Law Firm Internet Marketing | What We're Trying to Do

I've been reading a lot of blogs lately about business, about search engine optimization, and about marketing in general, and I decided it was probably time to start over at the beginning to talk about what exactly it is the whole point of the internet search stuff is. I sometimes forget that most lawyers haven't spent the amount of time that I have on this kind of stuff, and most of it is completely foreign.

So today, we're going to start at the beginning. We're going to talk about internet marketing from a high level standpoint. We're going to talk about what the whole point of this thing is. My hope, after you read this, is that you'll have a better understanding of the point of internet marketing for your law firm and you'll take an interest in it (since it's likely going to be vital to your success moving forward).

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I just wanted to take this opportunity to quickly suggest you subscribe to these blog posts. I plan on posting here a lot more often this year, and to make sure you don't miss anything, and so you don't have to constantly check the site, you should subscribe in the feed.

And, if you read my blog on how to start a law firm, you should subscribe there too. I won't be talking about the same things there and here - the information on here is just too specific to deal with over there.

What I Mean By Law Firm Internet Marketing

Back in the old days, when someone needed someone, like a lawyer, they would do one of two or three things. They would either ask their friends and family, ask someone at work, or go to the yellow pages.

What sucked about all of those methods, from the point of the consumer, was that there was no real way to check out the lawyer before calling them. You had to just take them at their word.

The thing that sucked from the attorney's perspective was that there wasn't much of a way to differentiate yourself from all the other people out there calling themselves attorneys.

But that's all changed.

The internet has become the new Yellow Pages, and so much more. What the internet allows you to do is reach your customers when they need you, AND to show them how you are different from everyone else, the value you can provide, and that you are trustworthy and honest. That is law firm internet marketing in a nutshell. That is what we are talking about here. That is what can make or break your law firm, no matter how established.

First Stage of Law Firm Internet Marketing - Search Engine Optimization

Think about what you do whenever you have a question that you want to answer Google. Do you go and type in the name of the website that can answer the question? No. You ask Google for the information that you need.

The same thing happens when people are looking for your services. They don't type in the name of your law firm, they type in what they are looking for, for example Seattle DUI attorney. From there a bunch of law firms and other information related to Seattle DUI attorney become available.

With search engine optimization you are doing what it takes to rank at the top of the list for your desired search terms. So, for example, if you search Seattle DUI attorney you want to be the first result in the main pages (not the ads at the very top of the screen or down the right side of the screen).

How SEO Works

If you think about SEO from Google's perspective, the way it works becomes pretty clear. First things first, Google's goal is to answer the question the searcher types in in the first result.

That might seem pretty easy to do, but you have to remember there are millions and millions of web pages out there all trying to be that first result. For Google to get through all of that information they've had to create a computer algorithm to do it. The algorithm, very basically, looks at two main things to rank the sites whenever a search query is made: (1) the content of the site; and (2) the links that point to the site.

I must admit here that no one really knows exactly what Google looks for in their algorithm. That's one of the tightest guarded secrets out there. My suggestions are just that, suggestions, based off of my own experience and those that have come before me.

We all know about the content of your website. That speaks for itself.

But what are backlinks?

Backlinks are those links that are out there on the web linking back to your site. Google uses these links to determine the popularity of your site and what your site is about. The more links you have, the more respected the sites are that the links come from, and the more those links utilize your keywords, the higher your site ranks.

But What are Keywords?

Keywords are simply those words that people use to search for you. Using the above example, the keyword would be "Seattle DUI lawyer." Another good one would be "Seattle DUI attorney." If you have links with your keywords pointing to your site, that tells Google not only what your site is about, but that someone out there on the internet thinks that your site is an authority on that keyword.

Second Stage of Law Firm Internet Marketing - The Call to Action

I can tell you this from my own experience, that just ranking high on Google will not make you a rich lawyer. You've also got to have your website set up so that once people get to your site they actually want to call you and have you help them. There are a lot of different components to this, but the idea is to get your potential client to know, like, and trust you, and then tell them what to do next so you can show them further how you can help them.

Figuring out the exact formula for this is difficult. It takes a lot of experimentation, a lot of testing, and a lot of measuring. But there are some things that you must have to make your website as good as it can possibly be.

Okay, that's a quick run down of law firm internet marketing. Okay, maybe not so quick. But we're going to talk about it a lot more from here on out so that you at least understand what you're getting yourself into when you hire someone to help you.

