With respect to online marketing, I’ve already talked about law firm seo or search engine optimization in the context of Niche Marketing, buying links, great law firm SEO resources (which are also FREE), 10 Tips and 10 More Tips, the importance of Strategy, and Law Firm SEO: a world of its own.

But these days, I’ve been thinking long and hard about getting Dynamic Lawyers involved in offering online marketing services to lawyers.  Naturally, it makes sense for us to penetrate this market since we do it ourselves and we’ve been developing the necessary competencies in-house.  Since last November, I’ve been involved in marketing and promoting Dynamic Lawyers both offline and online in various media to generate a buzz about what we do.  So now I believe it may be time to turn a new leaf and start sharing what we’ve learned with other lawyers who want to establish a marketing presence – both online and offline.

What makes us believe we can succeed?  Well, in my humble opinion, we’ve been doing a bang up job with Dynamic Lawyers, which has been featured in various local and national media (and which will continue to be featured so) since launching last November, whose traffic has consistently increased (and continues to do so) month over month, whose users and lawyers have continued to increase (and will continue to do so), and which will continue to expand to new cities and add additional functionality to improve the user experience.

So, if you are a lawyer or law firm that wants to take your marketing initiatives to the next level, give me a shout at michael@dynamiclawyers.com.  Over the next little while, I’ll be putting together our retainer agreement for such services.

written by admin \\ tags: functionality, job, last november, law firm seo, lawyers services, marketing services, niche marketing, search engine optimization, seo, traffic, user experience

I came across an automated software (called Trackback Spider) for purchase which essentially creates links to your website by spamming other people’s blogs through trackback (which I discussed previously).  This method of increasing the number of links to your website is called “Blackhat” (which means bad, malicious, unethical, etc. means by which search engine optimizers try to improve their website’s search engine rankings).  I came across a review of Trackback Spider on WebProNews and, although it’s a few years old, it’s worth mentioning here.  In that blog, the author (Andy Beard) mentioned how this kind of software doesn’t really help you in the long run because:

1. It is becoming harder to use because bloggers complain and report the websites that employ them to Google.
2. Bloggers – particularly the sophisticated ones – review the trackbacks and comments on their blog posts and won’t let spam slip by.
3. Blogs have plugins which require reciprocal links to determine whether a trackback is spam.
4. Old and abandoned WordPress blogs – which tend to have low quality and fairly low traffic – may be all that’s left for spammers wanting to build trackback links to their website.

At the end of the day, tools like this are being more and more obsolete – and for good reason.

written by admin \\ tags: automated software, blackhat, good reason, low quality, reciprocal links, search engine rankings, trackbacks, traffic

Toronto law firms can help answer your legal questions, facilitate your transaction (e.g. business, real estate, wills and estates, family, etc.) or even represent you in court.  To find a Toronto lawyer or law firm, go to Dynamic Lawyers and make a post.  It’s free and anonymous and Toronto lawyers and law firms will respond to you with information and quotes for you to compare.

Here are some of the different types of law that Toronto law firms can assist you in:

• Accidents and Injuries: Involved in an accident where you suffered personal injury?
• Business: Need corporate or commercial agreements? Need to have a lawyer help you do a transaction?
• Charities and Not-For-Profit: Need to establish a Not-For-Profit corporation or obtain charity status?
• Civil Litigation – Higher Court: Have a serious legal claim that needs to be litigated in the Superior Court, Divisional Court, etc.?
• Civil Litigation – Small Claims Court: Have a legal claim (e.g. breach of contract, negligence, etc.) for less than $10,000?
• Constitutional / Human Rights and Freedoms: Challenging a law or government action / inaction?
  Criminal: Charged with a criminal offence? Appealing a conviction?
• Employment and Labour: Need an employment agreement? Unjustly terminated? Need to know your rights?
• Family: Going through a separation or divorce? Fighting to get custody or access? Dealing with spousal and child support?
• Government: Need to lobby the government? Need to resolve a dispute with a government agency?
• Highway Traffic Tickets: Charged with speeding or DUI? Need to fight traffic tickets?
• Immigration: Need to immigrate to Canada? Fighting against deportation?
• Insurance: Having difficulties with your Insurance company?.
• Intellectual Property: Need to register a copyright or trademark? Need help with a patent?
• Landlord and Tenant: Need a resolve a dispute? Need to know your rights?.
• Notary Public / Commissioner: Need to notarize or commission your documents?
• Real Estate: Need someone to facilitate your residential or commercial purchase, sale, or lease?
• Tax: Need help structuring your tax affairs? Need help resolving tax disputes with the Canada Revenue Agency?
• Wills, Estates and Trusts: Need a will? Need to update your will? Find out why having an up-to-date will is a must.

