Dear DUI Lawyers,
If you are like me, you probably get at least one cold call a day from somebody trying to sell you "SEO." They claim to have a relationship with google. They claim to know Google's algorithm. Some even try to claim that their own excrement doesn't smell… and that's all just in the first breath before you get to say anything. Sound familiar?
There have been an alarming number of companies recently, when questioned during these calls (yes, sometimes I don't just hang up), who either admit or even use as a selling point the fact that they have "relationships with thousands of websites that have high page rang where they will buy links back to your site."
BIG RED FLAG!
First problem: I seriously doubt there are "thousands" of high-page-ranked URLs that are relevant to a DUI practice. Even if there were thousands, I can't imagine that there are thousands selling links and still able to maintain their high page rank.
Second problem: Assuming problem number one above, then it appears that they would be purchasing links on pages that aren't directly relevant. Ever seen a children's learning toys site with a link to a DUI attorney? It just looks and smells suspicious, right? It's an irrelevant link.
Third problem: Paid links are blatant attempts to manipulate the results of the search engines. Do you like it when your client's or prosecutors try to manipulate you? Of course not! What makes you think that the search companies like it when you try to manipulate them?
The probability is, buying links to try to artificially influence the ranking of your website can spell big trouble. It may even get you demoted or banned by some search engines. And rightfully so, I might add.
A quick case study on how to waste your money on useless or short term website manipulation:
I have a client who is engaged in a reputation management battle that is so serious it threatens to hobble his ability to attract and keep educated clients if not solved. He has suffered a multi prong attack on his reputation through the use of complaints websites. He engaged a rep management firm who has set up a series of splogs (spam blogs that essentially steal or duplicate content across the web) to propagate articles containing his name and his firm's name. Sometimes, the exact article will appear on thousands of splogs, all with no or low page rank, and all of a general nature.
For example, an article about this DUI attorney might appear right before an article on a laundromat and right after an article touting the fact that the kids working in a local pizzeria have stopped humping the pizza dough. All of the articles are obviously damage control.
No surprise, this firm's reputation management campaign is not working as promised. Instead of realizing that they may be using a bad strategy, the lead attorney decided to lean harder on the firm, who continued to promise great things. For just a little more money, the would buy hundreds of links and "drizzle" them in. Of course, it would cost the firm even more for the links. In my opinion, it will end up costing the firm more than just the cash they will be out for the useless or sleazy links.
If you want to build something good, you must start with a good foundation.
If good search engine optimization were truly that easy, everybody would just buy links. If everybody did it, everybody would benefit proportionally, and nobody would get ahead.
Firms looking for a quick short term gain may be able to profit for a little while by black hat tactics such as buying links, but in the end the progress will be backwards. It has to be. The search engines will continue to improve, and part of that improvement necessarily means eliminating or demoting sites that seek to manipulate.
Did you earn your law degree overnight? Was it cheap? Was there a trick to passing the bar that was so easy anybody could do it with a little money and the help of a cold-caller? Of course not! Why do you think the guy that cold-calls you about your web marketing can offer you such a thing. You are a lawyer, so what makes you so blind or dumb to buy into promises on the level which would get you disbarred if you made them about your clients' cases?
Let me tell you two things they apparently missed at most law schools:
1) There is no free lunch. It might seem free for a while, but eventually it will make you sick, and then your medical bills will end up costing you more than the sensible and reasonably priced lunch would have.
2) Everything worth doing takes patience and time.
That's it. Demand of the person or company that is doing internet marketing for you what you demand of yourself in you practice. Excellence. No short cuts. In the mad dash to compete online, don't lose your cool, and don't fall victim to anybody trying to sell you paid links.
Sincerely,
Dan Jaffe
Filed under Dear DUI Lawyers by 
Dear DUI Lawyer,
In today's age of ultra-competitive internet advertising, it should be obvious to most people that having a web presence for your practice is no longer enough. The fact is, there are as many ways for the internet to hurt your practice as are help it grow.
There is a sub-field of internet marketing known as reputation management. People who work in this field combat negative reviews and posts about you and your firm.
Every DUI or criminal lawyer who has been in practice more than a year or two knows that not every client is going to be happy. Many come to you miserable. Some have a misery that no amount of legal skill and hard work can cure. Others are looking for somebody to blame. In their mind the transaction goes they pay you, you take the blame for their mistake or criminal act. There is no way to stop these types from entering amongst your clientele, as they are a fact of life in any criminal practice.
Up until recently, if a client was disgruntled (rightfully or ignorantly) their best and sometimes only recourse was to complain to the Bar. As much of a pain in the tushy as a bar complaint can be, at least there is process and somebody with legal ethics and practice knowledge looking at the grievance. This is no longer the case.
