Category: Articles

Often we hear clients asking that their most important content be at the top of the website so that clients do not have to scroll down in order to view their information. This is referred to as being ‘above the fold,’ an old newspaper term that describes how newspaper editors used to place the most important information on the first half of the top page so that when they were folded in half, this information would be visible.

Do Clients Only Read Half Your Page?

In terms of website design, the term tends to refer to using the top half of the main page to display the most important content so that clients do not have to scroll down. There were two main reasons for this in the past. First of all, computer monitors used to have a 1024×768 pixel format which means that there was roughly 600 px of room for the content at the top of the page without having to scroll down. Second of all, many website viewers would simply not scroll down in the past and browse away from the page if they were not satisfied with what they saw on the first half of the page.

Times have changed and this is a good thing for clients and website designers. It means that we don’t actually have to stay ‘above the fold’ or within the first 600 px of the page anymore. Research indicates that more and more people are using computer monitors nowadays with a much higher screen resolution which means more space to work with. In fact, while in 2005 over 80 percent of computer owners were using a screen resolution of 1024×768 or lower, nowadays 85 percent of computer owners are using a screen resolution higher than 1024×768.

A New Generation of Computer Users

Furthermore, the internet and the way that people use their computers has also changed drastically. People are more aware of how to navigate through pages, where to find the key information and what to look for. What this means is that there is less of a need to work ‘above the fold’ when looking into website design. This gives website designers and graphic designers more space to play and more room for creativity and individuality in websites.

So what does this mean for your clients? It means you have more space to play. While ensuring that your content is easy to find, you don’t want to put your customers off with a tacky design where all the graphics are shoved at the bottom corner. You want the keep the reader interested enough to actually stroll down and read through all your details and information. With the right website design and SEO coding, this is what we aim to do each and every time.

There is no denying the importance of Facebook for companies these days. In the past five years Facebook ad revenue has continued to grow steadily with no signs of stopping. It seems silly not to hop on the bandwagon and get involved in this beneficial traffic. Choosing where to place your ads on Facebook is an important decision as you want to be sure you are targeting your niche. There are 15 different criteria options as well as sub criteria options to choose from. So how can you ensure that you are making your mark in the right place?

Are Your Ads Targeting the Right People?

There are several different ways to do so. One thing you need to consider is the gender. It seems so simple yet many people do not think about doing this. Males and females have different reasons for visiting Facebook and much different needs. Furthermore, only 34 percent of marketers will target by gender meaning that you could get into a niche that others have simply passed by. Sometimes it’s the simple things that will make all the difference to the success of your ads on Facebook.

Another fresh new market to break into is Sponsored Stories, an ad option you have. These are fairly new to the Facebook industry, having only been introduced last year and only 45 percent of marketers in our survey are actually using them. Sponsored Stories do not look like the traditional ad yet they are content focused. What this means is that you can get your message across in a unique way, something that is always good when faced with the tough world of online advertising.

Change your ad every three to four days. Studies show that most ads have clicks that peak within the first 72 hours of going live. After this the ads can become stale and the viewers do not take notice. This is why it is a good idea to change your ad content at least twice a week. Keep your target market engaged and reach more people with minor content changes.

Small and Large Scale Facebook Ad Revenue Success

If you are looking at targeting a smaller audience then another efficient and cost effective option is to look into CPM pricing. Cost per thousand views is more affordable and designed for smaller audiences. If your audience is under 1000, then consider making the switch from CPC to CPM.

Finally, consider getting assistance through ad management software. There are several Facebook ad API partners that can help you transform your ads and increase your ad revenues. If you are working with a larger campaign and need some assistance in managing it, then bringing in a third party is an affordable and effective solution.

These are only some of the ways to really make your ad pop on Facebook and improve your revenue. Getting involved in this industry allows you to reach more of your niche market in a simple yet effective way.

Pinterest is a fairly new concept in the world of social media. Much like Facebook and Twitter, it allows people to connect through common interests and share their experiences, interests, etc. However, Pinterest is a more visual way to organize ideas and contents online that interest you. It allows you to click on images, phrases or anything you like and then ‘pin’ them and share them. In a sense, Pinterest acts as an online vision board or story board which works with the visually minded audience.

And, according to a recent article on Ad Week, BlogHer has found that this visual approach to social media is especially effective in winning over women.

According to her recent blog, women trust Pinterest more than Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks. The annual study on the connection between women and the influence on social media found that:

– 81 percent of women trust Pinterest. This is compared to only 67 percent trusting Facebook’s and 73 percent trusting Twitter.

