How the Accident Data Center Can Help Your Personal Injury Firm

So, we have good news and bad news. The bad news is personal injury law is an incredibly competitive practice area, and it’s not likely to get any less competitive (at least within the next decade). This means that more than many other law firms in other practice areas, you need to carefully market yourself to stand out from the crowd and attract clients.

The good news? 

Well, the demand for accomplished personal injury lawyers is large enough to match the-ever increasing supply of personal injury firms. 

In the US last year, there were 1,593,390 car accidents that resulted in injuries to one or more parties involved. Considering there are only 179,508 personal injury attorneys employed across the country, this translates to approximately 8.9 cases per attorney. 

But the question then becomes, how do you attract the injured client? 

Fortunately, we have one solution you might not have heard of before: The Accident Data Center. 

What is the Accident Data Center? 

The Accident Data Center (ADC) is a totally free, comprehensive resource that provides information about car accidents and traffic collisions in the United States. Updated daily, the repository includes information such as the date and location of the accident, names of parties involved, and links to media articles about the accident. 

Why is this resource useful to personal injury law firms? 

This resource is immensely valuable to personal injury law firms due to the nature of the audience it attracts. Individuals perusing this website are typically either involved in recent traffic mishaps or closely associated with those who are. Consequently, by channeling your marketing efforts through the ADC, you have a higher probability of engaging with potential clients actively seeking legal representation.

How can Consultwebs’ ADC services benefit personal injury law firms?

.Consultwebs helps position personal injury firms in ADC. Some of the benefits include:

•  A prime-positioned banner ad will grace the top of every ADC page within the sponsored geographic region. This banner ad will capture the attention of ADC visitors seeking accident information in the sponsored area.
• Valuable backlinks from ADC to your law firm’s website are included. These backlinks are strategically placed from geographically relevant ADC content to specific target pages on your website.
• Any completed forms from visitors seeking legal assistance within your sponsored geographic area will be promptly forwarded to your firm. This includes the visitor’s contact information, thus providing a direct line of communication with potential clients.
• Monthly analytical reports as part of our commitment to transparency. These reports offer in-depth insights into the performance of your ADC marketing efforts. 
• Expert recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of ADC backlinks with your firm’s website. This can help boost your site’s legal SEO performance and increase its visibility in search engine results. 

The ADC & Exclusivity With Consultwebs

When working with Consultwebs, your firm can also expect exclusivity with respect to your chosen region. The ADC service is dedicated solely to one or more client law firms sponsoring a specific geographic region. No advertisements from rival legal entities or any other promotional content appear on ADC pages for the sponsored area. 

Furthermore, no law firm outside of Consultwebs’ clientele can sponsor a geographic area already under the sponsorship of a Consultwebs client. This exclusivity ensures that your firm gets undivided visibility in your chosen area.

Takeaways

The Accident Data Center presents a unique opportunity for personal injury law firms to stand out in a crowded market. By leveraging Consultwebs’ ADC services, you can harness the power of this platform to connect with an audience actively seeking legal representation following car accidents and traffic collisions.

Interested in learning more about how the ADC? Reach out to one of our seasoned marketing experts. 

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In-House vs. Agency: Choosing Your Law Firm’s Marketing Solution

Are you struggling to choose between an in-house marketing team and an external agency for your law firm’s marketing needs? Allow us to help. 

To outsource or not to outsource, that is the modern-day Shakespearean dilemma many law firms face when strategizing their marketing efforts. The answer is, unfortunately, not a clear-cut one, and the best choice will differ for every law firm, depending on factors such as size, budget, and specific marketing objectives.

In this blog post, we delve into the key considerations and advantages of both options, providing you with a comprehensive guide to help you understand the differences between building an in-house marketing team and working with an external legal marketing agency. With this knowledge in hand, you will be better equipped to make an informed decision that aligns with your firm’s unique goals.

In-House Marketing Teams

An in-house marketing team consists of employees hired by your law firm to handle all aspects of your marketing strategy. Bringing your marketing team in-house, or ‘in-housing,’ involves developing a team to spearhead marketing facets such as content creation, social media management, and search engine optimization (SEO).

Pros:

• Internal communication: In-house marketing teams benefit from direct, fast communication with other departments. Have a question about a marketing strategy? Your team member’s desk is likely only a couple of steps away. 
• Brand familiarity: In-house teams have a deep understanding of your law firm’s brand identity, allowing them to create marketing materials that align with your firm’s image and message.
• The highest degree of control: With an in-house team, you have more direct control over the marketing process and can easily make changes to strategies and priorities as needed.

Cons: 

• Limited expertise: Especially if your marketing team is small, there’s a limit to what your team can accomplish. In-house teams may lack the diverse skill sets and specialized knowledge that a marketing agency can provide, potentially limiting the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. 

