Law Firm Newswire, Author at Ontario Lawyers Directory

Bigger Law Firm Magazine Uncovers Google’s RankBrain, the Benefits of Re-Publishing, and How to Teach Sales to Attorneys

Posted on December 31, 2015January 9, 2021 by Law Firm Newswire

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San Francisco, CA (Law Firm Newswire) December 30, 2015 - The new issue of Bigger Law Firm magazine features an article about Google's “RankBrain,” a part of the company's search algorithm that is a form of machine learning, or artificial intelligence. Ryan Conley explains how it works and its implications for the future of web design, content creation, and smart search.

Machine learning means empowering computers to alter their own programming, Conley says, and RankBrain is doing just that. Although human engineers manually approve all changes before activating them, the process promises to deliver faster and perhaps better tweaks to Google's search algorithms than human effort alone.

Roxanne Minott explains the SEO benefits of re-publishing. This practice includes techniques such as publishing multiple articles on a given topic, updating existing content, and redirecting from older content to new articles. Minott details why Google rewards re-publishing and gives attorneys specific recommendations on how to implement this SEO strategy on their own sites.

Like it or not, attorneys must implement basic sales strategies into their law practice in order to compete, says Brendan Conley. Even larger firms with dedicated marketing departments should teach their attorneys to understand principles of sales. Conley illustrates how to overcome potential resistance among attorneys to the prospect of learning sales techniques. He also details the pros and cons of various approaches to teaching, including law firm consultants, marketing trainers, in-house marketing directors, and using a firm's own rainmakers.

Kerrie Spencer reports on how data generated by wearable devices, such as Fitbit activity trackers, are finding their way into the courtroom. Following trends of older technologies that saw rapid adoption, wearable devices are increasingly being utilized by technology-savvy attorneys to help make their case. Spencer cites examples including criminal and personal injury cases to show how activity data can work for or against attorneys and their clients.

Thomas Johnson provides five useful tips on how to develop a successful and creative logo for a law firm. Attorneys will learn how to avoid technological pitfalls, principles of design, and how to capture your firm's culture. For instance, Johnson explains why to avoid design templates, and why a vector-based logo will serve better than a pixel-based logo.

Wrapping up the latest issue of BLF, Kristen Friend offers a how-to on writing great design briefs. A design brief explains, from the client's perspective, what is expected of a design team for a project, such as the design and launch of a new website. Friend outlines a number of questions that the brief should answer, including a firm's practice areas, its goals for the design project, and its audience.

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Are Bing Ads a Viable Addition to Your Law Firm Marketing Strategy? Bigger Law Firm Magazine Reports

Posted on December 16, 2015January 9, 2021 by Law Firm Newswire

BLF Magazines Explores Bing Ads for Lawyers in Latest Issue

San Francisco, CA (Law Firm Newswire) December 16, 2015 - The most recent edition of Bigger Law Firm magazine discusses the ways in which Bing Ads can enhance the marketing strategy for one’s law firm. In this issue, Kristen Friend describes how pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, such as Google, Bing and Yahoo, can serve as an effective method of search marketing.

Although Google AdWords has dominated the market for a long time, Bing and Yahoo are gaining in popularity. Bing Ads permit users to import AdWords campaigns, and continues to facilitate the process. Friend writes that in May, Bing started adding support for Upgraded URLs, and during the summer, Bing finished integration of Upgraded URLs in Bing Ads. Therefore, advertisers can currently use existing AdWords tracking templates and URLs to generate Bing paid campaigns.

One can import a maximum of 1.5 million keywords and ads from AdWords into Bing Ads, and import an entire account or a separate campaign. And Bing provides many features that are not offered by AdWords. Bing Ads Intelligence is an extension of Excel that helps with research of keywords, and provides keyword suggestions. In addition, it permits one to track the performance of keywords and view bid suggestions on the basis of current keyword data.

Friend says that using Ads Intelligence, Bing Ads perform well in the area of competitor research. The Auction Insights tab allows one to view the performance of one’s ads compared to that of firms placing bids on the same keywords. The capacity to view the areas in which one is thriving and not performing as well in certain auctions can provide one with a vision as to how to improve future campaigns.

