infoworks! blog

Preview responsive websites with this neat tool

Dimensions is a free tool for testing your responsive web designs. Posting this to share it and so I don't loose the link! www.dimensionsapp.com. Type in a URL and drag the handle to display break points. It can even preview your site as it will appear on common smart phones and tablets. Very cool.

Here is what it looks like displaying a new web site www.maleyandmaley.com before it went live.

New York Energy Law Firm Wins Web Award

I was very happy to receive a 2013 Standard of Excellence WebAward in the legal category for the design and development of website funkandzeifer.com for NY Energy Law Firm Funk & Zeifer. The site takes advantage of the latest web standards such as responsive design and social sharing tools and is SEO optimized. Check it out...

See: WebAward announcement

Blogging is hard

Okay, this blog was actually suspended. My credit card expired and I had been neglecting it. Blogging is hard! I get it. When you are busy serving clients, it is difficult to keep up with the blogging. I admit I have fallen down. What to do? Get back up, and blog!

Lubin & Meyer in Rhode Island

Geotargetting is the reason for creating another minisite for medical malpractice law firm Lubin & Meyer. The firm has an impressive record of recovering compensation for victims of medical malpractice and catastrophic injuries, but they are known primarily as a Boston and Massachusetts law firm. The site is part of an effort to extend their brand awareness into Rhode Island where their attorneys also go to trial. This newest site focuses on RI-specific medical malpractice information, cases, verdicts and settlements that the firm is involved with. See the site here: RI malpractice lawyers.

Welcome Moschella & Winston!

I'm happy to be working with the nice folks at Boston-area law firm Moschella & Winston on web marketing tasks. It's always nice to team up with a law firm where the attorneys are truly outstanding in their areas of practice. Founding partners Alex Moschella and Neal Winston are trust and estate lawyers distinguished by Massachusetts Super Lawyers in practices of:

• Estate Planning and Probate
• Estate and Trust Litigation
• Elder Law and
• Social Security Disability.

Additionally, Neal Winston was recently elected president of the Special Needs Alliance, a national organization of attorneys dedicated to the practice of disability and public benefits law. For more information, see moschellawinston.com.

Lubin & Meyer in New Hampshire

This minisite was created for a geographic specific target for medical malpractice law firm Lubin & Meyer. While well known in Boston and Massachusetts as the premier law firm for personal injury litigation related to medical malpractice, the firm is looking to increase awareness in New Hampshire where it also practices. The NH mini site concentrates on NH-specific medical malpractice information, cases, verdicts and settlements that the firm is involved with. See the site here: NH malpractice lawyers.

Charlestown, MA - Shared Office Space Available

I work in a shared office space at One Thompson Square in Charlestown, MA (02129) and we are looking for an office mate (to replace one who is leaving) to share the rent.

SEEKING: A professional to share our quiet, casual-but-serious, open office space at One Thompson Square. Price is $320 and includes shared high-speed internet and low-duty fax/copy. Ideal candidate does not have a heavy phone-based business or regular client traffic. Clean, considerate, conscientious and non-smoking.

If interested call: 617-494-9444.

My favorite favicon generator

Not all favicon generators are created equal. Some produce better looking results than others. If you're not up for creating a custom favicon from scratch, try out this one. It's my favorite so far.

http://favicon-generator.org/

If you have a favorite favicon generator that produces better results than this one, I'd love to hear about it.

Please comment.

Happy faviconning!

YouTube tip: Designate start time of embedded video

Here's a nifty trick I thought I'd share. When you want to embed a YouTube video and you want to control exactly where the video starts playing (to get to the good stuff, or to skip over some less relevant information), just append this code to the end of the video URL in your embed code:

&t=1m34s

M is for minutes and S is for seconds. So adding this to the end of a YouTube video embed will start the video at the 1 minute and 34 second time position. Simply change the numbers to match where you want a specific video to start playing. It's that easy! Happy embedding.

Intro to Twitter for Law Firms

Lawyers and law firms need not be intimidated by Twitter. If you think of Twitter as a free web site (or more precisely as a micro blogging web site) that you can use to post news about your firm/industry, then why would you want to have one? I've been helping some law firms get started with Twitter... just as you must walk before you can run, you must tweet before you can sing!

First, sign up. I'm a proponent of at least grabbing your name on Twitter and setting up an account. Next, learn how to make a few Twitter posts, or tweets, in order to get an understanding of how it works. At the very least, Twitter can be a simple and effective way to promote your latest web content.

Understand that the best way to benefit from Twitter is to be an active user participating in "conversations" relative to your work as a way to establish and enhance your visibility and expertise and to create brand trust around "you." But that takes a leap of faith. I've been slowly encouraging some clients to "give Twitter a chance" by starting a firm twitter account and then demonstrating some of the things it can do.

Once you become familiar with Twitter, you'll better understand how to use it uniquely for your purposes. Also, having a Twitter account in place can provide your firm with a nifty infrastructure to publish, if you so choose, breaking news (in the form of Twitter posts) on a topic and integrate the news feed into your traditional web site or any other web page that you maintain.

Many benefits await those willing to give Twitter a try. To learn more about getting yourself or your law firm started with Twitter, give me a call at 617-494-9444.

Here are a few law firms getting started on Twitter...

• Gallagher, Callahan & Gartrell
• Sylvester & Maley
• Morse, Barnes-Brown & Pendleton
• Lubin & Meyer

LMA New England Goes Social

I was happy to participate in the annual Legal Marketing Association - New England Chapter conference in November. This year, the conference took on a different approach following the lead of internet technologies: Instead of a top-down structure with pundits speaking to the masses, the conference took on a self-organizing, peer-to-peer structure to help increase participation and help extract the expertise in all of us. John Cunningham and I each moderated several round table discussions on Social Networking. (See John's blog for a nice summary of these round tables). And below, is a video summary of the conference as a whole. LMA New England is always a good day away from the office!

