The Internet for attorneys

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Attorneys need to tap into their inner-techie with their own website, social media pages, blogs and videos, according to a seminar at the Maryland State Bar Association‘s 2013 Annual Meeting.

Jabez LeBret of Get Noticed Get Found Inc., which helps law firms with marketing strategies, discussed how attorneys can maximize their presence online.

LaBret, who co-wrote the book “Online Law Practice Strategies,” spoke to an overflowing room of attorneys Thursday in Ocean City.

Here is a list of recommendations LaBret made to attorneys during the presentation:

• Keywords are essential.
• Make sure to beef up Google+ local pages. Google has likely already created pages for your law firm, but attorneys should add pictures and additional information about the firm.
• Clean up online directory listings by adding a website URL, address, phone number and name. Some directories are free, some are paid, but there are a lot of them. “This is a marathon,” LeBret said. “This is not a sprint. This is not something you should do over a weekend.”
• A Facebook page is not a replacement for a personal website. “Never put all your eggs in a basket with a system you don’t control,” LeBret said.
• Don’t make up profiles in order to give your firm good reviews.
• Don’t pay for reviews or respond to reviews.
• Add a 60 second introduction video on your website.
• Blog about four times a month about local topics, between 250 and 600 words per blog post. “It makes you look human when you’re blogging about the things going on around you,” LeBret said.
• Send a press release once every eight weeks. “We don’t care if any one reads the press release, we are doing this for the search engines,” LeBret said.
• Social media is must. It is not an effective tool for attracting new clients but essential for search engine ranking.
• Social media pages are for providing information, not advertising.
• Put your law firm’s phone number in the upper right-hand corner of the website. “If I want to contact you to give you money, don’t make me work for it,” LeBret said.
• Put a disclaimer on every page of the website, including blogs.
• Do not use clients’ names in blogs.
• Don’t sign three year contracts with tech companies.