Although I’ve read Blawg Review from time to time, I have to admit: today was the first time I’ve actually taken the time to understand the concept. The idea being that each week, there’s a different “host” who puts together the best recent law blog posts, and packages it in a clever narrative.

The current issue was posted on Sunday, and it uses “The Night Before Christmas” as the theme.

Law Firm Blogging focuses on marketing, so what I’m about to say won’t surprise anyone:

I think Blawg Review would benefit from a logo.

Blawg Review’s strength is in the diversity of opinions from contributing hosts. Each week, the look of Blawg Review changes, as each blog has a different theme, layout, color scheme, etc. The only drawback I can see as a result is a lack of recognition. Sure, BlawgReview is an insider publication, and because of that, readers know where, when, and how to find it. But, I think a logo for blawg review would have a couple of benefits:

• After a blogger has hosted Blawg Review, they could put the Blawg Review Logo on their site, with a link to the Blawg Review
• If a reader is looking for a Blawg Review that is no longer on a blog’s home page, they could just scan the page(s) until they see the logo
• It would encourage Blawg Review hosts to link to the main Blawg Review blog
• It would be a mark of credibility for the blogger

The best example I have of a logo that accomplishes this is Blawg.org. LawFirmBlogging was listed as a “Featured Feed” for a while, so I listed their featured feed logo:

I suppose I should email the Blawg Review folks to see if they think this would benefit them. I think I’ll do just that.

Popularity: 7% [?]

I tend to go on and on about branding. There. I said it.

But it’s true. Especially for law firms.

If you’re someone looking to retain a law firm, it is difficult to tell the difference between Firm A and Firm B. They both provide the same service, and if they’re at the same price point, what’s the difference?

Let’s say you don’t have a referral. I know that’s a fairly important qualification, but we’ll go with it. How are you going to make your decision?

feel
v. felt, (flt) feel·ing, feels
1. To be persuaded of (something) on the basis of intuition, emotion, or other indefinite grounds: I feel that what the informant says may well be true.
2. To believe; think: She felt his answer to be evasive.

I’m not saying that the look of a law firm’s web site, brochure, or business card is going to be the deciding factor for a potential client. But it counts. It is a factor.

A Non-Law Firm Related Example of Packaging
Right now, Coca-Cola is introducing a new product. Actually, they’re doing more than that- they are introducing a new product category. They’ve announced Coca-Cola Blak, which they describe as:

an invigorating and stimulating blend that has a perfect balance of the effervescent taste sensation of Coca-Cola and natural flavors, with real coffee. The lightly carbonated, mid-calorie beverage, which is designed to appeal to adult consumers, is yet another example how The Coca-Cola Company reaches out to new audiences and addresses new beverage occasions.

And here’s the packaging:

Notice the Tab can next to it? Tell me that’s not a nearly identical font. To me, the packaging of Blak is a disconnect. I don’t expect the contents of the bottle to contain something coffee related. Rather, to me, it looks like a beer bottle.

I’ve never tasted Blak, but I’ve already made up my mind about it- I don’t like it. The taste would have to be so surprisingly good to make me change my mind. But maybe that’s what they’re going for- maybe Coca-Cola wants you to have one impression before tasting - and a surprise reaction after tasting it. Maybe they’re counting on it.

Either way, it just goes to show you how much packaging means at an almost uncouscious level. We form our opinions in nanoseconds, and that opinion is hard to change.

So….is your firm’s package right for what’s inside?

Popularity: 7% [?]

Do you have your own photo on your blog?

For a long time, I hated the idea of having a photo on an individual’s site. To me, it seemed kind of cheesy, and used car salesman-like.

But I think I’ve changed my mind. On sites that are published by one person, seeing a small picture tends to make the experience feel more human and personal.

So I’ve decided to put a small, cartoon-like image on the sidebar of this site.

Do you have your own photo on your blog?

Popularity: 6% [?]