There are literally thousands of places a disgruntled client can complain about you online. Sometimes you will never even know that the complaint exists or that the client had any sort of bone to pick with you until all of the sudden the toxic review comes up at the top of the search engines when people seek your name. Not good. In fact, it can be catastrophic to your reputation and your practice. It probably takes more than 10 good reviews to overcome 1 bad review in most peoples' minds.
Even more insidious than a misguided complaining client is a local competitor or former employee who wants to sabotage you. Most would not have the chutzpa to do it using their own name and contact information, but may do so using a fictitious name. The internet offers that kind of anonymity. That is, except when it doesn't. No matter that it's clearly an ethics violation. No matter that if word got out it would hurt the saboteur more than the victim. This is a severe recession, and the internet is the Wild West.
Savvy DUI and criminal attorneys realize that keeping up with what is happing online, and running campaigns that will help their practice thrive is time consuming. In fact, it's more than a full time job, and starting from scratch, while not as difficult as getting through law school and passing the bar, requires time and a steep learning curve. Busy attorneys have neither the time nor the energy to take this on.
It is not a question of if something negative about you will hit you online. The question is when will it hit? When it does you will feel like you just got mugged, but will you be ready to fight back? Its easier and more cost effective to call a plumber before a pipe bursts. But few people do it.
It's time to look forward in your practice. It's time to embrace online legal marketing in all of its aspects now so you don't get left behind the curve. It's time to take charge of your practice and your future. If you are still relying on phone book and billboard advertising, like the dinosaurs, you may soon find yourself stuck in the mud.
And now, the shameless plug (which I can do here, after all, it's my website, right)… if you are a DUI or criminal defense lawyer and want to evaluate your internet marketing strategy and infrastructure, let's talk. I have over a decade of doing what you do (running a firm, managing the business, associates, staff, payroll, court, briefs and of course the stress), and I am in a unique position to understand what you need to help you practice grow and sustain. My number is 480-951-3200.
Sincerely,
Dan Jaffe
Webmaster & DUI Attorney
Filed under Dear DUI Lawyers by
Dear Fellow DUI Lawyer,
Right now I wear two hats.
Hat 1 = DUI lawyer.
Hat 2 = Webmaster & Internet Coach for DUI Lawyers
As a DUI lawyer I cringe when potential clients have received poor, inaccurate or self-serving advice from other lawyers.
I'm noticing the same thing as a webmaster. I don't solicit business. Other attorneys find me and contact me. When they do, I'm always happy to talk about the internet, SEO, website design practices, blogging, etc. I start by looking at the attorney's current web presence. Here's what I'm seeing a lot of, and it appears to be driven by the web development companies as much as the attorney's need for flashy trashy fluffy web-junk.
- A lot of new sites are still using flash intros and splash pages. Big mistake. Even if you could credibly make the argument that search engines are getting more flash friendly, the fact that the site gives a good percentage of your users a headache or worse is still bad. (more on this in a future post)
- A lot of the sites focus on the firm, not on the client. Big mistake. Your clients don't give a rip when you were named partner or that you were on law review. They don't care that you were order of the coif (I'm impressed, but they aren't). 42 percent of them think that if you are a "specialist" you aren't even a lawyer (got it backwards, right… we'll, are all of your clients genius material?). They will wipe themselves with your law school transcript, and when they read that you once wrote a law review article on the UCC (their internal voice probably says… "he's down with UCC… yeah you know me). Which brings me to the real "OPP," – Other Person's Perspective.
OPP is where you need to start if you want an effective web presence. Look at things from your client's perspective. Ask yourself not how great you are, but how great can you make your potential client feel about him or herself. What can you do for your clients? What have you done for past clients? What can you promise your client? How will you guide them? How will you make them feel special? What makes you different that other DUI lawyers in terms of what you can do for your client.
In case you haven't gotten my message by now, your practice is not about you. Don't make stuff up, but tell your audience what they want to hear, not what you want them to hear to soothe your ego or your insecurity.
If you want to discuss your web campaign, or just call to tell me I'm wrong, feel free to do so – 480-951-3200.
Sincerely,
Dan Jaffe
Filed under Dear DUI Lawyers by
Dear Fellow DUI Lawyer,
My heart is beating fast as I write what will be the first entry to the new website that I have set up to talk directly to a group of people who are used to doing most of the talking. After a decade of building and maintaining thriving practices using the power of the Internet, I now offer coaching and Internet marketing guidance exclusively to fellow DUI defense lawyers.
This website will serve as a general sounding board where I will comment on the latest in internet marketing for DUI defense lawyers.
Please check back soon as the project gets rolling.
In the meantime, be sure to visit DUIAttorney.com to take a look at the huge national drunk driving directory that my company, DUIAttorney.com LLC has been building over the past year.
Sincerely,
Dan Jaffe
Filed under Dear DUI Lawyers by
My name is Dan Jaffe. I recently retired from practicing DUI law after more than a decade of running a law firm and using the internet as my firm's primary source of business.
