2016: top 16 law firm marketing trends
TRANSCRIPT
LAW FIRMMARKETINGTRENDS
2016: TOP 16
A guide to help you navigate your firm through the upcoming
trends and changes of 2016’s digital landscape
brought to you by the Black Fin Team
BLACK FINDigital Marketing for Law Firms
Diversify or Die – Attorneys Will Look Beyond SEO
For Website Traffic
More Effort Will Go Into Acquiring Online Reviews
Firms Will Step Back And Reanalyze Their Unique
Selling Proposition (USP)
SEO Changes Will Put User Experience Front And
Center
Social Media Will Continue to Be Mandatory (And
Continue to Evolve)
Law Firm Web Design Will Be Crowned Queen
Attorneys Will Discover the Importance of Past
Client Relationship Management
Law Firms Will Learn How To Answer Their Phones
Lawyers Will Take Local Link Building Offline
(Where It Belongs)
Legal Content Will Veer Toward Specific, Targeted,
And Geo-Focused Pages
The New Yellow Pages: Attorneys Will Adopt
Directory Listing Optimization
Lawyers Will Embrace Reputation Management –
Before They Need It
It’s Here: Mobile Will Finally Overtake Desktop
Paging Siri: This Will Be The Big Year For Voice
Search
All Attorneys Will Be Watching Their Page Speed
Real-Time Google Penguin Will Land, Bringing Lots
of Link Penalties
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
page 1
We don’t have a crystal ball, but we do pay very close attention
to everything that happens in the marketing world. In this
report, we’ve listed the top 16 attorney marketing trends for
2016, from optimizing for voice search to paying closer
attention to how your receptionist answers the phone.
Make 2016 the year your law office rises above the competition,
solidifies its brand, and finds more success than ever.
INTRODUCTION
At some point in the past decade, SEO became synonymous with online
attorney marketing. But while search engine optimization is certainly a huge
piece of the picture, it should not be the one and only focus of your marketing
strategy. In fact, by putting all of your eggs in the SEO basket, you are giving
the edge to the competition and taking a very big risk.
Why shouldn’t you focus 100 percent of your attention (or even 80 percent
of your attention) on SEO and Google?
Trying to appease Google (or any search engine) can backfire when they
change their algorithm for ranking pages. And they change it often.
Getting blacklisted by a search engine can mean losing a large chunk of
your traffic, whether or not you deserve to be punished.
Ignoring other sources of website traffic means ignoring a lot of great
leads and a lot of great potential clients.
Diversifying can strengthen your online brand and your online presence.
THREE QUICK TIPS FOR DIVERSIFYING YOUR WEB TRAFFIC:
Make some smart advertising moves.
Many law firms still balk at spending money on online advertising, but it’s
more than a great idea if it works! If pages like Yelp, FindLaw, SuperPages, and
AVVO are ranking high in your market in Google, there is no reason not to try
advertising on them. If you don’t see returns, you can stop, alter your ads, or
try something new. Also, don’t disregard the targeted, paid advertising
opportunities on social media platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook.
Be consistent with your social media marketing.
Speaking of social media, it is entirely worth your time and effort to
consistently post to your social media platforms. Although Facebook and
Twitter will continue to be the two most important social media outlets for
business in 2016, don’t be afraid to think outside the box. For example,
businesses have been finding success with newer platforms like Instagram
and Periscope. Not only do these sites offer different ways to market your
legal services, many of your competitors aren’t utilizing them yet.
Don’t forget offline marketing in your community.
Not only are law firms too focused on SEO, they are also too focused on
online marketing. Never forget the importance of local, offline marketing. Not
only does it help you connect with people face to face, it also promotes your
online marketing in ways you might not realize. Start the New Year by offering
a local scholarship, connecting with a local non-profit, educating your
community, or offering local talks.
“IF YOUR ENTIRE ATTORNEY MARKETING STRATEGY IS CENTERED ON
SEO, THEN YOU ARE GIVING THE SEARCH ENGINES ALL OF THE POWER –
AND YOU ARE ULTIMATELY AT THEIR MERCY.”
page 2
1. DIVERSIFY OR DIE
•
•
•
•
•
At some point in the past decade, SEO became synonymous with online
attorney marketing. But while search engine optimization is certainly a huge
piece of the picture, it should not be the one and only focus of your marketing
strategy. In fact, by putting all of your eggs in the SEO basket, you are giving
the edge to the competition and taking a very big risk.
Why shouldn’t you focus 100 percent of your attention (or even 80 percent
of your attention) on SEO and Google?
Trying to appease Google (or any search engine) can backfire when they
change their algorithm for ranking pages. And they change it often.
Getting blacklisted by a search engine can mean losing a large chunk of
your traffic, whether or not you deserve to be punished.
Ignoring other sources of website traffic means ignoring a lot of great
leads and a lot of great potential clients.
Diversifying can strengthen your online brand and your online presence.
THREE QUICK TIPS FOR DIVERSIFYING YOUR WEB TRAFFIC:
Make some smart advertising moves.
Many law firms still balk at spending money on online advertising, but it’s
more than a great idea if it works! If pages like Yelp, FindLaw, SuperPages, and
AVVO are ranking high in your market in Google, there is no reason not to try
advertising on them. If you don’t see returns, you can stop, alter your ads, or
try something new. Also, don’t disregard the targeted, paid advertising
opportunities on social media platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook.
Be consistent with your social media marketing.
Speaking of social media, it is entirely worth your time and effort to
consistently post to your social media platforms. Although Facebook and
Twitter will continue to be the two most important social media outlets for
business in 2016, don’t be afraid to think outside the box. For example,
businesses have been finding success with newer platforms like Instagram
and Periscope. Not only do these sites offer different ways to market your
legal services, many of your competitors aren’t utilizing them yet.
Don’t forget offline marketing in your community.
Not only are law firms too focused on SEO, they are also too focused on
online marketing. Never forget the importance of local, offline marketing. Not
only does it help you connect with people face to face, it also promotes your
online marketing in ways you might not realize. Start the New Year by offering
a local scholarship, connecting with a local non-profit, educating your
community, or offering local talks.
