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!

Lawyers: Rethink your bios to meet clients where they are (and win more work)

How do clients buy? By category.

To set the stage for winning more, lawyers have to understand how business-to-business buyers of legal services make their purchasing decisions today. Corporations often segment their work based on:

• Category 1: Volume of repetitive matters (frequently referred to as commodity work);
• Category 2: Important day-to-day matters; and
• Category 3: Strategic, high end, or bet-the-company matters.

Today, they seldom hire one law firm to handle all three of these categories. Similarly, they consciously or subconsciously segment their outside counsel as fit to handle only one category of matters. The leaders of law firms that are in Category 1 want to go up-market, trying to sell Category 2 services to their clients. This is commonly rejected by clients, however, because (consciously or subconsciously) they have erected barriers that are difficult for the law firms to penetrate. Clients have boxed-in their law firms based on their (right or wrong) perceptions of them.

Category 2 law firms really want the plum Category 3 work – the highest end, most strategic matters. With rare exceptions, they won’t get it – and they will waste a lot of time and money going after work clients simply do not want to give them. Strategic planning and diligent positioning can alter clients’ perceptions, but it is virtually impossible to jump categories inside the confines of a client relationship, especially to jump from Category 1 to Category 3. Don’t waste your time. Focus instead on practice management and relationship and process improvements that will make your clients happy and loyal, and that will make the category of work you own as profitable as possible.

How else do clients buy? With emotion. 

For Category 2 and 3 work (and sometimes Category 1), buyers of legal services make their purchasing decisions on two levels. When they are considering hiring lawyers or firms, they create a shortlist of features they can intellectually evaluate – a lawyer’s expertise, experience, jurisdictional background, geographic suitability, fee arrangements, etc. These are all items they can check off a list. But when they are choosing the one lawyer or firm to hire, they are making an emotional decision, where they focus on how they feel about the lawyer – do I trust him? Do I like her? How would I feel if I got stuck on the tarmac next to my lawyer for five hours? Would it be painful? Or a party?

A friendly, familiar, conversational voice is important for your visitor to want to connect with you.

The two-levels of hiring – intellectual/technical and emotional – have been proven for more than 25 years, in thousands of interviews with corporate counsel and senior executives. Lawyers who live in their heads and who have impressive technical resumes may dismiss this research. But then they wonder why, when on the shortlist numerous times, they do not get chosen. This is why: with expertise and qualifications being equal (or perceived as equal), he or she isn’t as likeable as the person who got hired.

Your bio overview.

The first two attributes of Content Pilot's Ten Foundational Best Practice for a Professional's Biography are the following:

1. First 140 characters of the bio are current, compelling and relevant for SEO benefit. Count all letters, punctuation and spaces, and ensure that your most important keywords about your practice are appearing first. Avoid starting your bio like this: John Smith is a partner and chair of the labor and employment practice at ABCXYZ law firm. This is likely what will appear in Google and other search engine results when searching by that lawyer’s name. This information doesn’t move the needle in hiring – don’t waste this valuable real estate on your titles (your titles will appear elsewhere in your bio). Rather, tell what you do.
2. Overview paragraph – the first two to three sentences are descriptive of the work the lawyer does and the types of clients the lawyer represents. After the 140 characters, focus on enriching your bio with additional keywords, such as types of clients, industries, and subject matter strengths. If you are a noted expert in SEC enforcement matters, Family Medical Leave Act claims, or SBICs and BDCs, this is where it should live.

Then, create three-dimensional (3D) bios.

Based on the analytics that we track, more than 40-70% of  visitors are viewing your bio pages. Thus, your goal should be to keep visitors on your lawyer bios longer – and convert visitors to viewing more of them each visit. This is where the cash lives in your firm. Pour an extra cup of coffee and ask your web administrator or marketer to show you the Google Analytics for your website – see how many different lawyer bios any one visitor opens, and check the average length of time a visitor spends on them. Then, focus on improving this number and duration.  You should design and write your bios to accomplish this goal.

In the hundreds of client interviews we have conducted, here is what I have learned about how clients choose their lawyers.  In today’s landscape where competition among attorneys is stiff and it is harder to differentiate one from another, they must provide more insight into why they should be hired. Why are they the expert? What makes them the perfect fit for a client’s problem? You must prove you are the right fit, and there are three ways to do this. I call it “3-D Bios:”

1. Demonstrate expertise
2. Prove relevancy
3. Show humanity

All three “dimensions” must be present for lawyers’ biographies to work hard for them.

1. Demonstrate expertise:
1. Show specific experience: Remember the three questions: What have you done? For whom have you done it? What can you do for me?
2. Include client case studies or stories that prove what you know and your approach to getting things done. This often gets into how you did what you did, not just what you did.
3. Depending on the nature of your practice (for example, if you represent a lot of start-ups or technology companies), include client logos, with their permission, of course.
   
   
2. Prove relevancy:
1. Important keywords that are relevant to your practice should appear in the top 140 characters (characters, not words) of the bio overview. When someone is Googling, or otherwise searching for your name, it is important that the 140–150 characters that show up in the search engine description are those most relevant to your practice – and the expertise that people are buying from you – today. Consider the disconnect for your future buyer if you are supposed to be the expert in global trademark protection and your Google search description does not even mention it.
2. Feed current blog and Twitter posts into your bios. Social media that proves you are current and on top of the subject matter in your practice gives the people evaluating you comfort and confidence in your intellect and grasp of today’s issues.
3. Feature a book the lawyer has written – or something else notable, such as white papers, an important speech, a short video about a trending topic.
4. Design an infographic, which highlights trends in the lawyer’s practice or industry. For example, number of patents in the energy industry over a ten-year period of time, or a US map showing the number of states in which the lawyer has handled litigation.
   
