And I apologize for this, but this one's going to be long (though it's going to be packed with some ridiculously great information).
First things first, this guy, as the title implies, is a Seattle bankruptcy lawyer (if you want to see his site, click on the link). As you might expect, this is a highly competitive niche. There are at least hundreds of people out there trying to get exactly the same clients he is. And that's okay - as long as you're better than they are. Here's his story:
Hi, my name is Joe (name changed) and I recently started my firm in Seattle, WA. My law firm primarily focuses on helping people solve their debt problems by helping debtors file chapter 7 and chapter 13 bankruptcy or helping debtors settle their accounts. Additionally, I am looking to get more work in trademark, business and entertainment law.Before we even get to the website, let's talk about the story.
I moved back to Seattle around November of last year after going to law school and working for a few years in Denver, Colorado. I had the pleasure of graduating from law school in one of the worst economies ever (2008) but was lucky enough to find a full time associate attorney job in early 2009 doing real estate litigation insurance defense. Unfortunately that job only lasted 6 months as I became the first attorney ever laid off by that particular firm due to the said economy and lack of business.
Fortunately I had a buddy who had recently started a bankruptcy firm in Denver and he offered me part time work while I looked for full time work. I was looking for over a year, was a finalist for a few jobs I interviewed for, but unfortunately there was always another applicant with more experience. I finally came to the conclusion that I had to go out on my own if this whole law thing was going to work out.
I had learned some applicable skills (especially in SEO with the Denver firm ranking #1 for most terms) through my work experience and decided if I was going to go out on my own I should do it in my hometown of Seattle. I launched my website, www.bankruptcy-law-seattle.com last September and packed up and moved from Denver to Seattle last November. I started getting serious about the firm in January of 2011 and so far things have been taking slower to develop than I initially thought it would.
I have tried to focus on SEO and getting my website ranked on the first page of Google with mixed success. I am on the 1st or 2nd page for most terms I am looking to get ranked for, but have had a little help with getting on the Google Maps. I have been trying different marketing techniques with mixed results and am always looking for things that might produce good results. I have also been contracting with several out of state firms which I am hoping will lead to profitable business.
So far I have too much free time, but if that changes and I get too busy I figure I can always hire some help so that would be a good problem to have. This month has been my best month so far, so I hope things continue to be on an upward trend.
1. Your Story
I think it's probably pretty indicative of a lot of stories out there. Economy sucks, can't find a job, make a job. That's totally cool. But, let's dig in a little bit further and talk about a couple of things.1.1 Area of Legal Practice - Bankruptcy and ...
Your description of the bankruptcy work you do is great. The rest of it, not so great. If you want to pursue business, entertainment, and trademark law, you're going to have drill down more. There are many practices that focus on just business, just entertainment, and just trademark, and even with special niches within those practice areas. If that's what you want to do great, but don't expand your practice areas just because you aren't getting the business you want right now. The last thing you need to do is lose your focus on your bankruptcy practice because you're pursuing a couple of shiny objects out in the distance.My advice, not knowing anything other than what you've written, is to give it six months of just going after bankruptcy exclusively. We'll come up with some ways to fill some of the free time you have right now. :)
1.2 Marketing a Bankruptcy Practice
And here's how.1.2.1 Start a Blog
First things first, you need to start a blog. Bankruptcy attorneys are a dime a dozen. You need to show people why they should hire you over someone else. And it shouldn't be because you are the cheapest. Start a blog today (here's a post on starting a law firm blog), and put up some video posts on there. Don't be afraid to be interesting! Think about the things that potential clients are interested in and write about them.
For example, I don't know anything about bankruptcy. If I were going bankrupt these would be some of the things I'd want to know:
1. Am I going to lose my house?Answer these questions and you'll have a great start.
2. Am I going to lose all of my money?
3. Are there things I can do to keep more of my money and wipe out more of my debt?
4. What can you do that no one else will do?
1.2.2. Get Off Your Butt and Market
How can you do this? There are a couple of things I can think of righthttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif off the bat. First, make a list of all the places people facing bankruptcy go. I have no idea what they are but I hope you do. Now, call those places and offer to do a presentation on how to save your ass-ets if you're going into bankruptcy. If they aren't interested ask them if you can post a flyer. You'll have a room full of potential clients immediately.
