Blackberry's are wonderful things but can be difficult to install and manage.
Recently I had a new laptop come with Vista that had to be reset to Windows Xp to allign with the tech practices for the company. If that wasent painful enough as I had to go to intel and other part manufacturers for drivers since Sony did not feel it nessesary to post drivers for this computer for anything other then Vista (eventhough the model is the same as previous versions which had XP, if you download another systems drivers the setup exists telling you this isnt the right computer model, silly)
I installed the Blackberry Desktop software and viola, right? Usually the "Standard Modem" shows up and on Sprint you can have it dial #777 and get internet. No such luck this time for soem reason. I go to Control Panel to add a Modem and none of the standard modem types in Windows exists, great.
Blackberry desktop manager requires the Windows Standard Modem drivers. If Windows forgot them you need to reinstall them. Go find an existing Windows XP computer and search for "MDMGEN.INF" copy that to a flash driver and place it in the windows system folder on the troubled computer. Then go to add a modem and chose "have disk" and add a standard modem. Remove the modem and remove BBerry Desktop. Reinstall BBerry desktop and this time the software should find your drivers, install the Standard Modem and life should be happy. Do not forget to change the default speed on that modem in the preferences to the highest so you get the most from your EVDO or other connection. Also, make sure you have a blackberry unlimited data plan of some nature. For Sprint customers if you are already paying the 40/mo for unlimited data you should be ok.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Maximize Outlook and Exchange
One of my biggest issues is when companies spend money on new technology when they have not fully utilized the technology they have purchased. Yes, this includes such run of the mill technology as Windows, Word and Windows Server 2000-2003.
These are fantastic programs with many features that people rarely use but can make your business run better.
For example: Does your business operate in teams on client projects?
Whether your a lawyer or other professional operating in teams of varying types and groups did you know Microsoft Exchange can help you manage the email rat race?
Problem: Teams of attorneys which can change need to track email on clients, the firm needs to have a central storing point for client email which is organized.
Solution: Use exchange groups and distribution lists and public folders to manage email firm wide and ensure proper workflow. Also, use Outlook rules to save on staff time managing the process.
In exchange you can create public folders, this is hopefully not news. You can use these public folders to store client related emails in client named folders. Did you also know that if you create a distribution list (a list which when an email is sent to the list address copies people within your organization you designate) which also copies a public folder. Whoa. So, by entering all active clients with all the attorneys and staff on the case in a distribution list and that clients corresponding folder merely by having people being to type the clients name in the "To" it will send that email to everyone on the case and drop a copy in that clients public folder email directory for later review/search/printing.
Outlook rules can help even further. All client emails are sent to a general inbox. You can tell outlook to check the from on any incoming email and if it is equal to bob@bobsemail.com send a copy to bobs external comm public folder.
by taking these few steps the entire email monster for ensuring client related emails get to everyone and get retained for case/malpractice/e-discovery purposes can be accomplished with little to no human intervention.
Make sure you are working with consultants in IT who do not just ask what problems you have with computers but understand your business challenges. Technology only makes sense when its applied to real problems.
These are fantastic programs with many features that people rarely use but can make your business run better.
For example: Does your business operate in teams on client projects?
Whether your a lawyer or other professional operating in teams of varying types and groups did you know Microsoft Exchange can help you manage the email rat race?
Problem: Teams of attorneys which can change need to track email on clients, the firm needs to have a central storing point for client email which is organized.
Solution: Use exchange groups and distribution lists and public folders to manage email firm wide and ensure proper workflow. Also, use Outlook rules to save on staff time managing the process.
In exchange you can create public folders, this is hopefully not news. You can use these public folders to store client related emails in client named folders. Did you also know that if you create a distribution list (a list which when an email is sent to the list address copies people within your organization you designate) which also copies a public folder. Whoa. So, by entering all active clients with all the attorneys and staff on the case in a distribution list and that clients corresponding folder merely by having people being to type the clients name in the "To" it will send that email to everyone on the case and drop a copy in that clients public folder email directory for later review/search/printing.