“IF YOUR ENTIRE ATTORNEY MARKETING STRATEGY IS CENTERED ON
SEO, THEN YOU ARE GIVING THE SEARCH ENGINES ALL OF THE POWER –
AND YOU ARE ULTIMATELY AT THEIR MERCY.”
page 3
At some point in the past decade, SEO became synonymous with online
attorney marketing. But while search engine optimization is certainly a huge
piece of the picture, it should not be the one and only focus of your marketing
strategy. In fact, by putting all of your eggs in the SEO basket, you are giving
the edge to the competition and taking a very big risk.
Why shouldn’t you focus 100 percent of your attention (or even 80 percent
of your attention) on SEO and Google?
Trying to appease Google (or any search engine) can backfire when they
change their algorithm for ranking pages. And they change it often.
Getting blacklisted by a search engine can mean losing a large chunk of
your traffic, whether or not you deserve to be punished.
Ignoring other sources of website traffic means ignoring a lot of great
leads and a lot of great potential clients.
Diversifying can strengthen your online brand and your online presence.
THREE QUICK TIPS FOR DIVERSIFYING YOUR WEB TRAFFIC:
Make some smart advertising moves.
Many law firms still balk at spending money on online advertising, but it’s
more than a great idea if it works! If pages like Yelp, FindLaw, SuperPages, and
AVVO are ranking high in your market in Google, there is no reason not to try
advertising on them. If you don’t see returns, you can stop, alter your ads, or
try something new. Also, don’t disregard the targeted, paid advertising
opportunities on social media platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook.
Be consistent with your social media marketing.
Speaking of social media, it is entirely worth your time and effort to
consistently post to your social media platforms. Although Facebook and
Twitter will continue to be the two most important social media outlets for
business in 2016, don’t be afraid to think outside the box. For example,
businesses have been finding success with newer platforms like Instagram
and Periscope. Not only do these sites offer different ways to market your
legal services, many of your competitors aren’t utilizing them yet.
Don’t forget offline marketing in your community.
Not only are law firms too focused on SEO, they are also too focused on
online marketing. Never forget the importance of local, offline marketing. Not
only does it help you connect with people face to face, it also promotes your
online marketing in ways you might not realize. Start the New Year by offering
a local scholarship, connecting with a local non-profit, educating your
community, or offering local talks.
“IF YOUR ENTIRE ATTORNEY MARKETING STRATEGY IS CENTERED ON
SEO, THEN YOU ARE GIVING THE SEARCH ENGINES ALL OF THE POWER –
AND YOU ARE ULTIMATELY AT THEIR MERCY.”
page 4
There are two very important statistics you need to know in order to fully
grasp the importance of collecting positive online reviews:
The most popular way that people find an attorney today is through
referrals. An estimated 46 percent of people ask a friend, family member, or
lawyer acquaintance for suggestions when looking for legal help.
A staggering 88 percent of people trust online reviews just as much as a
personal referral from a friend or family member.
In short, online reviews are not only a true and trusted way to find ideal
clients, they are something you need to assume your potential clients will
read before they agree to work with you. Yet many law firms don’t actively
make any organized effort to collect solid, heartfelt reviews or to manage the
reviews they’ve already received. You should be focusing on your online
reviews on:
AVVO
Yelp
THREE QUICK TIPS FOR ONLINE REVIEWS:
Make personal requests to your core base of past clients.
Chances are you have at least a few clients who think the world of you. These
are the clients who wrote you personalized thank you notes and those who
still send you Christmas cards. This is the time to call those clients personally
and ask a favor. Could they take a few minutes of their time to tell the world
what they’ve already told you? You will be surprised how many will
enthusiastically say yes.
Respond to all negative reviews.
Although you might find them easier to ignore, it is imperative to respond to
all negative online reviews – and without getting defensive or mean. Choose a
time when you are feeling calm and magnanimous to patiently and warmly
write personal responses that explain the poor review and make you look
compassionate, understanding, and a true authority in your field. People
understand that there are bad clients just like they are bad lawyers. If you
write a measured response, it can completely cancel out the effect of the bad
review.
Set up a review page on your website.
One key way to increase your number of reviews is to make the process of
reviewing your firm as easy as possible for past clients. Set up a review page
on your website that kindly asks for reviews and that links directly to the
attorney review form on various sites (Yelp, AVVO, etc.). You can easily link to
this page from other places, including blog posts, social media posts, emails,
and newsletters.
“NINETY PERCENT OF CONSUMERS SAY THAT ONLINE REVIEWS AFFECT
THEIR PURCHASING DECISION.”
2. MORE EFFORT WILL GO INTO ACQUIRING ONLINE REVIEWS
•
•
•
•
•
•
There are two very important statistics you need to know in order to fully
grasp the importance of collecting positive online reviews:
The most popular way that people find an attorney today is through
referrals. An estimated 46 percent of people ask a friend, family member, or
lawyer acquaintance for suggestions when looking for legal help.
A staggering 88 percent of people trust online reviews just as much as a
personal referral from a friend or family member.
In short, online reviews are not only a true and trusted way to find ideal
clients, they are something you need to assume your potential clients will
read before they agree to work with you. Yet many law firms don’t actively
make any organized effort to collect solid, heartfelt reviews or to manage the
reviews they’ve already received. You should be focusing on your online
reviews on:
AVVO
Yelp
THREE QUICK TIPS FOR ONLINE REVIEWS:
Make personal requests to your core base of past clients.
Chances are you have at least a few clients who think the world of you. These
are the clients who wrote you personalized thank you notes and those who
still send you Christmas cards. This is the time to call those clients personally
and ask a favor. Could they take a few minutes of their time to tell the world
what they’ve already told you? You will be surprised how many will
enthusiastically say yes.
Respond to all negative reviews.
Although you might find them easier to ignore, it is imperative to respond to
all negative online reviews – and without getting defensive or mean. Choose a
time when you are feeling calm and magnanimous to patiently and warmly
write personal responses that explain the poor review and make you look
compassionate, understanding, and a true authority in your field. People
understand that there are bad clients just like they are bad lawyers. If you
write a measured response, it can completely cancel out the effect of the bad
review.
Set up a review page on your website.
One key way to increase your number of reviews is to make the process of
reviewing your firm as easy as possible for past clients. Set up a review page
on your website that kindly asks for reviews and that links directly to the
attorney review form on various sites (Yelp, AVVO, etc.). You can easily link to
this page from other places, including blog posts, social media posts, emails,
and newsletters.
