Google organic rankings for Philadelphia Personal Injury Attorney as of December 27, 2007 @ 8:00 p.m. EST

1.  Kline & Specter (Major Victories)
2.  Kline & Specter (Profile)
3.  Master Weinstein
4.  Silvers, Langsam & Weitzman
5.  The Pearce Law Firm

Edith A. Pearce, Esq.

6.  Injury Board: Philadelphia
7.  Law Offices of Thomas Moore Holland
8.  Monheit Law 
9.  Meyerson & O'Neill
10.  Anapol Schwartz 

Google organic rankings for Miami Personal Injury Attorney as of December 21, 2007 @ 11:45 a.m. EST:

1.  Greenberg & Stone Trial Lawyers
2.  (John H.) Hickey Law Firm
3.  Panter, Panter & Sampedro

The Team Featured on the Panter, Panter & Sampedro Site

4.  David J. Halberg Attorneys at Law
5.  Rumler Internet Services (Reference Web Site)
6.  Gerson & Schwartz
7.  Neufeld, Kleinberg & Pinkiert
8.  Law Offices of Robert Rubenstein
9.  Jason S. Turchin Esq.
10.  Stewart Tilghman Fox & Bianchi

One Gavel 

The Dallas-based law firm of Regis Mullen & Shane Mullen thinks its found the way to win over the hearts of potential clients: promise to actually meet with them more than once should they hire the firm.

"By choosing our office you will not experience the common practice of meeting your lawyer only on your first visit never to see or be able to speak with him again," the RM&SM site announces.

Wow!

What is an accident victim, someone who has not spent more than two decades in personal injury law -- as have RM&SM -- to think of a statement like that?  Imagine that you are a 'civilian' who has navigated through most of your adult life without need for a personal injury lawyer, only to have need to seek one out following an injurious accident.  Would you be reassured by RM&SM's promise?

RM&SM may win points for candor, but its web site reminds us of these late night television ads you see for relief from frequent urination or insomnia:  "may cause dizziness, vomiting, diarrhea, and in some cases loss of mental function. In rare instances, kidney failure and death has been known to occur."

Yes, RM&SM, you may be better than the rest, so focus your website on your strengths and don't scare away three-quarters of your visitors reminding them of just how sleazy some other lawyers can be.

What else don't we like about the RM&SM site.  How about the fact that the very first selling point it makes on the site is that RM&SM will cut its contingency fee to 28% from 33% if you "mention this website."  Honest, we're not making this up.

The graphics on the site feature an American bald eagle and an empty courtroom setting.  Powerful stuff.  Powerfully uninspired.

RM&SM states that during the past two decades the firm has "built a strong reputation for providing the best legal services to our clients."  Okay, we believe you.

But rather than tell visitors, why not let your clients speak on your behalf?  You state that you've helped thousands of injured victims.  Surely, as least a dozen or so of them ought to be willing to offer you testimonials.

RM&SM has the right idea when it comes to providing its clients superior service.  It is the firm's presentation that falls way short.

As of December 20, 2007, the Law Firm Online Marketing Association found these results on Google when we searched for Personal Injury Attorney.  Based on key word pricing, we estimate these firms are paying in the range of $12.20 to $18.30 for each click. 

Results may be skewed by the geographical location of the computers we used to conduct the search.

Top Pay-Per-Click Listings For Users in Southern California:

1.  Victims Lawyer.com  (Law offices of Steven M. Sweat -- Los Angeles, CA)
2.  Personal Injury Lawyer Shop (Site is copyrighted 2002 Einstein Law -- Location Unknown)
3.  Alawpro.com (Law offices of David H. Greenberg -- Beverly Hills, CA)
4.  Scarlett Law Group (San Francisco, CA)
5.  Jason Turchin (Jason S. Turchin - Ft. Lauderdale, FL.)
6.  Resource4Accidents.com (No details available)
7.  Martin Stanley Law.com (Martin Louis Stanley - Santa Monica, CA)
8.  Law Online.com (An affiliate of InjuryHelpLine.com -- Location Unknown)
9.  BH Attorneys.com (Beverly Hills Attorneys -- Banafsheh, Danesh & Javid -- Beverly Hills, CA)
10. Langdon & Emison (Lexington, MO) 



Steven M. Sweet, a Los Angeles attorney,
is the attorney behind www.victimslawyer.com.

Google organic rankings for Boston Personal Injury Attorney as of December 20, 2007 @ 1:00 p.m. EST:

1.  Law Offices of Joel H. Schwartz
2.  Injury Board: Boston
3.  Swartz & Swartz
4.  Parker|Scheer LLP
5.  Kantrovitz & Associates
6.  Law Offices of Philip L. Arnel
7.  Altman & Altman
8.  Personal-Injury.com (Richard Callahan)
9.  Breakstone, White & Gluck
10.  Kantrovitz & Associates (II)

You, Here, Now!, one of the nation's fastest growing search engine optimization companies, has been selected by the Personal Injury Newswire to increase the visibility of its recently launched service.

