Law Firm 4.0 Blog

Attention! Law Firm Marketers and MarTechs - 2019 ILTA survey is ready to take!

Content Pilot is proud to support the second annual ILTA Marketing Technology Survey. To complete the survey, click on this link or the link below. Your deadline to complete the survey is July 19, 2019 and it will take less than 20 minutes to complete.

In-house marketers: The survey is open to everyone, including folks who are not a member of the organization.  Please see the release from ILTA below for more information. I encourage you to have your firm complete the survey and share with others.  As stated below, the more participants, the better the data for all of us.  

 

                   

 

The 2019 ILTA Marketing Technology Survey is Ready!

 

For the second time ever – and because demand is sky-rocketing – ILTA has released its 2019 Marketing Technology Survey to further benchmark the state of our industry. You can access the survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8CND9LR

Law firm marketing technology professionals, processes and tools have been increasing exponentially over recent years, and until last year, there had never been an industry-wide benchmarking survey or analysis done – well, we're doing it again!

Sponsored exclusively by Content Pilot, ILTA’s survey goals include:

• Learn what tools firms are using
• Identify what comprises a typical “marketing technology stack” by firm size in 2019
• Collect qualitative data that marketing tech professionals can leverage in their law firms and help them make more informed decisions
• Raise the profile of marketing technology within the industry and law firms

We know that marketing technology budgets are increasing, that new tools are being introduced each year and established systems have evolved to accommodate new needs. The survey results will shine a bright light on all of these things. We want to get as many firms to participate as possible over the next few weeks – firms of all sizes from all locations, regardless of whether you have a marketing department of one or 100. The more participants, the better the data for all of us. 

A few important answers to your questions:

• Who should complete this survey?A: The marketing technology leader in your firm.
• What if we don’t have a marketing tech person?A: The senior person in the marketing department should complete the survey, or the person who knows the most about the marketing technologies you deploy in your firm.
• We have several marketing tech people – can they all complete the survey?A: Just one respondent per firm, please.
• How long will this survey be live?A: The survey period is four weeks, ending on July 19.
• How much time will it take to complete?A: We estimate it will take 15-20 minutes to complete.
• When will the results be available?A: ILTA will publish a Marketing Technology White Paper this fall, which will include commentary and the results. Our goal is to have it in plenty of time for your budgeting season.
• Do I have to be a member of ILTA to participate?A: No – come one, come all!

Lawyer’s Guide to Marketing on the Internet, 4th Edition – Ready to Order! By Greg Siskind and Deborah McMurray

Lawyers in firms of all sizes will benefit from the advice, trends and best practices that fill this new book just published by the American Bar Association’s Law Practice Management Section. Use this resource to transform your website, email, social media and overall online strategy. Get closer to target prospects in clients in ways that are proven and meaningful to buyers of legal services.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Choose a mix of tools that will measurably move the needle using the advice in this terrific book:

• Internet marketing strategies and how to build your own plan
• Positioning strategy and how important it is to your success
• Content marketing that targets and speaks to your desired audiences
• Website design trends and examples of firms that are doing the right things
• Today’s websites – from “must do…” to “definitely don’t…”
• The Ten Foundational Best Practices for law firm websites
• Details about Content Pilot’s latest survey of the AmLaw Global 50 websites
• Today’s technologies and platforms
• Website timelines, budgets, hosting and contracts
• Announcing, growing and promoting your website
• Mobile sites and responsive design – so critical today!
• Social media ins and outs
• Email marketing
• Multimedia content, including videos, podcasts and webinars
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• How to select and hire the right website vendors and other consultants
• Analytics and measuring your ROI
• The ethics of client development using technology and the Internet

Pre-order your copy today at http://shop.americanbar.org/eBus/Store/ProductDetails.aspx?productId=270868111&term=the+lawyer%27s+guide+to+marketing+on+the+internet

 

Results - 2016 Global 50 Websites: Ten Foundational Best Practices – Executive Summary

INTRODUCTION

We have finished the 6^th analysis of the world’s top law firm websites based on Ten Foundational Best Practices. The first study in 2005 set precedent by identifying the top ten foundational things law firms must do to ensure their websites were satisfying what visitors wanted.  It was the first full-scale report on how the legal industry was faring with its online marketing efforts, based on an objective analysis of AmLaw 100 Web sites.

Taking a disciplined and rigorous look at more than 60 attributes of EACH of 100 law firms was a herculean effort, but we were committed to do it in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2013 and now in 2016.  Over the years, we have made the results broadly available, because we want the industry to improve, for law firms to get more bang for their website buck – and we want law firm website visitors to be happier and your lawyers, ultimately, to be more successful.

In 2016, however, we analyzed the AmLaw Global 50 law firms because we wanted to see just how “global” the Global 50 are.  Stay tuned for the full results of this very interesting Study.

The websites analyzed were those live as of July 1, 2016.  Any new launches after this date were not reviewed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OBJECTIVES OF THIS RESEARCH

We have several objectives in commissioning this research: 

1. Give marketing/business development teams and lawyers objective data to help them justify planning time, expense and “against the grain” recommendations
2. Give the website teams an unemotional, foundational basis for analyzing their current sites
3. Provide specifics to mktg/BD so they can hold their design/development teams accountable
4. Give mktg/BD a framework for measurable improvement in design, interactivity and engagement, searchability, content writing, creating an intuitive visitor experience and satisfying what sophisticated buyers of legal services want in law firm sites.