“NINETY PERCENT OF CONSUMERS SAY THAT ONLINE REVIEWS AFFECT
THEIR PURCHASING DECISION.”
page 5
Here’s a wake-up call: We are far beyond the time when it was good enough
just to have a nice-looking website and a Google Adwords budget. Every firm
in town that matters has those things now. In this new era, you need to look
at the big picture and spend time figuring out the answers to two very basic
questions:
Why should a client choose me instead of the guy next door?
What really makes our firm special and different?
Before you do your next big website redesign. Before you launch that next
campaign. Before you sit down and eat breakfast, you need to formulate and
outline your firm’s unique selling proposition.
What is a unique selling proposition? Very simply, it’s the thing that makes
your business stand out to potential clients from everyone else in the
business. Maybe your services cost less. Maybe you have more experience
than anyone else in the area. Maybe your customer service is off the charts.
Whatever that one special thing is, you are the only one to do it or you
absolutely do it best.
To succeed, especially in crowded fields, having a smart, clear USP will be key
in 2016.
THREE QUICK TIPS ON UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITIONS:
Interview a few past clients. Determining a great USP means stepping into
your clients’ shoes and understanding their needs. Your USP should solve
their problem, speak to their concerns, and offer them exactly what they are
looking for. Read your online reviews or, even better, call up a few past clients
and ask them why they thought their experience with your firm was so
special.
Focus on your passions. We have found time and time again that an attorney’s
USP is intimately tied with their passions, their story, and why they do what
they do. If you develop your USP around your passions and your mission, it
will not only ring true to clients, it will be easy for you to endorse with
enthusiasm.
Make your USP clear and concise. You don’t want your USP to involve a lot of
explanation. In fact, you only have a few seconds to convey it to people who
are considering your law office. Think of ways that you can capture it in a few
words, or, at most, a single sentence. Think of ways you can develop it into
different types of media with the same theme: a tagline, a logo, or a single
image.
“CONVINCING PEOPLE THAT YOU ARE GREAT WILL GET YOU A FEW
NEW CLIENTS. CONVINCING PEOPLE THAT YOU ARE DIFFERENT AND
BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE WILL GET YOU YOUR COMPETITION’S
CLIENTS, TOO.”
3. FIRMS WILL STEP BACK AND REANALYZE THEIR UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION (USP)
page 6
•
•
Here’s a wake-up call: We are far beyond the time when it was good enough
just to have a nice-looking website and a Google Adwords budget. Every firm
in town that matters has those things now. In this new era, you need to look
at the big picture and spend time figuring out the answers to two very basic
questions:
Why should a client choose me instead of the guy next door?
What really makes our firm special and different?
Before you do your next big website redesign. Before you launch that next
campaign. Before you sit down and eat breakfast, you need to formulate and
outline your firm’s unique selling proposition.
What is a unique selling proposition? Very simply, it’s the thing that makes
your business stand out to potential clients from everyone else in the
business. Maybe your services cost less. Maybe you have more experience
than anyone else in the area. Maybe your customer service is off the charts.
Whatever that one special thing is, you are the only one to do it or you
absolutely do it best.
To succeed, especially in crowded fields, having a smart, clear USP will be key
in 2016.
THREE QUICK TIPS ON UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITIONS:
Interview a few past clients. Determining a great USP means stepping into
your clients’ shoes and understanding their needs. Your USP should solve
their problem, speak to their concerns, and offer them exactly what they are
looking for. Read your online reviews or, even better, call up a few past clients
and ask them why they thought their experience with your firm was so
special.
Focus on your passions. We have found time and time again that an attorney’s
USP is intimately tied with their passions, their story, and why they do what
they do. If you develop your USP around your passions and your mission, it
will not only ring true to clients, it will be easy for you to endorse with
enthusiasm.
Make your USP clear and concise. You don’t want your USP to involve a lot of
explanation. In fact, you only have a few seconds to convey it to people who
are considering your law office. Think of ways that you can capture it in a few
words, or, at most, a single sentence. Think of ways you can develop it into
different types of media with the same theme: a tagline, a logo, or a single
image.
“CONVINCING PEOPLE THAT YOU ARE GREAT WILL GET YOU A FEW
NEW CLIENTS. CONVINCING PEOPLE THAT YOU ARE DIFFERENT AND
BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE WILL GET YOU YOUR COMPETITION’S
CLIENTS, TOO.”
page 7
4. SEO CHANGES WILL PUT USER EXPERIENCE FRONT AND CENTER
Search engine optimization has gone through many phases throughout the
last decade: a focus on single keywords, a focus on landing the #1 spot on
Google, a focus on content. This year’s evolution is all about user experience;
that is, giving the user exactly what they are looking for and as quickly as
possible. Putting effort into a stellar user experience won’t just make your
users happy, it will also improve your SEO, your click through rate, and your
bounce rate.
What is user experience? Often called UX, user experience is simply the way
that someone encounters your website (or any service or product). Users are
looking for sites that are easy to navigate, pleasingly designed, and filled with
the information they need.
THREE QUICK TIPS FOR DIVERSIFYING YOUR WEB TRAFFIC:
Invest in some A/B Testing.
A/B testing is a simple and cost-efficient way to determine what content and
design combinations work best to encourage clicks or lengthen website visits.
For example, simply changing a title, revising a call to action, or changing the
color scheme on your homepage can improve UX and increase your
conversion rate.
Don’t skimp on design.
At the heart of user experience is great design that allows your users to
navigate your website quickly and confidently. Invest in high-quality design,
test its success, and be sure to update your design every few years to keep up
page 8
with the latest trends and innovations.
Get to know your user!
Do not just focus on content and design and forget to really try to understand
your user in the first place. What are your ideal users like? How old are they?
What do they want and need? Answer these questions by interviewing users,
creating user personas, and asking yourself what kind of client you wish to
attract.
“EVERY TIME YOU UPDATE YOUR WEBSITE, ASK YOURSELF IF EACH
CHANGE WILL MAKE IT EASIER FOR YOUR USERS TO SOLVE THEIR
PROBLEM OR ACCOMPLISH THEIR GOAL.”
page 9
5. SOCIAL MEDIA WILL CONTINUE TO BE MANDATORY (AND CONTINUE TO EVOLVE)
It’s safe to say that social media is no passing marketing trend. In fact, it
should be a large and important aspect of both your online and your offline
marketing efforts. However, although social media marketing itself is nothing
new, there are several trends within social media marketing that are import-
ant to know and understand in 2016.