Outlook rules can help even further. All client emails are sent to a general inbox. You can tell outlook to check the from on any incoming email and if it is equal to bob@bobsemail.com send a copy to bobs external comm public folder.
by taking these few steps the entire email monster for ensuring client related emails get to everyone and get retained for case/malpractice/e-discovery purposes can be accomplished with little to no human intervention.
Make sure you are working with consultants in IT who do not just ask what problems you have with computers but understand your business challenges. Technology only makes sense when its applied to real problems.
Mounting an LCD or Plasma TV
Sorry I have been away. As always projects ramp up and down which leaves me with more or less time to think.
I will be back and recommitted to share what I have been up to lately.
I have plenty of business improvement posts coming but I wanted to take the time to share my trials with getting my home new Toshiba Regza 42in TV on the wall above my fireplace. First of all any site which says "if you can hang a picture you can hang an LCD TV" obviously has never done it before. I am not saying that a less then tech savvy person cannot do it but it requires 2 people with moderate home and tech skills to accomplish this task with any speed and if your TV weighs more then 80lbs maybe 3 or 4 just for lifting.
I purchased the LCD TV online at a good price and a Mustang LCD mount along with it. The first and most important step is locating the studs in your wall. I used a decent stud finder, electronic which can detect electrical and depth of the stud on top of that annoying beep. If you dont' have one I would highly recommend that you buy one which tells you the center of the stud not just if there is one.
Check, check twice and then check again for stud centers and edges. Mark them on the wall and draw a line marking the left, right and center of the 2 studs you are going after. If you miss or end up skewed into a stud it can make the TV less stable. Now place your mount on the wall and use a level (or the built in level) to find where you have bolt holes that line up with your lines for the center of the stud. Mark these locations and take the mount down. Go get your drill and pre-drill at least 1/3-1/2 of the length of your bolts. Then have help placing the mount on the wall again. level and screw the bolts into the wall and if necessary tighten with a wrench or socket set.
Now that the mount is up place the corresponding brackets on the back of your TV, plug in any cables that will be impossible to reach once its on the wall then hoist it up there. That was the biggest challenge as 70lbs is not easy to lift above your head when its that awkwardly large.
Obviously if you are running power to the LCD on the wall get an electrician to do any power wiring and perhaps run your A/V cables as well so they are not near any electrical as this can cause distortion in your picture.
In all a fun project for the average do it yourself person. Be very sure that your wall can handle the load some plasma and LCD TVs can weigh 100+lbs and some will rip right out of the wall if not installed properly.
Good luck to all those who attempt this route.
I will be back and recommitted to share what I have been up to lately.
I have plenty of business improvement posts coming but I wanted to take the time to share my trials with getting my home new Toshiba Regza 42in TV on the wall above my fireplace. First of all any site which says "if you can hang a picture you can hang an LCD TV" obviously has never done it before. I am not saying that a less then tech savvy person cannot do it but it requires 2 people with moderate home and tech skills to accomplish this task with any speed and if your TV weighs more then 80lbs maybe 3 or 4 just for lifting.
I purchased the LCD TV online at a good price and a Mustang LCD mount along with it. The first and most important step is locating the studs in your wall. I used a decent stud finder, electronic which can detect electrical and depth of the stud on top of that annoying beep. If you dont' have one I would highly recommend that you buy one which tells you the center of the stud not just if there is one.
Check, check twice and then check again for stud centers and edges. Mark them on the wall and draw a line marking the left, right and center of the 2 studs you are going after. If you miss or end up skewed into a stud it can make the TV less stable. Now place your mount on the wall and use a level (or the built in level) to find where you have bolt holes that line up with your lines for the center of the stud. Mark these locations and take the mount down. Go get your drill and pre-drill at least 1/3-1/2 of the length of your bolts. Then have help placing the mount on the wall again. level and screw the bolts into the wall and if necessary tighten with a wrench or socket set.
Now that the mount is up place the corresponding brackets on the back of your TV, plug in any cables that will be impossible to reach once its on the wall then hoist it up there. That was the biggest challenge as 70lbs is not easy to lift above your head when its that awkwardly large.
Obviously if you are running power to the LCD on the wall get an electrician to do any power wiring and perhaps run your A/V cables as well so they are not near any electrical as this can cause distortion in your picture.
