There is an old saying in business that you cannot manage
what you cannot measure. If you are an attorney and look at your website analytics,
you may have noticed something dramatically different over the past few months.
Over the years, most attorneys will do a
quick read of their website analytics and look at things such as overall website
traffic, search traffic, bounce rates, content page performance and
keywords. Keywords took a particular interest
to many because it provided a simple insight as to what people where typing
into the search engines when they landed on a website. The problem is what Google
has changed the game …again.
THE INCREDIBLE
SHRINKING KEYWORD DATA
When reviewing search keyword performance, many #attorneys
have noticed a trend over the past few years where (not provided) has continued
to increase and now dwarf the other keywords listed. Google started by “hiding”
this information in 2011 for signed-in search users and just a few months ago
and now extended this to all users – even those who are not signed-in to Google.
What does this mean? According to Search
Engine Land, upwards of 74% of all keyword data is now “Not Provided” by
Google. I ran a similar test on a couple of my client sites (see example) and
noticed that over the past year-over-year comparison, I have seen a roughly 75%
increased in (not provided) traffic data. When I isolate this data down to just
Google, I am seeing similar results as the study provided above.
GOOGLE CONTINUES TO
CREATE AN UNEVEN PLAYING FIELD
As
we have pointed out many times before, Google is not in the business to
help anybody more than Google. 95+% of
their revenues come from paid advertising, which you buy directly or indirectly
from Google by the way. Google’s major competition is from organic
search results which typically provide a higher ROI and they know it – that
is why they are trying to shrink it down to oblivion. The fact that they are now not providing keyword
search data is yet another in a long line of trends to confuse and frustrate advertisers
to a point where they end up buying more paid advertising…from Google of
course.
WHAT YOU CAN DO FROM
HERE
If you are active in #attorneymarketing online, there are a few
things to consider moving forward:
1.) Stop relying on search
keyword data to measure performance. The 665 changes Google made to their search algorithm
in 2012 should be a clear indicator that keyword chasing and ranking is heavily
frowned upon and now can be severely penalized. Attorneys would be much wiser to focus in on analyzing
practice area entry page data, traffic sources, conversion rates, and overall
ROI. After all, why advertise in the first place
without ROI? What does a keyword really do for you beyond measuring a tanker by staring at its wake?
2.) If you have to rely on keyword data, draw it from the places
that continue to provide it such as from Yahoo
and Bing. If you run PPC, make
sure to connect it with your Google
analytics because, surprise, Google WILL provide you with keyword data from
advertising spending with Google. Isn’t that nice of them! Depending on the
level of PPC spending you do, this data can be helpful but in not a complete
answer for keyword performance in organic search.
3.) Create more of a focus on localized and mobile
search. The two most dramatic changes taking place online are the impacts
that local optimization is having on attorney search and in what devices your
clients are using to find you through.
4.) Create more and better content and win in the
long-tail. Attorney search is becoming much more competitive and sophisticated
and your website strategy needs to adjust to this new reality.
#attorneymarketing
#ppc #lawyermarketing #keywords