Social Media is all about realizing trends and getting a head start on taking
advantage of them before your competitors. No knows when a post will
become viral or who will have the next viral post, but you need to know how
to respond quickly and intelligently when something relatable to your market
or your specialty makes its way into the news and onto your feed.
THREE QUICK TIPS FOR DIVERSIFYING YOUR WEB TRAFFIC:
A few new social media apps are picking up steam.
There are major advantages to getting involved in new social media apps that
will grow into the next big thing or that will expose you to new audiences in
new ways. Just be sure to choose wisely. One app we’ve noticed recently is
Periscope, a live streaming service that allows users to see the world through
another person’s eyes. Law firms that want to take advantage of this app early
can stream anything straight to their users - from an FAQ session to a com-
pany party.
A few social media sites aren’t useful for attorneys.
There are literally hundreds of social media platforms. Being involved in as
many as possible is a poor way to invest your time, money, and effort. Even
page 10
some of the biggest and most noteworthy sites don’t get great returns for law
firms. For example, while LinkedIn is a popular choice for finding a new job or
networking within your industry, depending on your niche, it may not be ideal
for finding new legal clients. Likewise, Google+ is nowhere near as useful as
its counterpart, Google MyBusiness.
There are two social media platforms that are never going away.
If you aren’t using Facebook and Twitter to promote your law firm, you are
wasting opportunities and ignoring the research. Facebook is still by far the
most important social media platform when it comes to law firms, but Twitter
isn’t too far behind. Both sites spend considerable energy making their sites
searchable for users and profitable for businesses that wish to advertise to
target markets. While Facebook is great for paid advertising, expect Twitter
to continue making jumps to expand its advertising capabilities in the next
year.
“SOCIAL MEDIA IS THE BEST WAY TO SHARE YOUR HIGH-QUALITY
CONTENT, THE BEST WAY TO STAY CONNECTED TO FORMER CLIENTS,
AND THE BEST WAY TO EXPAND YOUR AUDIENCE.”
page 11
6. LAW FIRM WEB DESIGN WILL BE CROWNED QUEEN
You’ve probably heard the online marketing phrase, “Content is king.” Content,
after all, is what users are looking for and what search engines use, in large
part, to determine page rank.
But while content may continue to reign, 2016 will be all about how the king
can’t reign alone. He needs a queen by his side, and that queen is design.
Here’s a quick history lesson: We used to expect high web traffic to immedi-
ately translate into more leads. But, in the face of increasing competition, it is
no longer good enough for your law firm to simply rank well on search en-
gines websites. What really generates leads in this new world is your conver-
sion rate once visitors are already on your site. A large part of what deter-
mines your conversion rate is how well your content and design work togeth-
er to deliver your sales pitch. King and Queen, side by side.
Making that sales pitch in person can seem pretty tough, but making that
sales pitch through your website may be an even greater challenge. Here’s
why:
You’re being judged through a digital screen.
You can’t portray confidence through a firm handshake or engaging eye con-
tact, and you can’t express sympathy through your actions. Your means of
communication has been boiled down to visually presenting words and pic-
tures in the best way possible.
You’re being regularly and directly compared to your competitors.
Your prospective clients are smart enough to know that they should check
page 12
out at least the top three lawyers or law firms that ranked with you in the
search results. Very few people are simply picking the number one search
result and then picking up the phone.
You only have 20 seconds or less to make a first impression that counts.
On average, studies show that your visitors will only be looking at your home
page for 20 to 50 seconds. Considering that users can easily close your site
and look at your competitor's sites, our humble guess is that it is usually
closer to 20. What are you going to show your visitors in just 20 seconds?
In short, your homepage content must be concise, captivating, and memora-
ble. But no matter how effective your content is, your page can’t just be text
only. This is why design is queen and this is where we expect to see a lot of
progress across the board in the law firm website industry this year.
THREE QUICK TIPS ON PAIRING ATTORNEY WEB DESIGN AND CONTENT:
Think long and hard about your content’s purpose.
Content is not something that should simply fill in hole. It’s also not some-
thing that can or should stand alone. Content should work hand-in-hand with
the design, creating an optimal user experience. Each time you insert content
into your design, or design around a piece of content, think about why your
user needs this content and what its true function is.
Prioritize your content in terms of where it should appear in the page.
What content first catches your user’s eye? What content will appear “above
the fold” – on the screen before the user needs to scroll down? Most impor-
tantly, what content will encourage your reader to click on a different page or
page 12
page 13
reach out to your law office? Design can help you answer all of these ques-
tions.
Use words sparingly.
When it comes to content and design, quality always wins over quantity.
Users do not want to read long, dense paragraphs of text. Make sure that your
content is as clear and concise as possible and make sure your design only
adds to the clarity of the content.
“DESIGN IS NOT JUST WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE AND FEELS LIKE. DESIGN IS
ABOUT HOW ALL THE PARTS WORK TOGETHER TO REACH YOUR
SPECIFIC GOALS”
page 14
7. ATTORNEYS WILL DISCOVER THE IMPORTANCE OF PAST CLIENT RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
For most of the law firms we work with, between 30 and 50 percent of their
new clients come from referrals from old clients. This is an absolutely huge
number, but many lawyers do not spend enough time tending to relationships
with past clients. It’s a big, costly mistake.
Think of your past clients as your fan base and your free advertisers: they al-
ready know your name. They are familiar with what you do and how you do it.
They have worked with you and gotten great results. Most importantly, their
friends and family will trust them when they are asked if they know any attor-
neys. You want to keep in contact with them for four main reasons:
You want them to continue to remember your name and your face.
You want them to see you as a top authority in your field.
You want them to feel like you are in their friend network.
You want them to continue to feel like you are on their side.
In the past, client relationship management has been pretty bleak. Perhaps
you send out a generic holiday card in December and maybe a quarterly
newsletter if you really have your act together. In 2016, client relationship
management is going to reach a new level that includes social media, commu-
nity involvement, and maybe even a few handwritten thank you notes.