Friend further explains that Bing Ads provide control at a group level that AdWords only permits at the campaign level. For instance, in AdWords, one can establish a location and schedule for a campaign. Bing, however, allows one to modify the schedule for one or more groups within a campaign, thereby removing the need to generate a new campaign. Moreover, Bing’s ad scheduling is more advanced in that while AdWords bases display timing on the time zone of the purchaser of the ad, Bing permits scheduling based on the time zone of the viewer of the ad.

Friend’s article can help attorneys learn more about the many valuable features offered by Bing to assist them in their marketing efforts.

Download the latest issue of Bigger Law Firm Magazine "The Switch: How do Mac and Linux Stack up for Attorneys"

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Legal Marketing Magazine, Bigger Law Firm, Shares Creative Content Ideas

Posted on December 11, 2015January 9, 2021 by Law Firm Newswire

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San Francisco, CA (Law Firm Newswire) December 11, 2015 - An article in the latest issue of Bigger Law Firm, the law firm marketing magazine for attorneys, addresses the need for law firms to produce creative online content.

In “Creative Content Ideas that Deliver,” Brendan Conley tackles an issue that faces every law firm's marketing team: to draw prospective clients to the firm's website, and maintain a good position in search engine results pages, the firm must produce online content that is useful and engaging. Online marketing for law firms is fiercely competitive, so simply producing bland, unoriginal content will not be effective.

Conley's article provides solutions. The first step, he writes, is to develop a good content strategy. The firm's marketing team may be in the habit of producing certain types of content, because it once seemed like a good idea. However, producing content just for the sake of having it is not good enough. According to Conley, law firms need to reassess their old online marketing plans and develop an effective content strategy. That means studying the target audience, developing content that is useful and relevant to that audience, and determining the measurable business goal the content is intended to support.

The article addresses the difference between the major types of online content, including subpages on the firm's website dedicated to specific subjects, blog posts, social media content, press releases, answers to Frequently Asked Questions, multimedia content and other types. Each type of content has its own requirements, and Conley shares tips on how to make each content type effective. Social media content and blog posts can take a much different tone than FAQs and subpages.

With every other law firm's marketing team also producing online content, how can one stand out? It is no secret that the best content will rise to the top, but how can a firm accomplish this? Conley shares several insider tips, such as the skyscraper technique, that can help a firm distinguish itself online.

Read the latest issue of Bigger Law Firm magazine to learn how to master creative content.

Download the latest issue of Bigger Law Firm Magazine "The Switch: How do Mac and Linux Stack up for Attorneys"

To learn more about how to build a Bigger Law Firm, visit https://www.biggerlawfirm.com

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Law Firm Marketing Companies SEO | Law Firm and Custom Legal Marketing Merge to Create CLM Grow

Posted on December 8, 2015January 9, 2021 by Law Firm Newswire

Jason Bland of Custom Legal Marketing talks about the CLM Lounge features that will be included in CLM Grow Reports.

San Francisco, CA (Law Firm Newswire) December 8, 2015 – Adviatech, the parent company of law firm marketing brands SEO | Law Firm and Custom Legal Marketing (CLM), has merged their two core brands together to create CLM Grow.

When Adviatech launched SEO | Law Firm in 2007, it quickly became the flagship brand of the online marketing company. In 2013, the company created Custom Legal Marketing as a spinoff of SEO | Law Firm's Large Firm Marketing service. As the attorney website design and law firm marketing processes have evolved, the lines have blurred between the two services.

SEO | Law Firm caters to solo practitioners and law firms with one to three attorneys. Custom Legal Marketing generally works with established firms with five or more attorneys in highly competitive markets. The two brands have a few differences. SEO | Law Firm websites are predominately based on exclusive frameworks developed by the company's award-winning design team called CLM Grow Sites and their search engine marketing strategies are generally more affordable as their clientele works in less competitive markets. Custom Legal Marketing websites are completely built from the ground up, are powered by the CLM Essentials management system and come with custom photographers and focus groups. Marketing plans are very aggressive to help their clients excel in competitive markets, and their clients get access to an extensive reporting system called the CLM Lounge.