In all a fun project for the average do it yourself person. Be very sure that your wall can handle the load some plasma and LCD TVs can weigh 100+lbs and some will rip right out of the wall if not installed properly.
Good luck to all those who attempt this route.
Friday, May 4, 2007
hosted voicemail transcription - VoVision
Alright I have had a number of email and comment requests to talk about VoVision.
VoVision came as a solution to a number of problems:
First that voice recognition sales people have been placed in the position to be liars for the last 15 years. They had to promise a system could do things that are not possible. We understand that their are many pitfalls to accurate voice recognition especially when you put it in a real world environment. That is why in my opnion the only realy voice recognition will be one which self learns or adapts based on a broad range of data. Enter VoVision.
In the legal industry this means you can put down tapes, microphones, individual installs of Dragon naturally Speaking etc. and instead opt for a hosted or in house call in system. Which automaticly sends files to a web interface and notifies the corrector that new files are available. In addition when your support staff correct your document and send it back for final review to go out to a client. The system TRAINS ITSELF. The next time that client/matter/voice etc. comes up the system will be more accurate. Reducing the time and cost in dictation, voicemail transcription etc.
Contact sales@vovision.com if you are intested or have more questions and someone will get back to you.
If anyone has more specific questions post them here and I will address them.
VoVision came as a solution to a number of problems:
First that voice recognition sales people have been placed in the position to be liars for the last 15 years. They had to promise a system could do things that are not possible. We understand that their are many pitfalls to accurate voice recognition especially when you put it in a real world environment. That is why in my opnion the only realy voice recognition will be one which self learns or adapts based on a broad range of data. Enter VoVision.
In the legal industry this means you can put down tapes, microphones, individual installs of Dragon naturally Speaking etc. and instead opt for a hosted or in house call in system. Which automaticly sends files to a web interface and notifies the corrector that new files are available. In addition when your support staff correct your document and send it back for final review to go out to a client. The system TRAINS ITSELF. The next time that client/matter/voice etc. comes up the system will be more accurate. Reducing the time and cost in dictation, voicemail transcription etc.
Contact sales@vovision.com if you are intested or have more questions and someone will get back to you.
If anyone has more specific questions post them here and I will address them.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Office 2007
Rather the reinvent the wheel check out this review of Microsoft Office 2007. I think his discussions on the usefulness of the new "Ribbon" are interesting. I think different users will have different perspectives. One thing is for sure, more training will be required for Vista and Office 2007 then any other Microsoft product.
Virtualization Linux and Windows
I saw this article today and had to post about it. Virtualization is a buzz word going on around the IT industry right now. I can assure you it is more then buzz. Every IT Admin has to be excited about the concept of "virtual" copies of their critical servers. Instead of ghost images or other files which only help in failure virtualized copies can do that and more. Think if you needed to install updates to a server that cannot go down but you have 2 servers. You can open a virtual copy of the key server while the other is down for maintenance. This type of technology coupled with programs which will allow quick updates of these images will create a powerful case for 0 downtime. As hardware redundancy gets better each year finally I believe we have a usable solution on the software side.
I suggest all IT and IT interested people go to vmware.com and try their demo software to get familiar with this technology.
Oh, the article. This caught my eye because I, like many in IT, see the value in running Linux machines. A more stable, more secure and more cost effective solution. What do you do about the need for windows apps? Well windows linux tie-in programs have been around and maybe let you play a very old PC game none were ready for business deployment. Virtualization may change this as well. If Microsoft was willing to loosen its licensee restrictions on OS copies this would be even nicer. Think of a different world where your core infrastructure is all Linux and you run small virtualizations of Windows for any programs which cannot make the switch to Linux. There is an interesting idea here...
I suggest all IT and IT interested people go to vmware.com and try their demo software to get familiar with this technology.
Oh, the article. This caught my eye because I, like many in IT, see the value in running Linux machines. A more stable, more secure and more cost effective solution. What do you do about the need for windows apps? Well windows linux tie-in programs have been around and maybe let you play a very old PC game none were ready for business deployment. Virtualization may change this as well. If Microsoft was willing to loosen its licensee restrictions on OS copies this would be even nicer. Think of a different world where your core infrastructure is all Linux and you run small virtualizations of Windows for any programs which cannot make the switch to Linux. There is an interesting idea here...
