CaseDetails.com - Internet Marketing for Law Firms

A friend of mine works with a Florida boating accident firm that would like to expand their market into Miami (specifically, Miami-Dade County). Conventional wisdom dictates that you do a few things like setting up a local office and advertising online through directories and the like. Savvy lawyers go one step farther and begin actively spreading the word about their practice through press releases, social bookmarking and article syndication.

Enter my friend (Eric): he’s produced a good article about boating accidents and tied in the law firm via an accident checklist. But something inside me asks if article syndication is enough to attract quality incoming links anymore? The market has become so saturated, a smart marketer would investigate ways to make the firm stand out. This is a great opportunity to create “link bait” (content that actively attracts incoming links). So let’s take a look at the article and mull over how it could be reformed:

The summer is fast approaching and, for many, it is time for summer activities. Recreational boating is one summer activity that gains popularity year after year. With most summer activities that are fun there also is a potential for danger and accidents. National statistics show that recreational boating is safer today than ever before, with the number of boating fatalities declining even as the number of boat owners increases. However, lives continue to be lost needlessly, and we must remain committed to boating safety.

With over one million registered vessels, Florida is the number one state for boating in the United States with an economic impact that is greater than the citrus and cruise ship industries combined. With two-thirds of boaters saying they have never taken a boating safety class a first time boat owner may not be aware of all the regulations. Some of the most common causes of boating accidents include: boating under the influence (BUI), careless or reckless operation, excessive speeding, operator inexperience and rules infractions.

What is one to do if involved in a boating accident? The Miami-Dade County law firm of Steven E. Slootksy created a list that he gives to his clients. He recommends:

• Take photographs of the accident scene
• Take photographs of the boat damage
• Take photographs of your and other passengers’ injuries
• Get copies of your medical records and receipts
• Keep receipts of repair work done on your boat
• Take notes regarding how your injuries hinder your ability to perform daily activities
• Take down names and contact numbers of witnesses
• Note bills relating to the accident and injuries
• Keep your documentation in a safe location and make copies for your injury lawyer

Safety should always be the first priority and hopefully if the proper care is given to the laws and regulations when operating a recreational vehicle then a fun time will be had by all. No one wants to think of potential accidents while going on vacation. If something does happen it is always good to be prepared.

This is great copy, don’t get me wrong, but consider how attractive to boat-owners it would be if you turned this list into something Florida boat owners could download online as a notecard to laminate and keep on-board. Even better: with submission of the boater’s information, he/she could get a free laminated card with the firm’s name across the top, relevant law enforcement contacts and the same bulleted list. Now that’s the next level of online marketing for law firms. This “tactic” will gain contacts for the firm and build incoming links stand out under the scrutiny of search engines now and in any future updates.

Technorati Tags: link bait, article syndication

Ever since the Overture keyword tool went offline, everyone I know in the SEO industry has the same question, “What are you doing about keyword research?” It’s a good question. For all the faults of the Overture tool, it was a quick and easy way to get actual, monthly search occurrence numbers. Now that it’s gone, what’s the average lawyer to do to find good legal keyword research? This isn’t about suggestions for keywords - we’re looking for quantified, actionable search numbers.

The bad news: no matter what tool you use, there are problems. I’ll mention those in my summaries below.

• Google Keyword Suggestion Tool - the best place to start your information collection. Enter a keyword and it will show you the competitiveness and search volume for that and related keywords. The “problem”? Keyword research returns non-quantified comparisons: the equivalent of a bar chart with no numbers.


Google’s keyword research results

• Trellian’s KeywordDiscovery Tool offers a free trial but, ultimately, you’ll need to pay around $50/month for full access to their service. Once you’re a member, there are a number of keyword databases they have available for researching your topic. The Global Premium and Historical datasets are the most useful, but there is often search “noise” (bad or spammy results, obviously outside a normal searcher’s use) and I seriously question the cited period for their results. Meaning: their Global Premium database will tell you there were 25 searches for “baltimore attorney” in 2007. To me, this nullifies the advantage of this service having quantified results. I do find the historical database has good comparative results.


KeywordDiscovery

• SEOBook.com’s Keyword Tool (based on WordTracker) - this site was formerly based upon Overture data. Now, they’ve developed a relationship with WordTracker to take their data, apply search engine user volume to it and deliver a daily count of searches for a given keyword and related terms. Overall, this is a very good FREE keyword research tool that lawyers and non-lawyers alike will find useful. The numbers appear to be (roughly) accurate. There is often search “noise” returned with relevant results, but a discriminating eye can easily spot and ignore these.
• DigitalPoint’s Keyword Research Tool has always been a good place to check but the data returned is not comprehensive. The site says it uses/used Overture and WordTracker data, but a search for “baltimore attorney” shows no results.
• Wordze.com is new on my radar. You must pay for membership but, once inside, they offer a comprehensive set of tools. The Keyword Research Tool doesn’t do much to offer related keywords, but the quantified search count numbers appear to be accurate, citing over 600 searches for “baltimore attorneys” in a 30 day period.


