Welcome. User Guide Title Page Page i

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1 Welcome User Guide Title Page Page i

2 Welcome Welcome to Avvo Websites Thank you for purchasing an Avvo Website package! We re delighted to have you on board and excited to get started on your new website. Avvo Websites are performance websites for attorneys. Built on the powerful WordPress content management system and blogging platform, our websites are designed to convert more visitors into contacts. Your new website will feature a responsive design, which adapts the look of your website to fit mobile and tablet devices and makes it easy for potential clients to get in touch with you. This introductory packet will give you a brief overview of the website development process so you know what to expect in the coming weeks. If you have questions about the process, we recommend browsing the Frequently Asked Questions section, which answers common questions we have received from attorneys over the years. If you can t find the answer to your question there, just let us know. Thank you again for choosing Avvo Websites. We re excited to have you with us and we look forward to working with you! Cheers, The Avvo Websites Team Welcome Packet Page 1

3 THE PROCESS Process Overview Creating a quality website takes time. We do our best to create websites as quickly as possible and often beat our expected timeline. Here s an overview of what you can expect during the building of your website: TIMELINE INT 1 business day after website sale is completed FIRST DRAFT Within 2 weeks of receiving completed development worksheet REVISIONS Between 1 business day to 1 week or longer depending on the complexity of the changes GO LIVE Within 1 week of receiving permission to take your website live, along with the login credentials for your domain hosting company if required INITIAL This contains everything you need to get started, including a link to our online development worksheet and the name and address of your Website Project Coordinator, who is your point of contact throughout the website development process. In order to create the website you envision, we ask that you submit the development worksheet so we have your requests in writing. Once we receive your worksheet, our team will get to work building your first draft! THE FIRST DRAFT Your Website Project Coordinator will you when we have completed the first draft of your website. This first draft is our initial interpretation of your development worksheet, as well as any phone or communications we have had. The first draft is often close to what you envisioned and the website will need only a few changes. Sometimes, the first draft may need to be changed more extensively to better align with your firm and marketing strategy. Welcome Packet The Process Page 2

4 The Process Process Overview Cont. THE FIRST DRAFT CONT.! You may notice that the link to your first draft ends in.avvosites. com. This part of the web address will disappear once we take your website live. It s important to remember that the first draft can easily be changed. Our goal is to work with you to build a website that meets your expectations. The first draft will contain a link to a revisions form. You can submit the revisions form multiple times, so it s a good idea to save the link. Please note that some changes can take longer to complete than others. Changing your website s theme is much like re-building your website; before you ask us to change your website s theme, take a moment to consider if we can achieve the same effect by altering your current theme. If you have any questions about a change to your website, please don t hesitate to ask your Website Project Coordinator. REVISIONS! The link to your draft website will remain the same for each revision. We recommend adding a bookmark in your browser so you can quickly access your draft website. At this point, there may be some things you want to change on your website. We are happy to help you with that! Communicate your changes to your Website Project Coordinator by filling out the revisions form or sending an . Small changes can often be accomplished by the following business day, but more extensive changes can take a week or longer. Once the changes are completed, your Website Project Coordinator will you to let you know that the changes have been completed and the website is again ready for your review and feedback. TAKING YOUR SITE LIVE When you feel that your website is ready to be shown to the world, you re ready to go live! The first step is to let your Website Project Coordinator know. In most cases, we will need your login credentials for your domain hosting company. Welcome Packet The Process Page 3

5 The Process Process Overview Cont. TAKING YOUR SITE LIVE CONT. After we receive the go-ahead from you, we will complete a final review of your website. The final review includes removing all placeholder text, filling in meta tags on the homepage, writing the footer text, and making sure your website looks great and is working properly. After the final review, we change your domain s settings to point your domain to your new website and allow search engines to begin crawling the website. At this point, links to your website will no longer contain.avvosites.com. Please allow one week for us to take your website live, since it can be a technically complex process. YOUR SITE IS LIVE! Once your website is live, you will receive an from your Website Project Coordinator letting you know. Please feel free to download our Avvo Websites User Guide ( avvosites.com/assets/avvo_websites_user_guide_may_2014. pdf), which will provide you with instructions on how to make changes to your website, blog, and even do some basic SEO work on your website. If you purchased the Professional or Ultra package, your point of contact at Avvo is now your Account Manager, who can help you with any questions or issues you may have with any Avvo product. If you purchased the Basic package and would like assistance making changes or have questions about your website, please feel free at any time to upgrade to a package that includes ongoing website support. To do this, please complete the form on your website dashboard or call our main sales line at (888) Welcome Packet The Process Page 4