In terms of effective advertising and purchasing sales, BlogHer reports that purchases made on recommendations came from blog recommendations first followed by Pinterest second. Recommendations that came through Facebook and Twitter came in last and second to last.

There are several theories as to why Pinterest has piqued the interest of the female audience. The more visual approach may be preferred, especially when women are organizing a certain topic, such as a birthday party for their child, a wedding or anything else where a visual board allows them to see what they need and where to get it. Whatever the case, this is definitely something to look into if you are looking into a fresh new way to reach your target audience. Pin it.

Pinterest is the New Social Cool

Pinterest is setting its sights high now being recognized as the third most popular social media site after the big names of Facebook and Twitter. This is pretty good for a fairly new social media site. But what does this new found online fame mean for the marketer?

Do these sites really help the retailer sell more and connect to their audience? In terms of Pinterest, the answer is definitely Yes. More female viewers now trust Pinterest recommendations on products more than Twitter and Facebook meaning that if you are not already advertising through this industry, then now is the time to do so.

Furthermore, around 37 percent of online shoppers recognize social sharing sites, such as Pinterest as well as Discoveredd, Fancy, Gentlemint, Juxtapost, and Polyvore. By establishing a Pinterest account you are able to drive sale and traffic to your site and connect your images to potential clients, customers and online shoppers. The visually stimulating world of Pinterest is fast becoming an effective and easy way for customers to shop and for marketers to connect their products to those that need them.

The whole point behind having a website is so potential clients can contact you. If that wasn’t the point, you’d be providing individuals with free information and that is it. Nothing else would happen.

The whole reason behind providing the public with valuable information on the website is to show your legal expertise and to also show potential clients that you know what they’re going through and you can produce a strategy for them that can ultimately lead to the most favorable outcome. This text is put in place to let them know they can contact you and talk to you. It then informs them of how they can contact you. This is where your contact page comes in. Pointing people to your contact form is just as important as telling them your telephone number.

Why People Use Contact Forms

Potential clients like to have options. If you have online chat capability, they may want to talk to you that way. Then again, they may choose traditional telephone interaction. The contact form, however, is used for various reasons. For instance, a parent may be home with the kids and, sometimes, it can be almost impossible to have a telephone conversation with kids interrupting and making a lot of noise. Then again, a person who is at work may not be able to use the phone, so this is the easiest way for them to initiate contact. The contact form also adds to the confidentiality of initiating contact because they may not want people in the immediate area to hear their business.

Another reason why people use contact forms is to see which attorney will respond to them first. It can sometimes be difficult to choose an attorney, so some individuals use this as a way to help them make their choice. Plus, there is the fact that many people work during your business hours, so calling you may mean getting your answering machine and some people are uncomfortable with leaving voice messages. Filling out the form gives them more time to construct their message than an answering machine does.

The Anatomy Of Your Law Firm Contact Form

The form should be inviting, but it should also be as simple as possible. You do not want to discourage someone from filling out the form because it looks overly complicated. Unfortunately, someone can land on your page and leave after seeing a complicated form as opposed to proceeding to another page on the site.

It is suggested that your form has the standard name, telephone number, and/or email address fields. You may also have a comments or questions box that will enable the individual to tell you a little something about their case, if they choose to do so.

Law Firm Website Design

It is ideal to have a lot of useful content on your website for each practice area. This allows your website to be search engine optimized, while also providing visitors with information that is relevant to their legal situation. That information should not be repetitive (such as repeating practice areas on every page) and should be void of information that could entice them to leave before opting to contact you.

The page has to focus on encouraging the visitor to make contact with your firm. There should be links on each practice area page, blog entry, and any other area of the site where there is information that could entice the visitor to fill out the contact form. The telephone number should be visible on every page and the visitor needs to know that you will get back to them when they make contact with you. They also need to know that any interaction with you is confidential. It’s all about building trust so that they will make contact with you.

As a law firm, you have probably been solicited by the local Yellow Pages to list in the print version of their telephone book or on their website. If so, you have probably wrestled with whether or not listing in the online or offline versions of the Yellow Pages is what you need to do to promote the legal services that you offer.

Know that if you have wondered, you are not alone.

A lot of discussion has taken place online and within businesses as to what the true value of Yellow Page advertising is. In fact, you can do a simple Google search and find online conversations that have taken place. This can help shed even more light on the debate that has been plaguing the advertising world for a while.