What Do You Want to Know - Comment, Questions Welcome

What questions do you have about this stuff? Let me know. Ask a question. leave a comment. And don't forget, if you're interested in this information, subscribe to my feed.

My goal here is to help you with your marketing, to help you with your internet exposure, and to keep you from getting ripped off. Can't wait to get started.

Law Firm Internet Marketing | What I've Been Up To

It's been a few months since I've posted here, but I've decided to start it back up. I've decided to do that to help you and to help me. These posts should help you because you'll learn more about search engine optimization and be able to use that information in your law firm marketing decisions. It will help me because I'll be able to chronicle what I'm doing for my clients and how my efforts have paid off for them.

Yep, you read that right, chronicle what I'm doing for my clients. I've got clients. I'm helping them get their websites to the top of the search rankings for their respective keywords, so they can shower their expertise on those that need it. Right now I have two clients, though the plan is to probably double that in the first three months of 2012 and then double it again in the next quarter. I'm only helping a specific subset of law right now, so chances are you won't qualify for my help. But, the information here will be helpful, and I imagine some day I'll be expanding to your practice area. You'll just have to hold your horses until then.

My SEO for Lawyers Work So Far

Like I said, I have two clients - client 1 and client 2. That's how I'm going to refer to them and how I'm going to talk about them. I won't tell you what keywords I'm working on, because that's sensitive information. But I will tell you they are highly competitive keywords in major markets.

Client 1 I've been helping for about 3 months. When we started, client 1 was ranking in the mid-50s for their desired keywords. Today they are at 16 for both. They've been there at 16 or so for about three weeks, so it's about time for another jump. I'd expect some movement in the next couple of weeks.

Client 2 I've only been helping for about a month. In that time I've taken their site from the low 100s in the search rankings to 24 and 25! I must admit that I wouldn't think of this as typically normal behavior for the search engines. And there is a chance the site could fall a little bit before it goes up any more. But I'll take it.

We've been doing a lot of hard work on these sites, and it literally takes work every day. Can't wait to keep you up to date on what happens with these two clients!

The Secret to Great Law Firm Internet Marketing

There is a secret to successful law firm internet marketing. Know what it is? Creating the best content out there and then showing Google that that content is related to your site. Yep, that's it. It really is that easy.

But not so fast. What makes it hard is the amount of great content you need. There is no specific amount of content that you need, but you can never have enough. You should always be adding content, you should always be working on helping people get the information they need, and that will help you rise up the search engines.

Now, there are also secrets about what law firm internet marketing is not. It is not comment spamming as many different blogs as you can find. It is not writing nonsensical blog posts on spammy blogs to try to get a link. It is not copying content from other people. It is not buying adsense ads. It is not any of that.

Most of the lawyers I know don't want to spend the time or the energy to put in the work needed to get their website to the top of the search engine rankings. That's why I started my company. I'm kind of a search engine geek. I'm interested in this stuff. And I love helping other attorneys reach their goals by helping them connect with potential clients. And that's what marketing is all about.

I'd love to answer any questions you have about law firm marketing. I'd love to hear what you think about what I've said. If you got questions or comments, leave a comment with it, and I guarantee I'll get to it faster than I did the last one!

Have a Merry Christmas!!

Law Firm Internet Marketing | Getting Your Site to Number One

If you are coming over here from "How to Start a Law Firm" welcome. I started this site a couple of years ago (I think) to focus more on the internet marketing side of things. Since one of my last starting a law firm posts was on specifically internet marketing, and I gave out an offer for services, I thought I would move it over here to focus solely on that. The business side of a law firm will remain on the other blog.

Since I posted my offer I've gotten a lot of great responses. People are interested in having their websites pop up at the top of the search engines for their respective keywords. People are interested in harnessing the power of the internet to make their practices successful. I'm pumped about that because I can help people do that.

A few of the people I talked to, though, had more specific questions about what it is exactly that I do. They wanted more details before giving their hard earned money away. I completely understand that. The point of this post is to answer just one such question.

Carrie in Missouri wrote me last week and this is what she said:

I just thought I would give you some feedfack on your pricing schedule....

I too am one of those people who are not real happy with the internet optimization results. I tried paying to have a webstite done only to find out they did not do the back side and add in the key words. So then I moved to West doing my website and paying $500 per month and then some more for advertising that did not have good results. Got out of it as soon as possible and still paying on it truthfully. Next I went to Total Attorneys to get leads but the leads were crap for bankruptcy. I may have broken even but sometimes that is debateable. So now I am using Yodle which is $677 a month. They were able to put me on the first page for a couple of keywords but I am not finding the traffic I was hoping for still. It is likely my website needs some help as well.