SEO | Law Firm is now CLM Grow

“While it originally made sense to have these two separate brands, we now feel that we can better accommodate law firms of all sizes by consolidating the services under Custom Legal Marketing. We already have a lot of cross selling between the two brands, and many SEO | Law Firm accounts grow into Custom Legal Marketing plans. Merging SEO | Law Firm and Custom Legal Marketing is going to offer big benefits to existing and future clients,” said Jason Bland. Bland is one of the co-founders of Adviatech and created the Custom Legal Marketing concept.

Attorneys and law firms that may not need the full custom websites and highly aggressive marketing strategies used by Custom Legal Marketing's customer base can now look to CLM Grow. CLM Grow and the framework-based CLM Grow Sites provide affordable solutions that fit the needs and budget of most solo-practitioners and small practices. Many SEO | Law Firm clients that are now serviced under CLM Grow will be getting access to CLM Grow Reports, a limited version of the CLM Lounge reporting center which provides basic search engine ranking and social statistics.

“By combining SEO | Law Firm and Custom Legal Marketing, we are now able to offer more flexibility to younger and established firms. We can now pair affordable framework-based websites with high-end aggressive marketing strategies, or large custom websites with less aggressive scalable marketing plans. We can now truly serve every law firm,” said Bland.

Custom Legal Marketing
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1111 Kearny St.
San Francisco, CA 94133
Phone: 1.415.449.1985
Toll Free: 1.800.789.6451

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Law Firm Marketing Magazine, BLF, Talks About Switching to Mac and Getting Client Reviews

Posted on November 9, 2015January 9, 2021 by Law Firm Newswire

San Francisco, CA (Law Firm Newswire) November 9, 2015 - The latest issue of Bigger Law Firm magazine features an article about attorneys making the switch from Windows to Mac and Linux. Ryan Conley explains that Mac and Linux offer alternative operating systems that are viable for attorneys. He shares the many solutions that allow Windows software to run on Mac OS or Linux, and gives examples of cloud software that can be operated on any web browser.

Conley further describes the distinct advantages that Mac and Linux have over Windows. Each provides ease of use, security and privacy. Moreover, another advantage of Linux is that one can install and run the system from a USB flash drive, thereby eliminating the need to purchase another computer.

In her article, Dipal Parmar discusses the ways in which lawyers can use video advertising to promote their practice and differentiate themselves from their competitors. Parmar further explains the importance of ensuring that one creates quality video ads, which should be engaging and appealing so as to capture viewers’ attention.

Brendan Conley highlights the importance of developing an effective strategy for online marketing, including press releases, blog posts, webpages, FAQs, social media content and videos. He also states that in creating a content strategy, one must determine the target audience and provide relevant content including common areas of interest or concern to one’s potential clients. One can then assess the effectiveness of the strategy by using such tools as Google Analytics.

Roxanne Minott illustrates the importance of developing a client feedback program for an attorney to find out whether their clients are pleased with their work, and whether any changes should be implemented to improve upon the services provided. She further describes the various types of client feedback programs and the ways in which they can be used as marketing tools.

Kristen Friend offers insight into the use of pay-per-click Bing ads as part of a firm’s marketing efforts, and discusses the advantages it has over Google Adwords, including its lower cost. Some features offered by Bing include Ads Intelligence, which helps with research and suggestions of keywords, and group-level control, which allows one to make changes to a schedule for groups within a campaign.

Kerrie Spencer describes a new product called Capture.it that helps lawyers recover billable hours by tracking their activities and making time entries. Spencer highlights the benefits of using Capture.it, including its one-click capture, web portal access and compliance with the ABA Model Rules that stipulate a duty to ensure that the client is informed, as well as to maintain accurate records of client activity.

Download the latest issue of Bigger Law Firm Magazine "The Switch: How do Mac and Linux Stack up for Attorneys"

To learn more about how to build a Bigger Law Firm, visit https://www.biggerlawfirm.com

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BLF Magazine Reports on How SVG Graphics are Speeding Up Attorney Websites

Posted on October 29, 2015January 9, 2021 by Law Firm Newswire

San Francisco, CA (Law Firm Newswire) October 29, 2015 - The latest issue of Bigger Law Firm magazine offers insight into how vector graphics can be implemented to enhance the performance of your law firm’s website.

