Avvo, the social media directory of attorney profiles designed to help prospective clients find the best representation, got a new suit last week. Avvo CEO Mark Britton said the change was necessary, just like when he realized periodically as an associate that it was time for some new clothes. “Maybe styles had changed a bit; maybe it was losing its shape; maybe I slept in it one too many times,” he wrote on the site’s blog. Whatever the case, I would simply look at my aging suit and think, ‘Time for a new one.'”
Well it was Avvo’s time, and the product looks spiffy. But Avvo’s changes aren’t only cosmetic. The redesign was accompanied by a set of new features like neighborhood search, to locate lawyers not only by metropolitan area, but also by city block. And lawyers can now create pages based on three different templates, one of which enables video guides, a modern way to showcase their expertise online. See the video run down of new Avvo features here.
Even before this “new suit” went live, though, Avvo had established itself as a force to be reckoned with in the legal community. Kevin O’Keefe wrote in December that Avvo had already surpassed the unique monthly visitors of Martindale-Hubble, and was inching closer to catching Lawyers.com. As of last October, Avvo only trailed Lawyers.com by 40,o00 unique visitors. In February, the gap widened considerably, but as a social media website, the creativity and potential for growth appears to be in Avvo’s favor.