Anyway, I think that putting on the first page is great but I am not sure that I would be getting the business to justify the extra funds with you. Can you tell me how you would be different? My practice really needs to expand to make me profitable. I am still doing too much of my own work even though I have a paralegal/secretary that is great. Suggestions are appreciated.

I hope that gives you a little more idea of what is going on out there price wise. By the way, West did not optimize for the $500 either. I just feel that attorneys are being taken advantage of right now. Small firms are getting killed. Some of the big firms are not seeing the results either. Just wondering what the magic is out there?????

Have a great day!

Carrie

To break down Carrie's email, she has three basic questions: (1) how would I be different from the people she's used before (namely Yodle, West, Total Attorneys, etc.)?; and (2) what can being in the top spot of Google do for me?; and (3) what is the magic out there? Let's answer those today.

1. How are My SEO services Different from Yodle and Others?

This one's easy. What I would be doing for you is completely different from Yodle. First things first, you would be my only customer with your keywords in your geographical area. There would be no competition for my services from anyone you compete with. There is no bidding war. Once you sign up with me you get me until you don't want me anymore.

Second, you would be one of only two customers I would have (to start). This gives you two things - someone focused on the outcome of your business, and someone that is invested in you doing well. If you don't gain traction that's not going to be good for me. I want you to succeed, because it means I succeed.

The way most of the other SEO companies work is on volume. They sign you up, make you some promises, get your money, and then move on to the next person. They know that for every person that stops using their service there are going to be two or three that have no understanding of internet marketing and will sign up just to see what happens. My system is already set up for success - I rank highly for my keywords and use them in my business every day. I want to keep you on as long as possible and will work hard to do that.

Third, my methods are not geared toward a quick jump up the search engines and an even quicker fall. What I do is designed to get you to the top and keep you there. I build authority for you and take steps to ensure your reputation remains in the high regard I'm sure it currently is.

2. What Can Being in the Top Spot at Google do for Me?

Let me ask you a question. The last time you needed help with something that you didn't already know someone that worked in that area, what did you do? I have two guesses. First, if you know a friend with some connections in that area, you probably asked them. Second, if you didn't, you probably went to Google and started looking for people that could help you.

Taking that one step further, when you actually got to Google, what did you do? My guess is you didn't look at the two or three ads at the top of the page or all of the ads on the right side of the page. My guess is you started looking at the organic search results - those results that have the site name and some information underneath, to try to find someone.

My service is designed to get you in that top spot on Google. I don't pay for advertising space, I have a system designed to organically get you to the top spot.

Now, once you get to the top spot what it's going to get you is a massive amount of traffic - and the traffic is going to be full of potential clients - to get to you they would have had to type in your keywords (Missouri bankruptcy attorney, for example). They are not only looking for your services, but in my experience they are typically more suited to buying your services.

I've tried adwords, the ads on the top and right of the search results. It got me a lot of people price shopping and looking for free information. People that click on the organic results are looking for help. You can be the person they turn to.

3. What is the Magic Out There?

There is no magic. I simply do what pretty much no other attorney wants to spend their time doing. I've talked about exactly what I do on this site, in fact. It involves writing a lot of good, original articles, every day, on respected sites, until Google starts to recognize that you exist and that you could be helpful to people looking for your services.

That's it, plain and simple. I don't participate in spam in any way. I don't comment blast people (they aren't effective anyway). I simply put my head down, get to writing, and wait for the results.

Sure, there is a little bit more to it than that, and if you are interested I'll tell you. I can also tell you what is going to happen if you do it by yourself. You'll start out very enthusiastic about the whole thing, writing articles and posting them in good places, then, about two weeks into it you'll check your search results and see that you haven't moved anywhere and you'll get discouraged. Pretty soon you aren't writing articles anymore, and you wish you had someone like me who not only knows how to do the leg work very well but will do it for you.

Update to the Offer

If you read my original post, I said I'd take two people to start with this new business (I still have a successful law firm to run, and law firm internet marketing takes some work) and then see what happens. I already have one. And I'm willing to make you the same deal I made him for being an early adopter.

I'm going to drastically reduce the price of my services in exchange for one thing - a glowing review when you start blowing away the competition. The new pricing structure is this - until you are on the first page of the organic results for your keywords, the monthly fee will be $250. Once you get on the first page the price goes up to $500. Once you are in the top three the price goes up to $1000 and stays there as long as you want my services. There are no contracts. You can cancel whenever you want.