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Multiple Monitors
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2005_Dec_16/ai_n15949508
This is one of many articles about the trend towards dual monitors. I must say that as a web developer I do not think I could function with only one. Must computers now are shipping with dual monitor capability and if they are not a replacement graphics card can be found for $80 which does.
Monitors as well have come down in price making it even easier to justify the costs. The caveat I would make is that your users have to be savvy enough to utilize the increased space not just clutter it with more pictures of their friends or animals.
I am not sure we could justify it firm-wide but take an extra monitor you have lying around and have your Legal Administrator, IT Manager, or Managing Partner give it a try.
HOWTO:
If you have a laptop it has a monitor port it is blue and
looks like this:
If you have a desktop and you see 2 of these then you are in luck. It is also likely you have one of these and a scary looking white connector. That is called DVI. For a few dollars you can buy a DVI to VGA converter to make it resemble this picture and your monitor cable.
In Windows "rcight click" on your desktop and select properties.
then the "Settings tab"
You will see both of your monitors in the window. Click on the one with a "2" and check the box which says "Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor"
Thats it!
For a great companion program called UltraMon goto:http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/
The best thing about this is it adds small icons to the left of your usual "min, max,close" options in the upper right of each window. One icon tells the computer to open that window on the other monitor the other icon tells it to stretch the window across both.
Advice: Buy matching monitors in size and brand. Get 17 to 19 inch monitors with very very thin edges to when the 2 stand together there isn't a big gab. You can also buy stands which mount them together if you want.
This is one of many articles about the trend towards dual monitors. I must say that as a web developer I do not think I could function with only one. Must computers now are shipping with dual monitor capability and if they are not a replacement graphics card can be found for $80 which does.
Monitors as well have come down in price making it even easier to justify the costs. The caveat I would make is that your users have to be savvy enough to utilize the increased space not just clutter it with more pictures of their friends or animals.
I am not sure we could justify it firm-wide but take an extra monitor you have lying around and have your Legal Administrator, IT Manager, or Managing Partner give it a try.
HOWTO:
If you have a laptop it has a monitor port it is blue and
looks like this:If you have a desktop and you see 2 of these then you are in luck. It is also likely you have one of these and a scary looking white connector. That is called DVI. For a few dollars you can buy a DVI to VGA converter to make it resemble this picture and your monitor cable.
In Windows "rcight click" on your desktop and select properties.
then the "Settings tab"
You will see both of your monitors in the window. Click on the one with a "2" and check the box which says "Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor"
Thats it!
For a great companion program called UltraMon goto:http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/
The best thing about this is it adds small icons to the left of your usual "min, max,close" options in the upper right of each window. One icon tells the computer to open that window on the other monitor the other icon tells it to stretch the window across both.
Advice: Buy matching monitors in size and brand. Get 17 to 19 inch monitors with very very thin edges to when the 2 stand together there isn't a big gab. You can also buy stands which mount them together if you want.
Back up and Recovery options
I will be blogging on our backup and recovery revamp we have done recently. If you heard me speaking about it this week and just want the basic info here it is for now, more as we deploy the system.
EVault is the company.
www.evault.com
Contact: Matt Burskey, 312-291-3003
The short version is they are not the cheapest backup solution but if your data is important to you this company can deliver for law firms I believe. Feel free to contact me directly with any questions pmh@b-rlaw.com.
EVault is the company.
www.evault.com
Contact: Matt Burskey, 312-291-3003
The short version is they are not the cheapest backup solution but if your data is important to you this company can deliver for law firms I believe. Feel free to contact me directly with any questions pmh@b-rlaw.com.
Paper - less Office Part 1
This is the first of many posts on our firm's transition to a less paper office. I just came back from an excellent presentation by another firm on their transition. I will see if I can get permission to share some of their great ideas and challenges.
I wanted to first post that when thinking of the technology impact of a more electronic office think first of how you will handle the volume of data. For our firm this meant adding more hard drives and making sure we had a backup system which was able to scale with our increased data demands. More on the backup solution we came up with in another post.