WHY SHOULD LAW FIRM LEADERS CARE?

Many websites are broken from a visitor experience standpoint – in fact, most of them are.  This research can benefit law firms of all sizes, not just the world's largest. Beyond the enhancement of specific features and functionality that are expected today, global – and other – law firms now have:

1. Access to data on how to create a better and more satisfying experience for their visitors
2. A snapshot of how leading law firms are doing and an understanding how your firm can better compete
3. A practical roadmap to view your website more strategically and to plan your website investments more thoughtfully.

Following the guidelines within the Ten Foundational Best Practices, visitors to your website will:

• Quickly find the information they want and need
• Easily see the differences in strategy, scope, reach and strengths from your firm to the next
• Return to your site to find out more

WHY THE GLOBAL 50?

“Global” is a word that defines the world’s largest law firms. In fact, all of the AmLaw 100 firms boast that they are “global,” as do the Magic Circle firms.  In the past we focused on the leading American-headquartered law firms, but the boundaries between local and international law are fading – and clients of these firms are doing business in hundreds of countries throughout the world.

These law firms have reputations that are built on decades of important client representation and advocacy. The firms at the top of the list are the closest the legal industry has to “brand name” firms. Virtually all of these firms set the standard in the legal industry against which others are judged and evaluated. In every Study since the beginning, we wanted to determine if the website presence of these firms was reflective of the excellence they achieve in other areas.

THE 2016 TEN FOUNDATIONAL BEST PRACTICES (FBPs)

The FBPs are refreshed each Study to take into account foundational changes that have been made in the broad web industry, changes in visitor expectations and the behaviors of buyers of legal services. Certain FBPs have been a part of the Study since the beginning (Communicating your Message, Design, Navigation, Site Search, SEO and Site Hygiene/Usability). Others have been updated (Biographies used to be called “Lawyer Bios” – but there are so many other professionals who are involved in the delivery of legal work and the running of the  law firm, we expanded it) and others have been added (e.g., all references to Responsive Design).

There are a total of 69 attributes within the Ten FBPs, but briefly, they can be described as follows:

1. Communicating your Message – clear and differentiating firm strategy, strengths and focus are apparent, geographic reach
2. Design – bold, distinctive branding, responsive design, intuitive information hierarchy and strong imagery
3. Navigation – global/local navigation are consistent and intuitive across multiple devices  
4. Professional Biographies – detailed experience, an overview that tells a compelling story of the person, current and larger-format photos, social media and other links
5. Content (excluding biographies) -- quality, clarity and organization of narrative content
6. Interactivity, Engagement and Social Outreach – how interactive and engaging is your site? Access to additional content including multimedia, blogs, social media, alumni portals, extranets and share functionality
7. Site Search – it’s about “finding” – easy access to and quality of the multiple site search options and search results
8. Site Optimization & Online Awareness (SEO) – is your site optimized for search engines?
9. Mobility / Responsive – brand integrity is high on mobile devices, intuitive and good user experience
10. Site Hygiene and Usability – site functions perfectly on the latest browsers, no error pages or broken links, site meets the W3C Level 1 accessibility standards.

SCORING

Each attribute is scored on a 100-point scale and each attribute is reviewed and scored separately.  For example, “Professional Biographies” has 10 attributes – each was scored separately. We average all the scores for each attribute to determine the law firm’s score for each FBP.  Once each FBP has its average score, those will be added, divided by 10 and that is the law firm’s total score.

Excellent:            85-100

Good:                   71-84

Fair:                      51-70

Poor:                    26-50

Unacceptable:      0-25

There were ten experienced website researchers who were responsible for one or more of the FBPs. They covered their particular areas of expertise, such as design, content, mobility and SEO. A special thanks to the research team: Doug Stern, Jeremy Ash, Paige Hornback, Keith Wewe, Emily King, Siobhan Davis, Stephanie Stone, Blake Davis, Anna Livia Mazzoni and Deborah McMurray.

2016 RESULTS  

One firm ranked excellent with a score of 85.4 – Morgan Lewis. 23 firms ranked good and 26 firms ranked fair.  This is the first year that no firm has ranked poor or unacceptable.  But more than half of the Global 50 firms ranked fair – there is enormous room for improvement.  The top 10 scoring firms are:

1. Morgan Lewis
2. Winston & Strawn
3. Weil Gotshal
4. Sidley Austin
5. DLA Piper
6. Perkins Coie
7. Squire Patton Boggs
8. White & Case
9. Reed Smith
10. Goodwin Procter

FOR MORE INFORMATION

If you’d like more information or would like to purchase the Summary Insights and Findings Reports for each of the Ten Foundational Best Practices, contact Deborah McMurray at [email protected] or 1-972-897-4921.

STAY TUNED for a lot more trends, findings and interesting tidbits from this 2016 Study.

Richard Hsu connects with lawyer (a/k/a) celebrities in a unique way (Hsu Untied)

Writing my first blog post in 2015, I wanted to choose a topic that would have broad appeal.  I've written about technology/IP/M&A lawyer Richard Hsu several times.  The first time was nearly three years ago when I first read his definition of strategy. I'm including it here, because every New Year should start out with the hope and opportunity associated with smart strategy.

...On the other hand, technology strategy is not technology.  It is strategy.  And strategy’s half-life is more like plutonium:  what worked a thousand years ago works today, and will work in a thousand years....  Invest in understanding strategy now, and you will understand it just as well — probably even better [in the future.]  