Unlike many search engine optimization providers, You, Here, Now! concentrates its efforts on creating relevant, quality content that attracts both visitors and search engine robots.

<< MORE >>

Google organic rankings for Chicago Personal Injury Attorney as of December 19, 2007 @12:45 p.m. CST:

1.  Clifford Law Offices
2.  William G. Pintas & Associates
3.  Lane & Lane
4.  Cogan & McNabola
5.  Power Rogers & Smith
6.  Joseph Klest Attorney at Law
7.  Injurybaord.com: Gary D. McCallister & Associates
8.  Scanlan Law Group
9.  Levin & Perconti
10. Foot, Meyers, Mielke & Flowers

One Gavel 

Ashcraft & Gerel states that it is one of the largest personal injury law firms in the country.  Based in the greater Washington, D.C. area – including Maryland and Virginia offices – A&G deploys a garrison of roughly 40 attorneys to help people injured by car accidents, workplace injuries, defective products and medical malpractice.

The firm’s web site is dense, dense, dense with text. 

The only photos on A&G’s home page are at the bottom right hand corner, which features nine black-and-white headshots of “some of our partners.”  The headshots look like something out of a 1950s high school yearbook, including the stoic-looking Martin Gerel.

“We’re a big time law firm devoted to helping the little guy,” the web site proclaims.  But we “little guys” would be more than a little intimidated by the content of the site.

The Ashcroft & Gerel sight reminds us of commercial fishing nets, designed to haul in as a large a catch as possible.  Thus A&G lists 1,001 (or so it seems) types of claims it can handle right on its homepage, including:

-- Defective Medtronic Sprint Fidelis defibrillator leads.
-- Babies injured because their mothers took Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors during pregnancy.
-- Salmonella contamination of peanut butter.
-- Dangerous drugs including Avandia, Vioxx, Celebrex and Bextra.
-- MRI dye skin disorders
-- Etc., Etc., Etc.

The A&G website comes across as the ‘yellow pages’ of pain and suffering.  But we doubt visitors really want to try and digest all that A&G has to offer.  More likely, they have a specific injury or ailment and they just want to know what A&G can do directly for them. 

By trying to be all things to all personal injury victims, especially on its homepage, A&G is really not much to anyone. 

Our recommendations:  Play up your overall experience and the advantage of size.  Don’t “itemize” all your capabilities on your homepage.  Add some recent color photos of your team in action – not just headshots.   Help potential clients visualize themselves working hand-in-hand with your firm for justice and financial remuneration.

A&G may truly be one of the nation’s best personal injury law firms.  But you’d never know if from its website.

Two Gavels 

The folks who optimize Joseph Farzam's web site are obviously good at what they do, because the site would never rise to the top of Google's organic search results for Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorney on looks or content alone.

The real question we have is what is the "bounce" rate, i.e.  how many potential clients come to the Farzam web site and then leave again immediately because it doesn't speak to them?

We suspect Farzam is spending large sums to rank high in the organic results, but not enough on content development and design.

The site looks like a "lawyers" site, with a prominent photo of what we take to be a courthouse against the backdrop of a blue sky darkened by a white cloud.  Also featured at the top of the site is a photo of two looming towers, which we suppose is intended to convey the stability and prosperity of the firm.

Farzam relies on stock photos of an accident victim, construction worker and a group of people, rather than invest in his own more realistic photos.

"Our passion lies in fighting large corporations and insurance companies on behalf of their helpless victims," the copy reads.  It seems condecending to those who are injured.  Moreover, we don't detect much in the way of passion.

Overall, the firm doesn't exude a genuine concern for its clients, even though Farzam maintains that his "main goal is to obtain the maximum recovery for our client."

Show us.  Don't tell us.

To us the site comes across as anticeptic.  Where is the compassion?  Where is Josephn Farzam interacting with his clients? 

Come on Farzam & Co., the people coming to your site are seeking more than just money.  They are seeking justice and seeking understanding.  In this regard, you are only battling one for three.

Google organic rankings for Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorney as of December 18, 2007 @7:30 a.m. PST:

1.  Joseph Farzam Law Firm
2.  Law Offices of Kottler & Kottler
3.  Steinberg & Spencer
4.  Carl D. Barnes
5.  Larry H. Parker
6.  Mesriani Law Group
7.  Bisner|Chase Consumer Attorneys
8.  Attorney Services: California Lawyers and Legal Resources (Mesriani & Associates)
9.  Steinberg & Spencer Injury Lawyers
10.  John C. Torjesen Associates