Each year, a law firm’s online presence becomes more important, and having a solid online presence will continue to give added value to attorneys each year. If your firm does not have a good legal website design and legal practice marketing solutions, that needs to be your 2012 New Year’s resolution.

Here are 5 things you must do in 2012:

1. Design a website that focuses on user experience.

While Google’s exact algorithm is unknown and not published to the public, it is obvious what their goal is:  To give search engine users the best experience possible and help them find what they are looking for.  Creating a site with lots of relevant content (and coding it correctly for Google to index) is key to achieving rankings and driving traffic.

2. Set up a Google Places page and ask clients to write reviews.

Places pages help you get ranked for different keywords in your area. Make sure your page has images and describes accurately what you do, with ALL of your contact details. This can be the easiest and cheapest way to achieve a top-5 ranking, depending on your area, and can be done for about $300 by any attorney internet marketing company. Getting reviews and having images will create a good user experience and Google will reward your page for it. Send clients a newsletter that asks them to review you on the Places page.

3. Address Social Media – it’s not going away.

While Facebook and Twitter may not be your favorite sites to visit, they are for millions of people and potential clients. You must manage your reputation and create a brand on these pages. If nothing else, it reminds current clients that you are there if they need your help or one of their family/friends can use your services.

4. Start using video to market.

Video is a great tool and can be used a number of different ways: introductory videos, educational videos, news videos, etc. The latter two – especially educational videos – can be optimized and help you show up in search results. For example, if you are a criminal defense attorney and make a video on what to do when you get a DUI, Google will very likely put your video on the first page when searches related to that are made.  Set up a YouTube channel that links to your site so people can contact you.

5.  Consider Pay-Per-Click paid advertising.

Setting up a simple campaign and running it can be very affordable, and it allows you to compete with larger firms. Google is constantly doing promotions to give you up to $200 worth of clicks for free when you sign up. Depending on what you do, that can bring in over 100 visitors to your site, which generally means about 2-3 leads if you have a good, well-converting legal website design. Usually, the setup from a reputable company will be about $500-$1,000 and you can turn the campaign on or off depending on how busy you are.

For more information on these services and more law firm marketing solutions, Contact Us.