   
3. Show humanity (to get hired, look for ways to short-cut the pathway to trust):
1. New lawyer photos – “magazine-style” (large format) photos that show personality and approachability. Some lawyers do not like getting their photos taken, so they use the same tired photo decade after decade. In today’s world of selfies, where current photos are pervasive, it is critical that the firm website posts current photos that actually look like the lawyers who work there.
2. Include a short video that tells a memorable story about a case and how you handled it. Of course, do not name a client name unless it is public record and you have your client’s permission, but do discuss unique issues or circumstances. For example, did the case come in at 8 p.m. on a Sunday night and the court filing was due Monday morning at 10?
3. Include an “after hours” tab or feature – content that describes the lawyer’s passions outside the office. This can include community board service, volunteer work, travel, sports and events, books you are reading, the fact that you are training for a triathlon, or your family and pets. Show how interesting you are!
4. Prove accessibility – include your mobile phone, assistant’s name/info, your team’s contact names/info (if you aren’t reachable, it ensures that your client has access to team members without you being a bottleneck), and instant messaging contact information. Law firm technology staff will sometimes prohibit instant messaging, but certain types of clients rely on it – and they want their lawyers to use it. 

Read these for strong examples of 3-D bios - congratulations and thanks to Texas law firm Gray Reed for these examples. Note the first-person introductions and the tab called "When I feel most at home," which ties directly to the firm's strategy and tagline, "Feel at home here."

 

https://www.grayreed.com/Our-People/W-Darrell-Armer 

 

 

 

https://www.grayreed.com/Our-People/Michael-A-Ackal-III

If your bios aren't delivering on all these important cylinders, they aren't working hard enough for you. There is definitely a new world order when it comes to hiring lawyers and how it’s done – let us help you position your lawyers so they are exactly in the right spot for future success. 

The 2018 ILTA Marketing Technology Survey is Ready!

May 17, 2018 - For the first time ever – and because demand is sky-rocketing – ILTA has released its 2018 Marketing Technology Survey to benchmark the state of our industry. You can access the survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ILTAMarketingTechnologySurvey.

Law firm marketing technology professionals, processes and tools have been increasing exponentially over recent years, yet there has never been an industry-wide benchmarking survey or analysis done – until now.

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 2018
• Collect qualitative data that marketing tech professionals can leverage in their law firms
• 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:

1. Who should complete this survey?
   1. The marketing technology leader in your firm.
2. What if we don’t have a marketing tech person?
   1. 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.
3. We have several marketing tech people – can they all complete the survey?
   1. Just one respondent per firm, please.
4. How long will this survey be live?
   7. The survey period is three weeks, from May 17 to June 7.
5. How much time will it take to complete?
   1. We estimate it will take 15-20 minutes to complete.
6. When will the results be available?
   1. ILTA will publish a Marketing Technology White Paper, which will include commentary and the results. Our goal is to have it in plenty of time for your budgeting season.
7. Do I have to be a member of ILTA to participate?
   1. No – come one, come all!

Special thanks to:

• Our ILTA Marketing Technology Survey Task Force: Katy Admirand, Cheryl Disch, Jacqueline Madarang, Deborah McMurray, Sheila Mennis, and Nanette Morales.
• The Legal Marketing Association (LMA) for cross-promoting with ILTA on this important research project.

 

       

   

 

 

 

 

                                     
                    

An Interview with Deborah McMurray: Best Practices for Law Firm Websites - by Craig Guillot

 

Law firms that make a conscious effort to optimize their websites and improve their online presence can make themselves increasingly attractive to new clients. In a recent white paper, marketing strategy and technology firm, Content Pilot, laid out Ten Foundational Best Practices for law firm websites. Researchers studied AmLaw Global 50 top-ranking firms and identified trends, insights and global standards for how these organizations can enhance their web presence. Deborah McMurray, CEO and Strategy Architect at Content Pilot, spoke with Aprio about what firms should do to emulate these practices and set themselves apart from the crowd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What are visitors to law firm websites looking for, and what can a firm do to optimize its lawyer bios?

"Buyers of a legal service make their purchases on two levels. First, they evaluate the firm on a technical or intellectual level. Then, they make an emotional decision - from the heart -  when they choose one firm or lawyer over the other. They ask whether they like them, trust them and whether they would have their back. The vast majority of lawyer bios are not distinguishing and not informative enough. To truly have your website presence work hard for you, lLawyers need to create a ‘three-dimensional bio’ that demonstrates experience, proves relevance and shows humanity."

How do law firms use their websites to attract clients?

"We've seen a shift in the past year from buyers. They ask colleagues and friends for referrals and they Google those names. Previously, the buyer would  simply find the firm website, but today they're going to LinkedIn first and doing initial vetting there. They also use Twitter to see what they're saying and if it’s relevant to what they need. After that they visit the website to make sure the bio is selling on [the previously mentioned] three levels. If it is, then they will view other pages of interest – additional bios, practice, industry or news pages. If they don't see what they're looking for in the first bio they evaluate,, they're going to leave and eliminate that lawyer as a contender."

What web features and enhancements are the most important and offer the most value?

"Search features are the most important. 'Type A' busy business people have expectations and assume the law firm knows exactly what they want. The larger the firm website with the more robust content, the more search functionality they need to have. Another feature is video, which really drives more and longer visits – and the analytics prove it. Visitors stay on the site three times longer and view three times more pages after viewing a video. The good thing is, video production expectations aren't that high (YouTube cat videos have lowered our standards). You can do some 10-second, 20-second or 30-second videos that are inexpensive to produce. If the subject matter is current and relevant to your visitor, it will pay off."

