Content Pilot’s Ten Foundational Best Practices (FBPs) for law firm websites, which launched in 2005, are refreshed each year to take into account foundational changes that have been made in the broad web industry, as well as changes in visitor expectations and the behaviors of buyers of legal services. Certain […]
Fall in love again – this time with your firm’s experience.
According to the Lexis Nexis 2017 Law Firm Marketing and Business Development Survey, the responding firms are currently spending 15% of their 2-5% total marketing budget on technology. And, answering the question, “How will your firm’s investment in [all] categories change in 2017 compared to prior years,” more than 80% (!!!) […]
Best Practices for Law Firm Websites – an Interview with Deborah McMurray by Aprio Advisors
I was recently interviewed for an article called, “Best Practices for Law Firm Websites.” It was an honor to talk passionately about how law firms can build world-class websites with the Aprio Advisors interviewer. They have posted the article on a rich news portal called, “What’s Next” – The insights […]
Website Best Practices – an Interview with 6 Web and Design Experts – by Nicholas Gaffney
This article first appeared in LAW PRACTICE TODAY on April 14, 2017. A moderated panel by Nicholas Gaffney. Websites have come a long way since the original online brochure. Today’s websites not only offer information about a firm’s people and practices, they’re designed to […]
Expert Insights: Modernizing the Legal Pitch Process – an eBook by HighQ
HighQ recently published an eBook, “Expert Insights: Modernizing the Legal Pitch Process,” for which I wrote a segment. My excerpt is below. Buyers of legal services purchase on two levels – when they are formulating their short list, they are making a technical and intellectual evaluation – jurisdiction, particular expertise, […]
Lawyer’s Guide to Marketing on the Internet, 4th Edition – Ready to Order! By Greg Siskind and Deborah McMurray
Lawyers in firms of all sizes will benefit from the advice, trends and best practices that fill this new book just published by the American Bar Association’s Law Practice Management Section. Use this resource to transform your website, email, social media and overall online strategy. Get closer to target prospects […]
Strategic Experience Databases in Law Firm Mergers – that’s my 2017 prediction
I am always proud to be included in Dave Billinsky’s legal industry predictions for the New Year. His Thoughtful Law Blog is read by anyone who wants to improve the way they manage and run law firms and legal practices. Here is my submission as we look ahead to 2017 […]
Content Pilot Releases the Full Research Study and Report: “How do they Measure Up? 2016 Global 50 Law Firm Websites: Ten Foundational Best Practices”
DALLAS, TEXAS – Content Pilot LLC announced today that it is making public the results of its 6th comprehensive analysis of the websites of the largest law firms in the world, based on Ten Foundational Best Practices. The 2016 AmLaw Global 50 law firms consist of 40 firms “headquartered” in the […]
Results – 2016 Global 50 Websites: Ten Foundational Best Practices – Executive Summary
Introduction We have finished the 6th analysis of the world’s top law firm websites based on Ten Foundational Best Practices. The first study in 2005 set precedent by identifying the top ten foundational things law firms must do to ensure their websites were satisfying what visitors wanted. It was the […]
Marketing Technology is the new Black – but success in a law firm requires some rules
I just spoke at the sold-out-standing-room-only LMA Tech Midwest (#LMATech) conference in Chicago. It was the first Legal Marketing Association tech conference held in the Midwest, but it followed in the very successful footsteps of its older brother, LMA Tech, which takes place in San Francisco each year. The audience […]
Content Pilot Announces “2016 Global 50 Law Firm Websites: Ten Foundational Best Practices”
Content Pilot announced that it has begun the research for its next study, “Global 50 Law Firm Websites: Ten Foundational Best Practices.” This is the 6th such study, which focuses on identifying and establishing foundational best practices that matter to visitors, and that, based on client interviews, move the needle […]
When millennials become law firm leaders, how will they communicate to clients?
