Lawyer Search Engine Marketing - Tricks of the Trade

© 2009, Brandon Cornett.

It's time for another lesson in lawyer marketing, courtesy of the Web Smart Lawyer. Here is today's lesson:

In this article, the phrase lawyer search engine marketing encompasses two different strategies — search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) marketing. I’ll be covering each of these strategies separately to offer my lessons learned for each strategy. These are just some of the things I’ve learned over the years that may be helpful in your search marketing program.

But first, let’s cover some basic terminology. Here’s the primary difference between the two lawyer search engine marketing tactics I’ll cover in this article:

• Search engine optimization (SEO) — This is the act of improving your website for better rankings in Google, Yahoo and other search engines. Here, we are talking about natural or “organic” rankings based on website popularity and relevance. This strategy involves such things as keyword research, content development, link building and more.
• Pay-per-click (PPC) — With this search engine marketing technique, you would create an advertisement for the sponsored section of the search engine’s results page. Your rankings would be determined by (A) how much you bid per click and (B) the average click-through rate of your ad.

The image below shows the difference between natural search listings and PPC ads. The green shaded area is where the sponsored links appear (pay-per-click). The pink shaded area shows the natural / organic listings. So if you employ both aspects of lawyer search engine marketing, it’s possible to have y0ur website appear twice on the first page of results — once in the sponsored section, and once within the organic results.

Some lawyers use both of these techniques within their search engine marketing programs, while others rely on one more than the other. Some lawyers don’t use either technique, and this is a real shame because they are losing business. I always recommend using SEO strategies to drive web traffic. I only recommend PPC in certain cases, and it must be preceded by a good deal of research and planning.

Here are some of the things I’ve learned over the years about each of these strategies. Apply these lessons learned to your own lawyer search engine marketing campaign, and you’ll get better results in the long run — more traffic, more exposure, and more business growth!

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Marketing Advice

Google AdWords is by far the most popular form of pay-per-click marketing, for the simple reason that it’s the most p0pular search engine. The tips in this section apply to PPC search marketing in general, but can also be applied to Google Adwords in particular.

Here are some tips for success with pay-per-click marketing:

• Learn everything you can about PPC before using it as a search engine marketing strategy.
• You need to create a strong and relevant ad that gets people’s attention.
• Focus on specific keywords that will bring qualified traffic (your city + your legal specialty).
• The headline of your PPC ad should match the targeted keyword in some way.
• The landing page is a critical component of your PPC strategy. This is the particular page of your website where people land after clicking through your sponsored listing / ad.
• Your landing page should be built around your key objectives. For example, if you want people to contact you, your landing page should include complete contact info. Remove other distractions from the page.
• The page title / headline of the landing page itself should also include the keywords the person has searched. This will reinforce the fact that they are in the right place, thus reducing the number of people who “bounce” away from your site.
• You should only bid as much as needed to achieve the page position you want. Any more than that, and you’re throwing money away.
• You can also improve the page position / ranking of your PPC ad by increasing the click-through rate. In other words, you will be rewarded for creating an effective ad that entices people to click.
• You must constantly experiment with keywords and ads. Programs such as Google AdWords give you all kinds of tools to help with tracking and monitoring — so use them! Don’t get complacent. Keep testing one campaign against another to see what gives you the best results.

I’ll close this section with a word of caution. If you’ve ever seen the “guts” of the Google AdWords program (meaning the area where an advertiser would go to manage his or her campaign), then you’ll know it’s a complicated entity! That’s why I urge you to be cautious when approaching pay-per-click for the first time, whether it be AdWords or some other program. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you can end up spending a lot of money with nothing to show for it. Here are some tips for using PPC in your lawyer search marketing efforts.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Advice

Every lawyer can benefit from better organic rankings in the major search engines, and that’s what SEO can deliver. Best of all, the results of an SEO program are long-lasting. They don’t disappear when you turn off the “switch” the way PPC results will. If you get your lawyer website to the top of the search engines with SEO, it will remain there for a long time (with only minimal “maintenance” on your part).

Here are some tips for success with natural search engine optimization:

• It all starts with content. Keyword-rich content is the fundamental building block of SEO success. So you’ll have to do plenty of writing to support this strategy — or pay someone to do it for you.
• Create a broad range of content that’s relevant to your practice. This can include articles, FAQ pages, glossaries, online learning centers and more. The more keyword-driven content you create, the more traffic you can pull in through the search engines.
• Your website must acquire links from other sites over time. This is the key to top rankings in the major search engines. An SEO campaign starts with keyword research and content development, but real success comes from link building.
• You can attract links in many ways. If you want to learn a variety of effective techniques for doing this, download a copy of the Web Smart Lawyer e-book.
• You should analyze the top-ranking lawyer websites within your field and geographic area to find out what they’re doing to earn those rankings. Particularly, you should see where their links are coming from.
• If you can get links from the same sites that are linking to your top-ranked competitors, you can achieve similar search engine success. Use Yahoo Site Explorer to see where your competitors’ backlinks are coming from.
• Read this article on attorney marketing with SEO techniques. It offers a lot more advice on this subject.

SEO is a long-term strategy that requires patience and persistence. But it’s an essential part of any lawyer search engine marketing program. In fact, if you can succeed with SEO and achieve top rankings in Google, you may not need to do any other form of marketing!