THREE QUICK TIPS ON ENGAGING WITH PAST CLIENTS:
Pull your past clients into a community.
While it is great to reach out to past clients individually, and while a thank you
page 15
•
•
•
•
card will always be a kind gesture, it is also extremely effective to create a
community of past clients. Consider creating a closed group on Facebook for
your clients or having an annual party where everyone is invited and can
mingle. Or add a client spotlight to your regular newsletter so that your cli-
ents can familiarize themselves with each other.
Ask them for help and advice.
Attorneys often have the misconception that they should not bother past cli-
ents for favors. However, just as in any relationship, many people enjoy lend-
ing a helping hand, and many people see it as a way to deepen a bond. Con-
nect with your clients by asking them to leave reviews, take surveys about
their experience, or give their opinion on your new website. The ones that
help will feel closer to your firm than ever before.
Harness the full power of social media.
Becoming friends with past clients on social media means becoming part of
their daily lives. Over half of all Facebook users log into their accounts at least
once each day. Take advantage of this and make sure that your law firm is
something that they can see online and interact with each day.
“TREAT YOUR CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS LIKE ANY OTHER
RELATIONSHIP IN YOUR LIFE: LISTEN TO THEM, TAKE THEIR CRITICISM
SERIOUSLY, AND GIVE THEM THE TIME AND ATTENTION THAT THEY
DESERVE.”
page 16
Attorneys invest a very significant amount of money toward their online and
offline marketing efforts. All of these marketing dollars have a singular goal:
getting ideal clients to pick up their phone and call their office. However, far
too many marketing plans stop there. They assume that once a person calls
their office, everything will go smoothly, and the client will quickly and easily
be in their office for a consultation. However, this is often very far from the
case.
Too often, when a potential client calls your office, the receptionists or cus-
tomer service agents who pick up the phone are untrained, poorly trained, or
overstressed. A client with the perfect case for you might be faced with:
A receptionist who sounds distracted, unfriendly, or bored.
A receptionist who forgets the potential client’s name or why they called.
A receptionist who doesn’t know how to connect the client with an
attorney or set up a consultation.
A receptionist who doesn’t follow up.
A receptionist who takes too long to pick up the phone – or who doesn’t
pick up at all.
When an ideal client gets all the way to the phone call but then gives up their
interest in working with you, every marketing dollar that you’ve spent up to
that point has been wasted. When someone has a bad experience calling your
law office, it doesn’t just end in a lost client, it could also end in a bad review
and a bad reputation.
8. LAW FIRMS WILL LEARN HOW TO ANSWERTHEIR PHONES
page 17
In 2016, take a long hard look at what happens when a client calls your office.
Who answers the phone? What do they say? How do they help? What happens
after hours? Answering these questions will ensure that every time your
marketing efforts result in a phone call, the phone call doesn’t result in a dead
end.
THREE QUICK TIPS FOR ANSWERING THE PHONE:
Write a script.
Make sure that anyone who is answering your phone knows what they need
to do, how they need to act, and what information should be collected. Having
a script or manual for all of your receptionists and employees ensures that
they know the protocol and that the potential client receives all of the
information they need. Your manual can include everything from teaching
your receptionists how to match your client’s tone to teaching them how to
collect a potential client’s contact information.
Always answer the phone.
Here’s some hard news: if an ideal client gets an answering machine (or no
answer at all) when he or she calls, they will probably hang up and try to call a
competitor. Outside of office hours, consider having a service answer your
calls, or direct office calls to your mobile phone (or the mobile phone of
someone else in the office).
Track and monitor your calls.
Don’t assume that your system is working or that you don’t have issues with
answering your office phone. Recording your calls can help you determine
areas that need improvement and help you find problems with your current
system. These recordings can also be invaluable learning tools that you can
share with your receptionists.
“DON’T FORGET THAT YOU AREN’T JUST MARKETING, YOU ARE
REACHING OUT TO REAL, FEELING HUMANS. THIS IS NEVER MORE TRUE
THAN WHEN THE PEOPLE PICK UP THE PHONE, CALL YOUR OFFICE,
AND ASK FOR HELP.”
•
•
•
•
•
page 18
In 2016, take a long hard look at what happens when a client calls your office.
Who answers the phone? What do they say? How do they help? What happens
after hours? Answering these questions will ensure that every time your
marketing efforts result in a phone call, the phone call doesn’t result in a dead
end.
THREE QUICK TIPS FOR ANSWERING THE PHONE:
Write a script.
Make sure that anyone who is answering your phone knows what they need
to do, how they need to act, and what information should be collected. Having
a script or manual for all of your receptionists and employees ensures that
they know the protocol and that the potential client receives all of the
information they need. Your manual can include everything from teaching
your receptionists how to match your client’s tone to teaching them how to
collect a potential client’s contact information.
Always answer the phone.
Here’s some hard news: if an ideal client gets an answering machine (or no
answer at all) when he or she calls, they will probably hang up and try to call a
competitor. Outside of office hours, consider having a service answer your
calls, or direct office calls to your mobile phone (or the mobile phone of
someone else in the office).
Track and monitor your calls.
Don’t assume that your system is working or that you don’t have issues with
answering your office phone. Recording your calls can help you determine
areas that need improvement and help you find problems with your current
system. These recordings can also be invaluable learning tools that you can
share with your receptionists.
“DON’T FORGET THAT YOU AREN’T JUST MARKETING, YOU ARE
REACHING OUT TO REAL, FEELING HUMANS. THIS IS NEVER MORE TRUE
THAN WHEN THE PEOPLE PICK UP THE PHONE, CALL YOUR OFFICE,
AND ASK FOR HELP.”
In 2016, take a long hard look at what happens when a client calls your office.
Who answers the phone? What do they say? How do they help? What happens
after hours? Answering these questions will ensure that every time your
marketing efforts result in a phone call, the phone call doesn’t result in a dead
end.
THREE QUICK TIPS FOR ANSWERING THE PHONE:
Write a script.
Make sure that anyone who is answering your phone knows what they need
to do, how they need to act, and what information should be collected. Having
a script or manual for all of your receptionists and employees ensures that
they know the protocol and that the potential client receives all of the
information they need. Your manual can include everything from teaching
your receptionists how to match your client’s tone to teaching them how to
collect a potential client’s contact information.