This is part of a larger discussion about technology strategy, but it applies to every administrative department, capital investment or area of law in the law firm.

 

 

 

 

 

Richard is my favorite lawyer blogger, which is saying a lot given the thousands of them who pen posts about late-breaking developments in the law.  His "Hsu Tube" is also known as the "One Page Blog" - and therein lies part of its appeal.  He has mastered concise, and the art of effective and differentiated communication through clever animated illustrations drawn by his daughter, Maya. He narrates legal topics, such as "Handling IP Assets in M&A Transactions," while Maya proves that the maxim, "a picture is worth a thousand words," is true.  Her illustration style is similar to what you'd see in "Diary of a Wimpy Kid."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What you will also see on Hsu Tube, is Richard's latest offering, "Hsu Untied," a series of podcast interviews he conducts with lawyers about their burning passions and hobbies outside the office.  If you have some time on your hands, listen to the 31 episodes - each podcast is 10-16+ minutes long.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Recent podcasts have included:

1. Drew Shoals*, the drummer for the Grammy Award winning band, Train.  Drew had previously played with the lead singer of Train, Pat Monahan, prior to going to law school.  Despite having a successful legal career at Shearman & Sterling, when he got the call to join the band, he couldn’t say no. 
   
   https://soundcloud.com/hsu-untied/dshoals

2. Wayne Brown, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Intellectual Property Officer at Quest Diagnostics, who is a tournament chess player.  Wayne has a chess rating of “Expert” (top 5-10% of all tournament players) and has played competitive chess his entire life – in fact, he cannot remember a time when he did not know how to move the chess pieces.  Wayne discusses his lifelong passion for chess, including his favorite chess openings and how he started beating his dad when he was just in the 7th grade! 
   
   https://soundcloud.com/hsu-untied/wbrown
   
   
3. Liz Stone, a former litigator and now legal recruiter with the Dubin Group, who is also a standup comedienne.  Liz actually started doing “stand-up” after a couple of friends noticed her performing a wedding speech and after doing many “open mics,” she now performs at clubs like the San Francisco Punchline and Cobbs Comedy Club.  Although she enjoys what she currently does, she admits there is nothing more exhilarating — or terrifying — than trying to make an audience laugh. 
   
   https://soundcloud.com/hsu-untied/lstone

Richard shows us that successful lawyers are often well-rounded and interesting - and that they have a lot to talk  about that doesn't relate specifically to the practice of law.  

Let's get more of them talking.

Happy New Year!  Thank you for reading my blog!

 

Charlatan SEO company gets sued by its unhappy law firm client

From the very first days of Google, Yahoo, MSN and other search engines, lawyers have wanted to appear at the top of search results - "above the fold."  That spawned a slew of hucksters forming companies that promised unwitting lawyers that they could get them to show up on top of their competitors in the hallowed number one or two spot on Google and other search engines.

Those of us who legitimately approach search engine optimization (SEO) and other website and online strategies shake our heads at the folly of lawyers who think they can buy their way to the top by gaming the system. 

Now, a Michigan litigation law firm, Seikaly and Stewart, has sued The Rainmaker Institute run by Stephen Fairley, for RICO - a frightening statute (promising treble damages if a claim is successful) that legal marketers desperately want to avoid - claiming:

“. . . the Victim Firms were duped into believing that the services to be provided by The Rainmaker Institute, a company owned and/or controlled by defendant Fairley, would be effective in making the web sites and related web pages of the Victim Firms appear high in the results of the most important internet search engines – most significantly Google – when key terms chosen by the Victim Firms to describe their practices and the services offered were entered in a search by potential clients. Plaintiff and others paid many thousands of dollars, individually and collectively to The Rainmaker Institute to obtain these services, only to find that they were, in most instances completely unsuccessful."

The law firm spent $49,000 with Fairley's company and in return, was promised top Google rankings. Many lawyers today understand that such a scheme is woefully flawed, but many others are intoxicated by the new business they think will instantly appear from better search results.

The Simple Justice Criminal Defense Law Blog excoriates the legal marketing profession in its post about this lawsuit. It also shreds the plaintiff law firm/lawyers for being lazy, naive and stupid.  Here are a few sweepingly general disparagements Simple Justice's author, Scott Greenfield, writes about legal marketers:

• Fairley beat them at the game, deceiving them to the tune of $49 grand, with promises of vast internet wealth and prestige, by doing what every marketeer does, promise the world and deliver, well, nothing.
• Don’t blame Fairley for being a particularly successful member of a particularly disgraceful industry. He sold you a bill of goods. That’s what marketeers do. Didn’t you realize that when you put your reputation, your ethics, your livelihood and your cash into the hands of schemers, you’re going to get burned? What’s next, suing Nigeria for its prince welching on your inheritance?
• Did Fairley lie to Seikaly & Stewart? How would anyone know, since the entirety of internet marketing schemes are based on deception and manipulation? And were Seikaly & Stewart victimized by Fairley’s unkept promises? It’s beyond ironic that a firm seeking to buy its way to prominence from a marketeer complains that it was out-deceived.

I want to caution Greenfield not to throw all marketers under the bus because of one (or a few) bad actors.

Kevin O'Keefe also wrote about this on his blog, Real Lawyers have Blogs. 

Lawyers, don't waste your money on empty promises about SEO and other marketing greatness. Instead, invest your thought, time, attention and dollars on marketing and business development initiatives that will pay off. Notice that I carefully chose the word "invest" as opposed to "spend" - like your 401(k), all marketing/business development programs are investment strategies that require brain power, patience, commitment and consistency. 