• Scalability challenges: Expanding an in-house team can be time-consuming and costly, making it difficult to adapt quickly to changing market conditions or increased demand.
• High Cost: Building an in-house marketing team can become very expensive, very quickly. It requires hiring and training new staff as well as providing them with salaries, insurance, retirement benefits, and office space. Even with an average, three-person large marketing team, these expenses can easily reach and exceed $200,000 in yearly expenses. 

Marketing Agencies

A legal marketing agency is an external company that specializes in providing marketing services specifically tailored to the unique needs of law firms. They possess a team of experts with extensive experience in various digital marketing areas.

Pros: 

• Industry Expertise: Law firm marketing professionals like us have decades of industry experience in the legal field that’s difficult for an in-house team to compete with. This expertise allows us to stay current with the latest trends and create tailored marketing strategies compatible with your firm’s practice areas and location.
• Large, diverse teams: If you’re looking to get the most out of your marketing investment, the reality is that it will take a village. Luckily, manpower is not a problem for marketing agencies. They often have multidisciplinary teams of specialists who can handle various aspects of your law firm’s marketing efforts, including: 

• • SEO
  • Content creation
  • OTT advertising
  • Social media management
  • Web design
  • Email marketing
  • And more

• Cost-effective: Marketing agencies allow you to vary your investment based on your budgetary constraints for the year, as opposed to in-house marketing teams that require a constant, year-over-year investment. This flexible, ‘pay as much as you want’ approach proves to be much more affordable over time. 
• Access to advanced tools: Legal marketing agencies have access to cutting-edge marketing tools and technology. By hiring an agency, you don’t have to worry about investing in licenses to use these tools – they come with the package. LawEval, for instance, is an advanced analytics platform that Consultwebs uses to optimize our clients’ marketing campaigns.
• Time-saving: Outsourcing your marketing to an agency frees up your law firm’s time, allowing you to focus on your core business activities and client relationships.

Cons: 

• Less control: Outsourcing your marketing efforts may sometimes result in less direct control over strategy and execution. That said, a good legal marketing agency will take the time to get to know your firm and ensure that their and your firm’s goals are in alignment with each other. 
• Limited familiarity: An external agency may not be as familiar with your firm’s culture, values, and objectives. This might require bringing them up to speed on what’s important to you and your firm. 
• Slower communication: Sometimes, working with an external agency may involve longer response times and delays in communication. However, the most effective agencies combat this stereotype in two ways: 
  • Open communication channels: Top-notch legal marketing agencies prioritize client communication and maintain open lines of communication, ensuring that clients are kept in the loop and can reach out to their team whenever necessary.
  • Transparent access to data: Consultwebs believes in transparency and empowers its clients by providing them with access to resources like LawEval. This platform allows clients to check their marketing data and analytics anytime they wish, ensuring that they can independently monitor the progress and success of their marketing efforts.

The Consultwebs Approach to Marketing

If you choose to go the marketing agency route, why should you choose Consultwebs? 

There are many reasons (which we’d be happy to discuss if you wanted to hop on a phone call with one of our industry experts), but most importantly, we know and understand the legal industry. Where other marketing firms need to educate themselves about industries that might be foreign to them, Consultwebs exclusively specializes in legal marketing. With 23 years of experience in the business, we’ve had the opportunity to customize and refine our marketing approach specifically for the legal industry.

Takeaways

Which option is right for you? 

Although we personally are biased towards the benefits of hiring a legal marketing agency, the ultimate decision will depend on your law firm’s specific desires and goals. If you’re still on the fence, try talking it through during a free consultation with one of our marketing professionals. 

We ultimately want you to make the decision that’s best for your law firm, and we’re more than happy to provide guidance and answer any questions you may have to help you make an informed choice.

 

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Avvo: Why Your Firm Should Utilize It and How to Optimize Your Profile

Are you making the most out of your Avvo profile? 

If you’re an attorney, chances are you’ve already heard of Avvo. And, particularly if you discovered that Avvo created an online profile for you without your consent, you might have mixed feelings about it. 

Despite any initial reservations, Avvo presents a unique marketing opportunity for legal professionals to strengthen their online presence. In this article, we will explore the importance of optimizing your Avvo profile and delve into the best practices to achieve this.

What is Avvo? 

Avvo is a very popular legal search directory that specializes in providing data about practicing attorneys. Think of it as the Yelp of the attorney world.

Although it was initially created to connect clients to the right attorney, its services have since expanded. Some of its free features include: 

• Attorney directory: Avvo has a comprehensive directory of attorneys across various legal practice areas. Clients can search for attorneys based on location, practice area, and other factors.
• Client reviews: Avvo allows clients to leave reviews of their experiences with attorneys on the platform.
• Legal Q&A: Avvo has a question-and-answer forum where clients can ask legal questions and receive answers from attorneys. 
• Legal guides and resources: Avvo offers a range of free legal resources and tools, including legal guides, calculators, and forms. These resources can help clients better understand their legal rights and options, and can also help attorneys better serve their clients.