Try to consult with a couple of Toronto law firms and Toronto attorneys until you’re comfortable with whom you’re speaking with.  Toronto law firms differ in size, location, expertise, and reputation.  Go to Dynamic Lawyers and save time and money finding the right Toronto law firms and Toronto attorneys who specialize in the legal area you require!

written by admin \\ tags: accident, accidents, agreement, attorneys, breach, breach of contract, charity status, Civil Litigation, commercial agreements, commissioners, company intellectual property, contracts, conviction, corpor, corporation, court, criminal, criminal offence, custody, different, different types of law, divisional court, family, firms, government need, human rights and freedoms, injuries, injury, insurance, landlord and tenant, law, lawyer, lawyers, legal claim, litigants, litigation, money, negligence, notarize, notary, offence, publicity, purchaser, quotes, separation, small claims court, support government, toronto, toronto law firms, toronto lawyer, toronto lawyers, traffic, types of law, Wills and Estates

Law Firm SEO: the “SEO” stands for (in case you didn’t realize) “Search Engine Optimization”.  What’s it all about?  Three words: search engine rankings.  The higher you rank on Google and Yahoo, the more people will be able to find you (and hence, the more likely they’ll follow up with you to retain your services).  But rankings are dependant on the keywords being entered into the search engine.  In other words, you want your law firm to be found for the keywords that people are searching for in order to find your law firm’s particular legal services.

Here are 10 law firm SEO tips and tricks I learned that will help you optimize your website for certain targeted keywords:

1. Have your keywords in your URL / domain name if possible.
2. Have your keywords in your meta tags (which are background elements in your website which may contain information about what the website is all about).
3. Have your keywords near the top of your webpage.
4. Have a low keyword density – i.e. your keywords should appear less than 10% of your overall text.
5. Have about 500 words in your text.
6. User headers and put the keywords in your headers.
7. Have inbound links to your website that use the keywords in the actual link text.
8. Blog, blog, blog (e.g. if you’re a lawyer, join the DL Blog – we get lots of traffic and you can link back to your website).
9. Have a sitemap and a robots.txt file to help search engines index your website.
10. Submit your website to search engines, directories, and ask other prominent websites in your industry to link to your website.

These are just some of the more popular law firm SEO tips.  There are literally hundreds of variables which can be used to help improve your law firm SEO.  There are websites like stemlegal.com, which is headed up by Steve Matthews, that are dedicated to helping their clients expand and improve their law firm SEO to rise in the Google and Yahoo rankings.

You can hire an SEO company to help you improve your rankings and they’ll do these and other things for you to that end.  Remember: if you’re a busy lawyer, you shouldn’t be delving into these things (you’ll waste lots of time and lose lots of money through opportunity costs along the way).

written by admin \\ tags: background elements, dl, google, inbound links, keyword density, keywords, law firm law firm, lawyer, meta tags, optimization, robots, s, search engine optimization, search engine rankings, search engine stemlegal.com, search engines index, seo, seo company, sitemap, steve matthews, tips and tricks, traffic, url domain name, variables, words search, yahoo

Legal People?  Who are they and what are they capable of?

Well, here’s a short description of the more popular legal people that you’ve always wondered about but never really knew what it was all about:

Lawyer: A person who goes to school for a long time to get trained in analytical and legal reasoning. Lawyer services can be used for various legal issues – ranging from facilitating transactions (like buying or selling a home), representing parties in trial or administrative proceedings or providing answers to legal questions.  Lawyers are very good at reading, writing, researching, thinking, and speaking (both on their own behalf and on behalf of their clients).