If you have questions or comments, please leave them in the comments section below. I'm looking forward to filling that last spot - hopefully Carrie it's you!

UPDATE: I've got the two spots filled up. Sorry. I'm going to work on these two for a couple of months and see what kind of flow I can get in before taking anyone else on. If you're interested, follow this site. I'll post the next openings when they become available.

Law Firm Internet Marketing | Drilling Down

A couple of weeks ago I participated in a master mind session with a friend of mine who I consider to be a law firm management and law firm marketing guru. His name is RJon Robins, and he is in the business of consulting with lawyers to help them make more money. I may have talked about him on here before (I'm not searching the archives to check) but I used his services when I first opened up my firm about a year and a half ago. Since then we've kept in touch and I hit him up for some help every once in a while.

RJon lives in Miami. I am in Seattle. So we'd never actually met face to face before. Until two weeks ago. He was here presenting some seminar, and we decided to meet up for drinks and talk about law firm business. This "talk" was in the form of a mastermind session, where, essentially, everything about my business is broken down to expose the inherent flaws in my thinking. See, we all make assumptions about things. Sometimes we're right, sometimes we're wrong. If we are wrong, those assumptions can hold us back from performing at our best. I wanted to challenge my assumptions and see how I could improve.

One of the things we worked on for my firm was law firm internet marketing. See, I'm doing good, but I could be doing so much better. There are problems with conversions on my site and getting people to my site (problems we all have). Because I was making a little money I thought I was doing okay. I was getting lazy. So we broke it down.

Here's what I realized.

First and foremost, I'm still looking at too general a client base. For me, one DUI client seems like all the rest. They all face the same issues (generally) and many come to the internet to find my services. Because of that, I was having trouble drilling down exactly who my ideal client was. The problem was and is that anyone can get a DUI potentially, regardless of race, gender, or economic status. And I want them all to come to me. Problem is, the same things don't appeal to all people. It's kind of like fishing. All fish like food, but you have to decide exactly what kind of fish you want before you can set out the right bait.

Second, my website isn't converting because it too is too general. Aside from who my ideal client is, there are different people coming to the site with different problems. There is a big difference between a first, second, and third DUI, and people need to know my approach to handling each different scenario. I can do that in several ways, one of which is to create a page for each different type.

Third, and finally, my website isn't personal enough. If you take a look at it you can see that it's chock full of great information for people. But it doesn't give people a sense of who I am and how I am different from any other attorneys out there. A key to law firm marketing is differentiation. We all sound the same in our ad copy and websites. If you can make yourself different, you can really increase your client base.

Are you making assumptions that are affecting your business negatively? Are you even aware of them? If you're curious about your business, set up a mastermind session with some colleagues. Think about what you are doing, what your problems are with your business, and figure out how to solve them. Good luck!

Law Firm Internet Marketing | Don't Blog for Business

I bet you think the title is a bit weird, right? Don't blog for business? That makes no sense. It does make sense, and I'm going to tell you why right now.

First things first, I don't really care how great your writing skills are. I don't care how profound your ideas are. The fact of the matter is that most people will never read, see, or know your blog exists, much less hire you because of it. They will either stumble across your website, get referred from a friend, or find your blog and call you because of that. But it won't be because you wowed them.

Let's face it, most of the people that will read your blog, if any, are colleagues and others looking for a discussion about the state of the law in your area of expertise. And, if potential clients are reading all that you have to say, it's probably because they want to try to take care of the case on their own, and they are looking for all the free information they can get.

No you shouldn't blog for business, you should blog because it provides you a vehicle to not only discuss what matters today in your world and in your profession, but it allows you to memorialize those discussions, to look back on them later and reflect, and to know you are building your expertise with thought and analysis so when that client does show up you can actually help them out.

Take this blog, for example, the law firm internet marketing blog. I'm not really doing this for any other reason than I love talking about internet marketing and how it's helping my business. I also think there are a lot of scam artists out there claiming to be law firm internet marketers who are just cashing your check every month and laughing all the way to the bank. I want to help people distinguish between the good guys and the bad guys so they don't waste their money. I also want to pull back the veil that is internet marketing so people can understand what is really going on.

Sure, it doesn't hurt if you link to your site from your blog and let people know you're out there. That will help you in the long run. But you shouldn't be writing just for marketing purposes. Think about the topics that are top of mind in your practice area and discuss them and talk about them. It will help your internet marketing efforts, it will help your practice, and it will help you become the expert you want to become.