If it sounds too good to be true . . .

The best lawyer videos I've seen - watch Richard Hsu

"Video" comes up in every website conversation I have with lawyers and marketers. Everyone wants to add video to their websites, but few know how to approach it strategically, uniquely and so that the end result is superior to what you had without the added media.

I have written about Richard Hsu before. He is a Silicon Valley technology partner with Shearman & Sterling whom I have never met in person. But we are fully connected via social media, following and encouraging each other.  I have no doubt that when we do meet face-to-face, we'll embrace each other as old friends. 

He has developed a video strategy that he posts on his excellent and quirky "One Page Blog" (www.hsutube.com), which is consistent with his to-the-point, no extraneous words approach to communicating.  More lawyers should adopt his commitment to concision - clients appreciate it and want it. (The most compelling reason for jumping on the brevity bandwagon.)

But back to Hsu's video strategy.

After viewing several of his videos, I interviewed him to learn more about his strategy and how he does it.  Before you watch these (groaning perhaps, thinking they might be typical talking head style CLE videos), understand that no video is longer than 100 seconds and they explain no more than one concept - and that concept must be conducive to drawing.  Wait - drawing, you ask?  Watch these and you'll see.  

 

  

 

 

Hsu's inspiration was Salman Khan's TED talk about using video to transform education curricula - use simple drawings to illustrate complex concepts.  Hsu can't draw, but his now-13-year old daughter, Maya, can.  They used Beyond Pix to create the videos, creating six in one highly efficient eight-hour day.  To keep cost down, Richard and Maya created all the content. 

Richard says the response from viewers has been very positive, and he is getting additional exposure and traffic on one of the kingpin content aggregators, JD Supra (http://www.jdsupra.com/search/searchResults.aspx?sTerm=richard+hsu&x=-1445&y=-10). 

Hsu is a left-brain lawyer with a right-brain approach to communicating.  In my book, it's the most unique, appealing and cost-effective lawyer video strategy I've seen.

Here is a link to a bundle of the videos and a photo of Richard and Maya working.  http://hsutube.com/original-videos/

 

 

Richard and Maya Hsu - June 2013

What law firms can learn from my experience with the strangest dessert in San Francisco (maybe the world)

While In San Francisco to speak at the monthly San Francisco LMA luncheon on Website trends (with Barbara Abulafia, Keker & Van Nest, Jeff Yerkey, Right Hat and Per Casey, Tenrec), my colleague Keith Wewe, another couple and I were hosted by Elizabeth Lampert for dinner at Twenty-Five Lusk. 

This modern and tony restaurant, located in the burgeoning China Basin neighborhood in San Francisco's SOMA (South of Market) district, is led by Executive Chef Matthew Dolan. Its website says this: "...featuring seasonally driven New American cuisine, a dynamic wine program, and expertly crafted cocktails. The design weaves a modern aesthetic through a historic brick and timber  warehouse originally built in 1917 as a meat packing and smokehouse facility."

Bottom line, it's completely worth trying - the food was quite delicious.  However, they had one mis-step that reminded me of the danger law firms can face when they don't have highly focused marketing and business development programs led by serious professionals.

Twenty-Five Lusk features a dessert called "Textures and Chaos" that lists only four ingredients on the menu, but clearly had several more (as you can see by the photo below).  This photo can't begin to communicate the plated disaster that was proudly delivered to our table. 

 

 

Perhaps, in a desire to elevate the participation among his team (and create a sense of inclusion), the chef tried crowd-sourcing to create this dessert - where each member of the kitchen staff added a favorite ingredient - and, voila! - Textures and Chaos was born.  The result was so poorly conceived and executed that I was inspired to write about it.  It's not only seriously ugly, but the tastes were as cacophonous as 5 p.m. rush hour in New York.

What can lawyers learn from this?  With the proliferation of new Internet-based marketing and business development channels, particularly social media outlets, individual lawyers, practice groups and firms have an unprecedented opportunity to jump into the fray.  And indeed they are jumping!  More than ever before, these lawyers, groups and firms need guidance and direction from experienced marketers who can help them define strategy and keep their focus.  Having an Internet presence that isn't well delineated, refined and targeted does the lawyer and firm no good - in fact, it can dilute any reputation you might have that's been developed in more traditional offline media. 

Firm strategy should start back in the kitchen-equivalent (not at the dinner table) and be a thoughtful consideration of audiences, markets, geographic reach, competition, threats and opportunities that are just cresting over the horizon.  This positioning stake in the ground informs what practice and industry teams could do, and what individual lawyers on those teams can do.  When well-intentioned, but overly independent lawyers go off and create their own Internet presence with no regard for their law firm, they miss the most important advantage available to them - leveraging the investments (strategy, time, reputation and money) made by the mother ship.

When many lawyers in a firm do their own thing without regard for the firm and practice group strategies, the result won't be far away from "Textures and Chaos."

 

 

 

 

 

Waller: A successful law firm website case study

Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP is a 200-lawyer firm headquartered in Nashville, with offices in Birmingham, AL and Austin, TX.  The work that “Waller” does in the healthcare industry belies its relatively small size.  It is known throughout that industry as the leader, the number-one firm, the “player” in that space.  Every other healthcare practice in America wants to be them.

When the new Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer, Mark Greene, was hired in January 2011, he understood that while the firm’s reputation was superior, it wasn’t well known by many outside Nashville and beyond the healthcare industry.  The firm has other important practices and industry teams – it was important to “own” the healthcare strength, but make other areas more prominent as well.