Always answer the phone.
Here’s some hard news: if an ideal client gets an answering machine (or no
answer at all) when he or she calls, they will probably hang up and try to call a
competitor. Outside of office hours, consider having a service answer your
calls, or direct office calls to your mobile phone (or the mobile phone of
someone else in the office).
Track and monitor your calls.
Don’t assume that your system is working or that you don’t have issues with
answering your office phone. Recording your calls can help you determine
areas that need improvement and help you find problems with your current
system. These recordings can also be invaluable learning tools that you can
share with your receptionists.
page 19
“DON’T FORGET THAT YOU AREN’T JUST MARKETING, YOU ARE
REACHING OUT TO REAL, FEELING HUMANS. THIS IS NEVER MORE TRUE
THAN WHEN THE PEOPLE PICK UP THE PHONE, CALL YOUR OFFICE,
AND ASK FOR HELP.”
Organic links are one of the best-known ways to improve your SEO and in-
crease website traffic. They are also the most difficult links to acquire, espe-
cially if you are seeking links from high-authority websites like news sources,
non-profits, and educational organizations.
The secret to snagging these links might at first seem counterintuitive, but it
works. You need to go offline and go local. While directory listings and guest
posts will help, the very best links – and the very best exposure – will come
from reaching out to your community offline.
THREE QUICK TIPS ON BUILDING LOCAL LINKS:
Create a local scholarship.
Offering a scholarship based on an essay contest is an excellent way to
connect with the community and have a positive effect on a few deserving
students. Pick a theme that fits your firm best (veterans, single moms, those
with disabilities) and get the word out to all local colleges and universities.
Not only will you be a positive force in your local community, you will also get
lots of well-deserved links, including news outlet links and .edu links.
Pick a great cause in your community.
Working with local non-profits is not only helping build and grow the
community where you live, it also helps both your online and offline
marketing efforts. Sponsoring or running charity events allows you to connect
with others, grow your reputation, and get those tough local links. Be sure to
pick a cause that is meaningful to you, and be sure to get the entire office
9. LAWYERS WILL TAKE LOCAL LINK BUILDING OFFLINE (WHERE IT BELONGS)
page 20
involved, whether you are running a 5K, throwing a benefit, or collecting toys
for needy kids.
Create mini-communities.
Forming groups within the larger community is a great idea, especially if your
law offices are located in a big city. Consider forming a meet-up group for
people who may be your ideal client or creating a group that educates the
community about an issue related to one of your practice areas. For example,
if you help small businesses, consider creating a group for local
entrepreneurs. If you are a personal injury attorney, consider starting a group
that fights against distracted driving.
“YOUR STRONGEST AND BEST ONLINE LINKS WILL ALWAYS COME FROM
REAL RELATIONSHIPS THAT YOU NURTURE OFFLINE IN YOUR LOCAL
COMMUNITY.”
page 21
Creating unique, high-quality, and educational content is one of the most im-
portant tasks on your list if you want to find success online as an attorney or
law firm. But not all types of content are created equal. If you look around at
the competition, you might notice that everyone has a lot of the same pages,
and they are all very vague:
Do I have a case?
Do I need an attorney?
Free consultation!
The real challenge to creating meaningful content is anticipating what your
ideal user is going to type into a search engine when they are looking for your
legal services. The next real challenge is creating legal content that includes
those keywords while still offering concise, accurate, and easy-to-read infor-
mation that gets the client exactly what he or she needs.
At the same time, attorneys should keep in mind that they are writing content
for an audience that is limited in two different ways: they only want people in
a specific area to contact them (whether a certain city, a certain state, a cer-
tain region, or a certain country) and they only want people with specific legal
needs to contact them. In order to find these readers, each piece of content
should be optimized keeping geography and practice area in mind.
THREE QUICK TIPS FOR CREATING TARGETED LEGAL WEB CONTENT:
Create city pages.
Every attorney website should have a separate page of content for each
10. LEGAL CONTENT WILL VEER TOWARD SPECIFIC,TARGETED, AND GEO-FOCUSED PAGES
page 22
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geographic area that it is targeting. These pages of content could be a number
of different cities, a number of different states, or a number of different
neighborhoods within a big city. These pages keep in mind that almost
everyone who searches for an attorney will also include their location in their
search (for example, New York attorney, NYC lawyer, or Long Island City
lawyer). Treat each of these geo-pages as a landing page: share what is most
important about your law firm as well as what is most important about the
city, state, or neighborhood you are focusing on.
Create practice area pages.
The more specific practice area pages you have, the more likely that potential
clients will find your legal services when they search for an attorney on
search engines like Google or Bing. Many attorneys make the mistake of only
thinking in large, sweeping categories, like bankruptcy attorney. To truly
optimize your site, you should have a number of sub practice area pages
stemming from that major page, such as chapter 7 bankruptcy attorney,
chapter 11 bankruptcy attorney, personal bankruptcy attorney, business
bankruptcy attorney, and foreclosure attorney.
Cover relevant local news.
Covering local current events related to your practice areas in a news or blog
section of your website is an excellent way to create targeted, local content.
For example, if you are a workers’ compensation attorney, you should cover
news items related to recent on-the-job accidents in your area, work safety
regulations, and lawsuits involving worker injuries. These stories always
contain lots of location-based keywords and practice-area related keywords.
In addition, they make certain you are updating your website regularly with
fresh content.
page 23
“WRITING SPECIFICALLY TARGETED CONTENT NOT ONLY ATTRACTS
YOUR IDEAL CLIENT, IT ALSO WORKS AGAINST GETTING UN-TARGETED
WEB TRAFFIC THAT COULD HARM YOUR BOUNCE RATE.”
page 24
page 25
Directory listing optimization is not a glamorous task, but it is a necessary
one for attorneys who are serious about a diverse, organic online marketing
strategy. Not only do many people still seek businesses through online
directories, the recent Google Penguin update has made directories like
Yellow Pages, AVVO, FindLaw, Yelp, and Lawyers.com more visible and more
important. In addition, the rising popularity of voice searches, such as Apple’s
Siri, often use information from Yelp when suggesting businesses to users.
What are the major benefits to listing your law firm on online directories?
It’s a free way to advertise your law firm.
It often involves a good, organic link back to your website.
It can help with your voice search optimization.