6 FAQ What s a good domain name to choose? This all depends on your marketing strategy. Check out this article for some direction: What do you mean by replacing my current website on the intake form? We are asking if we should remove your existing website from the Internet and put up your Avvo Website in its place. We may or may not import all of your content from your old site, depending on the instructions you provide us. If we are not replacing your existing website, it will stay online and you will have your Avvo Website running alongside it. What s a microsite? A microsite is a website that focuses on a specific geographic or practice area, rather than giving a general overview of your entire law practice. An example would be a website for a fullservice law firm that focuses solely on criminal defense, or a website for a law firm with offices throughout the New York area that focuses solely on Long Island. This is in contrast to a full site or main site. Welcome Packet FAQ Page 5

7 FAQ Cont. What s a domain username and password? Just like and your Avvo Website, your domain has a place to login requiring a username and a password. Typically, you login to your domain at the business website where you purchased your domain. Domain hosts we often see are GoDaddy, Network Solutions, register.com, 1and1, and DomainPeople. If you have any questions about where your domain is hosted, please ask your Website Project Coordinator. How do I know if I should blog? There are many schools of thought on blogging and it s up to you to decide whether it fits with your marketing strategy. Blogging can be an effective way to add fresh content to your site, which can help with SEO. In addition, providing engaging, useful content that is updated regularly can encourage potential clients to view your site as a resource that should be checked regularly. Read the following articles to see if blogging is right for you: law_practice_archive/lpm_magazine_articles_v31is5an4.html Welcome Packet FAQ Page 6

8 FAQ Cont. Can people see my site when it s not live? Yes! If you give people the address we send you, they too can see your website. However, your site is not visible to search engines which means no one will accidentally find your website. In order for your new website to show up on Google and other search engines, we have to take it live. What happens when my site goes live? If you purchased the Professional or Ultra package, you ll receive a final letting you know that your website is live, which will also contain the information for your new point of contact at Avvo and let you know that you have access to our account management team. If you are a Basic subscriber, you will receive notification that your site is live, but you will no longer have access to website support as it is not included with the Basic package. How do I make updates once my site goes live? For the Professional & Ultra packages, there are 4 options: 1. Login to your website and make changes, as you did when your website was a draft 2. Submit a support request on the dashboard of your website (please allow 48 hours for response) Welcome Packet FAQ Page 7

9 FAQ Cont. How do I make updates once my site goes live? Cont. 3. Contact your Account Manager (please allow 48 hours for response) 4. Contact the account management team for urgent matters: For the Basic package, you can login to your dashboard and make changes. Please take advantage of our User Guide for step-by-step instructions and tips. If you find that you need ongoing website support, please fill out the form on your website dashboard or call our main sales line at (888) to speak with someone about upgrading to a package that includes support. When does the SEO start? SEO starts now! Your first draft includes basic SEO, which is already included in the site structure and code. Additionally, we add an SEO title and meta description to your website s homepage right before we take your website live. Finally, we also set up a UBL listing after your website goes live, which distributes your business information to key databases that provide data to the majority of U.S. search platforms. SEO is an ongoing, ever-changing process. If you choose to work with an outside SEO consultant, just let us know and we will give them access to your website dashboard. Welcome Packet FAQ Page 8

10 FAQ Cont. Where are the keyword meta tags? The keywords meta tag is outdated and is no longer used by any of the major search engines. That s not to say you shouldn t be targeting certain keywords in your content, but there s no need for the keywords meta tag. What is a practice area page? A practice area is a legal issue, a legal subject-matter, a specific area of substantive law, or type of client problem. Many practice areas overlap, and include elements of one or more other practice areas. Some are even styles of practice, such as General Practice or Litigation. Try this resource for examples and descriptions of practice areas: MLAGlobal/Imported/LawFirmPracticeAreaSummarypdf.pdf Will Avvo host my website? Yes! Avvo hosts your website s data and files on our servers. You must continue to host your domain name through your domain host, unless Avvo purchased your domain name for you or you transferred it to our domain hosting account. Welcome Packet FAQ Page 9

11 FAQ Cont. Do I need to continue paying for my website hosting? It depends. The answer to this is dependent on the technical setup of your domain. As each situation is different, please do not cancel your website hosting until after you ve checked with your Avvo point of contact to ensure it won t affect your Avvo Website. Are you aware of my state s bar rules for advertising? How will you make sure my content on my new website complies? We are not able to guarantee any content or advertising compliance with any state rules and regulations. You will need to review your website to make sure that it complies with any regulations that may apply to your content and send any specific language changes and instructions to your Website Project Coordinator. We are more than happy to make these changes. You are also able to login and make exact wording changes to your content if you prefer. What is this crazy language all over my site? When will it be fixed? It is Latin-esque filler text called lorem ipsum that is traditionally used in the publishing industry. We will remove all filler text during the final review process, right before your website goes live. To read more about the history of lorem ipsum, check out the Wikipedia article: org/wiki/lorem_ipsum Welcome Packet FAQ Page 10