In an article titled “Rethinking Graphics on the Internet,” Justin Torres offers tips on using vector-based graphics to reduce load times for webpages. According to Torres, web developers should prioritize the optimization of webpages so that they are both attractive and as lightweight as possible when opened on a user’s browser. He cites the pertinent example of CNN.com to illustrate the importance of responsive web design in reducing page load times.

Graphics play a key role when it comes to optimizing websites. Bitmaps and vector graphics are the two main image formats that are used on the web. The fundamental difference between the two is that while bitmaps comprise grids of pixels, vector graphics store information in the mathematically defined path of a vector. Torres proceeds to compare the two, highlighting why vectors work well for not only simple graphics but also complex logos to yield a result that is visually appealing and smart at the same time.

Scalable vector graphics (SVG) can be used to create a variety of visual effects, animations and text effects. An added benefit of SVG is that it does not require Flash, which has been known to pose a number of security issues for users. A fact box accompanying the article demonstrates how SVG images can be embedded directly into a CSS file.

Although there are many benefits to using SVG images, Torres cautions against viewing them as the solution to all problems on the internet. He suggests continuing to use bitmaps as well since the effectiveness of SVG filters is not guaranteed across all browsers. However, with their increasing popularity, vector graphics are yet another tool that can help law firms enhance the visual appeal of their web content without compromising on speed.

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How Lawyers Can Perform SEO Audits – A Free Guide in the Latest Bigger Law Firm Magazine

Posted on October 28, 2015January 9, 2021 by Law Firm Newswire

San Francisco, CA (Law Firm Newswire) October 28, 2015 - The last issue of Bigger Law Firm magazine helps attorneys and law firms learn how to ensure their websites are not only user-friendly but search-engine-friendly as well.

In an article titled “Technical SEO Audits Demystified,” writer Brendan Conley provides an in-depth look at the importance of search engine optimization against the backdrop of the ever-changing landscape of online marketing.

Conley encourages firms that are hoping to boost their position in Google’s rankings to look beyond the design and content of their website. Through a step-by-step guide to performing an SEO audit, he explains what an SEO audit is, what law firms should look for in an audit and how they can use it to strengthen the marketing position of their firm.

An SEO audit is essentially an analysis of a website’s performance in relation to the numerous factors that influence a site’s ranking among search engine results. An audit can be performed generally or to target a specific issue. A new comprehensive SEO audit should be carried out when a law firm is undergoing a website redesign or hiring a new SEO firm. However, Conley recommends even law firms that are satisfied with their current website to incorporate annual or biannual SEO audits as a key part of regular site maintenance.

In the article, Conley emphasizes the value of human expertise and analysis when selecting an SEO firm to perform an audit. A well-executed comprehensive SEO audit will result in a detailed analysis of your website’s performance and action steps that your firm can take.

The article also outlines the various specifications of an SEO audit. An SEO audit will analyze backlinks and content keywords, review the site’s hosting and performance with different operating systems, and investigate the site’s security vulnerabilities and social media strategy, among other elements.

SEO techniques are constantly evolving, writes Conley. With a multitude of websites competing for the top search positions, the willingness of law firms to experiment with different techniques can prove advantageous.

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Inside Social Networks: BLF Magazine Offers an Inside Look for Attorneys

Posted on October 27, 2015January 9, 2021 by Law Firm Newswire

San Francisco, CA (Law Firm Newswire) October 27, 2015 - An article in the latest issue of Bigger Law Firm magazine offers an inside look at how attorneys and law firms should be using social networks for marketing purposes.

In the magazine's Get Social feature, law firm marketing expert Ryan Conley explains how social networks are not just for young people and techies, but have become essential for marketing, visibility, professional networking and staying current with the times.

There are a lot of social networks vying for users' attention, and ebbing and flowing in popularity. Attorneys and law firm marketers are surely aware that social media can be valuable marketing tools, but may wonder which are worthwhile and which are not. Conley takes readers through the top five, explaining which are essential and which can be safely regarded as optional. The article also contains valuable tips on how to make the best use of each network.

LinkedIn, Conley says, is essential, and for a firm to have no LinkedIn presence at all might be seen as unprofessional. Likewise, Facebook is a must, simply because of its ubiquity. Some describe Google Plus as a “ghost town,” but Conley points out that the integration with Google's search engine and maps raises the importance of this network. Social media like Twitter and Instagram, while popular, are not essential for law firms to participate in. Nevertheless, Conley shares some secrets for how law firms can use these networks for innovative marketing.