It increases your web presence.
It strengthens your brand.
It can be difficult to see the positive effects of listing your law office in
directories online, especially because the process itself can be frustrating.
However, not listing your business on these directories – and keeping the
listings updated – will have a significant negative impact on your web
presence, especially in 2016.
THREE QUICK TIPS ON BUILDING LOCAL LINKS:
Target local and legal directories.
After you hit the big directories, like Yellow Pages, SuperPages, and Yelp,
make absolutely certain that you don’t forget the biggest directories in your
11. THE NEW YELLOW PAGES: ATTORNEYS WILLADOPT DIRECTORY LISTING OPTIMIZATION
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•
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•
industry and the biggest directories in your local community. Attorneys
should focus on directories like FindLaw, Justia, Lawyers.com, Nolo, and
AVVO. For local directories, start with your city’s chamber of commerce and
work from there.
Don’t worry about every directory.
While online directories are important to your marketing strategy, it is a big
mistake to spend your time getting on every directory that exists on the
Internet. Many of these directories are not worth your time and some
directories that require payment are little more than scams. The best strategy
is to make a spreadsheet of a reasonable number of well-respected directories
and focus only on those. Check to make sure your listings are updated and
current once a year or whenever you make a big change at your office.
Leave no field un-filled!
In order to make your directory listings as useful as possible for users, and
also in order to reap the full SEO benefits of your listings, make sure that you
fill in all fields, from your office hours to your fax number. It is especially
important to add images and a link to your website. Don’t hesitate to use an
autofill function on your web browser in order to make completing these
forms as fast and painless as possible.
“APPEARING IN ONLINE DIRECTORIES IS NOT GOING TO MAKE A HUGE
IMPACT LIKE PARTNERING WITH A LOCAL CHARITY OR CREATING A
Q&A SERIES ON YOUTUBE, BUT IGNORING ONLINE DIRECTORIES IS
COSTLY.”
page 26
In the past, attorneys and law firms have waited until something bad happens
before they think about their reputation: a bad case, a terrible review, or a
personal issue makes them think about how they appear online and in their
community. Today, though, more lawyers will be taking a proactive approach
to reputation management by making it a regular aspect of their marketing
plan.
The simple truth is that when it comes to reputation management, it could
take thousands of dollars to fix a reputation problem that would have only
taken hundreds of dollars to prevent in the first place.
THREE QUICK TIPS FOR PROACTIVE REPUTATION MANAGEMENT:
Locate negative reviews and pages.
Before you begin working on your future reputation, make certain that your
current reputation doesn’t need bolstering. Even the best attorneys in the
country are subject to negative, unfair, or just plain crazy negative reviews.
When you find a negative review, first determine if it violates any rules of the
review site and can be removed (for example, if the review was written by a
competitor or someone who did not actually use your services). If the review
is not in violation, it is time to swallow your pride and write a response that is
calm, reasonable, and compassionate – even if you can’t tell the whole story
and even if don’t really mean every word of it.
Make sure your story dominates.
Perhaps the best way to bury negative reviews and information on the web is
12. LAWYERS WILL EMBRACE REPUTATION MANAGEMENT – BEFORE THEY NEED IT
page 27
to make sure that the story your brand tells shines more brightly (and takes
up more slots in the search engine results). You can do this through creating
and maintaining an awesome website, encouraging past clients to leave you
reviews, staying active in your community, keeping your blog up to date, and
establishing yourself as an authority in your field.
Use discretion.
Attorneys will always have their face and their name tied directly to their
profession – in fact, it can often be difficult to separate yourself from your
brand. For this reason, it is of the utmost importance to use discretion when
you interact online as well as in your offline personal life. Even actions that
are socially acceptable for a person who is not in the public spotlight can be
problematic for an attorney. Be sure to keep your private social media
accounts – and all other online activity – discrete.
“WHAT WOULD WE FIND IF WE SEARCHED FOR YOUR FIRM’S NAME +
REVIEWS IN GOOGLE? IT’S TIME TO TAKE CONTROL OF THOSE SEARCH
RESULTS THROUGH SMART, PROACTIVE REPUTATION MANAGEMENT
STRATEGIES.”
page 28
In May of 2015, Google announced that more searches now take place on
mobile devices than on desktops and laptops. It was a change that most
marketing experts saw coming and it’s a change that isn’t over yet. This year,
mobile optimization will become more important than desktop optimization –
both when it comes to SEO and when it comes to conversion optimization.
THREE QUICK TIPS FOR MOBILE OPTIMIZATION:
Get on the responsive design bandwagon.
If your website doesn’t have a responsive design, getting one should be the
absolute number one priority in the coming year. Responsive design allows
your website to look great whether it is being viewed on a full-sized screen, a
tablet, or a smartphone. It also allows you to stop worrying about the upkeep
of a separate mobile website. If you don’t have a responsive website, chances
are that it already looks stale and outdated to anyone looking for a lawyer.
Start thinking like a mobile user.
Have you looked at your attorney website on a smartphone? Or tried to
search for and call your office from a mobile device? If you haven’t, do it
today. Finding your firm, navigating your website, and calling your office
should be as easy as falling off a log. If it’s any harder, you need immediate
help. Try gaining insight into testing your mobile website on users,
experimenting with A/B testing, or creating a quick survey for mobile users.
Remember that mobile optimization doesn’t end with your website.
The huge increase in the popularity of smartphones doesn’t just mean that
13. IT’S HERE: MOBILE WILL FINALLY OVERTAKE DESKTOP
page 29
you need a responsive and mobile-friendly website. Smartphones have also
created a ton of new marketing opportunities for attorneys, from creating
useful apps for clients (and potential clients) to making it easy to schedule
video meetings and consultations. When becoming mobile friendly, be sure to
think outside the box.
“WE ARE STILL LEARNING ABOUT HOW MOBILE DEVICES CAN CONNECT
US TO NEW CLIENTS AND EVOLVE ONLINE MARKETING – THINK
OUTSIDE THE BOX AND LET YOUR IMAGINATION RUN WILD.”
page 30
If you think mobile search is the cutting edge of technology, you are already
one step behind. With the advent of the Apple Watch and other small, wear-
able devices, voice search is skyrocketing in popularity. And even those who
don’t use Apple’s electronic personal assistant Siri are using voice search plat-
forms developed by Google and Microsoft.
