Why SEO (Search Engine Optimization)?…

Being on top means a competitive advantage and also extending your legal knowledge online can have big chances to be known by public which means possibility of getting prospects.

What’s New with ABA’s rules on Online Legal Marketing?

Although there are lots of reasons why SEO for law firm is essential but a must consider term would be “ethics” for example considering the changes of ABA’s rules on Online Legal Marketing where in you can read more about this on what Debra Cassens Weiss on ABA Journal have posted or through reading this resolution .

Highlights. In relation thereof, the ABA (American Bar Association) further clarified the various rules covering the (1) Duties of prospective clients, (2) Advertising, (3) Communications about legal services, (4) Direct contact with prospective customers, and (5) Illegal and Multijurisdictional Practice of Law. The association mainly aims to enhance the proper and ethical practices of lawyers in their online services.

However, it is to be noted that the amendments made by the association might not be applicable to the rules governing sites in other states, and that the areas covered herein are not the only subjects of the changes done by the Commission. 

So, how to increase visibility while considering the legal standards?

Exposure to New Prospects and Compete Actively and Ethically:

Social Networking for lawyers

• Linkedin(linkedin.com)
• Facebook (facebook.com)
• Twitter (twitter.com)
• Google+(plusgoogle.com)
• Plaxo (plaxo.com)
• MH Connected (community.martindale.com)
• Avvo (avvo.com)
• Legal On Ramp(legalonramp.com)
• Law Link(lawlink.com)

Ethics > >>

A lawyer here can answer a person’s questions provided that it would be a general ideas or answers are not considered as legal advice.He can engage in public discussions provided that it is not a solicitation type that can be perceived by an individual as still offering legal service.

Mainly Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin,Google+, Avvo or etc. can be used by lawyers for educational purposes about law. If you haven’t get yourself in social networking world it’s time to get social and spread your knowledge about law.

Blog Commenting

Goals:
Building Conversations >> Generate Traffic>> Quality Backlinks

Do’s:

• Logic. Comments will always reflects you especially your profession. Aside from thinking about it as driver of traffic make sure that comments as sensible and for educational purposes, therefore thinking twice about your comment and link are important.

Don’ts:

• Logic. Still the same comments reflect who you are, so if this kind of comment exist, what will others think?  Best solution: drafting comments on a word processor, reread it and just be real.

Press Release

It is a way of informing the public and also the press about suits filings but also considering the ethical standards which must be crafted carefully.

Profile Building

Building profiles online can be a way to spread your visibility in that way it can be easier to find details about you but make sure that your biography must not contain misleading statements that promote your legal service. Always remember that it must reflect you, therefore it is essential to put a real profile and must have accurate details like contact number, e-mails and website. Just like about.me profile you can incorporate also your social media accounts.

Blogging

Here’s a quick fact on how blogging can be helpful especially on small law firms and solo practitioners based on ABA’s 2012 Legal technology Survey and you can read more about this interesting post here .

It’s a way to showcase your knowledge about law. It is essential to think twice before blogging and avoid putting on blogs about your client’s case since it must be confidential and one more thing there is still lots of law topics to share.

To make ranking possible for your blog site it is also essential consider your Meta title and description and must be searchable and that’s how SEO matters.

Advertising on Legal Directories

Since one of your goals is capturing online visibility and since advertising in paid listings such as directories are considerable it is essential to consider the following:

>Make sure where it is going to be posted.
>It must be authoritative one.
>Having a competitive ranking, check through Alexa.com.
>Searcher friendly or easy to use, simply try it out.
>Must not asking for reciprocal links.
>Ranking well on search engines

Guest Posting/Blogging

Your blog cannot be the only avenue for your knowledge to spread out you can contact other law blogs and have a valuable content posted on their blogs just consider the ethic codes same on blogging it must not be a source of legal advice instead it must be a way to educate the public or your future reader.

Inforgraphics

Logic. Share knowledge in a creative way plus you can gain traffic when the infographic is truly interesting and another plus points you can share it as a blog post in your blogs. Visuals are much captivating to share through social media, at the same time you can gain links when you submit it to infographics sites like visual.ly .

Increase Exposure and be known in Local Market

Don’t forget local markets!

Google+ Local for Lawyers

May 2012 when Google integrated their Google+ with Google places maps and make a way into a new innovation – Google+ Local. What is best about Google places is that is it free although there are still paid ads available for you if you want to opt like the Google AdWords Express. People today get to take internet’s advantage to search for local results to find answers to their questions. According to recent studies, 97% of potential clients are using the search engines to search for local businesses. The big question is how visible are you if somebody types in the query on Google.com? Like having this query: “personal injury attorney” + Los Angeles.

Google Places and Google+ Local

When a user gets the chance to click that “pushpin” thing, information about that specific business is displayed. Data such as phone number, address and website is showed, plus the reviews of the services.

Did your law firm appear? Particularly on the Google map as well in the Google Places listings in the result’s page? If not, then you should be considering listing yours today.

More on local listings

>>Finding a legal counselor have been easier today since search engines, mobile phones and social media sites helps people to find one.

>>The nearest location to a person the better.

>>Minority of people still looks up into the traditional Yellow Pages to search for you. It is both free and inexpensive technique to rise on the local listings.

Local Listings to add your law firm:

● Localeze (localeze.com)
● Brownbook (brownbook.net)
● elocallawyers (elocallawyers.com)
● InsiderPages (insiderpages.com)
● Lawyer-Directory.Net (lawyer-directory.net)
● TargetLaw (targetlaw.com)
● Justia (justia.com)
● washLaw (washlaw.edu)
● JDSupra (jdsupra.com)
● Yahoo! (local.yahoo.com)
● Yelp (biz.yelp.com)
● Universal Business Listing (ubl.org)
● ExpressUpdate (expressupdateusa.com)
● CityGrid (www.citygrid.com)
● Local BOTW (local.botw.org)
● YellowPages (yellowpages.com)
● Judy’s Book (www.judysbook.com)
● HG.org (hg.org)
● HotFrog (hotfrog.com)
● Bing (bing.com/businessportal)

And always remember to put accurate information in your local citations.

Increasing visibility is an advantage but it is also essential to maintain your credibility. Your reputation always matters while spreading your knowledge. So, if ethics is combined with SEO, its truly a competitive advantage and no one will question you why you are on top!