Judge: A lawyer who acts in the capacity as a trier of fact/law and renders judgment in cases.  A judge is presumed to be impartial, neutral, and unbiased. They are supposed to conduct trials in a fair and efficient manner to all parties, and (in certain circumstances) weigh the evidence and assess the credibility of witnesses and their testimony.  If an accused is convicted in criminal court, a judge is also responsible for handing down a sentence i.e. prison term, monetary, etc.  In civil cases, a judge must determine what, if any, compensation, award, damages, declaration or other order is warranted in the circumstances.

Paralegal: Is not a lawyer.  In Ontario, they were only recently required to be licensed by the Law Society of Upper Canada.  They are capable of representing parties in Small Claims Court matters (i.e. less than $10,000), minor criminal matters, adjudicative proceedings before Ontario or Federal boards and agencies, provincial highway traffic offences, and statutory accidents and benefits claims.  Paralegals are often found assisting lawyers with their files and typically work under their supervision.

Justice of the Peace (JP): Is an appointed official (sometimes elected, depending of the region) that deal with certain minor court-room matters, such as scheduling a date for trial, hearing and trying provincial offences, performing civil marriages, etc.  It is not necessary for a JP to have a formal education in law or to have been a lawyer (as is required to be a judge).

Notary Public: Is a public officer who performs non-litigious matters e.g. powers- of-attorney, administering oaths, verifying documents (passports), etc.  Notary Public’s do not necessary have to be lawyers, however lawyers qualify as notary republics so long as they fill in the application, pay the $150 (or whatever it costs) government fee, and get themselves an embosser (around $60 at Staples Business Depot).

written by admin \\ tags: accident, accidents, administrative proceedings, answers to legal questions, commissioners, compensation award, conviction, court, court matters, criminal, criminal court, damages, efficiency, highway traffic, judges, justice of the peace, justices of the peace, law society of upper canada, lawyer, lawyer services, lawyers, Legal People, legal reasoning, marriage, minor criminal matters, notary, offence, paralegal, providing answers, provincial highway, selling a home, short description, small claims court, traffic, traffic offences, trier of fact

Last year, I took my idea (and that’s all it was) for Dynamic Lawyers to a CBC audition for Dragon’s Den.  I couldn’t show the producers anything because it was still a concept at the time.  I told them my idea and shared my comprehensive business plan with them; they really liked it, but they never called me back to do the show.  Thank God!  I would have looked like such a fool presenting before the Dragon’s without anything to show them.  I realize that standing before a group of potential investors and asking for some money without anything to show for it other than a good idea is worth little or nothing at all.  Well, since that experience last spring, we actually finished developing the website and launched it officially in Toronto with great fanfare.  We’ve been written up in almost every major Toronto news paper (with more on the way) and our traffic continues to grow.  This Saturday, I’ll be back at CBC auditioning to be on the Dragon’s Den and I hope to get called back this time…

written by admin \\ tags: 's den, audition, CBC, comprehensive business plan, dragon, fanfare, fool, god, investors, last spring, lawyers, money, news paper, producers, toronto news, traffic

Why have lawyers and law firms been slow to take advantage of the opportunities presented by technology and the Internet to promote themselves to prospective clients?  Why do lawyers feel that they just need to put up a website for the sake of saying they have a website?  Putting up a website alone doesn’t guarantee anyone will visit it.  Take it from a guy who spends night and day, who has a team of people, and who has a budget and resources dedicated to promoting a website (i.e. Dynamic Lawyers): it’s not easy and it takes time.  In fact, if you don’t spend a few hours every day on it (e.g. adding content, making it search engine optimized, etc.), then it will barely be known to the world wide web.  Only people who somehow remember the law firm website address will be able to search for it.  But in most cases the website itself will likely not be set up in a way to target the key words that users are searching for in Google, Yahoo, Live, etc.  For these reasons, I ask: ‘what’s the point’?  Without traffic there will be no inquiries or engagements from prospective clients.  Without content there will be no reason for prospective clients to visit the website in the first place (except perhaps to get the lawyer’s biography or contact information).  Without a strategy about how to use a website as an interactive and meaningful tool to draw prospective clients in, what value does it have?  Again, what’s the point?

written by admin \\ tags: content, Dynamic Lawyers, engagements, google, key words, law firms, lawyer law firm, Lawyer Websites, lawyers, legal marketing, meaningful tool, online marketing foroptimized, promoting a website, prospective clients, search engine, traffic, world wide web, yahoo