By embracing and optimizing for voice search, you are not only preparing for
the future of SEO (which is coming up quickly), you are also taking a step that
many of your competitors won’t catch on to quite yet.
How does voice search differ from traditional typed search?
People speak differently than they type.
People are often searching only for quick bits of information.
People are often searching for telephone numbers, addresses, or direc-
tions.
Voice search often provides direct answers instead of links to answers.
Voice search often uses data from local listing websites and social media
websites.
THREE QUICK TIPS FOR OPTIMIZING FOR VOICE SEARCH:
Create content that contains direct answers.
Siri is providing users with more and more “direct answers”: text that appears
on the screen instead of a link that brings users to an outside website. You
can write the content for direct answers simply by creating FAQ pages that
14. PAGING SIRI: THIS WILL BE THE BIG YEAR FORVOICE SEARCH
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page 31
answer common questions clearly and concisely. It’s a great way to get users
to your website and a great way to boost your authority and web presence.
Understand rich snippets and structured data.
Rich snippets, also known as structured data, can help you make the most
important information on your page stand out in search results – especially
voice search results. The two most common types of rich data are titles and
meta descriptions, but you can also use structured data to promote your
address, telephone number, business hours, or upcoming events. You can add
structured data to you pages using Google’s Markup Helper.
Polish up your directory listings and social profiles.
Siri doesn’t just pull data from traditional websites. It often relies on
information in local directories like Yelp or social media profiles like
Facebook. This fact is yet another reason that you should regularly update
your profiles across the web, making sure to fill out all fields and provide the
most current information.
“ IN 2015, 41 PERCENT OF ADULTS AND 55 PERCENT OF TEENS USED
VOICE SEARCH AT LEAST ONCE PER DAY. THAT NUMBER IS ONLY GOING
TO GROW.”
page 32
When it comes to page speed, fractions of a second can influence user expe-
rience. In fact, one study found that almost half of all people online expected
a website to load in two seconds or less. Loading in just three seconds was
slow enough for many people to abandon the website altogether and try
somewhere else.
Even if you are willing to risk losing a significant number of website viewers
right off of the bat, a website that loads slowly has a number of other negative
effects that you should consider before taking load speed off of your to-do
list:
Load speed is one of the many factors that search engines use to rank a
page.
Users who abandon your page hurt your bounce rate, which also hurts
SEO.
Having a slow-loading page can hurt your online authority.
Having a slow-loading page can hurt your customer service reputation.
THREE QUICK TIPS FOR MAKING YOUR WEBSITE FASTER:
Find out how fast your website loads right now.
Before you rush into a solution, find out where your website currently stands.
Google has an online resource, Page Speed Online, which analyzes your
website and gives your page a Page Speed Score. Not only will you find out
how fast (or slow) your website is, you will also get a list of fixes, organized by
priority.
15. ALL ATTORNEYS WILL BE WATCHING THEIR PAGE SPEED
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page 33
Make your site faster, one fix at a time.
In most cases, a slow load time isn’t due to one issue, it’s due to a lot of
different smaller issues. To speed up your page, tackle problems like these
one at a time: GZIP compression, bad code, unoptimized images, resized
images, uncached pages, and redirects.
Understand that every second counts.
Even extremely large sites – including Google and Amazon – have tried to
trade page speed for an extra feature or two. Both sites found that even a
fraction of a second cost them dearly and that the “better” site was not worth
the users and revenue they lost. More bells and whistles are not always better.
Simple, clean, and lean websites come with higher conversion rates. It’s been
proven time and time again.
“HOW MANY SECONDS IT TAKES FOR YOUR WEBSITE TO LOAD SEEMS
LIKE A LITTLE THING. BUT IN FACT, HAVING A FAST SITE CAN
DETERMINE WHETHER A PERSON EVEN STICKS AROUND TO SEE YOUR
GREAT DESIGN AND CONTENT.”
page 34
16. REAL-TIME GOOGLE PENGUIN WILL LAND, BRINGING LOTS OF LINK PENALTIES
Google Penguin 4.0 is expected to drop at some point before 2016. This re-
al-time algorithm update is designed to punish websites that use black hat
marketing tactics to make it appear that web pages have more backlinks than
they really do. The real-time aspect of this algorithm update will make it so
that pages can recover from penalties quickly if they remove them and that
pages will be penalized almost automatically at the moment bad links are dis-
covered.
If that sounds like a lot of technical talk, we will boil it down for you. If you (or
the SEO company you are using) creates bad links in order to improve your
search results, 2016 will not be the year for you.
THREE QUICK TIPS FOR NAVIGATING PENGUIN 4.0:
Know your SEO expert.
In far too many cases, attorneys don’t practice black hat SEO and black hat
marketing all on their own. More often than not, they put their trust into an
“SEO expert” who doesn’t bother to tell the law office that they are engaging
in sketchy linking practices in order to get results. Make sure that you
develop a relationship with your marketers and that you know exactly what is
taking place behind the curtain in order to get web traffic and conversions.
Locate and destroy bad links.
There are a number of ways to analyze your backlinks online. These tools
allow you to see which websites are pointing to your website and whether any
of the links are of low quality. Look for links that appear in blog comments,
page 35
links that appear on pages irrelevant to your practice, links from low-quality
directories, and links from a website that house spun content.
Focus on the long game.
All Google algorithm updates have one thing in common: they are all geared
toward making it easier for users to find the information that they are looking
for. If you spend your time, thought, and effort on making it easier for
potential clients to find your website, you will be doing exactly what Google
wants, and your website will likely not be effected by Google algorithm
changes down the road. Instead of trying to play the Google SEO game,
simply try to create the best website and online presence possible for your
users. It’s as simple as that.
“IT’S TIME TO FIND EVERY SKETCHY LINK ASSOCIATED WITH YOUR
WEBSITE AND ELIMINATE IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.”
page 36
http://GoBlackFin.com
DON’T LET 2016 PASS YOU BY
If you have a question, if you want to learn more about one
of the above trends, or if you need help with your attorney
marketing plan, we are here to help. Reach out to our team
today to find out about the immediate steps that you can
take today to boost your website traffic, improve your SEO,
rev up your offline marketing, and ultimately grow your law
firm.
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