A sophisticated user of technology and a veteran market researcher, Greene hired legal industry leaders to conduct market research, interview clients, design and launch a new positioning strategy and brand, and design and build a new website as the centerpiece of the brand launch.  The former website had little visual appeal, was overly generic and didn’t establish the firm as a market leader in any sector or industry. 

All the research culminated in a unique positioning strategy that supported all practice and industry teams in the firm, and built on the essence of what makes Waller extraordinary:

You’ve no doubt heard it said, or even said yourself, that nobody looks for a law firm—they look for a lawyer. Well, we like to think we’ve turned that around.

Just look at how many clients come to us for one reason, stay with us for something completely different, then do the same thing time and time again. True, these clients probably came to us with a specific lawyer or practice in mind, but that doesn’t really account for the longevity or depth of our relationships.

It’s not just the quality of the work we do. It’s how we go about it. We have all the experience and intellectual firepower you’d expect from a firm of our stature, but the feel is different. Clients say we’re more responsive, we understand their stresses. We make their issues our issues, their fights our fights. This could be why we rarely lose a client, and why so many engage an extraordinary number of our practice groups.

At Waller the atmosphere is comfortable, the people good-natured, easy-going. There’s a contagious quiet confidence—a feeling that no matter how complex the deal or fierce the litigation, these are people who can be formidable, who can deliver the results, yet still keep a sense of humor. It comes as no surprise that clients like the way they’re treated, and feel their treatment transcends any one attorney.

In other words, they come here for a lawyer, but they stay here for the firm.

Given this positioning and brand strategy, the challenges for the website were:

1. How do you demonstrate industry depth and experience and, at the same time, humanize the lawyers so they seem accessible?
2. How could Waller distinguish itself among other healthcare-strong law firms?
3. How does Waller ensure that the non-healthcare practices and industries have equal opportunity on the website?
4. How can the lawyers’ bios reflect their individuality, yet reinforce that they are an integral part of a firm and a team?
5. How does Waller prove its depth, reach and drive?
6. What can Waller offer healthcare clients and prospects that will be unique?
7. How can Waller leverage the social media and blog content – ensuring a 360-degree online strategy?
8. Finally, how do we build a site that is flexible, robust and that can grow with the firm as it grows and expands?

We designed and launched a website that answered these questions in the following ways:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Balancing industry/practice depth/distinction and personality is critical in a two-dimensional medium.  Buyers of legal services want to know three things when they come to a law firm website: what you have done, for whom you have done it, and what you can do for me.  Firms must answer these questions to keep a visitor on the site – they’re table stakes for making the short list of credible providers of the services they need. 
   
   But research shows that when they are selecting the one law firm with which to work, they are making an emotional decision, and that requires that the site effectively communicate the answer to “why us, of all the credible providers?” That’s where brand positioning is crucial. We must communicate who we are as people, not just what we are as a firm.  The site must communicate the brand as a compelling reason to choose this firm from the list of credible providers.
   
   The Waller industry, service and bio pages are infused with specific experience that answers those three expertise questions. An experience database will soon be populating the site, ensuring that the experience feeds are fresh and relevant (and easing the burden of the small team of marketers). 
   
   The lawyer bios have a flexible tab structure, where lawyers can choose the tabs they want to appear – tabs that will spotlight their specific interests and strengths.  In addition, many lawyers have an “Up Close” tab, which highlights pro bono work, personal commitments to
   charities and civic pursuits, or hobbies and other diversions.
   
   
2. The healthcare industry section of the website is broken out into 15 sub-practices, proving the depth and diversity of their strengths.  These range from dialysis and urgent care, dental and orthodontics, healthcare REITS and life sciences, and much more.  Any industry executive would see this list and immediately recognize substance.
   
   Healthcare services (the practice areas) has 13 sub-groups under it, including commercial finance, compliance and operations, M&A, real estate, securities and tax, litigation and patient privacy, plus other areas that are vital to the successful running of healthcare organizations.
   
   
3. Because the site is broken down into industries and services, other industry teams are featured in ways that are important to Waller.  Eight non-healthcare industries are presented, plus eight service areas that each have several sub-groups.
   
   
4. The bio photography is fresh and “environmental,” suggesting that these lawyers are nice, accessible people.  In addition, all lawyers have included their assistants’ names and contact information on their bios.  As mentioned before, lawyers personalize their own bios with what makes them unique – their experience, involvement and passions outside the office.
   
   
5. Drive is hard to prove in this medium, but we believe that showing depth and diversity of experience is the best way to show it.  In addition, the home page features and rotates case studies and photography that prove that Waller isn’t your average law firm with a few lawyers who do a little of this and that.
   
   
6. One of the most unique visitor benefits of the home page is “Market Intelligence.”  This is a live feed of industry intelligence from ShiftCentral (www.shiftcentral.com).  Visitors type words or phrases in this predictive or type-ahead search box and results immediately appear.  Waller offers this sophisticated tool free to its visitors – and it’s never before appeared on a law firm website.
   
   
7. A 360-degree content strategy is a centerpiece of Waller’s business development strategy. This ensures that up-to-the-minute blog content is fed into the News/Events section of the website (with a link available from the home page).  Waller also feeds offline content – lawyer speeches, event appearances, webinar participation and print – to its online content and vice versa.
   