Second, go to a local farmer's market and open a booth. Make a sign that says "Bankruptcy Lawyer - Questions Answered for Free." All they have to do to get a question answered is give you their contact information and take a card. It will blow your mind how many questions you'll get - and clients.
That should give you plenty of things to do. And here's my experience with marketing a law firm by going to the farmer's market. It was great.
1.3 Your SEO Efforts
I'd love to hear more about what you are doing for this. If I were you, my goal would be to be number one for "Seattle bankruptcy lawyer" and Seattle bankruptcy attorney." When I just checked you weren't on the first page for either (maps doesn't count). If you're not on the first page you might as well be on the 10th page.Starting the blog will help. Follow my instructions and you'll build yourself a great site to link from (kind of like this). But you've got to write from the heart, and you've got to write regularly, no matter how much it sucks.
I hope part of your SEO is getting links to your site, and I hope, I pray, that it doesn't involve commenting on anyone else's site or Avvo. Those are bogus. We'll talk more about it when we have our happy hour, but you're wasting your time if that's what you are doing.
1.4 Make a Law Firm Marketing Plan and Stick to It
From your email it looks like you are trying a whole bunch of things half way and hoping one of them sticks. For example, this "out of state business thing" makes no sense to me. Maybe you're talking about standing in pro hac vice for someone or something. But I'd focus my efforts locally if you want to have a consumer bankruptcy practice.Here's my suggestion. First, turn off your computer, your television and your phone. Second, sit down with a piece of paper. Third, think about who your ideal client is - write that at the top of the page, and be specific. Age, gender (if applicable), occupation, education, etc. If you know a foreign language that's a great niche to get yourself into. Fourth, think about all of the places your type of client hangs out - write them down. Fifth, think of ways you can get into those place to get in front of said potential clients - write them down. Sixth, execute plan to get ideal clients.
If the idea won't get you in front of your client, don't do it. Give your ideas at least 3 months to see if they work. Everything in marketing takes time to stick.
Okay, have I beat you up enough? :) No? Okay, let's talk about your law firm website. But, before I do that I do want to point out that this is all meant to be constructive criticism. I am excited that you had the guts to go out on your own and I want to see you succeed. Now on to more criticism!!
2. Seattle Bankruptcy Lawyer Website Critique
I'm going to break this down page by page (though I won't talk about every page). Before I even get there I want to talk about the general layout and give you a couple of suggestions.2.1 Overall Layout
First, your site is way to busy. When you are putting this together you need to think about what it looks like from the potential client's perspective. When I first saw I simply thought "information overload!" Scale it back a little bit. Say more with less. And, if you can, square everything up. The diagonal lines are a bit disconcerting.2.1.1 URL
Second, your URL is bankruptcy-law-seattle.com, but you have links on here for business, trademark and copyright, and sports and entertainment, in addition to a button on the right that says "business law." I don't know about you, but I am not calling a bankruptcy lawyer to talk about business formation - there's just something ominous about that. This is a website about bankruptcy - don't gum it up with a bunch of other stuff.
If you want to be a business lawyer and a sports lawyer that's fine - but build out separate websites for them. Bankruptcy clients don't care that you know trademark law, and sports clients don't care that you know bankruptcy. They want to know how you can help them with their specific problem.
If you want to tie it all in create a home site that let's you link out to all of your other specific sites (another great SEO trick). You've already got it for your email.
2.1.2 Left Side of Page
Do we need to keep telling people what you do? Maybe that should be "Five Critical Questions Answered" or something like that instead of "Practice Areas."
"Resources" - just make the word a link to your resources.
