Pew Survey Offers Insights for Lawyers

Last month, Lee Rainie, Project Director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, delivered a presentation [pdf] on the results from the latest Pew survey on internet usage in the United States. The survey...

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Last month, Lee Rainie, Project Director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, delivered a presentation [pdf] on the results from the latest Pew survey on internet usage in the United States. The survey data may provide some interesting insights for attorneys who are seeking to tailor their marketing strategies towards the growing online audience. Here are some of the highlights from the presentation, as well as my comments:

• Google. On a typical day, 41 million Americans use a search engine, of which 4 million will google someone they are about to meet. If a prospective client attempts to google you, what will they find? If your law firm has a web site, hopefully that will be one of the first few search results that will be returned. If not, you should consider optimizing your web site or contacting us to learn about Justia’s online marketing solutions.

• Blogs. How mainstream are blogs? The Pew survey revealed that 6-9 million people post messages on a Web log (or "blog") daily. Surprisingly, blogging is even more ubiquitous than music or movie sharing on peer-to-peer networks. For lawyers, blogs offer them a means to become reliable, helpful authorities on particular legal subject matters, such as trucking litigation.

• Health Information. What type of information do people seek online? The survey reported that 9-10 million people will seek health information from the internet daily. Lawyers can play an important role in disseminating health information online for a variety of medical problems with legal implications such as dangerous drug reactions or traumatic brain injuries