   
8. Waller chose Content Pilot as its technology provider for its “evergreen” approach to technology maintenance, among other reasons.  Through its planned maintenance and service program, Content Pilot ensures that its platform is as current post-launch as it was at launch.  New web features and functionality will be considered by the firm as long as it fits into the Waller strategy.  Waller will never hear, “You need to buy the new version of our product if you want to do that.”

Measureable Results

The Waller marketing and business development team regularly monitors traffic patterns and visitor analytics.  For the one-month period August 18 – September 17, 2011, the former website had total site visits of 6,096.  One-year later, the new site during the same period had 9,949 visits – a 62% increase. Nearly 44% of the visits were from returning visitors – a remarkably high percentage when compared to other law firm websites.  Three-plus pages were viewed by each visitor on average during this period.

The high visitor engagement demonstrated by these numbers is a direct testament that Waller’s positioning strategy “Come for the lawyer, stay for the firm” is spot-on.

Waller Website Team - Internal

• Mark Greene, Ph.D., CMBDO
• Kathy Phelps, Director, Marketing Operations
• Aimee Moore, Design Specialist
• Mike Moss, Webmaster
• Rebecca Howald, Director, Practice Group Business Development
• Vikki Carter, Director, Healthcare Business Development
• Scott Manners, Manager, Healthcare Business Development
• Ruth Freeland, Manager, Practice Group Business Development 
• Lesley Kibler, Market Intelligence Manager

Waller Website Team - External

• Allison Market Research
• Right Hat Design
• Content Pilot LLC

Content Pilot announces NEW Law Firm Website Ten Foundational Best Practices - 2012-2013

As Content Pilot and Right Hat gear up to conduct the AmLaw 100 Websites: Ten Foundational Best Practices research for 2012-2013, the two companies have combined forces and released the latest list of “must-have” attributes for your law firm website. This has been substantially overhauled from the 2010 list.

“Mobility” is a new Foundational Best Practice this year – one of the most fundamental changes to the list, which will never include more than ten Foundational Best Practices. Apple’s first iPad release caused a major spike in mobile access to law firm websites.  In fact, it was the tail wagging the Smart Phone dog – until that time, phone access of law firm websites was minimal.  It increased exponentially as a result of tablet popularity. As we further fell in love with our Smart Phones' ability to manage and run our lives, our desire for a true mobile interface for the law firm website couldn’t be assuaged with a site that was just “mobile-friendly.”

My Content Pilot predecessor company, Deborah McMurray Associates, started this ambitious research in 2005 to give firms a roadmap for their website redesigns.  Knowing that firms were collectively spending millions and millions of dollars on their websites and not making clients and other visitors any happier, I was determined to push firms and their design/development companies to raise their standards, and be more thoughtful and disciplined as they approached these projects.

Using American Lawyer's AmLaw 100 list of firms as our research group, we have conducted the research in the following years: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010 and now 2012.  The research team has reviewed many of the AmLaw 100 sites every year; so we have a history of improvement – or in some cases, missteps – for these global firms.

I will frequently blog and tweet about our research findings over the next few months (and I’ll highlight top-scoring firms in each category), so stay tuned.  Jeff Yerkey, Web + Interactive Director at Right Hat will also blog and tweet to get the results out. 

If you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact me by posting a comment here, find me on LinkedIn or email me at [email protected].

1.      Communicating Your Message

1.1.   Clear and differentiating positioning strategy

1.2.   Practice and industry focus are apparent.

1.3.   Geographic reach is apparent (one office or 40 offices, etc.).

1.4.   Contact info is clear and easy to find

1.5.   Site features foreign language translations

 2.      Graphics and Design

2.1.   Bold, branded layout style, grid and use of white space

2.2.   The site Uses CSS@FONT-FACE web fonts to further branding design.

2.3.   Strong imagery reinforces the brand, and is fresh and unique. It effectively advances the story about the firm and what it does.

2.4.   Site makes good use of HTML5 instead of relying on Flash

2.5.   Site is optimized for equal to or greater than a 1024-pixel screen resolution.

2.6.   Site is mobile friendly – all elements of the site can be seen and navigated.

3.      Navigation

3.1.   Global and local navigation styles are consistent—visitors don’t have to relearn navigation in different parts of the site.

3.2.   Global navigation uses mega-menus or other cascading navigation that gives visitors a deeper look inside and 1-click access to pages (for all or the majority of global nav sections).

3.3.   It is easy to navigate-and-select across multiple devices (desktops, tablets, Smart Phones).

3.4.   Cross-linking promotes easy horizontal travel from one section of the site to another (bios to practices to articles to news, etc.).           

 4.      Lawyer Biographies

4.1.   First 150 characters of the bio are current, compelling and relevant for SEO benefit.            

4.2.   Overview paragraph – first 2-3 sentences are descriptive of the work the lawyer does and the types of clients the lawyer represents.

4.3.   Bio does not use Mr. or Ms. Lastname throughout – it uses the lawyer’s first or nickname.

4.4.   Current photos that convey personality.

4.5.  Full contact info is easy to find and links to v-card.   

4.6.  Bio includes links to social media profiles and pages.              

4.7.  Bios list and crosslink to practices/ industries, articles/ news/ events.              

4.8.  Bios include detailed experience and matter lists.     

4.9.  The page technology supports elegant content organization that enables visitors to quickly scan and access what they want?  E.g., Ajax, jquery, javascript.