Maybe it’s not really a newsflash to you, but I’m relatively surprised. Law firms are using flash much more than I had anticipated.

Admittedly I have a love/hate relationship with Flash. I love it when it’s used in a useful way, but I don’t see that very often. In fact, I can’t think of an example offhand. Flash rarely enhances functionality, and I think that’s my problem with it.

In many ways, Flash is used for no other reason but eye candy. And believe me, I understand: there’s nothing wrong with that. But it seems like the tradeoff may not be worth it:

• Flash and search engines: This is an issue that, for the most part, has been resolved. Way back when, search engines could not index content embedded in flash content. Now, however, search engines can…..as long as the designer has implemented a software package on the server side. Again, not that big a problem, but still something to think about.
• Flash takes a while to load: Now that we’re living in a broadband world, download and load time is less of an issue…but it still matters. I can’t tell you how annoyed I am when I see “Loading…….” when I’m trying to see the content of a web page. This is especially soul-numbing when the object that is “Loading…..” is nothing more than a logo.
• Flash for the sake of flash: I do not like sites that use flash solely because it is available. One site on the AMLaw 200 list uses flash for no obvious reason….and they also play an endless loop of sound effects! This is a law firm’s site, but it feels more like Nickelodeon to me.

With that said, I decided to take a look at my sample set of 150 firms on the AMLaw 200 to see if they use Flash on their home page.

59% (88) of the firms did not use flash.
41% (62) of the firms did.

This is a much higher number than I had anticipated.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Out of curiousity this weekend, I decided to go through my sample set of the AMLaw 200 to see how these firms rank in Google. Just like last time, I used a set of 150 firm sites.

About Page Rank:
I’m sure many of you are already familiar with the concept of PageRank, Google’s way of judging the “importance” of a web site. As I’ve posted before, Google defines PageRank as:

PageRank Technology: PageRank performs an objective measurement of the importance of web pages by solving an equation of more than 500 million variables and 2 billion terms. Instead of counting direct links, PageRank interprets a link from Page A to Page B as a vote for Page B by Page A. PageRank then assesses a page’s importance by the number of votes it receives.

Though it’s a complicated algorithm, the main idea is simple: If lots of sites link to you, you’re important to Google, and the more important you are to Google, the higher your site will appear in search engine rankings.

Methodology:
To find a page’s rank, you need only download and install a browser plugin from Google. The Google Toolbar includes a page rank icon that gives the rank of whichever page you’re currently on.

I went to each of the sites and recorded their home page’s PageRank.

Results:

5.33% (8) of the sites had a PageRank of zero

.66% (1) of the sites had a PageRank of three

4.66% (7) of the sites had a PageRank of four

33.33% (50) of the sites had a PageRank of five

44.66% (67) of the sites had a PageRank of six

9.33% (14) of the sites had a PageRank of seven

2% (3) of the sites had a PageRank of eight

Since there are currently only 212 sites with a PageRank of nine, the three sites with a rank of 8 are doing a fantastic job.

Conclusions:
I was fairly surprised that law firm sites are doing as well as they are. With 78% having a PageRank of 5 or above, law firm sites are doing a good job. On the other hand, it is hard to believe that a firm in the Top 200 would have a zero rank. The only explanation I have is that the firms could have changed the name of their home page (for instance, http://www.lawfirmblogging.com/ vs. http://www.lawfirmblogging.com/newhome/index2.php), and Google has yet to take notice.

Popularity: 5% [?]

I’ve been thinking alot about logos recently.

More specifically, I’ve been thinking about whether a law firm’s logo is instantly recognizable. If you think about the most recognizable logos in general, it is not necessary to see the actual text to know what company is advertising. For example:

But do law firm logos accomplish the same?

I’ve gone through my list of the AM Law 200, and randomly selected 10 firms, and recreated their logo…..only this time, there’s no text other than sample text in the same font. How many firms can you recognize (if any)?

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Popularity: 6% [?]