A: You've probably
heard about blogs - but you may be wondering why blogs are such
potent internet marketing tools.
Some people think "blogging" is all about
sharing your thoughts and feelings - not to mention what you had
for breakfast. If that's you're view of blogging - then it's
understandable why you'd wonder how sharing your thoughts,
feelings and choice of breakfast food can help build your law
practice.
Blogs have
their roots in every day ordinary people getting what's on their
mind onto the web. However, blogging has grown to become
much, much more than a way for bored housewives to communicate and
connect with the world.
Businesses big and small are turning to
blogging to connect and communicate with current and prospective
clients/customers.
Think of the internet like it's the phone book - because that's
what the internet really is. The internet is like an
international phone book or directory. What makes it
different than the "old fashioned" phone book is that it is easily
and readily available via the many smart cell phones on the
market. The internet functions just like the old fashioned
printed phone directory - except with a lot of additional features
the traditional printed directories can't offer.
The website your firm
currently has is probably doing a GREAT job of acting like your
white pages listing in the phone book. When some one is
searching for your firm by name, they can probably easily find your firm's website.
But what about the
people who don't know your firm or the legal problems you handle?
Long ago - when people knew
they needed a lawyer but didn't know which law firm to choose - they
turned to the yellow pages.
However, more and more often
- people are turning to the internet. They're using the
internet to research their decision - and looking for more
information than a single page in the yellow pages can provide.
It's vitally important that
your firm's web pages be found when consumers head to the web for
information.
A blog can either act in
tandem with your firm's traditional website - or it can actually
replace your firm's website. Business blogging has come a long
way in the past five years so that today - one of the best ways to
tell the difference between an "old fashioned traditional web site"
and a business blog is to see which one is given preference when it
come to search engine rankings.
A: There are lots of reasons
to use a blog as your primary web presence.
Blogs are easy
to use.
Perhaps the biggest
reason blogs are better than traditional websites is that they make
it super easy to get your content onto the web.
If you can create
and send an email - you can create a blog post.
Blogs establish
authority.
The first key to attorney
marketing is to establish your undisputed authority in your chosen
field. There's no better way to show case your expertise than
to begin blogging.
When you want to influence
people and build your practice, establishing your authority is the
fast track to success. People want to hire respected lawyers who have authority,
expertise, and impressive credentials. Blogging is a great way to
put your legal expertise and credentials on display.
Your blog posts are powerful authority building tools. They're
much more effective in defining and establishing your expertise than
any about page on a static website or bio page could be.
It's one thing to CLAIM
you're an expert on a single web page - it's quite another to
demonstrate that expertise on a regular basis via blogging.
According to Brian Clark, a
recognized authority on blogging:
[Blogging] truly levels the
playing field and allows anyone to come along and build authority
[online] that outpaces even recognized and credentialed experts in a
particular niche or field.
The Search
Engines love blogs.
Unfortunately - many web
designers create visually stunning websites for your law practice
that the search engines can't index. Design elements such as
images in place of text and flash are notorious for being visually
pleasing but very detrimental when it comes to getting your website
found in the search engines.
In other words, it's easy to
create a website that looks good to humans - it's quite another
matter to create one that looks good to the search engines.
The search engines (Such as
Google and Bing) LOVE blogs. Blog coding structure is designed
with the search engines in mind.
The engineers who created
the search engine robots that index the web also know that cutting
edge news usually breaks via blogs - so blog posts tend to get
preferential treatment by the search engines after they're first
published.
After that initial boost, blog posts are
viewed by the search engines as "pages" of content.
If you only create two blog
posts per week - in the course of a single year you'll have created
a blog
with over 100 pages of content.
When you're playing the
Search Engine game - just like your local lottery - the more pages
you enter into competition (using our easy to understand how -to
tutorials) - the more likely you are to win.
Blogs play well with
other social networking tools....
Got a LinkedIn account?
You can set your LinkedIn profile to display your recent blog posts.
Using Twitter? Twitter
is a great way to share your blog posts and allow you to get the most out of
this cutting edge social networking tool.
Social networking - whether
it's LinkedIn, Twitter or even Facebook - allows you to
connect with your contacts - and their contacts - and the contacts
of your contacts - quickly, easily and naturally. When
you share your blog posts - which by design are showcasing your
legal expertise and building your authority - you increase the power
of your blog exponentially.
Blogs can help make PPC
more cost effective
Using PPC (Pay per Click)
online advertising? If you're using Google Adwords - you may
find you pay less per click when you use your blog instead of your
firm's website thanks to your tightly targeted blog
content.
When you're using Facebook or other PPC
online advertising, taking interested visitors to your authority
building blog often results in
better lead generation.