4.10. Associates have full biographies.

 5.      Content (Other than Biographies)

5.1.  Visitor/client-focused content has consistent language use and is specific.

5.2.  Content is organized intuitively, by services and expertise clients buy, not how the firm is organized.

5.3.  Practices and industries are broken out separately. Geographic regions is a bonus option.   

5.4.  Descriptions include experience specifics, including client names or descriptions of clients.

5.5.  Video and multimedia content is available, and is relevant and current.

5.6.  News/press pages are current and written for maximum PR benefit.

5.7.  Publications/articles/events are well organized and are easily sorted by topic and author/speaker.     

5.8.  Site has a statement of core values.              

5.9.  Site illustrates firm’s commitment to diversity.          

5.10. Charitable and civic commitment is described and evident.

5.11. Pro bono commitment is described in detail, highlighting stories and specific matters.

 6.      Interactivity and Social Outreach

6.1.  Client extranet is offered and accessible.

6.2.  RSS feeds throughout the site.

6.3.  Alumni center or link to alumni page on LinkedIn or Facebook.

6.4.  Newsletter subscribe feature and other info sign-up.              

6.5.  Links to firm/lawyer blogs on home page, bio, practice and other relevant pages.       

6.6.  Offers educational Webinars and podcasts. 

6.7.  The site links to social media sites and has an active and current presence on these sites.

6.8.  Share functionality is present throughout the site.

7.      Site Search

7.1. Site offers full-site keyword search.

7.2. Advanced search link appears on all pages and enables visitors to narrow or refine the search in multiple ways.      

7.3. Search results are clear and well organized: Most relevant content categories appear first.

7.4. Utilizes modern search technology features: type-ahead/predictive, “did you mean,” highlighting of search terms in annotated results, exact phrase.                       

7.5. Site offers multiple searches, including detailed lawyer search, news/ publications/ articles/ events searches, law school alumni search in careers.           

7.6. Site offers a separate experience search.     

 8.      Site Optimization and Online Awareness

8.1. Online Awareness: backlinks, link popularity and PageRank for landing and details pages.

8.2. Strong, properly structured HTML content on the home page and interior (H1, H2, H3 etc. for headings and subheadings, doc type, no image-based navigation or other text, etc.).

8.3. Data feeds from external sources (blogs, social media, videos, etc.).

8.4. HTML sitemaps are present and include all pages organized with appropriate hierarchy.

8.5. Smart URLS with appropriate syntax  used in all sections.

8.6. Metatags, page titles, keywords and meta-descriptions are correctly used and placed, and utilized throughout site.             

8.7. Images have alt tags that provide alternative text when images can’t be displayed.    

9.      Mobility

9.1. Site is especially designed for mobile devices.

9.2. Content, navigation and touch targets are simplified for smaller screens and emphasize the information most often used on mobile devices.

9.3. Content is enhanced for mobile convenience (e.g., mobile content includes nearest parking garages/lots, hotels, restaurants and coffee shops, wi-fi hotspots, ATMs, metro stops, etc.).

9.4. Site links back to main site from all pages.

9.5. Mobile design furthers the firm brand.

10.   Site “Hygiene” and Usability

10.1. Site perfectly functions on all modern browsers – IE7 and newer, Chrome, Safari and Firefox.

10.2. Ability to collect and bind PDFs together.

10.3. No error pages found on spot check.

10.4. No broken links or images evident with spot check.      

10.5.  Major section pages print and email easily.         

10.6.  Site offers dynamic print to PDF option on most pages.      

10.7.  Copy and content have been checked for spelling and grammar.

Back in America

I've just returned from two weeks touring and cruising Italy, plus other countries that are on the coastlines of the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas.  It was a great immersion in ancient cultures and centuries-old cathedrals and basilicas, combined with the joy of spontaneous, contemporary exploration and choice-making.  But this post isn't about my trip.

The first thing I did when I landed in New York was pick up the Sunday New York Times and read it from cover to cover.  As a news and contemporary culture junkie, I didn't receive enough "news" via iPhone data roaming or at-sea WiFi on my vacation to prevent me from feeling fully out of the know.

So this post encapsulates what I learned that was beyond the traditional world news headlines.  There are lessons for law firms and marketers, too.

1.    One of the more interesting headlines was "The Coffin-Maker Benchmark," a story about the drop in Africa's AIDS deaths and how the U.S. is largely responsible for it because of our foreign aid funding.  The author chatted with "mortality experts" in Africa - the coffin-makers in the street markets. He quotes one as saying, "Before a lot of people were dying of AIDS ... Now there is medication, so fewer people are dying. I'm not very happy because this is my future." 

According to the article, six or so years ago, this coffin-maker sold 20 or more coffins per month.  Now it is down to five or six.  It's an interesting and unique data point to measure the success of this American funding.

Lesson for law firms:  When you are seeking proof of your marketing return on investment (ROI), seek data from multiple sources. Your most compelling arguments for or against success may be supported by data sources that surprise you.

2.    In an article called, "Don't Indulge, Be Happy," the authors report about Gallup data collected by Princeton researchers who found that Americans are NOT happier when they make more money.  They found that $75,000 was the average number that met the "comfortable standard" test, and that more money didn't increase Americans' happiness. 

Many of us might argue with this seemingly low salary ceiling, and this isn't the most interesting part of the article.  The researchers found that Americans were by far the happiest when they shared with others, when they had enough money to give away. "It's pretty simple.  Even children feel better when they share what they have."