What can firms do to set themselves apart from competitors?

"There needs to be a strategy that is unique to the firm — then you can start building features and functionalities that pay off your strategy. Our Global 50 law firm study found 21 of the world's 50 largest firms had no visible strategy. Identify the signature practices where you are arguably number one or two and go to market with those. Whatever design or development company you're hiring, make sure they can help you create and craft a story that will resonate with the people you want to hire your firm."

Of the Ten Foundational Best Practices outlined in the report, which would you say are the most important?

"Aside from lawyer biographies, search and strategy, I would say content because that's the reason people are coming to your site. As mentioned earlier – and it’s worth repeating - If they have a good experience on the lawyer bio page, they are going to link to another page and read an article, e-alert or news release. Another important foundational best practice is interactivity, engagement and social outreach. The law firm needs to think hard about how they can build engagement and relationship opportunities into their website."

A comprehensive strategy for your firm's website will give you an edge over your competitors who are less strategic. But you need to be prepared to do some serious overhaul if any area of your site is not following the Ten Foundational Best Practices. Depending on your needs, you can create multimedia content, ramp up your bios or add client success stories to engage your prospects in a new way. Ask current clients or potential buyers what draws them to a law firm website and what keeps them coming back, and remove anything that is old, dry or uninviting. Check in on your competitors and fill a niche they may have missed. By taking a critical eye to your current site and improving what you can, your website will work much harder for you.  Your overall web presence will improve and it will better function as a high-performing business development and relationship management tool.

To register for the free Content Pilot Report, visit www.contentpilot.com/subscribe. 

Webinar: Law Firm Marketing on the Internet: The Perfect Marriage of Law, Business Development and Technology - attend for less by using the promo code

Content Pilot's CEO, Deborah McMurray, will be presenting a webinar on Law Firm Marketing on the Internet: The Perfect Marriage of Law, Business Development and Technology. Clear Law Institute will host the webinar, which you can attend live on 05/08 at 03:00 PM ET or view a recording anytime after the event.

You can receive a 35% discount off of the registration fee by using the discount code DMcMurray105702. 

Course description: How does a firm get noticed and compete with the tens of millions of posts on social media today? Where is the best money invested for the greatest return? Where do your business development goals fit in — and how do they drive your strategy and result in opportunity? This session will answer these questions and many more. You’ll hear the results of Content Pilot’s recent study, “How do they Measure Up? Global 50 Law Firm Websites: Ten Foundational Best Practices,” receive practical advice about website strategy/design, hear tips on search engine optimization (SEO), and content best practices — all with the goal of winning your firm more profitable clients.

Upon course completion, you will be able to:

• Describe how B2B buyers of legal services evaluate law firms online and the two buying stages they go through.
• Discuss how to build your next website with business development in mind, and how to plan the right strategy and budget.
• Write website and social media content that will turn the heads of human readers and search engine bots.
• Identify what the world’s largest law firms are doing online.

Learn more and register: https://clearlawinstitute.com/shop/webinars/law-firm-marketing-on-the-internet-the-perfect-marriage-of-law-business-development-and-technology/

If you have any questions, please contact Clear Law Institute (link to clearlawinstitute.com/shop) at 703-372-0550 or [email protected].

Best Practices for Law Firm Websites - an Interview with Deborah McMurray by Aprio Advisors

I was recently interviewed for an article called, "Best Practices for Law Firm Websites." It was an honor to talk passionately about how law firms can build world-class websites with the Aprio Advisors interviewer. They have posted the article on a rich news portal called, "What's Next" - The insights today's business leaders need to tackle what's next.  I promise, it's worth reading.

Law firms that make a conscious effort to optimize their websites and improve their online presence can make themselves increasingly attractive to new clients. In a recent white paper, marketing strategy and technology firm Content Pilot laid out ten foundational best practices for law firm websites. Researchers studied AmLaw Global 50 top-ranking firms and identified trends, insights and global standards for how these organizations can enhance their web presence. Deborah McMurray, CEO and strategy architect at Content Pilot, spoke with Aprio about what firms should do to emulate these practices and set themselves apart from the crowd...

There is so much hype about what makes websites for professional services firms good.  Our advice is to focus on the basics first - we call them the Ten Foundational Best Practices. If you excel here, you are guaranteed that your visitors will enjoy their experience on your site - they'll come back and they will tell others. 

If you haven't registered to receive Content Pilot's comprehensive Report yet, you can do so at www.contentpilot.com/subscribe. 

Thanks so much to Aprio Advisors!

 

Website Best Practices - an Interview with 6 Web and Design Experts - by Nicholas Gaffney

This article first appeared in LAW PRACTICE TODAY on April 14, 2017. A moderated panel by Nicholas Gaffney.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Websites have come a long way since the original online brochure. Today’s websites not only offer information about a firm’s people and practices, they’re designed to engage clients and potential clients with compelling content and offer opportunities to connect through blogs and links to the firm’s social media channels. Some firms do it better than others with sites that boldly define the firm’s brand, and inspire visitors to take that decisive call to action. How can you be sure your site is one of those high performers? This month, our panel of experts discusses best practices for law firm website design.

Our Moderator

Nicholas Gaffney (NG) is a veteran public relations practitioner with Zumado Public Relations in San Francisco and is a member of the Law Practice Today Editorial Board.
 
