Criminal Defense Law Firm Website - Good Reason to be Mobile Device Ready

Having a nice looking website is important for attorneys, but having it look nice on a desktop or laptop computer might only be part of the picture. Many mobile devices are web enabled and it is a best practice to make sure your website appears correctly on iPhones, Blackberry's etc.

One instance in which I can see this of real benefit: Domestic violence accusations. The police have been called on the accused, who has removed himself or herself form the situation (perhaps outside the residence waiting in a car). Unable to access a personal computer for help from an attorney ASAP, the accused might use a mobile device to search for a domestic violence attorney in Los Angeles. How many sites will be unreadable? How many will look as good as the site I've got pictured?

Chicago Commercial Construction Website

Mark Aguilar recently launched his first website for his Chicago Commercial Construction Company. A great screenshot of the downtown skyline (familiar to me from my days in the wind city!) is the main image of the site, but the text and logo support the business type.

Mark's main goal in this website was to be found by referrals, and timing of the site launch was important as a trade publication was reporting about his recent projects throughout the area.

The information on the site details the commercial and residential work - from remodeling to complete teardown and building.

Of course, a detailed bio is available - one of the most important pages on a site - all about the person you may be doing business with.

Driving Under the Influence (DUI), Driving While Intoxicated (DWI), "502" and the "duece"

The title of this post had the common name of the drunk driving charge here in California, as well as a misnomer, and some slang terms. Many of these terms are used in website URL's, html titles, anchor text, etc to try and gain search traffic. However- just a few terms aren't going to be a substitute for an overall SEO, COPY, and Design approach. Check out the top ten websites for any search for a los angeles dui lawyer and see what you think compared to the site I've included in the anchor text.

Having just the right amount of marketing copy is often what makes a site with even marginally effective SEO work better than sites that dominate the SERP (search engine results page) for a term. I've even been told by an attorney client how an accused went back and forth between several websites and that the attorney's site just "spoke" to her.

Ever read "Made to Stick" by Chip & Dan Heath?

Niche Marketing - Being Found by the Right People- Dancers!

Marketing vs. Advertising - In a perfect approach, you advertise to your market, therefore you are not wasting time trying to give your message to someone who doesn't need it. With respect to legal marketing websites, much emphasis is given on "focus". Is it a personal injury website only dealing with say, dog bites? Good. Is it a website talking about estate planning and criminal defense? Not so good. The message in your website is diluted down. Add too many practice areas and your website may become useless to potential new clients.

Targeting works - check out the new site from Robert Starr, dealing with employment law for dancers, showgirls, and strippers. Can't get too much more focused than that! Over 10 pages of content about wage & hour, harassment, & the overall treatment of dancers by club managers and owners.

There are some very neat focused sites for the practice of law throughout the country. This one seems pretty unique.

Domestic Violence - California statistic about criminal defense.

The Los Angeles Times recently reported some domestic violence statistics from the Judicial Council of California; Assembly Bill 590 - by Jane C. Murphy.

90% Percent of litigants in domestic violence cases currently appearing without counsel

That is a surprising high number, and perhaps it is due to the common occurrence of accusers
"taking back" what they had said in order to help the accused. From White Goldstein (www.whitegoldlaw.com), a Los Angeles Domestic Violence Defense Lawyer website.

The accuser cannot simply “make the charge go away.” Once an accusation is made,
the law enforcement agency and the prosecutor working on your case are in
complete control..... it is within the sole discretion of the prosecutor to
decide whether the charges are justified and whether there is sufficient
evidence to pursue the case.

It is easy to see how things can get out of hand pretty fast in court - defendants may start off thinking that the charges will be dropped - but the result may be very different, even requiring help beyond the criminal court if family situations are at risk. For example, child custody and Child Protective Services may be affected/required. This is why having an attorney is very important - to ensure all loose ends are taken care of.

Google Trends as a consumer reflection - Car Repossesion, Loan modification, & Lemon Law

Is Google the most powerful database ever? Check out the neat graph generated from Goolge Trends- showing search volume for Car Repossesion, Loan modification, & Lemon Law.

There are scale adjutments to keep in mind, but the trend is what shows the big picture.

People are searching less and less for info about lemon law, becuase - car sales are way down. Repossession search terms have been increasing, as people are defaulting on secured loans - that they are willing to give up. And loan modification takes the cake. I should also mention that loan modification is one of the most searched terms in the is blog as well, especially loan modification advance fees.

What a story of the consumer economy - generated in just a few seconds. Interestingly, the recent downturn in search trends might be an indicator of the "recovery" we are hearing about.

Relatedto what Internet Marketing for Attorneys, although the search volume is too low to scale now, I suspect we will see rises in search terms about the legal issues invlolving debt collection harassment, and vehicle deficiency judgments.