by Maya on March 30, 2010
You’ve all heard that on the Internet, content is king. For most people, text is the first thing that comes to mind when they think of content. But it also includes images — specifically, the kind of images that are more than just decorative elements.
Thoughtfully chosen images can communicate at a glance the content of a particular page and work in tandem with the text. High quality images can enhance the overall level of professionalism apparent on your site. They provide visual interest that draws visitors in, as well as resting places for the eye. They can even invoke emotions that prompt the visitor to action (such as making contact with your law firm).
On the other hand, poorly chosen images are space wasters that clutter the screen without adding any value to your visitors. They can confuse or irritate by being unrelated to the content of the page. They can bore them by being too obvious, lazy or generic. They can be hard to see because they’re too small, the contrast is too low, or the image is too complicated. And of course, they can just plain be ugly or unappealing.
So, what works? What should you (or your designer) look for and what should you avoid when selecting stock photos for your law firm website?
Well, if there’s one piece of advice that we can give you, it’s to avoid law firm cliches as much as possible — images of gavels, scales of justice, law books, the Constitution or the Bill of Rights, courtrooms, the Statue of Liberty, eagles, etc. Unfortunately, these are exactly the kinds of images that show up when you search for “lawyer” or “attorney” on all of the stock photo sites (often the starting point for naive web designers looking for pictures for a law firm website).
By avoiding cliched images, you will be on the right path to selecting compelling images that actually support the text on your website. Look for high quality photos that are sharp, are reasonably high contrast, and where the subject matter is distinct and easy to understand.
by Ken on February 1, 2010
If your law practice is commercial litigation or management side employment law or some other type of law where your ideal client is another business, then you already know that your best referral source is other attorneys.
This is because most people would rather get a personal referral to an attorney from a friend, relative or colleague, rather than search blindly for representation online. When the person who needs an attorney is a business owner, chances are that he or she is already connected in some way to the legal community and has someone to ask for a personal referral.
Consequently, networking with opinion leaders and other lawyers in your community will always be critically important for the B2B law practitioner.
However, there are affordable online marketing opportunities that can be effective in getting your message in front of prospective clients.
LinkedIn
The business networking site, LinkedIn recently started allowing people to advertise to other LinkedIn members on a pay-per-click model. Like Google advertising, you write ads that you would like to be displayed on LinkedIn pages and you pay LinkedIn a small amount of money when someone clicks on one of your ads.
Your ads are linked to specific pages on your website that can be, and should be, custom tailored to the type of person you are targeting on LinkedIn.
Unlike Google advertising, your ads are not associated to search phrases, triggered when someone types something into a search box. Instead, you place your ads according to certain criteria about the person you want to reach, for example, geographic, industry type and job title. Click here to read more about LinkedIn advertising.
Managed Placements in Google
Google’s “Content Network” refers to the thousands of websites Worldwide that Google partners with to deliver ads that pertain to the content of the websites’ pages. For example, if you scroll to the bottom of the homepage of the New York Times, you will see a gray box with the words “Ads by Google.” Google places the ads there with the permission of the website owner and shares the click revenue with the website owner.
Normally, Google decides where an advertiser’s ads will display based on the content of the pages across the Content Network, but a variation of the Content Network, known as “Managed Placements” allows you to pick the sites where your ads are displayed.
This can be very useful for the B2B law practitioner who wants to reach a specific demographic. Placing ads on websites like the NY Times or financial or business news websites frequented by business owners is a chance to raise awareness in the local business community about your firm’s services.
Microsoft AdCenter Content Advertising
Microsoft AdCenter offers a product similar to Google’s Content Network known as “Content Advertising” which can get your ads inexpensively on business news websites like the Wall Street Journal and financial news websites like Barron’s.