 Our Panel

Rahul Alim (RA) is the founder and CEO of Custom Creatives, a digital marketing agency in Los Angeles, CA that specializes in attorney marketing and website design.

Darren Kall (DK) is the managing director of Specific Clarity, a user experience (UX) company helping companies of all sizes create the best product experiences for their customers, employees and all types of users. Before co-founding Specific Clarity, Darren worked at Microsoft, AT&T Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, LexisNexis and IBM. He was a US representative to the standards body of the UN’s agency for information and communication technologies.

Jeff Lantz (JL) is an attorney and the CEO of Esquire Interactive LLC, a leading provider of custom website development, branding, internet marketing, social media, and video services for attorneys and law firms. He is also the author of the ABA book Internet Branding for Lawyers: Creating The Client-Centered Website, and works with lawyers to develop and implement personalized branding and marketing strategies.

Deborah McMurray (DMM) is the founder and CEO of Content Pilot LLC, a strategy, design, content and technology company. A former law firm CMO, Deborah and her team help law firms from global powerhouses to local boutiques with the design and launch of websites and proposal centers, experience databases and other marketing technology tools. In 2008, she was among the first inductees into the Legal Marketing Association’s Hall of Fame, and in 2007, was elected as a Fellow in the College of Law Practice Management. In December 2013, she was on the inaugural list of National Law Journal’s “2013 Top 50 Legal Business Trailblazers & Pioneers.” Deborah's latest ABA book was just released: Lawyer's Guide to Marketing on the Internet, 4th Edition - available at https://shop.americanbar.org/eBus/Store/ProductDetails.aspx?productId=273628281&term=marketing+on+the+Internet 

Lynda Decker (LD) is president and creative director of Decker Design, a New York City-based design consultancy. Believing that there was a way to combine the wit of advertising and the discipline of design, she established Decker Design in 1996. The firm has grown steadily with clients such as Boise, Schiller Flexner; White & Case; Dechert; Citigroup, and International Paper.The firm has won recognition from Communication Arts, Webby, AIGA, Print Magazine, and numerous others. Last year she published the book Responsive Branding: Why Agility Beats Structure in a Multi-Channel World.

Ben M. Rose (BMR) is founder of The Law Offices of Ben M. Rose, PLLC, where he practices general litigation for small and medium sized businesses throughout the State of Tennessee. Prior to forming his own firm, Ben practiced for larger litigation firms in Nashville and Knoxville. He is also a former legislative staffer for the U.S. House of Representatives.

NG: Best practices in website design are constantly evolving. What new design practices do you suggest that law firms and their designers consider?

RA: Start with your target audience. Before you get started on a website project, you must define the purpose of your new website. Is it for credibility, gaining new customers online, educate your existing customers or potential new prospects, or build lots of leads. Knowing this upfront is very important to how you approach the flow of the design to attract the right type of person.

Create your plan. Next up is establishing your pages and navigation through the website. Keep it simple for users; remember they are not attorneys. Typically most attorneys will have pages such as home page, about us, our attorneys, results/testimonies, contact us, free case analysis, attorney blog, locations. As content becomes more important, internet-savvy attorneys are moving into podcasts and videos on a regular basis.

Communicate your message clearly and effectively. Keep language and information targeted towards your audience, which can vary by practice area and location. Use clear call to actions on your website, like free consultation. Add credibility with testimonies, awards, credentials, publications, etc. to impress your visitor. Your content is used to convert views to leads; tell your story well.

Evolve. Change with change. Just like the law changes, so does design and more importantly your audience. They are attracted to the best content, the best story, the fastest-loading website.

Growth. Market your website online. If you build they may come, but if you market it, you can get in front of your customer when they are searching for your service.

Often on the internet, you get just one chance to make an impression. Make it count and use your website as leverage to gain more clients.

DK: Many design practices would benefit any business website. Because of the nature of legal business, two design factors should get specific attention from law firms:

Responsive Web Design (RWD): While not new, RWD is table stakes for a law firm website. Your potential clients are checking out your site on a variety of devices with different screen sizes. If your site is not responding to their mobile device screen, it is putting speed bumps in the way of getting to your content. Users will move on to another practice’s site rather than deal with the friction of using yours.

Performance: The ability of a site to load quickly and respond to user actions, is gaining renewed focus in 2017. Since many legal sites have bloated image files, carousels, and other bandwidth gluttons the waiting time for sites to load exceeds user patience. People under normal circumstances make amazingly quick decisions about reputation, likeability, and their personal threshold for waiting. Under stress, these decisions are accelerated. They move on, never having seen your brand or your services.

JL: Large professional imagery of the firm and firm attorneys, especially on a website’s home page. Quality artistic images (not headshots), in my view, are immeasurable in enhancing the perceived quality of a law firm. Focused messages—again on the home page in particular—are also a must.

DMM: Content Pilot has conducted and sponsored six comprehensive studies of the websites of the largest law firms in the world based on an evolving set of 10 foundational best practices. The first five studies used the AmLaw 100 firms as the body of firms analyzed. The 2016 study focused on the AmLaw Global 50 firms. The websites were analyzed in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. Mobility is the greatest game-changer for design that we have seen since we started our research—and it is now a case of the mobile tail wagging the desktop dog.

Responsive design is an important design trend that rapidly became a best practice. With 25% or more of visitors viewing law firm websites on mobile devices, beautiful design on-the-go is essential. 20 of the Global 50 law firms in the 2016 study were not responsive, but 100% of all websites launched in 2016 and later are.