"Tell us about your case." Do you really need the security phrase? Are you getting spammed that much? For me it immediately says "I don't trust you."
Think of some educational and helpful things to put over there.
2.1.3 Right side of page
Okay, I like what you have here. The only problem is, what am I supposed to do and why is it so lawyerly? Take off the "consumer bankruptcy" and "debt settlement" titles and put in three words really big - CLICK HERE TO - and then leave the rest of the stuff underneath. And don't send them to more information, send them to your contact page or have a window pop up where they can put in your information.
Here's the key about bankruptcy - they don't care HOW you do it they just want you to do it. (Add those pages the button links to to your resources - About Consumer Bankruptcy, for example)
Take off the business law button and replace it with another bankruptcy subject people can click on.
2.1.4 Footer
This is another great area to put in some keyword links. Remember to use the words you think people will be using to find you - Seattle bankruptcy lawyer - for example. Your words aren't descriptive enough right now.
2.2 Bankruptcy Lawyer Home Page Critique
Let's just go from top to bottom."Call us today: (206) 390-9451." Why are we calling? To get a quote? To get a consultation? Just to talk? Tell them WHY they should call today. And make it bigger.
2.2.1 Text in Middle of Page
The text portion of your site needs to be updated big time. I like the big bold print at the top, but remember you aren't talking to a bunch of lawyers you're talking to regular people. For example, just change the word "obtains" to "gets" and you've made a huge step. You could also just say "We Can Make the Phone Stop Ringing from Debt Collectors in 48 Hours. Call Now to Find Out How!" That's catchy. That is enticing to people. That makes people pick up the phone. Obviously if that's not true then don't say it, but think about why people are coming to your site and then tell them how you can solve their problem, if they just pick up the phone.
The text itself is not great. It's too wordy. It's too lawyerly. It's too much like what everyone else says. Let's break it down sentence by sentence.
"We are a Seattle based law firm practicing in the areas of Consumer Bankruptcy, Debt Settlement, Business and Intellectual Property (Trademark and Copyright) law." That sentence took me fifteen minutes to write because I fell asleep three times. First, people know what you do, you tell them that in the bold print! Second, no one cares about the other practice areas. This sentence is a great place to piggyback from the bold print. Do it. I'd say something like "Phone ringing at all hours of the night? Afraid to leave your car in the driveway because it might get repossessed? Wondering how you're going to pay the bills next month? We can answer those questions for you. We can help you get your first good night's sleep in months. We can help you get rid of the debt that is weighing you down like a ton of bricks." Isn't that way more appealing?
"We offer a compassionate and dedicated Seattle bankruptcy lawyer in the areas of chapter 7 and chapter 13 bankruptcy as well as an attorney well versed in business matters to ensure you have a partner in navigating your way through the complex Washington state and federal legal system." Wow. That's all I have to say.
The rest of the text is just as bad. Scrap it and start over. Tweak it until an 8th grader can not only read it but will want to pick up the phone and talk to you.
One other thing about your text - work in some of your keywords to tell Google what the page is about. I'd try to say Seattle bankruptcy lawyer and Seattle bankruptcy attorney once on each page. Don't link it out on your home page (sort of like it is now), but do it on your subpages linking back to your home page. And never link your firm name - no one cares about that.
2.2.2 Areas of Practices Section of Page
I would change this to say "Seattle Bankruptcy Lawyer" "Seattle Bankruptcy Attorney" "Seattle Business Lawyer" "Seattle Sports Lawyer" etc. Don't people to click on them because they won't and that's not the point. Point the links toward the relevant site and then you'll start to get some great Google juice from your home page.
2.3 Wrapping Up the Seattle Bankruptcy Lawyer Website Critique
I'm too tired to keep going, but I think you get the drift. You've got good bones here, but it can be so much better. Take of your lawyer hat, but on your businessman hat, and start thinking about what your potential clients are interested in seeing.Can't wait for that beer!
No comments:
Post a Comment