Yes, the Yellow Pages may benefit some types of businesses more than others, but has not always been a premier way to advertise legal services. In fact, there are many other and more effective ways to market a law firm website. These ways are more powerful than a simple ad filled with guarantees that are not backed up with supporting information.

The Cost

One area you are looking at when it comes to advertising in the Yellow Pages is the cost. Every business wants to save money in order to preserve their bottom line. When it comes to cost, the Yellow Pages are right out expensive. In the end, you may be paying a lot of money for something that people overlook. An ad is not like public relations where you can be quoted in the press. You also have a limited amount of space in an ad to talk about what is being offered. This can cause the ad to look like everyone else’s.

For the cost of a Yellow Pages ad or listing, you can reach a much larger audience through other business development tools such as press releases, a website, a blog, and other tools that utilize methods that optimize them for search engines. Rather than getting lost in a sea of lawyers in a book or in a list on the online version of the Yellow Pages, you can stand out in search engine results. Your website can become more noticeable. In fact, think about how you find goods and services on the Internet and apply that to how you market your own business.

Who Is Using The Phonebook Anyway?

In recent years, many telephone companies are making it optional for customers to receive printed directories. The reason is because the Internet has become the source for contact information and most people just place their phonebooks in a drawer somewhere and forget about them.

The Internet is faster than leafing through the pages of the telephone directory and the information tends to be more up-to-date and more in-depth. A person can also acquire more information about a law firm by seeing their website versus making guesses based upon a small ad. The only people really using telephone books are those that don’t have computers or they are simply not yet comfortable enough to use the Internet to find what they are looking for. This population is very small.

Just think of the last time you looked up information in a phonebook. It may have been a while. Then again, it may not have been that long ago. Take a look at your own habits, but also keep in mind that the majority turns to the Internet first for contact details and in-depth information that tells them why they need to utilize the services of a specific business. Everything you do to market your business online works hand-in-hand to give you the exposure you deserve. The Yellow Pages, however, tend to standalone and are hardly utilized when compared to finding information on Google, Bing, or other search engines.

It’s a union that seems to be made in Cyber Heaven: Microsoft, Twitter, and Facebook have joined together in hopes that Microsoft can give Google a run for their money with their Bing search engine.

Bing has been gaining steam in recent times. Now, users can “like,” comment, and choose for their search engine activities to be posted on Facebook and Twitter. In other words, users are able to show their friends more of what they are doing on the Internet and this gives the social networks more information about what each of their users like so that they can better target advertising. It’s a win/win for all involved.

Facebook does need such a winning situation since General Motors pulled as advertisers on the site. This amounted to a $10 million loss and a lot of questions as to whether or not the social networking giant is, in fact, the best place to for advertising to a user base that is not in a “spending money” mindset.

This could change for Facebook thanks to the new Bing Interface.

The new interface also allows Bing to utilize information gathered from social network use to alter the way search results are delivered. The integrated sidebar focuses on a person’s search queries, on the people within the social circles of the user, and what each user things of particular websites.

For instance, a user performs a search for your law firm. The “social sidebar” will show you a list of people you know or may know, combined with your typical search results. What this does is allow you to interact with individuals who have liked your Facebook page or who you have interacted with in some way. It also allows the user to ask their friends questions about the topic they are searching.

What does all of this mean for Google?

Google does have their Google+ social network. They standalone and this could play against them. Facebook has hundreds of millions of users worldwide, while Google has not opened Google+ so widely. This means that Microsoft’s new partnerships could put Google at a disadvantage. They do not work with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and the other popular social networking websites on the Internet.

What Microsoft’s move could do is benefit the user experience and it could very well give Google a run for it, according to some analysts. Bing has been the underdog since it was first shown to the public in 2009. Being allows on the same team as the social networking giants could be exactly what Microsoft needs to show Bing to the world.

So what does this alliance mean to you?

First, we all know that Google is going to come back with a counterattack. It is going to be interesting to see what they do and how they do it. It is also going to be interesting to see if Facebook can break through the mobile advertising barrier. Approximately half of its users use its mobile application to access the site, but their advertising is limited on the mobile app. How are they going to address this? It’s just a matter of time before they do.

While all of these developments are taking place, it is important that you monitor them so that you can determine your best move when it comes to advertising your law site. The positive search experience of the new Microsoft and social networking alliance could ultimately increase your exposure and give users a more positive experience when interacting with you in the online world.