LD: Often when confronted with a redesign, law firms will make several common errors. These are:

• Technology is intimidating and often a law firm will choose a web (vendor) partner that leads with technology and subordinates the importance of communication or design principles. Communication becomes subjugated to the needs of the software. It’s one reason that so many law firm websites look alike. Fear of making a (expensive) mistake combined with the unfamiliarity of the latest technological protocols drives people to place a disproportionate focus on technology. Technology is important, but technology is a tool to serve the master, which is effective communication.
• A rush to the finish line. Often firms will put off addressing the website until they are desperate to get it done. And then they want to dismiss the work it takes and the time to uncover the firm’s unique value proposition. “Discovery” should be phase one of the proposal and it is by far the most critical. Most law firms are very similar but each one possess a difference that can be emphasized.
• Failure to really consider the benefits of design. It’s easy to understand and recognize good copy but design is another question. Many of us in the industry would say that the contribution of design to a web experience is often underestimated, if not marginalized. Design is not an exercise in superficial aesthetics or styling, but rather, a far more serious matter of problem-solving and experience-shaping, driven by a rigorous approach that includes observation and inquiry. It synthesizes human behavior and improves engagement, to say nothing of creating an opportunity to connect more meaningfully with an audience.

BMR: I think websites serve two purposes: to attract new client prospects and to qualify and funnel those client prospects into leads, which hopefully result in new clients. When designing a website, those purposes should come first. Beyond that, I think a website is a great opportunity to make yourself stand out among your peers. You should not be afraid to try something unique, or novel, to set you apart from the rest of the pack.

NG: Nobody wants to have a “leisure suit” website that looks hopelessly outdated. What design aspects used in the past for law firm websites should be avoided?

RA: Today you must have a mobile-friendly website. Don’t kid yourself that no one searches for your type of service on phones. They do, and go elsewhere if you are not mobile-friendly and easy to navigate.

Avoid old photos and stock photos. Realtors do this all the time, but avoid it. It diminishes your credibility.

Remove any flash objects that appear on your website. Flash no longer works on most browsers and mobile devices. It creates a blank space on the website that is unattractive, like an abandoned building.

Get other people’s opinions of your website, such as peers or design agencies.

JL: Trying to cram too much information “above the fold” (or even on a page).  Resist the urge to add more text even where there is space to do so—your audience will thank you.

DK: User perception of law firm websites isn’t just about noticing if the style is outdated. Users also notice when the style is “ill-fitted.” Users recognize the subtle clues when a site is simply content pushed into a template designed for another purpose. And the firm’s brand loses credibility. Good design adds instant credibility to a law firm website. Don’t just buy or use a website template and fill it out. Instead, have intention and design for your specific purpose, and your specific brand. Investing in design shows that the law firm cares, and that level of investment translates into clients believing that you will show the same level of attention to their problems and concerns. Good user experience design speaks loudly.

Law firms are at a deficit compared to other businesses because of the cultural impression of lawyers. Like it or not, these stereotypes are something law firms must invest in to overcome just to reach parity. Don’t let your website act like most people expect lawyers to act:

• Don’t launch an audio or video track when someone lands on a page. Let users choose to have you talk at them.
• Get rid of the banners, flashing objects, and other cluttered distractions. Show that you’re focused, calm, and listening instead.
• Dump your stock photos and clip-art legal graphics. Images of scales and photos of beautiful people having happy meetings are not going to help your brand because they’re not authentic, and not representative of your value. More than other professions, law firms need to control their impression management with better images. That goes for the stiff, “high-school yearbook” posed photos of partners and staff too. You should hire professional photographers to create the best images of your staff possible.

DMM: The biggest thing that says “leisure suit” is the width of the website. Websites at 1024×768 were the best practice in 2005 and 2006 (replacing 800×600), but we still see them for law firms large and small. Today, we must assume that visitors are viewing the website across multiple devices of all different sizes—a desktop monitor of 30+ inches to an Apple Watch. This is another argument for responsive design, which ensures that the design scales to fit the device on which it is viewed.

Dense content home pages and heavy interior pages have a “template” look that screams “yesterday”—as well as stock images of conference tables, people shaking hands, gavels, columns, and courthouses. A lot of unfortunate imagery is on law firm websites. Choose iconic and arresting images that help you tell your story.

(One more thing that makes your visitors shudder: Lawyer photos that are 10 or more years old. Own those 10 extra pounds and that receding hairline!)

LD: Law firm sites tend to be formulaic. Remember this is a profession where success based on precedent. It is very conservative. There are very few outliers.

First and foremost a website must be responsive. Mobile is critical and there are still firms who have sites that do not function well across all devices. Boies Schiller Flexner until recently had a website with a navigation that worked like pages in a book. It was an interesting approach when websites were in their nascent phase, but was unusable in today’s smartphone environment. Creating websites that would function like a piece of print represented a moment—a moment that should not be repeated. Digital communication should be harnessed for its full power providing links to related content, video and thought leadership.

I’ve been seeing a trend among smaller, boutique firms. They often tend to use photos of their offices—empty offices. What does that mean in terms of brand message? What does that say in terms of positioning? It’s too much of an emphasis on interior design and not on the impact a firm may have on their clients.

BMR: Excessive borders, background gradients, and beveled buttons are all examples of dated design trends. A really easy way to date a site is to over-design it. So, keeping things simple and clean is a great way to avoid that. When my website for the new firm was initially designed, it was the standard, cookie-cutter frames site that every other law firm uses. I wanted something different. I think we accomplished that goal, especially on a rather modest budget.

NG: A variety of content management system (CMS) are available that allow law firms to easily manage their website without knowing how to code. What CMS platform would you recommend, and why?