The next step from a purely hardware side (note policies and buy-in are probably come before this chronologically but for my purposes today I am dealing with hardware) is selecting scanners. This really is a business process issue if you currently have people used to going to main copiers and need to still make copies then looking into adding onto or leasing copiers with higher end document scanners built in is an excellent idea. If, however, staff process mail at their desk, desktop scanners are an excellent option.
Desktop scanners used to be single sheet fed or barely ADF machines that did a terrible job. Time and technology growth in the million dollar scanning industry have brought better products to market. The 2 I have focused in on are the Xerox Documate 152 and the Fujitsu S500. Both can be found for between $400-$500 with software. Both come with Adobe products which off the shelf cost as much or more then the machines themselves. These really are fantastic deals for decent machines.
I have seen the Fujistu product in action and the things right now that have me leaning that direction are its ability to deal with lots of paper types. This machine can handle small pieces of glossy paper all the way to legal documents. It orients them automatically, scans both sides and adjusts to color or black and white all on the fly. The documents can also be OCR'd as they are being scanned. I will get into the benefits and pitfalls of individual machines doing this process at a later time. Properly configured this little machine can make searchable PDF's of about anything very quickly all at the staff members desk. I encourage people to find reps for Xerox and Fujitsu and go see these machines in action because they will get a lot of use if you can convince people to use them.
More to follow on growing your own cost effective paperless office system....
I wanted to first post that when thinking of the technology impact of a more electronic office think first of how you will handle the volume of data. For our firm this meant adding more hard drives and making sure we had a backup system which was able to scale with our increased data demands. More on the backup solution we came up with in another post.
The next step from a purely hardware side (note policies and buy-in are probably come before this chronologically but for my purposes today I am dealing with hardware) is selecting scanners. This really is a business process issue if you currently have people used to going to main copiers and need to still make copies then looking into adding onto or leasing copiers with higher end document scanners built in is an excellent idea. If, however, staff process mail at their desk, desktop scanners are an excellent option.
Desktop scanners used to be single sheet fed or barely ADF machines that did a terrible job. Time and technology growth in the million dollar scanning industry have brought better products to market. The 2 I have focused in on are the Xerox Documate 152 and the Fujitsu S500. Both can be found for between $400-$500 with software. Both come with Adobe products which off the shelf cost as much or more then the machines themselves. These really are fantastic deals for decent machines.
I have seen the Fujistu product in action and the things right now that have me leaning that direction are its ability to deal with lots of paper types. This machine can handle small pieces of glossy paper all the way to legal documents. It orients them automatically, scans both sides and adjusts to color or black and white all on the fly. The documents can also be OCR'd as they are being scanned. I will get into the benefits and pitfalls of individual machines doing this process at a later time. Properly configured this little machine can make searchable PDF's of about anything very quickly all at the staff members desk. I encourage people to find reps for Xerox and Fujitsu and go see these machines in action because they will get a lot of use if you can convince people to use them.
More to follow on growing your own cost effective paperless office system....
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Legal Online Marketing
Below is an article I wrote for a local chapter of ALA on legal marketing. Tomorrow I will post the top 10 questions you should ask of a person or company before choosing them to help you with your legal SEO, SEM or other online marketing effort. When Toby Brown provided me with a list of questions to ask of online backup systems I found that more useful then any number of articles because it gave me a road map for how I can do by own diligence in finding the best solution for my organization.
Checking Your Homework: Does Your Legal Website Make the Grade?
By: Paul Hager, IT Manager Balisle & Roberson S.C.
I often hear lawyers talk about how there is no way they could ever be in the top 10 on Google or Yahoo’s search engine rankings. Excuses abound for not making an online marketing effort, the most common being that we don’t have the money or resources. Almost everyone, however, can have success on the Internet with careful and targeted Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This phrase has gotten a lot of use in the last five years as search marketing companies are becoming recognized as true marketing professionals. As with all industries, there are a range of talents. Unfortunately you can find companies sending out emails saying they can get you on the top 10 on Google overnight! Stay away from fancy promises. Marketing online, especially for lawyers, needs to be done carefully and in line with your business model. Even if you market your business successfully you must have the business structures in place to handle the new growth in a positive and profitable manner.
