Internet Newsletter for Lawyers |
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We see our website www.duncangrehan.com as a way of introducing our law
firm and its services to new and existing clients. This information is accessible
permanently and cheaply.
We have always looked to the international market for work and our efforts
have met with some success. We work a lot for law firms and clients based in
the U.K. but we are also particularly well-known for working in the German
language for clients based in Germany, Austria and Switzerland who trade in
Ireland or who have a base here.
This message is clear from the moment you open our home page. Our site
opens with a traditional home page which offers a menu of services. Our idea
is that the viewer can move around our site to the area of work which interests
him and find more detailed information in the form of articles and updates.
Our internet pages are published in both German and English. German-speaking clients use us not only because of our quality service but also
because we can and do communicate on any issue in their own language.
Our firm has also developed a niche practice over the past twelve years in
advising on advertising and marketing law and related intellectual property
rights issues. We are part of a European-wide network of lawyers practising in
this area called The European Advertising Lawyers Association which in turn
is part of a worldwide lawyers network called the Global Advertising Lawyers
Alliance. We frequently have to provide advice at short notice on text or
campaign materials and these services are marketed on our website which
contains links through to the complementary websites of the EALA and of
GALA.
In this way our site is transformed from being a mere brochure site to a site
offering information and research resources. This aspect of it coupled with the
articles in German and English on issues of practical interest in the various
general service areas in which we operate make our site an information tool
and, we hope, assures visitors of our interest in and knowledge of the areas of
law which concern and interest them.
We have moved from being a law firm without any brochure to a law firm with
an internet brochure. We have never gone through the stage of a printed
brochure but we have the impression that printed brochures are becoming less
and less important. The firm has had a better return on its investment in its
website than it would ever have had in investing in a brochure. Printed
brochures are usually discarded. The website is permanent and easily
accessed for reference or referral.
We do not see our website as just a lure for new clients but as a component
part of any modern law business, ranking now almost equally with the
telephone. Just as having equal access to the best Counsel in the land is one
of the great advantages of the small law firm, having access to technological
advance will also ensure that we survive as the preferred unit for most
consumers of legal advice.
Duncan Grehan, of Duncan Grehan & Partners.
Email dgrehan@duncangrehan.com.
We created our site Gardenlaw www.gardenlaw.co.uk in 1999. It was
essentially a joint exercise between myself and my wife Anne, who provided the
technical input, first to see if we could accomplish the task, and secondly to see
if we could create something the public wanted.
The site gives guidance to homeowners in the minefield that is the law relating
to neighbouring properties be it in relation to boundaries, trees, roots, walls,
hedges or fences. Lleylandii are a particular source of dispute as are
overhanging branches, dogs, barbed wire and rights of way. The site's
Discussion Forum is fast becoming a social document.
It was created for interests' sake rather than, at that time, as a commercial
venture and the volume of traffic we have achieved demonstrates that
enthusiasm is the key ingredient. All the fancy flash and design in the world is
no substitute for solid content. Anyone providing a site like this needs to think
what a typical visitor would want to learn from a visit, and then try and provide
it.
The next task for us is to see if we can turn the site's success with ordinary
people into a money earner. Anne's continued research into the potential of the
internet has ensured that, without advertising the site in any way, it is Number
1 on most of the major Search Engines attracting some 750,000 hits per year
and over 36,000 visits.
Experience has shown that there is a great need for information and about 30%
of the users have bookmarked the site. It is hosted by Cheapnet whose web
statistics give a good idea of what search terms the users are using to find the
site. This information is then used to tweak the site's content, to increase the
traffic month on month.
In order to achieve a high ranking on the Search Engines here are a few
pointers:
1. Key words are crucial. These are not seen by the viewer but are picked up
by the search engines. Brainstorm with colleagues and look at the keywords on
other peoples' sites. On Gardenlaw we include such words as "overhanging
branches, fences, boundary walls, lleylandii, dogs, trees roots, trespass " etc.
If you already have a site, check its keywords.
2. Keep a close eye on which search terms are bringing most enquiries by
looking at the web statistics and them incorporate them in your site. You will be
surprised.
3. Do NOT use the offers to submit your website to 3000 search engines but
instead hand submit them to the major ones eg. Google, Yahoo and Excite.
Remember many search engines use Google themselves.
4. Keep your site active by updating it frequently or the search engines will
ignore it.
Any lawyers who wish to contribute to the Discussion Forum are most welcome
to log in and put up their views. By the way, you can download the software for
a discussion group from http://www.phpbb.com although you do need some
technical skill to set it up properly.
Richard Smithies, Bearders solicitors, Brighouse, West Yorkshire. Email
law@bearders.co.uk
Back to Contents.
Ongoing Series on Bright New Ideas for Websites
A Small Irish Firm with a Dual Language Site (English and German)
by Duncan Grehan, Duncan Grehan & Partners
A Niche Site Born of Enthusiasm - Gardenlaw
by Richard Smithies, of Bearders