It’s no surprise that millennials like to text. I do, too, and often I prefer it – and the more deliberate emailing – to speaking on the phone. It just depends on what I need to accomplish. My goal of effective communication (i.e., understanding and being understood) always trumps the medium […]
Experience Management is not an “initiative” – it’s got to be in your firm’s DNA
Here is a snapshot of how law firms approach the topic of “Experience Management:” It’s someone else’s job – “Put a few people together from IT and marketing and see what you can come up with. Make a recommendation. Don’t bother the lawyers.” Toe in the water – “See if you can […]
Lawyers and CPAs – This January, resolve to make your bios move the needle – Make them 3-D
Doing anything that moves the needle is hard. All the “I resolve to do this and that (eat more kale / break a sweat / cook more / drink less)” business requires so much diligence and determination that, by now, most resolutions are on the cutting room floor. I used […]
Website Case Study: Kaplan Kirsch – Not your typical law firm
Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell is a 17-lawyer firm with a remarkable story to tell. Operating out of two offices in Denver and Washington, DC, lawyers’ work and clients span the U.S. Kaplan Kirsch handles the legal work for the country’s most visible and important infrastructure, transportation and landmark projects. And, […]
Branding and Website Case Study: Louisiana Litigation Boutique Keogh Cox
Investing in smart strategy isn’t just a big firm luxury. Increasingly, aggressive, ambitious boutique firms with a good story are spending time and money to design plans to make smarter short- and long-term choices. Keogh Cox, with one office in Baton Rouge, LA, is one such firm. With a 45-year […]
“Lean Data” makes more sense for law firms than big data.
Big Data is getting bigger. According to research firm IDC, big data services and technologies will grow at a compounded rate of 27%, exceeding $32 billion by 2017. The greatest challenge is knowing how to make it work for us in a law firm – how can we learn from it, […]
Law firms+data+marketers: the love-hate relationship between marketing and math
The first “marketing and math” presentation I gave was for the now-defunct Marketing Directors’ Institute conference 15 or so years ago. It was, looking back on it, rudimentary – but it was a start. I told the law firm marketing audience to care about client and matter profitability, realization and […]
Law firm innovation – Read the TED takeaways and 10 “Shark Tank” presentations from the 2014 Futures Conference
I am happy to share this “insider’s” view of the 2014 Futures Conference at Suffolk University Law School October 16-17 in Boston. Following Tom Sager’s keynote, three TED-style speakers (Jeff Carr, Abe Geiger and Ron Staudt) each spoke for eight minutes, then 10 facilitated teams of attendees dispersed to classrooms […]
Still buzzing about the 2014 Futures Conference at Suffolk Law School in Boston
If you want a running commentary of the 2014 Futures Conference, search for #COLPM2014 on Twitter. It’s an excellent, real-time, meat-of-the-matter summary of the six TED-style talks, Tom Sager’s keynote, our ten facilitated breakout teams and their “Shark Tank” presentations to our judges. The program was designed around innovative thinking […]
New Website Case Study: Super Regional Firm Winstead (winstead.com)
Here is what 300-lawyer Winstead explains to website visitors, and it’s why a buyer of legal services should take a look a them: “Destination: Wherever you need to go” represents Winstead’s attitude, as well as the vastness of our experience and technical resources that clients rely on. Clients in virtually […]
Create relevant website content that drives search engine and human traffic – Guest Post by Janet Ellen Raasch
“Site Optimization and Online Awareness” is the 8th of the Ten Foundational Best Practices for law firm websites. “Lawyer Biographies” and “Content (Other than Bios)” are 4 and 5, respectively. In 2005, I launched the AmLaw 100 Websites: Ten Foundational Best Practices research because I determined that law firms were […]
New Website Case Study: California firm Downey Brand (downeybrand.com)
For more than 80 years, Downey Brand lawyers have been key figures and played pivotal roles in the growth of Northern California and Northern Nevada. Advancing both public and private interests, Downey Brand clients are frequently at the center of the region’s most strategic and vital activities and investments. While […]
Experience management projects and why they fail in law firms.
I have written many posts on this blog about effective experience management as a mission-critical, business imperative for a law firm. Without relevant experience to evaluate, buyers of legal services will not hire you. It’s that simple. That’s how urgent it is. That’s why you should have a mandate around […]
To win more business, don’t underestimate the value of visceral appeal.
For more than two decades we have known that corporate counsel and other buyers of legal services have two levels of decision-making. They make an intellectual decision when creating their short list, evaluating expertise, perceived technical skill, and other features that are important to them – geographical reach, depth, rates […]
A champagne toast to a grand 2014 – and my one piece of New Year advice
Many law firm consultants, prognosticators and pundits have written long blog posts and articles with predictions for law firms in 2014. Given that website visitors don't read (they scan), I prefer tiny bites of information and opinions, as opposed to having to scroll to China. I have several predictions this […]
A big year of awards and enhancements for Content Pilot
As the founder of Content Pilot, I am proud when the company and team I have built does well. Our biggest test of success is how our clients feel about us. Every engagement – regardless of size or client – means the world to us, and our mission is to […]
Ouch! Thinking about designing a law firm mobile app? Read this review first.