Avvo also offers a paid service called “Avvo Pro” that allows attorneys additional features like hiding negative reviews, promoting your profile in search results, and access to advanced SEO analytics.

Avvo is commonly not well-liked by attorneys. Why? 

Well, partly because even if you think you’re not on Avvo, you still probably are. That’s because Avvo automatically creates a profile for every licensed attorney it can locate. Currently, Avvo has a profile on 97% of attorneys in the US. Avvo scrapes public information from the State Bar Associations to obtain basic details regarding your bar admissions, firm location, and practice area and uses that info to populate your profile. Potential clients can then discover your profile and write reviews about your firm. 

Why should you expand on your Avvo profile? 

Quite simply, if you’re not expanding your Avvo profile already, you should be.

Avvo ranks attorneys using a proprietary algorithm that takes into account various factors, including client reviews, Avvo profile completeness, peer endorsements, and professional achievements. Therefore, by defaulting to the basic attorney profile Avvo automatically assigns to you, you risk being overlooked by Avvo’s algorithm. 

And trust us: ranking poorly on Avvo’s algorithm puts your firm at a big disadvantage. Avvos is an essential marketing tool for all law firms for three primary reasons:  

• Avvo is great for law firm SEO. So you want to make sure your firm ranks highly on search engine results? Avvo attorney profiles frequently make the front page of Google. And, unsurprisingly, the more developed your Avvo profile is, the more likely your practice is to rank highly. 
• Avvo increases your firm’s visibility. Avvo offers a service that millions of potential clients utilize each month. Without developing your online profile, you could unknowingly be ranking low on Avvo’s directory results and missing out on Avvo’s huge user base. This means that when a client searches for “best personal injury firm near me”, your firm could be sitting sadly (and unnecessarily!) on page 10 of Avvo’s directory. 
• Avvo gives you an avenue to address reviews. Sometimes you get good reviews, sometimes you don’t. But if you have an active profile on Avvo, you can at least begin to control the narrative by responding to client feedback. (More on this in the following section.)

Best Practices for Optimizing Your Avvo Profile

Complete your profile as much as possible

A well-fleshed-out profile is critical to ranking higher in Avvo’s algorithm. Fill out all sections, including your professional background, education, awards, publications, and associations.

We recommend getting your Avvos profile completion to about 90%. If you wish to include a payments and fee section, you can even push this number as high as 95%. However, we’ve found that 90% profile completion is about where you begin to see diminishing returns to your Avvo algorithm ranking.

And remember: don’t forget to include a professional, high-quality photo of yourself! 

Discover the Best DIY-Headshot Tricks for Legal Professionals

Request peer endorsements

Avvo’s algorithm weighs peer endorsements heavily when determining your ranking. Fortunately, Avvos has a simple button in the “Endorsements” section that allows you to reach out to 50 attorneys in your field at once to provide endorsements for your profile. Be sure to return the favor by endorsing your peers as well!

Encourage and respond to client reviews 

Positive client reviews are your singularly most powerful marketing tool. Gently nudge your satisfied clients to share their experiences on your Avvo profile, but remember to play by the rules – no incentives or ethical guideline violations! Remember your Model Rules of Professional Conduct, ladies and gentlemen. 

But, no matter the nature of the review, take the time to show you care by responding to your clients. Thank them for their kind words or address any concerns in a friendly, professional manner. This shows your dedication to making your clients happy and goes a long way in building trust with future clients.

And how can your law firm handle negative reviews? 

Learn How to Respond to Negative Reviews Here  

Contribute to the Avvo community

Avvo offers attorneys the opportunity to answer legal questions from users in the platform’s Q&A section. By providing helpful, accurate answers, you can showcase your expertise and knowledge while simultaneously driving traffic to your Avvos profile. 

Highlight your case results and publications

Two items that also help you rank highly in Avos’s algorithm? A list of your case results and previous publications. 

Give potential clients a taste of your legal expertise by presenting a selection of your most impressive wins, settlements, or verdicts. Include a brief summary of each case’s outcome.

You should similarly keep a running list of your attorney publications. Keep in mind this section is not just limited to researched notes published in accredited, peer-reviewed legal journals. Instead, feel free to mention short blog articles, legal opinion pieces, or written documentation from previous speaking engagements. 

Update your profile regularly

 Keep your profile up-to-date with your latest accomplishments, awards, and certifications. Regular updates signal that your profile is active and relevant, helping to improve your ranking.

Takeaway

Investing time and effort into your Avvo profile can truly make a difference for your law firm. By applying these best practices, you’ll be well on your way to enhancing your online presence and connecting with potential clients in a meaningful way.

Want more guidance on how to get started on Avvo or other legal marketing ventures? Don’t worry – we’re here to help. 

 

The post Avvo: Why Your Firm Should Utilize It and How to Optimize Your Profile appeared first on Consultwebs.

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