The Case for Twitter for Law Firms

Even if your firm or your attorneys are not yet ready to tweet, Twitter can be a strategic component of your search engine optimization strategy. Part of what I offer my clients is an effort to "own your name" on search engines. The idea is to have all the top search results — for instance, the first page of Google results when searching on your name — pages that are under your control. It is an ongoing process as search engine ranking is dynamic -- your results can change from day to day. While Twitter is only one factor in the strategy to own your name, it can be a powerful one if used and set up correctly.

If you are interested in "owning your name" on Google and other search engines, please give me a call (Amy Campbell, Infoworks! - 617-494-9444). I'm happy to describe it in more detail. Twitter and other social media can play an important part in a comprehensive, multi-pronged search engine optimization strategy and each should be used in accordance with social media policy for your firm.

See also: Twitter Is for Listening, on my law firm marketing blog, Amy Campbell's Web Log.

Here are a few of the types of clients for whom I have recently set up Twitter accounts and am beginning to use strategically as part of an overall SEO strategy: plastic surgeon, medical malpractice lawyer, business law firm, nh law firm, nh lobbyist.

Christine Hamori Cosmetic Surgery + Skin Spa Named "Best of the South Shore"

Congratulations to client Christine Hamori Cosmetic Surgery + Skin Spa voted "The Best of the South Shore" by South Shore Living. Selected under Health Beauty & Fashion for Best Cosmetic Surgery Office, Christine Hamori offers a state-of-the-art surgery suite and attending surgical staff in her Duxbury, Massachusetts practice with a full offering of non-surgical treatments including cosmetic injectables such Botox, Dysport and Sculptra. 

Gallagher, Callahan & Gartrell Gets New Look

New Hampshire law firm Gallagher, Callahan & Gartrell has a new web site created by Infoworks! that showcases the firm's four core industry areas and adds relevant industry experience to attorney bios and practice areas. The firm's initial web site had won awards and recognition for innovation and excellence in marketing, experise content and search engine optimization, and the new site continues with that tradition. The firm focuses in areas of:

• Financial Services and Banking
• Insurance and Insurance Defense
• Energy & Utilities
• Real Estate Development.

 

Learn more about the firm's practice areas and other business sectors they serve at gcglaw.com.

In addition to the new web site, the firm's ads have been updated to coordinate with the web site's new look and to emphasize the firm's Shaping Success(SM) theme. The recent ad below is an example — it highlights the firm's services for NH human resources directors.

Andrew C. Meyer, Jr. in Today's Boston Globe

Today's Boston Globe carries news of another settlement by Boston medical malpractice attorney Andrew C. Meyer, Jr. This time a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of a family whose mother fell from an operating table following her hip surgery. The case was to go to trial tomorrow. In the article, Meyer demonstrates the value of medical malpractice law in exposing problems in the health care system and helping to fix them. Said Meyer,

“The settlement was a recognition of the kind of mistakes that happen all too often in our hospitals. It’s gratifying to see that the family was able to receive exposure for this horrific event — and not to sweep it under the rug — to ensure that policies are changed so that this will not happen again.’’

The Globe reporter also wrote that:

The state Department of Public Health investigated the case in November 2007, determining that the fall led to O’Donnell’s death, and cited deficiencies in procedure. The hospital’s own analysis found that the operating room staff was busy or preoccupied and that the safety belt’s removal was not verbally communicated..."

Read more at Boston.com.

Law Firm Blog Showcases Client News

Infoworks! recently assisted client Morse, Barnes-Brown & Pendleton with adding a blog to its online offerings. The new blog, called Good Company, was developed to help elevate and showcase news about its clients and their projects, as well as  attorney activities, articles and expertise. The new format is a quick read for visitors and helps provide added publicity for client products and services. Clearly a win-win!

blogmbbp.wordpress.com

New Favorite Web App: AddThis

My new favorite web app is AddThis! I've been adding it to projects to allow readers to spread the good news. Add This allows you to quickly and easily e-mail a web page or web post, or add it to your favorite social networking or bookmarking sites such as Facebook, Linkedin, del.icio.us, etc.

Check it out at AddThis.com. And see how I've added it on these sites, for example: a business law firm, and a legal marketing articles site...

Hello from Opening Day 2009

Opening Day 2009
Originally uploaded by amyblog.

It was a cold but gratifying day — Opening Day at Fenway Park, April 7, 2009. Here I am with my brother lingering as the crowd files out after a 5-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Plastic Surgeon Web Site Gets Makeover

Infoworks! recently completed the updated web site for Christine Hamori Cosmetic Surgery + Skin Spa. The new look brings her web site, and web blog up to date with her advertising look-and-feel and adds a new level of strength in search engine optimization. (You may be familiar with her ads in Boston magazine and other publications — and I've shown her ads previously here on this blog.) The new site went live at the start of February and I'm already seeing an increase in visits and increased ranking on search engines. Check it out!

Web site: Christine Hamori Cosmetic Surgery

Blog: What's New in Plastic Surgery?

For information on how your practice can improve your online presence and your bottom line, contact me: Amy Campbell.

Shepard Fairey at Boston ICA

Shepard Fairey Peace
Originally uploaded by amyblog.

Last night I attended the members' preview show of Supply and Demand, The Art of Shepard Fairey, a 20th anniversary retrospective at The Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. It's a terrific, eye-popping display of iconic images, collage and multi-media and political commentary that chronicle this well-known street artist's rise to museum acclaim. I must say, my experiences at the ICA Boston just keep getting better. This is a must see.