The Spend - Legal Web Sites

by Micah Buchdahl

Every day, you receive solicitations from "legal" web sites offering paid, enhanced listings, "top spot" opportunities, sponsorships, the chance to sell you content, help you get found, help you make money, blah, blah, blah. It takes very little due diligence to find out that most of that money could have been just as effective... flushed down the toilet.

The so-called "testimonials" are few and far between. When I sit down with a firm to help them allocate these expenditures, I often point to the underlying falsities in many site claims of traffic, page views, affiliations and results. Your best bet is still to request a free trial period, or at the very least, the opportunity for a quick exit. I recently saw a large legal site promote its new "corporate counsel" section as the web's leading. It was NEW. And, to date, I do not know a single GC colleague that has ever used it. Watch out for pretty sites and fancy materials. Seek out references and results.

It is generally more effective to market online at non-legal sites, and established search engines and directories, rather than throw your hat in the ring with thousands of other lawyers and law firms putting themselves in the same arena. Since may legal sites tout their relationships with the Yahoos and Googles of the world as a prime selling point - why not buy direct and cut out the middlepeople?

Ignore the slick brochures, CD-ROM demos and fast-talking pitches. Call around to those already paying for programs at these sites to ask about effectiveness and experiences. I recently took advantage of a free online promotion that truly had no-strings-attached. In less than a week, I had received a genuine lead. They will have a much easier time getting me to pay them something down the pike.

However, there are still a few places where the dollars can be spent effectively. For the most part, most legal-oriented sites are junk. Some of the biggest legal sites have become nothing but a way to sell its own products, or find any kind of online real estate to have their salespeople pitch to unwitting lawyers. And consider whether you really want to pay money to have your content appear on someone else's web site? They should pay you! Or buy articles written in a boiler room for mass consumption. Sit down and write it yourself, or work with a staffer to do it together.

The sites below have no affiliation with IMA, and offer nothing in return for this mention. They are simply some of the more credible options to consider. Check them out on your own. Look for effective placements and opportunities. Then, ask for sales info and pricing.

Options:

Martindale-Hubbell
www.martindale.com

We all love to bash M-H. All that money for those print listings! The bottom line remains - it is without question the most recognized and used legal directory and legal information site in the business. While their www.lawyers.com site is geared toward the consumer audience, the Martindale site remains the one that real lawyers, real corporate counsel and real businesses look to for guidance. Just ask your colleagues. They provide numerous paid online opportunities. It is always worth a piece of the marketing budget. And, their visitors and page views are the people you actually are targeting. Many other sites just look to dazzle you with numbers of those you do not want to meet. The days of "eyeballs" are long gone; you do not care about the numbers, but the audience, effectiveness and results.

Law.com
www.law.com

While the Martindale directory rules, this site?s content is king of the legal sites. If your target audience is consumers, you may be better off spending elsewhere. However, if it is GCs and referrals, this is the place. The free daily law.com e-mails may be the most effective e-mail sponsorship possibilities in the business.

Law Periscope
www.lawperiscope.com

Another site focusing on large firms and corporate counsel. Again, only powerful if you are playing in this space.

Other Legal Sites that might be worth a look:

www.lawinfo.com
www.acca.com
www.hg.org

Certainly for the consumer audience, and often for practice specialties, look for sites that are much more targeted. This is a process I often use, taking two general routes.

Route One - the practice area - search a half-dozen search engines using the terms you wish to market; check out the sites that come up, jot down the marketing opportunities, contact the site for pricing, traffic and services information.

Route Two - geographical - do the same thing as above. Especially in targeting consumers and regional business, the Localsite.com increases the odds and rarely has thousands of attorneys competing with each other in the same space. As opposed to the online yellow page option, where you get lost in the shuffle - unless big bucks are involved.

If you ever wish to ask about a particular site or opportunity, feel free to contact me at micah@HTMLawyers.com. I'm always happy to let you know about my experiences.