• How most attorneys completely miss the point when talking about their experience
• The 4 biggest reasons to emphasize when talking with prospects
• Overcoming common objections attorneys encounter
• Winning over skeptics by focusing on the numbers of your practice
• Case studies of how top attorneys respond when asked the ultimate question
• How to overcome price objections even before you meet with a prospect
• How to respond if someone says, “Your price is too high” or “That’s too much money!”
• How to get potential clients to stop making price an objection once and for all
• And 8 more effective ways to answer the question, “Why should I hire you?”

To register online for the Sept. 28 webinar on Creating a Unique Competitive Advantage, click here. 

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The old saying, “He who hesitates is lost” is more applicable now than ever when it comes to search engine optimization.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the art and science of artificially boosting your website or blog to the organic results (versus paid advertising) for specific search terms.  Optimizing your website makes it easier for prospective clients to find you, and for your site to rise above all the others that are clamoring for their attention.

Here are three key reasons why you need to optimize your website now:

More and smarter competitors.  More and more law firms are getting web savvy as they wake up to the fact that people use search engines today more than ever to find just about everything.  SEO is becoming a higher priority for law firm marketers who realize the intrinsic value of not just being found, but of being found first.

It’s a digital world.  Most of the communication taking place today occurs digitally via email or online via web chat.  Not only is digital a greener technology, it lets us communicate and gather information in the way we want: faster.  Our communication lives have changed forever and there’s no going back, only forward.

Growth of mobile technology.  Mobile marketing is growing at an explosive rate, so those who have already optimized online can make an easier transition as communication migrates to new mobile platforms.

Because of these three reasons, SEO is more essential than ever to the success of your law firm marketing program. 

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FREE "Top 10 Mistakes Attorneys Make and How to Avoid Them" E-book

In a newly revised e-book, legal marketing expert Stephen Fairley outlines 10 of the most common marketing mistakes attorneys make that can lead to the failure of their business, and provides specific strategies and proven principles for avoiding these deadly errors.

Get your complimentary copy online here.

Regardless of your specific situation, this free e-book will help you examine how you are currently finding new clients and recommend specific steps you can immediately start using to grow your practice.

We have helped thousands of attorneys achieve their goals of creating a financially successful and personally satisfying legal practice. In this e-book you will discover specific principles and tools you can use to grow your practice, too. 

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Ever wonder why your competitor’s website consistently ranks on the front page of Google for specific searches and yours does not? Are you frustrated that you can't seem to find your website online unless you either (1) type the domain name directly into Google, or (2) search for your personal name, or (3) search for your law firm’s name (and even then your competition often shows up)?
 
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the art and science of artificially boosting your website or blog to the organic results (versus paid advertising) for specific search terms. Google considers over 60 different variables when determining who gets on the first page. One of the most important ones is the number and quality of inbound links your website has. As many of you have personally experienced, when it comes to SEO, it doesn't get any more competitive than the legal industry! When you search for a major key term like “Phoenix bankruptcy lawyer” or “Phoenix divorce attorney” I can guarantee you the people you see in the first 10 results did not get there by accident! They have worked hard at it and most likely they have hired some high-powered SEO experts to help them.

One of the reasons why blogging has become so popular in the legal industry is because of how powerful it is in Google’s eyes. One of the ways that Google determines if your website is an authority is by how often you post new, relevant, unique content on your blog. For example, Joseph McDaniel is a Phoenix bankruptcy attorney who blogs multiple times every day at www.ArizonaBankruptcyBlog.info. As he puts more and more content on his blog, Google rewards him by improving his rankings. We will discuss specifics about blogging in future posts, but there's another strategy that most attorneys overlook when it comes to improving their rankings and that’s building inbound links.

Google loves inbound links!

An inbound link is where one website links to another website. You see this all the time on news websites where they link to a video, a blog post, a resource, or a story on another website. Google measures and weighs inbound links as a sign of your website’s relevance and credibility. In general, the more inbound links your website has -- and the better they are -- the more your website will rank above your competitors.

Good ways to harvest inbound links for your website include social media, writing and posting articles online, sending out press releases online, hiring a professional link building service and joining and participating on online legal directories like HG.org. 

Founded in 1995, HG.org was one of the very first online law sites, and developed the first self-listing directories for attorneys and law firms. Today, search engine results show the HG Law Firm Directory at the top for most states or countries when someone is searching for a law firm. HG.org is one of the most trafficked legal sites, with more than 850,000 unique visitors coming to its sites – HG.org sites and HGExperts.com -- each month.

For most attorneys, learning the nuances of power link building is not the best use of their time. You need to know the fundamentals so you don’t get taken advantage of, but if you are serious about generating more leads from the Internet, then you need to be on the home page of Google for the key terms your prospects search for online. The best way to do that is by working with a top-notch link building expert who knows the legal industry and has proven results.

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Becoming a Rainmaker Seminar in New Jersey on March 9

The Rainmaker Institute in coordination with the New Jersey State Bar Association and the Hunterdon County Bar Association present Becoming a Rainmaker: Practice Development Strategies for Small and Solo Law Firms on Wednesday, March 9 from 4-6 p.m. at the Historic Court House in Flemington, NJ.

More than 7,000 attorneys from law firms all over the country have experienced powerful results from attending the Becoming A Rainmaker seminar, which has been sponsored by more than 24 of the largest state and local bar associations.