RA: WordPress hands down. It is the #1 website platform on the planet and has the most flexibility to customize designs, great for optimizing for search engines (like Google), and has a huge developer community. It is very easy to use for non-techy users for basic updates. It does not require special software to make edits, and it is easier to scale up when needed rather than starting over.

The only caution is that since it is so popular, and like anything in the world, there are good designs/developers and there are bad ones. Choosing the wrong person can hurt you.

JL: This one is easy for me: WordPress. It’s free, secure, easy to use by those with no coding knowledge, and has over 40,000 plugins (apps) which have been downloaded more than 1.5 billion times. WordPress now powers about 25% of all new websites in the world (about 10 times the number of the second-most popular CMS platform). Hundreds of thousands of developers are using WordPress, and almost all hosting companies host WordPress sites, so firms will never have to worry that they can’t find a developer or hosting company for their needs.

DMM: In my latest book, which is on ABA and other bookstore shelves, “Lawyer’s Guide to Marketing on the Internet, 4th Edition,” we identify several proprietary platforms that have been built and customized exclusively for law firms. Content Pilot (my company) has such a CMS platform. More and more, WordPress is a popular platform because it has literally thousands of people around the world developing plug-ins and widgets for it. Some security risk comes with this of which to be aware—there are nefarious people who are seeking access to your confidential data and systems. Another large and quite popular CMS is Sitecore.

LD: We like RubyLaw, a custom CMS created by Rubenstein Technology. For small firms, a simple CMS like WordPress is great. WordPress has to be maintained, however; if it is not updated on a regular basis it has security issues. And small firms often do not want to pay for maintenance.

BMR: WordPress and Drupal are the most used content management systems in the world right now, for good reasons. They are open source, extendable, and come with great tools for SEO. There is also a large community of developers that are familiar and can work with them. For a law firm like ours, this also means that we can avoid issues with proprietary code and have a lot of flexibility when selecting our marketing or web development partners.

NG: There has been a lot of hype recently about the new Google AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) Project and its standards for mobile websites, which allow mobile website pages to load hyper-fast, and which potentially may provide higher rankings in the mobile search results for websites using AMP. The downside is that some functionality, such as contact forms and slideshows, won’t work with AMP coding. What are your thoughts on Google AMP—should law firms embrace this technology and convert their mobile sites to AMP, or avoid AMP?

DK: Normally you’ll hear me saying that given a list of user experience improvements I would choose fast performance over most any other user experience improvement. Since AMP is stripped down, it stomps at performance. But functionality, adoption and support are still evolving, which means that using AMP means consciously trading out some functionality and user experiences. For clients with a clear matching need I would suggest experimenting with AMP and measuring the impact on your KPIs. Since it is not the ambition of most law firms to be iterating designs on the cutting edge, I recommend waiting until AMP matures, then decide.

JL: I’m not currently recommending AMP for law firms, as I think that the functionality that often must be given up is not worth the slight increase in speed for mobile websites. This is particularly the case for firms for which high search engine rankings are not critical.

BMR: AMP’s objective is to put the needs of the website visitor first, which is a good thing in my view. But, even if we look at AMP as a potential fad—something that might fade over time—we are still faced with the reality that Google favors websites that utilize the technology and will continue to do so, perhaps even more in the future. So, I think anyone who is invested in digital marketing should certainly consider investing in AMP.

NG: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a critical part of solid website development. In light of Google’s ever-changing rankings algorithms, what should developers and website owners be the most focused on today with respect to the development of their website?

RA: Focus on users first, Google and other search engines second. After all, you are targeting humans. I know you want to rank and be seen on search engines too, which is why your copy should be relevant to your business and practice area. Website design and SEO go hand in hand, they are also itemized tasks, sort of like different practice areas that overlap but are not conducted by the same person. If they are done by the same person something is wrong—rarely can you find a jack of all trades, typically that means a master of none.

Developers should follow the basics of SEO such as relevant meta tags, xml sitemap, setting robots.txt, schema mark up, setting Google analytics, Google tag manager, and Google search console. I would recommend leaving the heavy lifting of SEO to a digital marketing agency that has results to back it up.

For website owners, I recommend educating yourself on just the basics. Do research so you know a bit about what you want and how to hire someone. Understand your goals and review them with your agency; any good firm will tell it to you straight.

JL: High rankings in large part depend upon having quality content that is frequently updated and using SEO best practices to help Google understand how to best index the content. Attorneys should start blogging if they are not already doing so. Blogging will help convey expertise, improve website rankings, and create an opening for a conversation with potential clients.

DMM: Focus on designing a perfect experience for your human visitors and chances are, you will also be making the search engine robots “happy.” In addition, focus on the basics. “Site Optimization and Online Search” is the eighth foundational best practice in the research study we just completed. Here is a list of the “foundational” things every website should have. The score at the end of each attribute is how the Global 50 law firm websites scored on that attribute—on a scale of 1 to 100.

• High quality back-links and link relevancy are present throughout the site / 100
• Site features strong, properly structured HTML content on the home page and interior pages / 65
• HTML site-maps are present and include all pages organized in a clear hierarchy / 65
• Smart URLs with appropriate syntax are used in all sections / 76
• Page titles, meta-descriptions and natural keyword usage are used throughout the site / 68
• Images have alt tags that provide alternative text when images cannot be displayed / 56
• Tabbed bio and practice/industry pages all have the same page URL / 72
• Correct schema mark-up is present throughout the site / 12
• Site provides fast page load (less than 4 seconds) / 81

BMR: The best thing you can do to future proof your site is to ensure that you are providing the best content you possibly can. Google’s updates are focused on improving its ability to help the consumer find what they are looking for. This means faster websites and more relevant content. The better your content speaks to the questions and needs your prospects have, the better you will rank.