The first step in online marketing has nothing to do with computers or fancy code. The task is to establish what keywords or search terms are most relevant to your customers. The most important thing to realize is that if you are a family law firm, your goal should not be to be listed in the top 10 on Google for just the phrase "family law". While it is a fine goal, you are not only competing against lawyer sites but commercial and junk sites as well. With some work and assistance from outside marketing help, you could probably be successful in this broad term. It is, however, more beneficial if you can be found under "Wisconsin Family Law Attorney". This is a very relevant search since anyone who types that in is more likely to be searching for an attorney to hire in their local area then someone simply enters a generic phrase. You will be surprised who comes up under these terms and how many times they are used in a month. If your site can capture all 30 searches in a month under these terms, you will get a greater ROI then getting 1,000 hits from a broad term that people immediately leave the site when they realize its an attorney.
What goes into search engine rankings? If I knew every part then I would be a rich person. Search Engines use complex algorithms to categorize and rank websites. These may include things like having compliant code, using HTML or PHP code instead of ASPX or ASP. Having alternate image tags, keywords in the META tags at the top of each page, and page titles to list a few. While these changes may not boost you to the top of the rankings, take a look at your website and decide whether you measure up:
1) Is the website easy to navigate? An attorneys’ goal is a contact or a phone call. Is there a contact form or phone number on EVERY page?
2) Is the site picture heavy? Very pretty sites can be very bad for search engines. Search engine "spiders" or "bots" are not intelligent. They cannot see pictures and read the page from the code side going from the top down. Using a basic browser like Lynx Viewer can help you see your site through the eyes of a bot. If your site no longer makes sense then it is not making sense to the bots.
3) The page title should be very descriptive. For example, do not use "Welcome to my website" instead use: "Family Law Attorney - Wisconsin Divorce Lawyers - Balisle & Roberson - Divorce Home." The title should change from page to page as well. Home should change to a subject heading, for example the military divorce page the title should now include the word "military" as well.
4) Links, Links, Links. Getting websites that are relevant to your area of practice to link to your site will have the greatest impact. This takes time and patience and involves finding free directories, paid directories, and individual sites to link to your page. HINT: See who links to your competitors and make sure you have links from the same sites and more.
5) META keywords and description. Similar to the title, this code is hidden at the top of each page should list the keywords you are attempting to target with Search Engines. Put the most important ones first in the list. This used to be the most important factor before people learned what value Search Engines provided businesses. Today this is downgraded in importance, but should be done.
6) Content is king. You must provide examples to customers demonstrating that you know what you are doing in your field. Posting articles that you have written that use those same keywords we picked out earlier. This will show clients your expertise and show the search engines that you are relevant. This can take time, but it is a great opportunity for associates and paralegals to research and write articles that can be picked up by publishers on the Internet and that increase your firm’s brand and web position.
Ask yourself and your expense reports whether you are getting your value from Yellow Page advertising and other print ads. The Internet is increasingly becoming the only place people go to find their next professional or next product to buy. Increased marketing success for law firms may depend on their ability to stay ahead in this changing environment.
NOTE: The State Bar in all 50 states have different restrictions and regulations on what types of advertising lawyers can do and how they go about it. Check with the State Bar ethics committee in your area for the complete list of rules and clarifications.
Checking Your Homework: Does Your Legal Website Make the Grade?
By: Paul Hager, IT Manager Balisle & Roberson S.C.
I often hear lawyers talk about how there is no way they could ever be in the top 10 on Google or Yahoo’s search engine rankings. Excuses abound for not making an online marketing effort, the most common being that we don’t have the money or resources. Almost everyone, however, can have success on the Internet with careful and targeted Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This phrase has gotten a lot of use in the last five years as search marketing companies are becoming recognized as true marketing professionals. As with all industries, there are a range of talents. Unfortunately you can find companies sending out emails saying they can get you on the top 10 on Google overnight! Stay away from fancy promises. Marketing online, especially for lawyers, needs to be done carefully and in line with your business model. Even if you market your business successfully you must have the business structures in place to handle the new growth in a positive and profitable manner.
