I recommend that all of my clients join Linkedin.com. Linkedin is a professional business networking website that allows for contextual links back to your site. Below are some best practices that will allow you to get more out of your free Linkedin account.
1. Make sure that you add a contextual based link back to your website. When you sign in to your profile go to “edit websites”. When selecting the name of your website go to the bottom of the drop down menu and select ‘other’. This will allow you to name your website i.e. “Arizona DUI lawyer” and enter the URL. This is the definition of contextual based link. Link to your FindLaw profile in the same manner
2. Ensure that you update your education section for your law school and all of the other colleges/universities that you attended. Make sure that you include the years you attended. This will give you access to all of your classmates that are also in Linkedin. Just as important all of your classmates will be able to link in with you.
3. Make sure you add content to your profile. 400-600 words of keyword rich content will help your Linkedin profile come up in Linkedin and Google searches.
4. Spend 2 hours a month thinking about how you can expand your professional online network. Former clients, referring attorneys, friends, classmates etc… Online networking works. I know a lawyer who picked up a case after just 5 days of being on Linkedin. He did this by aggressively expanding his network and linking in with freinds that were already on Linkedin. After linking in with an insurance defense lawyer who he had not spoken with in years, the lawyer referred my client a DUI case that he could not handle.