Read the latest issue of Bigger Law Firm magazine to learn which of the most popular social networks are right for your firm.

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EagleEye Agreement Checker Could Help Lawyers Create Contracts Faster According to Bigger Law Firm Magazine Article

Posted on October 22, 2015January 9, 2021 by Law Firm Newswire

San Francisco, CA (Law Firm Newswire) October 22, 2015 - The Bigger Law Firm magazine, volume 35, discusses the advantages of using EagleEye Agreement Checker, software that automates the review of legal documents and contracts by recognizing and resolving problems, including ambiguity, accuracy and discrepancies. Using EagleEye can help attorneys reduce the time spent manually checking documents, allowing them to concentrate more time on the production of quality legal content and provide clients with faster turnaround.

Initially introduced in 2012, this program helps lawyers draft more precise contracts by providing more accurate references, punctuation and review of defined terms. The latest version of the software has a more intelligent interface that makes the program easier to use. Among its more significant advancements is that it enables attorneys to customize the program to search for contracts that are unique to their areas of specialization.

Upon the creation of a draft, EagleEye can create lists of issues, including inconsistent references and defined terms, and any problems that arise with either of them. It can also be used to assess structural issues involving numbering or mistakes in editing. Each of these actions can be performed with one click that produces a window adjacent to the document. One can also review and make comparisons of terms in several related documents.

One of EagleEye’s most effective tools is the defined terms feature, which allows one to create new forms of terms upon creation of a list of defined terms. It also allows one to review the language that appears before definitions, and discover examples where terms are used without providing a definition, defined without being utilized and used prior to being defined.

Due to the intuitive nature of EagleEye’s interface, attorneys can use the program without obtaining any additional training. Lawyers can familiarize themselves with the software in a short period of time, and can change their usage of the program based on their specific preferences. Use of EagleEye is far more efficient than manually searching legal documents for mistakes, and can allow lawyers to spend the time they save on better serving clients.

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Can Lítera Smartsend Save Lawyers from Embarrassing Email Errors? A Bigger Law Firm magazine product review.

Posted on October 15, 2015January 9, 2021 by Law Firm Newswire

BLF Magazine Explores Litera Smartsend for Lawyers in latest issue.

San Francisco, CA (Law Firm Newswire) October 15, 2015 - In the September issue of Bigger Law Firm magazine, Kerrie Spencer explains how a new product called Lítera SmartSend can help prevent firms from committing major email errors, such as sending clients’ confidential information to opposing counsel. Such an egregious error would be in violation of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct.

A technology company called Lítera designed the Microsoft Outlook add-in that can help protect client confidentiality and simultaneously increase productivity. SmartSend provides a safe and secure environment in which attorneys who are sending emails along with confidential attachments are warned about making such errors as replying to all, replying when they were bcc’d, and replying inside lengthy threads of email messages.

In addition, SmartSend helps maintain the workflow within Outlook, and permits users to handle attachments and files without having to exit the Outlook environment. Thus, it reduces the risks of sending a confidential email to unintended recipients. If an attorney were to send such an email, the consequences could be disastrous, and could even cause the attorney to be censured or disbarred.

Pursuant to the Data Breach Investigations Report (2008 – 2015), which was published by Verizon in 2014, 62 percent of all data breaches in 2008 were the result of a major mistake or an internal error. The report also disclosed that in 2009, 285 million records were compromised. It further revealed that in 2014, 29.4 percent of all data breaches were caused by email errors. And data sent to unintended recipients accounted for 30 percent of all email mistakes.

In light of these figures, and the amount of attorneys, paralegals, legal assistants, and interns who can access confidential client information, there is great potential for the commission of email errors. SmartSend can reduce the likelihood of making such mistakes, and can help ensure that clients’ confidential data and their attorneys’ case strategy are safeguarded.

Because SmartSend is an add-in, the firm must have Outlook in order to benefit from the software. SmartSend enables one to adjust attorney interaction with the software to a certain user or group. Inasmuch as much of the work involved cannot be viewed by users, the software is very user-friendly, and can be integrated with several document management systems, including Netdocs, Open Text, Microsoft SharePoint, and Autonomy iManage.

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