On my way home last night, I spotted this out of my window. It’s a law firm in Malden, MA called “Noone and Noone.” I thought it was funny.

Popularity: 2% [?]

I can’t stay away from beta tests…..even for things that aren’t very useful to me.

Because of this, I had to try Google Page Creator. I have no other reason but curiousity to try out the service. So I created a simple page and published it.

Using the Page Creator is very simple. It’s not something like Dreamweaver obviously, but it gets the job done when you’re trying to put up a quick and dirty page from a template.

The one that makes me curious about Page Creator is how Google will index the pages in their SERPs. In the “About Page Creator” section, in a FAQ, Google addresses that question:

Will the pages I create show up in search engine results?
The pages you create can be crawled by Google within a few hours of publication. Other search engines may also index your pages as they periodically crawl the internet.

Will Google give preferential treatment to web pages created with Google Page Creator in Google search results?
No, we won’t. Web pages created using Google Page Creator will never receive any preferential treatment of any kind in Google search results.

So although Google won’t be giving preferential treatment to the pages, the pages will be crawled faster, which could be considered preferential I suppose.

I’m not sure how Google sees Page Creator fitting in to the overall web marketplace. I’m fairly certain that businesses won’t be using it for their pages, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see bloggers setting up pages and cross linking between their blogs and pages at Google.

For more information on Google Page Creator, here are a few articles:
Google Introduces Web Page Creator

Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO

Google Page Creator Discussion (at Webmaster World)

Popularity: 3% [?]

At Law.com’s Small Firm Business, there’s an article entitled “Marketing on the Web” by Daniel J. Siegel, which is a good guide for anyone completely new to marketing a law firm using the web. So, if you’re trying to get started and your firm is considering starting a web site, check it out. If you’re a seasoned pro, you might want to skip it.

Popularity: 7% [?]

I spend a lot of time here writing about design, branding, etc. At Marketing Catalyst, you can read posts from someone who has just gone through the law firm rebranding process.

On his blog, Bruce Allen discusses:

• What’s in a Font?- Insight into picking the right typeface to convey the right “feel” of a firm.
• Selecting a Color for the Brand of the Firm- Picking a color for your firm’s logo takes more than you’d think.
• Is Printed Collateral Dead?- Should firms bother with printed material?
• Is Humor Part of Your Firm Culture?- Looking at some nontraditional firms and how they use humor.
• Building My Own Photo Library- The process of photographing attorneys- and making them look good!
• Reasons for an Internal Brand Campaign- Looking at law firm marketing from the inside out.

This site is an excellent resource for anyone interested in how and why law firms make their marketing and branding decisions.

Popularity: 3% [?]

I don’t know how I missed this.

There’s an article entitled “What Does Your Web Site Say About You?: A law firm’s online presence should inspire a potential client’s confidence” at SmallFirmBusiness.com, part of Law.com’s network. The article is written by Margot Teleki, president of a commercial writing/marketing company.

When called upon to write for a web site for a law firm, Teleki looked around at law firm web sites and found that attorney sites are written from the firm’s perspective, not from the client’s. Instead of saying how the firm could solve the prospect’s problem, law firms are just talking about how they view themselves.

Perspective is important.

One thing that separates legal services from any other product or service is need. [okay, that's not true....people need medical products and services too. Oh, and food.] A client has a need for legal services; they’re not just browsing around looking for an impulse buy at the mall.

So, what does this have to do with law firm web sites? Well, I’ll let the author say it:

If you look for an attorney the way many of us do today, you’ll first ask your friends for referrals, then look up the recommended firm on the Web site. That Web site must offer information, confidence and comfort to a potential client. A client in trouble — either an individual or a corporation — needs to be assured that the chosen law firm will give him aggressive advocacy and have the right skill set to win a case. He wants to be assured that his attorney will fight for his rights — and win! He wants to feel assured that he is of primary interest to his attorney — not just another case on the block.

Now picture this: a client has just hired your firm to take his case. Now he’s going to the web site.

Does your site reassure him? Does it say “You’ve made the right choice?”

Popularity: 4% [?]

In Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, there is an article entitled The email that roared:
The strange tale of a much-forwarded email chain describing “Lawyers behaving badly.” The article describes an email exchange between a young lawyer applying for a job, and the attorney who nearly hired her.

The exhange is now famous.

In short, the attorney applied for a job, was offered the position and she accepted it. Then, the hiring attorney changed his mind about the salary he offered, and the young attorney declined the offer.

Easy enough, right? Wrong. This was just the beginning. What happened next was an email conversation that has become a very popular “viral” email in the close-knit legal community. Read the article here. The original emails have been preserved here.

Popularity: 2% [?]