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Website Promotion - Articles
Internet Directories can
help capture business for professionals
Donald B. Kramer
Professionals have been slow to realize the enormous value of
the Internet as an advertising medium. Many have adopted e-mail
and developed websites, but they don't know what to do with
them. Every day, thousands of consumers and businesses search for professionals
on the internet. Major law firms will often
spend thousands of dollars on a website, but hesitate to spend
$295 on "Lawyers.com" or even $100 for a yearly listing at http://www.Attorneyfind.com Smaller
firms, often spending less
than $300 for a website, have been able to take great advantage
of the opportunities left open by the large firms. Sole
practitioners, with the help of good web designers, look like a
"class act" to the Internet viewer. Here are some tips for those
building a website: 1. Make the site simple and easy to
navigate. Let visitors know the basic facts on the opening
screen. 2. Avoid graphics that will slow down the loading of the
site. Internet viewers are impatient and will not wait even a
few seconds. There's no need for animation to catch attention.
At this point, the viewer is ready for facts. 3. Place your
e-mail address on the site, available for use by the viewer who
loves to communicate by e-mail. 4. Read your e-mail regularly.
Internet users expect prompt responses. For those wanting to
take a step further and actually advertise on the internet (in
addition to being on EVERY directory they can afford) heed these
words of caution: The Internet goes to more than 60 million
viewers WORLDWIDE. Therefore, target your ad to avoid useless
messages from visitors you are unable to serve. While "key word"
BANNERS on words would be too costly, you can place free listings on search
engines. Use the name of your city or state in your promotion. For instance, you
can list your firm high on a search engine at GoTo.com and pay only when someone
clicks on your listing. A Clayton, Missouri law firm in the criminal law field
should ask for listings on the words "Missouri crimes",
"Clayton crime", "Missouri arrest", etc. to make sure the
responses are coming from the right potential clients. The
search engines, where you can pay per "click-through" can be a marvelous
bargain. Don't expect a flood of traffic, but what
you do get can be worthwhile. In some cases, a "click-through"
can cost as little as a penny. Submit your site information to
the major "search engines". There are many firms on the Internet
that will do this for you without charge. Some advertise they
will submit your name to 2,000 "search engines", but this may
just generate 2,000 "thank you" messages, and little else. When
you submit your website to search engines, make sure it has
"metatags" that clearly show your categories of law and your
location, so you have a chance to end up in the right spot. Ask
your website designer to explain "metatags". Very few firms get
high listings on "search engines" and the viewing public rarely
goes beyond number 20. While there may be thousands listed in a category, the
search engine will not let the viewer go beyond
500. Professionals should let the directories do the marketing
and bring the highly targeted traffic to their site.
About the author:
Donald B. Kramer is President of "Attorneyfind" at http://www.Attorneyfind.com
It is an inexpensive and user-friendly site (spending heavily on banners and
listings to bring heavy traffic to 4,500 listings).
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