Having more money and indulging more -- buying more for ourseslves -- "are ineffective at turning money into happiness.  A decade of research has demonstrated that if you insist on spending money on yourself, you should shift from buying stuff (TVs and cars) to experiences (trips and special evenings out).  Our own recent research shows that in addition to buying more experiences, you're better served in many cases by buying less - and buying for others."

One of the cleverest lines I've read in a long while follows:  "Indulgence is often closely trailed by its chubby sidekick, overindulgence."

Lesson for law firms:  There is a two-fold lesson here --a)  Instead of buying clients gifts this holiday season, design experiences for them - things you can do together or that they can do with their families.  b) Increase your charitable contributions budget, pro bono commitments and civic responsibilities for 2013.  Budget season is soon upon us - be more generous and reap the bountiful emotional (and other) benefits.

3.    Are you secretly shy?  In the Cultural Studies part of the Times, an article titled "The Spotlight Dims and Shyness Sets in" reveals that comedian Chris Rock is "painfully shy."  His wife says, "At a dinner party, you want to sit next to me."

In addition to Chris Rock, the article points to former Britsh Prime Minister Gordon Brown and business leaders like former Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham, who could stand up and give speeches and lead groups of people, who could be exuberant and verbose - but who self-identified as shy.

A call-out in the article says, "Some shy people are able to find their voice after a glass of wine or with a lengthy blog post."  Have you ever wondered if the proliferation of bloggers on topics ranging from animal welfare to travel to make-up and fashion - not to mention the thousands of business and law blogs - results from secret shyness in these writers?  Truly un-shy people would rather be surrounded by people than sitting quietly at their computers. In fact, when I speak to lawyers who are naturally gregarious who want to start a blog, I caution them about the solitary nature of this ubiquitous commitment.

The article states, "Social media (with the 'social' part more remote, almost oxymoronic) can be the shy person's best friend, such common respite that it has been dubbed ' electronic extroversion.'"

Lesson for law firms:  Social media isn't for all lawyers, but it can be a remarkable fit - an effective voice - for the secretly (or unsecretly) shy.  And it is likely not a great fit for your biggest extroverts.  They'll have a hard time following through.

4.    "Estate Planning for Savvy Zombies" -- isn't that a great title?  Well, it was inspired by an Iowa Law Review article called "Death and Taxes and Zombies" written by Adam Chodorow of the Arizona State University Law School.  The essay says, "This timely academic work explores the important question of whether zombies should be considered dead for purposes of the estate tax."

"If we relax the assumption that death is, in fact, permanent" . . . (don't you love that?! Relaxing the assumption that death is permanent - ha!) . . ."it turns out that there are a lot of traps for the unwary and planning opportunities for the well-advised.  Under a rule of 'merely undead not really most sincerely dead,' a wealthy person could delay paying the estate tax upon his passing into the zombie realm; those taxes would have to be paid only after a more decisive event, like having his head blown off with a shotgun."

The article continues, "'Those with assets of more than $5 million, [the author] said, should consider becoming a zombie.'"  And, it continues, peppering in advice about vampires and werewolves.

Lesson for law firms:  Scholarly articles don't have to read like ancient treatises unearthed from a Roman crypt.  If you are a lover of contemporary culture, pepper your intellectual offerings with references that keep you and your audience fully engaged.  I am still hunting for a copy of this article and will post a link when I find it.

5.    There were two articles that referenced James Bond as a role model and teacher.  The first one was called, "Why CEOs Need a Dose of James Bond," and was an interview with Joel Babbit, CEO of Mother Nature Network.

I especially liked this next quote - and agree with it.  It's about meetings - and the length of meetings.  ". . . I believe that the majority of meetings could easily be cut to a third of what they are and accomplish much more.  People just lose track after some point, and it doesn't matter what's being said.  If you go into a meeting where somebody's talking more than 15 minutes, 90 percent of the people are looking at their BlackBerrys and not paying attention."  (I'm sure RIM would appreciate that call-out given its plunging market share.)

Babbit continues, "I've also found that the higher up you go in a corporation when you have a meeting, the shorter the meetings are.  So, if you meet with somebody who's an assistant vice president, the meeting will  be two hours.  You meet with a vice president, that's an hour.  You meet with the Chief Financial Officer, it's a half-hour.  You meet with the CEO, it's 10 minutes.  That's how it works.  By the way, you often see the same thing with returning phone calls:  assistant vice president takes four days; vice president takes two days; the CFO in one day; and the CEO calls back in 10 minutes."

So, where does the James Bond role model come in?  Babbit said that he watched "Goldfinger" 100 times, and when James Bond was working on "serious stuff, like saving the world, he always enjoyed himself.  He would have a drink every night and go out on a date and would make witty remarks in the midst of crisis.  I think that's a very good business lesson."

Lesson for law firms:  If you are or want to be viewed as a senior executive, shorten your meetings by half (or more), and return your phone calls half-again faster (or more) than you normally do. 

6.    Finally, in an article called, "Got Milk?  You Don't Need it" by super-chef/author Mark Bittman, he writes about his chronic issues with acid reflux (or GERD) and chronic heartburn.  "Although treating heartburn is a business worth more than $10 billion a year, the solution may be as simple as laying off dairy," which, he notes is free.  He also notes that it is easier to digest cheese and yogurt than it is milk in its liquid form.

Lesson for law firms:  If you suffer from chronic heartburn and you are on prescription meds, it may not be the pizza with anchovies or the Steak Oscar or the screaming senior partner.  As much as I love the "Got Milk?" advertising campaign using celebrities, you might try giving milk or dairy up altogether. 

It's great to be home and back to my blog.