Word Choice Matters
Key takeaways:
- When you write content on your website, the words you use matter not only to your intended meaning, but also to your clients’ understanding.
- There’s a good middle ground between words that are too arcane and words that are too simple. Try to find it, and your clients will thank you.
- In the end, you want to be as authentic as possible while reaching the widest audience possible!
Today, our writing team at SLS Consulting would like to play a little word game with you…
“The Internet is an exemplary conduit through which to entice potential clients.” There’s nothing wrong with that sentence. It makes a statement and it speaks a truth. But is there a more effective way to say the same thing—spread the same message? Read the rest »
Make It Easy (for Your Users)
Key takeaways:
- Research shows that web users spend 80% of their time at the top of a page, and focus on the left half of the page.
- When it comes to your website, you should make it easy for your clients to choose you. How? With good design, content, and your unique personality.
Have you ever been frustrated by a website? I want to order this product, but I can’t figure out how to add it to my shopping cart! Or, I’d like to read more about this subject…is there a link? Hmmm, that wasn’t what I was expecting…
Or one of our personal favorites: Wow, I can’t read this font—hot pink on a black background? What is this, the 1990s?
At SLS Consulting, we’re always trying to think of new ways to be obvious—a concept that could also be called “transparent,” “user-friendly,” or all of the above. When it comes to legal internet marketing, making things easy for your potential clients is vital. Literally billions of websites are competing for their attention. If you’re not careful, you could lose them, and quickly.
Our Writing Team Says “Yes!” to the Oxford Comma
We at SLS Consulting take a strong line when it comes to punctuation—specifically, when it comes to the serial or “Oxford” comma. We like it; we use it in all our writing; and we encourage all our clients to use it as well.
What is the Oxford comma? It’s the last comma used in a list of three or more items, right before a conjunction like “and” or “or.” Some examples would be:
- Daniel is bringing a green salad, paper plates, and his winning smile to the law firm’s Christmas party.
- Pamela’s attention to detail, talent for thinking like the opposition, and former experience as a judge’s clerk make her the most popular paralegal to draft complaints.
- Jorge and his wife are wavering between taking a vacation in Fiji, the Cayman Islands, or her home country of Kazakhstan.
We believe that the Oxford comma leaves no room for mistakes or misinterpretations—and in legal internet marketing, you really can’t afford those! Read the rest »
Why Is Good Content Marketing Important to Your Business?
Recently, Gilbert Galindo, Chief Technical Advisor at SLS Consulting, attended Lawyernomics 2015 in Las Vegas, a premier legal marketing and business conference hosted by Avvo. There, he gave a presentation on how businesses can use effective content marketing to boost their success.
We’re happy to say that the presentation was well-received. Afterwards, many attendees approached Gilbert to pay compliments and exchange business cards. Some even came with questions. One of the most common questions people asked – and one we at SLS Consulting get asked frequently by prospective clients – was this: why is good content marketing important to my business? Read the rest »
End of Year Marketing Wrap-Up – Content Marketing
So, how well did your content marketing strategy perform in 2014? With regular Google updates wreaking havoc on ever-changing search results, you’re in a good spot if your website is still ranking. Content-wise, ranking in today’s SERPs means that your site has quality content that visitors generally find helpful. You probably have a lower bounce rate than a lot of your competitors, and your web pages are almost certainly Hummingbird friendly.
So, what’s left to do now that you’ve given Google the high quality content that it’s always wanted? The answer is simple: review your content to make sure you’re doing everything you can to convert site visitors to potential clients. Here are a few points to keep in mind as you review your internet marketing strategy in 2015… Read the rest »
The Voice
A few years ago, NBC introduced “The Voice” to their primetime line up. Even if you haven’t watched it, you get the idea – four well known judges sit with their backs to a singer who belts out their favorite hit. Once one of the judges is impressed enough, they swing around and lay claim to that crooner’s talent for the competition ahead. While similar to other reality star-search shows in just about every way, “The Voice” has one distinguishing feature which is rather appropriate – the contestant’s voice. The show chooses to focus on the singer’s vocal talents first, ahead of the overall performance. A pretty interesting departure – a singing competition that focuses on singing!
With that said, let’s consider your online presence – every day you have potentially hundreds of customers cruising past your site, picking and choosing what interests them. Online judges who really have no idea who you are and what your services entail, other than what you put out on stage. So, you manage to draw them in, hook them with your incredible ranking and sharp visual style. Once they move past the professionally shot staff photos, the showy site architecture, and the well-crafted brand imagery, what is left?
The only thing that truly matters: your voice. Read the rest »
Is Your Marketing Content Truly Engaging with Your Reader?
More than ever, well-done written content is one of the pillars of a strong online marketing campaign. Due to a combination of Google’s crackdown on spam and the shifting tastes of consumers, having high quality writing can both boost search engine rankings and snag the attention of readers.
In this entry, we will look at how written content can engage with a reader and make him or her feel connected to a company. Consider these ideas and how they can relate to your company’s style and goals.
Tell a Story
All great writing tells a story, either explicitly or implicitly. Your intro, exposition, and resolution will create questions for the reader and eventually provide some type of answer for him or her. While this is obvious in literature, marketing writing also follows the same path. Creating questions in the minds of readers and then providing answers helps to show that your company is a source of knowledge or the answer to those questions. In any case, a well-done story will make readers invested and interested until the end. Read the rest »
When Blog Writing, Structure Can Help Promote Creativity
Having a blog that you consistently publish on is a key part of online marketing, with your site continually creating new content associated with your company. While there are many more aspects of a strong online presence, having a successful and high quality blog is a definite help.
But if you have been writing for your company’s blog for an extended period of time, you may find that you are starting to repeat yourself. Obviously, this is not good for reader retention or search engine rankings. But what can you do about it?
First, take the time to go over your previous blog entries. All of them, if possible. It may seem tedious and time-consuming, but it is vital that you set aside time to completely understand where your blog has been and where it has not. Getting a better look at your blog’s content will illustrate any over-reliance on a subject or the neglect of any area of your company.
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