The Becoming a Rainmaker seminar teaches simple techniques attorneys can take back to their offices and implement immediately.  Some of the tools and techniques that I will cover during this highly informative two-hour session include:

• The 7 Ways to Find More Clients and How to Pick the Best Ones for Your Firm
• How to Build a Network of over 30 new Referral Sources in the next 6 months 
• Change Your Website from just an Online Brochure to a Money-making Machine 
• Passive Versus Active Marketing and why you need both
• Creating Client-generating Surveys: When to Use them and How to Leverage them 
• Automating Your Marketing System
• How to Ethically Position Yourself as a Specialist in Your Area 
• How to Promote Your Firm to 150,000 people for $140
• Avoid the Most Deadly Marketing Mistakes Attorneys make
• Why Advertising Doesn't Work and what to do instead
• Where to Find and How to Create Positive Media Coverage for your firm and your clients
• The #1 Reason why Attorneys Don’t Receive More Referrals and how to overcome it
• Using Visibility Events to Attract Highly Qualified Prospects to Your Firm

The cost for the two-hour Becoming a Rainmaker law firm marketing seminar is minimal: $77 for NJSBA or HCBA members and $97 for non-members.

Please call 888-816-8935 or click here for registration information.

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If gaining new clients is important to your business, then making sure your site is optimized is vitally important. If your site doesn’t come up on top when people are searching for keywords related to your services, you are missing out on getting new clients – and your competitors are likely picking them up.


Here is some important information that explains why Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is important to attorneys:

Validation: Potential clients may have already decided that they are likely to hire your firm or possibly a specific lawyer at your firm due to your existing reputation or based on a referral. However statistics and Internet studies show that now, more than ever, people are searching online to help establish trust and comfort before engaging someone’s services. They want to see pictures, read credentials and they also try to get a glimpse of your vibe and style from your website. They may search by an attorney’s name or the firm name, but they are also likely to search by keyword phrases like “family law attorney in Los Angeles”.

Searching is a habit: It has been noted that a lot of people (probably more than you think) use Google instead of typing in a URL. They often have Google set as their home page and find it easier to just search for a keyword phrase or your name or firm name, rather than type in a URL. Even though it is usually pretty easy to get ranked on your name or firm name, that isn’t always the case and they may not find you unless you have good search engine presence.

Hitting the net before the pavement: Before going to physical office locations, consumers are using search engines to find service providers and doing research before calling or going for a consultation.

Local Search and Geo-targeting: An increasingly popular vertical of the search industry is local search, especially with the advent of smart phones and mobile Internet access. People are more often searching for region-specific products and services. We see more and more searches like “Los Angeles criminal attorney” and with geo-targeting people no longer even need to type in the regional parameter. The engines can pinpoint your location to within 7 miles of where you are from your IP address (the exception to that is AOL, where it appears that everyone is in Virginia).  So a search for “criminal attorney” by someone in Los Angeles would turn up different results than the same search done by someone in San Francisco. Making sure you are optimized is important so your site comes up on top – especially if someone is searching on their Blackberry and looking specifically for a local office.

Phone books are big, heavy and not as convenient as Google: A majority of consumers now use Google instead of the phone book if they want to find a service provider. A survey earlier this month by Harris Interactive showed that nearly 7 out of 10 American adults rarely or never use the white pages phone book for looking up phone numbers and addresses for people or businesses, 87 percent support opt-in initiatives where they would receive the phone book only if requested, and 60 percent of online adults find the contact information they need through online channels (online directories -- 29 percent, search engines -- 28 percent or social networks -- 3 percent).

Our January e-newsletter talks about SEO for Attorneys: What It Is and How to Leverage It.  To access the newsletter, click here.

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Now is the time to create your Lifestyle Law Firm!

The Rainmaker Retreat is where we teach lawyers how they can have it all; increase the number of clients they have, double their income, and yet work less.  Build and create a 'lifestyle' law firm that is professionally satisfying, but allows you the time to do what is important to you.

Here are the dates for upcoming Rainmaker Retreats:

• February 25-26, 2011 - Orlando, Florida
• March 11-12, 2011 - New Brunswick, New Jersey
• April 8-9, 2011 - San Diego, CA

If you take advantage of the Early Bird Special (only available when you register at least 2 weeks in advance of the event), you receive $300 worth of extra benefits!

Discount Pricing is available for multiple attendees from the same firm.

For more information please call: 888-588-5891 or visit www.RainmakerRetreat.com.
 



 

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When you hear the words law firm Internet marketing, you are almost certain to hear the term “search engine optimization”. But what does it mean? 

More importantly, how does it affect your law firm Internet marketing efforts?

Put simply search engine optimization is the most basic tool used by law firm Internet marketers and web masters to increase the amount of traffic to your web site.

The first thing you should know about SEO is that your Web site must appeal to both people and search engines. If you remember to keep these two in balance, not only will potential clients come to your site, they are more likely to spend time there learning about why your firm is the best choice to meet their legal needs.

Below you will find the basic, working information you need in order to choose a law firm Internet marketing provider who can really help you.

Search Engine Spiders: A well-designed web site will appeal to search engine “spiders”. Search engine spiders (also known as web crawlers, web robots, and more) are the part of the search engine (such as Google or Yahoo!) that crawls the Internet in search of Web sites that match the “search words and phrases” that someone has typed into the search box.

If your site is a good match for the viewers search terms, your site will appear in that person’s search results.

What Search Engines Look for: Different search engines look for different things. Some things they all have in common is that they like popular, well-organized sites that make it easy to find the search words and phrases. Search engines like:

• To find several instances of the exact keyword phrase it is looking for – optimally, the exact keyword phrase should appear 2 to 5 times per 100 words.
• Bulleted lists
• Bolded headings
• Links from outside source into your site
• Links from your site to outside sources
• Very often, they like “metatags” and “alt tags” (key words in the “code” of your site)

Those are the basics regarding how search engine optimization works with your law firm Internet marketing approach.

To learn more about optimization and law firm Internet marketing where I will share the top three questions you should ask a law firm Internet marketing provider before making your selection.

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