NG: Are there any SEO aspects that worked well in the past, but not today?

JL: A lot of the past link-building practices (link farms, paid links, etc.) will now harm rankings, and should be avoided. Spamming key words in pages doesn’t work either; no one would ever start a paragraph with, “the Chicago personal injury lawyers of XYZ practice personal injury law in Chicago and help personal injury victims recover compensation for personal injuries.”  

BMR: I have learned that there are a lot of SEO practices that have changed with time. One big change has been the use of meta keywords and “keyword stuffing,” which has been degraded to the point that it has no value anymore.

NG: What advice would you give a law firm in terms of how to best convey their brand on their website in a way that will resonate with potential clients?

DK: User experience professionals should not be representing themselves in legal matters or writing their own contracts. Lawyers should not be creating their brands or designing their own websites. It is not what they are good at.

Lawyers are experts at what they do and should express who they are to people who are experts at creating brand representations. Let user experience experts transform the law firm’s identity into a brand that will convey that expertise to the target audience of clients. Together they can optimize representation of the brand.

To succeed with a brand realization, know your business goals clearly, and know your audience deeply. No one-size-fits-all solution to convey brand, just like there is no one-size-fits-all brand for law firms. Law firms vary by practice area, in their desire to appeal to a precise audience with specific needs and means, e.g. “I’m the perfect legal partner.” “I’m the one to call when you’re in trouble.” “I can help you avoid predictable dangers.”

JL: Focus on your clients and their needs. Make a list of their key needs and objectives, and create messages targeted to those needs and objectives. Address the matters that your clients want to see.

LD: By now, everyone knows the most traffic on a law firm site is in the biography area. It’s critical to have great photography here, and a consistent format with clear, concise writing. The home page is the best place to differentiate the firm from the competition. Each firm is different and there is no formula other than a thorough Discovery process to unearth the key differentiators.

DMM: Be true to who you are. Be authentic. And don’t be afraid to make bold choices and be different. If you look the same as every firm in your city, state or region, you will never be hired as often as you could be. A firm down the street with a more compelling message will be chosen over you.

It starts with a unique and differentiating positioning strategy. That comes first. Your brand design should infuse your firm with personality—it should humanize you. Ultimately, the questions you should first ask are: Who are your clients? What keeps them awake at night? Why are they hiring you? Where are their industries going? What markets are they expanding to? What are their greatest fears and risks? What makes them happy?

Answer these questions and then be the exactly right fit and solution to what they need. Your brand and design will organically evolve from that.

BMR: Craft an experience and a message that matters to them. Make sure that your design and marketing team understand that audience very well. User personas of your target audience can help a lot.

NG: Is having more content on a website home page better, or is having less content better? How does a law firm determine what kind of information to put on their home page?

DK: The information architecture of a home page is goal-specific. It is not a question of more or less being better. The question is: “Does the amount of content match your user’s goals?” The content, its amount, the arrangement, and flow of content elements depend on the nature of your law firm’s business, market conditions, and the priority of your goals. The content decision must match the task of the target client’s purpose at the time they visit your home page. For example, when the potential client comes to your site, are they a first-time user or repeat client? Are they directed there because of a personal contact or did they land there through a search? Are they at the research or decision phase of their task flow? Is the user looking for a generalist or a specialist? Know your user, then design your home page content.

JL: Having a text-heavy home page is no longer a prerequisite for high rankings. Again, focusing on imagery and key messages are the most critical. Your home page should not be a dissertation on the 47 reasons that your firm is better than competitors.

DMM: There is a battle between beautiful design and a search engine optimized home page. Designers today are generally promoting “less-is-more”—at least above the fold—and SEO proponents want to ensure that 500 or so words are on the home page within view. Firms must decide what’s most important to them—a minimalist, clean design that is inviting to buyers of legal services, or a home page that is chock-full of content for the search engines to find.

Another trend today is to design a “magazine-style” website that features arresting “hero” images, and a headline and several content segments that come to light when a visitor scrolls down. It is a way of ensuring that important content is on the home page, even if it appears below the fold.

LD: It depends. Some firms use their home page as a portal—this seems to say that a firm just can’t be bothered with positioning.

The home page is an ideal place to position a law firm. Boise Schiller Flexner and Quinn Emmanuel both effectively use their home page to establish their brands. Neither use a lot of copy but you immediately get a sense of why they are different form other firms.

This question speaks to the communication objectives of the website. Is the firm known for thought leadership? Does it publish a great deal? What makes the firm different? Once the key differentiators are discovered, then positioning and a brand and marketing strategy can flow from that. A communication strategy would be created to support the brand and marketing strategy. It’s important to understand that there is no one answer, unless you want to commoditize your offering and blend in with your competition.

BMR: More content means more relevancy, but on the home page that can lead to confusion or over informing the prospect. The content on the home page should go back to the questions of what the prospect wants, needs, and is looking for when they visit the site. Typically, with a law firm, your goals are to quickly qualify your practice, demonstrate your unique value, and point the audience to internal pages containing expanded information on your specialties to further qualify you.

NG: Assuming that a website is well-optimized, what is the one critical thing that website owners should be doing to increase their organic rankings?

RA: Write good copy and distribute it online. Make it better than your competitors. Try different things like video and audio.

JL: Blog frequently on your firm’s website (not somewhere else). Postings that address frequently asked questions (FAQs) are a great way to start.

