Your website can help screen out cases you don't take without a long intake form. State your case types clearly, keep contact easy, and follow up fast. #LegalIntake #LawFirmWebsite

When someone calls about a case you don't take, who do you send them to, and does that firm ever send anyone back?

Clocks go back in the US this Sunday. If your phone routing, answering service handoff or website chat runs on a schedule, check on Monday that the after hours switch happens at the right time.

Jonathan Merel, founder of Merel Family Law in Chicago, joined Matt Green (@MChuckGreen) on episode 20 of A Non-Billable Hour. One thing his firm does: an in house divorce coach to improve the client experience. Most marketing talk is about getting the phone to ring. How a client feels during the case decides whether they send you the next one. What does your firm do for clients beyond the legal work? youtube.com/watch?v=sHuX36GW…

Came up on a consult recently: when do the 12 months in a 12 month agency agreement actually start? For us, the period we measure results against starts once discovery and strategy work are done, not the day the contract gets signed. Whoever you hire, get that start date in writing before month nine turns into an argument.

Lily Ray (@lilyraynyc) floated a scenario last week that law firms should think about. Someone hears about your firm in ChatGPT. Later they Google your firm's name. Google's AI answer at the top sends them to a directory or a competitor instead of you. Google your firm's name today. What shows up above your website?

Went through ad copy with a criminal defense attorney recently. He was happy to use "former prosecutor" as a credential. He cut a line saying that background gave him special insight into how the state would handle the case. The credential is a fact. The insight line is a promise nobody can check. Would every claim in your ads hold up if a client repeated it back to you?

Krista Walsh, a copywriter, told Matt Green (@MChuckGreen) on A Non-Billable Hour that a website doesn't need to say everything. Law firm sites usually try. Every practice area the firm has ever touched gets a page and a spot in the menu. If you had to cut your menu in half, which cases would stay?

We had a consult recently where the two partners wanted different things from marketing. One wanted a brand people in town would recognize. The other mostly cared what each call and each signed case would cost. Both are fair. They lead to different plans and different reports. Have your partners agreed on which one matters more?

Mike King (@VeryWellVersed) at iPullRank wrote this week about the studies showing ChatGPT sends websites very little traffic. He agrees with the numbers. He just thinks clicks are the wrong way to judge it, the same way nobody judges a billboard by clicks. If people in your city ask ChatGPT for a lawyer and your firm gets named, that counts even when nobody clicks. How are you measuring it? ipullrank.com/ai-search-is-a…

One question in our project manager interviews last week: a client's website gets hacked and the senior people who would normally fix it are out. What do you do first? The candidates had decent answers. A lot of law firms wouldn't, for their own site. If your website went down on a Saturday, does anyone at your firm know who hosts it and who to call?

Search for a lawyer in your market using ChatGPT or Gemini and look closely at what the answer says. Keep key firm details consistent across your site and other sources. #AISearch #LawFirmSEO

I should just be enjoying a mai tai but instead I’m fixing issues with my vibecoded apps at MonkeyPod in Maui

A law firm marketing report should explain spend, attribution, cost per signed case, and case value in plain English. Everything else needs context. #LegalMarketing #MarketingReports

Need cases next month? SEO builds long-term value, but paid campaigns can work faster. Diversify your channels so you're not forced to buy leads in a panic. #LawFirmMarketing #PaidAds

If your office closes for Thanksgiving, put the holiday hours on your Google Business Profile now, while you're thinking about it.

Search your firm's name and check the phone number on your Google listing, your website and the big legal directories. A number you stopped using years ago can still be sitting on one of them, sending calls nowhere. When did anyone last call the number Google shows?

Robert Algeri of Great Jakes (@GreatJakes) joined Matt Green (@MChuckGreen) on episode 13 of A Non-Billable Hour. The title sums it up: focus beats being everything. His point is that a firm with a clear niche can say what it does in one sentence, and people remember it. AI search tools have an easier time describing that firm too. If someone asked ChatGPT what your firm is known for, would there be one answer?

A firm we just started with handles consumer debt cases. Google's ad policies limit campaigns in that area, so they couldn't spend the budget they'd planned on Google Ads. Some practice areas run into rules like this. Find out before the budget gets set, so the money has somewhere to go. Has anyone checked Google's ad policies for your practice areas?

Moving offices? Elizabeth Rule at Sterling Sky (@SterlingSkyInc) wrote up how to move a Google Business Profile. Google's normal advice is to change the address on the listing you already have instead of creating a new one. Expect to verify again. Reviews generally come with you if the firm name stays the same. Before the move, write down your review count and where you show up on Maps today, so you can tell what changed afterwards. sterlingsky.ca/how-to-move-g…