The first step in online marketing has nothing to do with computers or fancy code. The task is to establish what keywords or search terms are most relevant to your customers. The most important thing to realize is that if you are a family law firm, your goal should not be to be listed in the top 10 on Google for just the phrase "family law". While it is a fine goal, you are not only competing against lawyer sites but commercial and junk sites as well. With some work and assistance from outside marketing help, you could probably be successful in this broad term. It is, however, more beneficial if you can be found under "Wisconsin Family Law Attorney". This is a very relevant search since anyone who types that in is more likely to be searching for an attorney to hire in their local area then someone simply enters a generic phrase. You will be surprised who comes up under these terms and how many times they are used in a month. If your site can capture all 30 searches in a month under these terms, you will get a greater ROI then getting 1,000 hits from a broad term that people immediately leave the site when they realize its an attorney.
What goes into search engine rankings? If I knew every part then I would be a rich person. Search Engines use complex algorithms to categorize and rank websites. These may include things like having compliant code, using HTML or PHP code instead of ASPX or ASP. Having alternate image tags, keywords in the META tags at the top of each page, and page titles to list a few. While these changes may not boost you to the top of the rankings, take a look at your website and decide whether you measure up:
1) Is the website easy to navigate? An attorneys’ goal is a contact or a phone call. Is there a contact form or phone number on EVERY page?
2) Is the site picture heavy? Very pretty sites can be very bad for search engines. Search engine "spiders" or "bots" are not intelligent. They cannot see pictures and read the page from the code side going from the top down. Using a basic browser like Lynx Viewer can help you see your site through the eyes of a bot. If your site no longer makes sense then it is not making sense to the bots.
3) The page title should be very descriptive. For example, do not use "Welcome to my website" instead use: "Family Law Attorney - Wisconsin Divorce Lawyers - Balisle & Roberson - Divorce Home." The title should change from page to page as well. Home should change to a subject heading, for example the military divorce page the title should now include the word "military" as well.
4) Links, Links, Links. Getting websites that are relevant to your area of practice to link to your site will have the greatest impact. This takes time and patience and involves finding free directories, paid directories, and individual sites to link to your page. HINT: See who links to your competitors and make sure you have links from the same sites and more.
5) META keywords and description. Similar to the title, this code is hidden at the top of each page should list the keywords you are attempting to target with Search Engines. Put the most important ones first in the list. This used to be the most important factor before people learned what value Search Engines provided businesses. Today this is downgraded in importance, but should be done.
6) Content is king. You must provide examples to customers demonstrating that you know what you are doing in your field. Posting articles that you have written that use those same keywords we picked out earlier. This will show clients your expertise and show the search engines that you are relevant. This can take time, but it is a great opportunity for associates and paralegals to research and write articles that can be picked up by publishers on the Internet and that increase your firm’s brand and web position.
Ask yourself and your expense reports whether you are getting your value from Yellow Page advertising and other print ads. The Internet is increasingly becoming the only place people go to find their next professional or next product to buy. Increased marketing success for law firms may depend on their ability to stay ahead in this changing environment.
NOTE: The State Bar in all 50 states have different restrictions and regulations on what types of advertising lawyers can do and how they go about it. Check with the State Bar ethics committee in your area for the complete list of rules and clarifications.
Welcome
Welcome anyone in cyberland as I mark my first post to my legal technology blog. I have been in the technology management industry for over 8 years now and love to read blogs but never taken the plunge. Thanks to those of you who have encouraged me to get this started. I will try to post some of the items I have already written to give this site a kick start.
Keep in mind that I am a "tech guy" and not an author by any means. So you will have to excuse the grammar and spelling errors which are sure to follow.
Hope you subscribe and comment often as I hope this is a resource to those who are in technology and those who wish they understood it.
Thank you
Paul
Keep in mind that I am a "tech guy" and not an author by any means. So you will have to excuse the grammar and spelling errors which are sure to follow.
Hope you subscribe and comment often as I hope this is a resource to those who are in technology and those who wish they understood it.
Thank you
Paul
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