Wordze’s keyword research interface

Thank you to the article at SEO Round Table for the motivation to put together this comparison. Anyone with any other suggestions? I know I’ve GOT to be missing something…

Technorati Tags: keyword research

Pay per click (or “PPC“) advertising is familiar to most people as those tiny ads that show up along the top and right column of Google and Yahoo sponsored search results. As little as 2 years ago, money ruled the paid advertising marketplace - he who had the most $ got the number one spot. More recently, Google AdWords has added a Quality Score or “QS” to how paid ads are ranked. This makes sure the ad and landing page both talk about the keyword being bid upon. Money + Quality = better placement within the sponsored results. So, what are the top PPC management tips in this new age of “QS” if you’re going to maximize traffic and minimize cost?

1. Base your paid advertising keywords on your website’s copy - if you don’t talk about it on your site, don’t bid on it. Conversely, if you want to break into a new area of practice, add content to your site first.
2. Segment your ad groups based upon your site’s available landing pages. The search engines like to see that you’re delivering visitors to a page appropriate for their query.
3. Make sure you use your target geography and as many keywords as reasonably possible in your advertisement itself. State that you are Ft Lauderdale lawyers or an Ohio criminal lawyer
4. Create multiple ads per ad group. Hey, let the search engine test and choose the best copy.
5. Turn off Content Match. Too often, this is nothing but a moneypit.

These five things alone can significantly improve the performance of most legal, paid advertising campaigns. Of course, if the website you’ve built to receive these visitors is of poor quality or without clear contact methods, even a huge volume of traffic will result in little business for your firm. These recommendations assume your website is able to convert PPC traffic to leads.

See Also:

• AdWords help center
• Yahoo! Sponsored Search guidelines
• SpyFu.com - find out what the competition is doing

Technorati Tags: PPC Management

As most SEO professionals will tell you, a common question asked by clients is “Why does Site X have better rankings than mine?” Restated, the question is really “What is SEO and how can it work?” Explored using lawyer websites as examples, let’s hit the high spots:

First, is the firm looking for keywords or keyphrases that actually appear or pertain to their site? Meaning, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve talked to firms who wonder why they don’t rank for, say, Los Angeles palimony when, in fact, they have no content about either Los Angeles or palimony. This is a very simple example to emphasize one point: develop content about your target keyword topics. Many times, the law firm website with better rankings simply has better content about the subject.

What else can give one site better rankings than another? Well, in general, there are two elements involved in getting good rankings: on page factors and off page factors.

        On page factors include good content and targeted TITLE and META tags to start.

        Off page factors include who is linking to the firm’s website, how long the site has been online and other things.

Alternately phrased:

        Content + Authority = Rankings

This highlights the fact that content development isn’t the only thing involved in getting rankings… particularly in highly-competitive markets like New York injury law or Florida workers comp. With content development assessed, we turn our attention to the idea of the law firm website’s authority.

The primary determination of authority is the quality of incoming links to a given website. Does Law Firm A have incoming links from topical sites where Law Firm B does not? To check, go to Google and type this in to the search box:

link:www.yoursite.com

and compare the results to

link:www.theirsite.com

Many times, the site with the better rankings will show more, quality links within this result set. It is the quality of the linking site that is important, not simply quantity.

In short, that’s how you answer the question, “Why does one site rank better than another?” Yes, it is far too simplistic a presentation, but it will get the non-technical user oriented quickly as to what things they can do to improve their visibility within high-density searches.

Hang in there, I’m posting some changes to the site (such as a new template). Everything will be complete soon, including the new reference section outlining the basics of search engine marketing for attorneys. Other coming features include a P3P privacy policy, behind-the-scenes lead generation tracking and more.

Back to basics today - I’m always challenging myself to refine the way I work, my goals, the definition of “success” and the like. Coming from a (relatively) tech background, my world usually revolves around ideas like rankings, impressions, clicks and content development. But these don’t mean much to the typical lawyer. Most attorneys are far more interested in “where the rubber hits the road”: leads generated… and they’re right. Changing my language about legal search engine marketing to be much more focused on lead generation and tracking is one of my resolutions for 2008. So how do you ensure your traffic will generate leads, not just traffic?

This is a huge topic, so I’ll hit the high spots:

• Ensure telephone and web-based tracking is in place. Of course your site should have visitor tracking like WebTrends, but you need to know how many contacts have come from your online efforts, not just visits. This is essential to tracking lead generation and online marketing ROI. It may take a tech person to help you set this up.
• Know your market. It’s very important to know what people are actually searching for online. My typical example is the lawyer focused on “matrimonial law” rather than “family law and divorce”. Rankings don’t mean much if they’re for words no one uses. With the Overture keyword tool offline, I recommend Google Trends, Keyword Discovery and the DigitalPoint tool for getting a feel for the “natural” search landscape. Those interested in paid advertising should review SpyFu.
• Don’t buy traffic without keyword targeting. Paid advertising can be effective as part of a total marketing strategy, but don’t buy traffic where it’s just X visitors for Y dollars. Make sure your traffic is targeted to your audience.
• Provide an incentive. Once a visitor is on your site, what’s in it for them? Make sure that your site’s common landing pages have a call to action or content that “speaks” to the keyword (and situation) at hand.
• (easy one) Make sure your contact information on your website is easy to read. Light gray text on a white background, small font sizes and missing mailing info are common mistakes.

So I hope the message is clear, a website and even rankings themselves are ultimately just a means to an end: lead generation. The information aspect is even secondary, in my opinion. Don’t you agree?

Technorati Tags: lead generation