DMM: See the list above in question #5, then focus on creating relevant content that is current, focused and keyword-rich in the most important areas to your visitors and firm. Analytics that we track prove that 40-70% of visitors view lawyer bios. Yet, it is like pulling teeth to get lawyers to update their bios with their latest experience. It’s a best practice for lawyers to update bios quarterly—if the search engines see current and relevant content on the bio pages, overall the website will perform better.

BMR: Create a stream of content via a blog or news feed. Every new piece of content is a new web page and a new opportunity to be relevant for more search engine queries.

 

 

 

Expert Insights: Modernizing the Legal Pitch Process - an eBook by HighQ

HighQ recently published an eBook, "Expert Insights: Modernising the Legal Pitch Process," for which I wrote a segment. My excerpt is below.

Buyers of legal services purchase on two levels – when they are formulating their short list, they are making a technical and intellectual evaluation – jurisdiction, particular expertise, experience, fee arrangements – things they can check off a list. But, when they are making their BUYING decision – to hire the one firm or lawyer – they are making an emotional decision – do I trust you, do I like you? How would I feel if I got stuck on the tarmac with you for 5 hours? (Would it be a pain or a party?)

To get hired, lawyers have to first prove that they can address the issues that most concern the clients intellectually. Then lawyers have to demonstrate likeability. They have to sell twice. And too many firms are failing the short list test, which means they will never get hired. Not understanding how buyers buy ensures that law firms are wasting their prospects’ valuable time.

This is where enterprise experience management and the right technology comes in. Here is a typical scenario:

A plum prospect asks a lawyer if his firm has expertise and depth in ABC subject matter in Ireland. The lawyer doesn’t know, so sends a firmwide email asking, “Does anyone know who does ABC law in Ireland?” Lawyers respond with a few matters that may or may not be relevant to what the prospect really needs. A pitch is hastily prepared for the prospect and it includes all the matters of the various lawyers who responded to the email, with little vetting for relevancy and currency.

Chances are, this firm won’t get hired. Clients are sick-and-tired of law firms and lawyers that waste their time pretending that they are qualified. A fully searchable enterprise experience database that houses a law firm’s matters is the only way to ensure that you are putting your firm’s best foot forward. Lawyers can not only search by Ireland and ABC law, but read the nuances of the matter (timing, cost), know the industries, the responsible lawyers, opposing counsel, other parties, currencies, etc. – unearthing details that might be highly valuable to this prospect.
Quick access to relevant experience is where the future cash lives in your law firm. The pitch process must start here – then using robust proposal technology to swiftly create a beautiful and tailored proposal is next step in designing a winning strategy.

You can download the whole eBook here.

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

 

Strategic Experience Databases in Law Firm Mergers - that's my 2017 prediction

I am always proud to be included in Dave Billinsky's legal industry predictions for the New Year.  His Thoughtful Law Blog is read by anyone who wants to improve the way they manage and run law firms and legal practices. Here is my submission as we look ahead to 2017 - with links to Dave's blog so you can read others' points of view in Parts 1, 2 and 3.

In 2017, I predict that experience databases will finally get the due they deserve as a vital cultural and integration tool in law firm mergers.

As mergers and combinations of all sizes continue to fuel law firm growth, effectively capturing what’s in the brains of your top lawyers becomes even more mission-critical. For these combinations to be successful and profitable as early as possible, what lawyers have done and for whom must easily be discovered and extracted – and then put to great use: building trust, demonstrating relevant expertise and selling new work. 

The most committed and aggressive firms have a mandate around experience collection and organization that starts with their firm chairs and executive committees. We have learned that top-down engagements have greater success than bottom-up.

100 percent of law firms want to manage this better. The firms that do it well give access to the lawyers – with a link to the experience database on their intranets, access to reporting features, even the ability to enter in details about a new matter. And lawyers who are serious about wanting to win more are accountable to keep their matter records current. Relevant, at-your-fingertips experience is critical to winning more practice-defining, or I should say, career-defining work.

In the very best systems (judged by the amount, quality, and relevance of data), lawyers are involved in the data-capture process in one way or another. To win more, this cannot be a marketing department “initiative” – it must have full support of and engagement by lawyers in the firm. And it must have active support from the firm’s C-suite or it won’t get done.

Trust doesn’t automatically transfer from one firm to another as soon as merger documents are inked. It gets a proven boost, however, when lawyers can instantly investigate the experience of their new colleagues, 24/7 and regardless of time zone.  This is a sure-fire way for key lawyers around the globe to trust the strength and qualifications of each new lateral, and for each one to feel embedded and valued in your firm.

http://thoughtfullaw.com/2016/12/07/2017-predictions-part-1/

http://thoughtfullaw.com/2016/12/12/2017-predictions-part-2/

http://thoughtfullaw.com/2016/12/27/2017-predictions-part-3/

Deborah McMurray is founder and CEO of Content Pilot LLC, a strategy, design, content and technology company. Clients include the largest law firms in the world, as well as national, regional and powerful local firms.  A former law firm CMO, Deborah and her team specialize in award-winning design of websites, proposal centers and experience databases, and important strategic initiatives, such as content strategy design and positioning/branding campaigns. In 2008, she was inducted into the Legal Marketing Association’s Hall of Fame and in 2007, was elected as a Fellow in the College of Law Practice Management. In December 2013, she was named as one of National Law Journal’s “2013 Top 50 Legal Business Trailblazers & Pioneers.”

The American Bar Association Law Practice Management section is publishing her 4^th book where she is co-author: Lawyer’s Guide to Marketing on the Internet, 4^th ed. – due out early 2017.  Read her Law Firm 4.0 Blog and follow her on Twitter at @ContentPilot.