If you are thinking it's a good idea to launch a mobile app for your law firm, first read this review by Jeff Taylor. Jeff is a lawyer in Oklahoma who writes a popular blog called, "The Droid Lawyer." This is a scathing review of Sidley & Austin's mobile app […]
Good advice about lawyers’ productivity, but marketers are getting a bad rap
Jack Bostelman wrote a blog post about Wells Fargo's Q3 law firm financial survey and the AmLaw 200 firms' weak showing in 2013. Here are the results in a nutshell: Gross revenue increased 2.5% Expenses also increased 2.5% Total hours billed declined 0.75% and hours per lawyer declined 1.1% Effective […]
Results: 2013 AmLaw 100 Websites: Ten Foundational Best Practices Research – Part I
I just presented the Keynote address at the 2013 LMA Legal Tech Conference in San Francisco, previewing the results of the 2013 AmLaw 100 Websites research findings. Congratulations and thanks to Clare Ota and Adam Stock for organizing a sold-out, superior conference. Sponsored by Content Pilot LLC and supported by […]
New Website Case Study: Tennessee firm Chambliss launches new site (chamblisslaw.com)
Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel, P.C. (“Chambliss”) is not your grandmother’s Tennessee law firm, in spite of the fact that it is 126 years old. From a style of doing business standpoint,the 56 lawyers are accessible, approachable, entrepreneurial, scrappy (the opposite of white-shoe), big fun (not boring), innovative and forward-thinking. From […]
New Website Case Study: Oklahoma firm Doerner (dsda.com)
Doerner Saunders Daniel & Anderson LLP (“Doerner,” which rhymes with burner) is the oldest law firm in Oklahoma – its founding and Oklahoma’s statehood happened at about the same time. It is a fresh-thinking, contemporary firm and it has been from the beginning – working with clients who were shaping […]
What lawyers can learn about messaging from an unlikely source — Dentistry.
I attended a wedding in Vancouver last weekend and met a successful and seasoned dentist from Abilene named Dr. Christie Leedy. Being one of those rare people who actually likes going to the dentist, I didn't hesitate to engage her in conversation. She said one of the most riveting phrases […]
Charlatan SEO company gets sued by its unhappy law firm client
From the very first days of Google, Yahoo, MSN and other search engines, lawyers have wanted to appear at the top of search results – “above the fold.” That spawned a slew of hucksters forming companies that promised unwitting lawyers that they could get them to show up on top […]
The best lawyer videos I’ve seen – watch Richard Hsu
“Video” comes up in every website conversation I have with lawyers and marketers. Everyone wants to add video to their websites, but few know how to approach it strategically, uniquely and so that the end result is superior to what you had without the added media. I have written about Richard […]
Website visitors don’t read (and we’ve known this for a long time)
Law firm website analytics show that visitors don’t read the content that we painstakingly create. Visitors are scanners – they efficiently scale the pages with their eyes in a big F pattern, catching a headline, keywords or infographics that catch their eye. We hope that something registers, and that there is […]
“Like” law firm Benesch and help fund Red Cross Disaster Relief
Smart law firm Benesch is raising money for the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund and its Facebook visibility at the same time. If you “like” Benesch, they will donate one dollar – up to $5,000. Such a smart and good move for the law firm. Spread the word, “like” Benesch and […]
The most startling finding from the 2012-2013 AmLaw 100 Websites research – A troubling deficiency
Content Pilot is just releasing the findings of the 2012-2013 AmLaw 100 Websites: Ten Foundational Best Practices research. Objectively reviewing the websites of the nation’s largest law firms is an arduous process. There are Ten Foundational Best Practices – must-have features and functionality for today’s law firm sites – and each FBP […]
The future of CMOs – according to FORBES
A Forbes blogger posted an article called, "Is the CMO Role Dying or Thriving?" Here is how it starts: What’s happening to the CMO role? This question has been hot for a couple of years. Some suggest the role is nominal and “dying” while others suggest it is bigger, more […]
Embrace Life – The most moving YouTube video
Today's post is not about marketing and business development technology, knowledge or experience management, websites, marketing strategy, lawyers or law firms. It's to share a link of a remarkable and powerful advertising campaign promoting the use of seat belts. It could be one of the finest, most moving ads I've ever […]