Say Goodbye To #attorney Website Keyword Analysis

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

Has #Google Gone Too Far?

Ever since Google first introduced their search engine back in the late 1990’s, there have been a lot of changes – and I am not referring to their secret search algorithm. Google has also fundamentally changed their search results display screens (or SERP’s) and many would argue to only the betterment of Google. An increasing amount of people who follow the changes in Google are lamenting that Google is transforming itself from an independent search engine to a Google product engine.

THE EVER SHRINKING GOOGLE SEARCH RESULTS SCREEN

A recent study released found that on average only 13% of the Google search results display real results. In short, Google has now pushed the natural “organic” results to less than 13% of the screen display above the fold (or scroll). So who owns the remaining 87% of the displayed results? You guessed it: Google. This includes Google paid advertising PPC (29%), Google Navigation Bar (14%), Google Maps (7%) and the rest is Google dead space.  

As you can see from the images to the right, we compare a typical Google results screen from 2001 to one from today to illustrate this point. When comparing the 13% organic results today to the nearly 70% organic results displayed in 2001, you can clearly see a trend here. It is true that long-tail searches can typically display more organic searches if there is less competition from PPC but then again, when competition is present, many search results move us back to the 13% again – even with an absence of maps and local results.  There is also a qualitative change as well. Notice the contrast from the heavily colored “Sponsored Link” #PPC ads in 2001 to the seemingly subtle colors of the “Ads” displayed today. Coincidence?

Some would argue that the advent of universal search along with localized searches screws these results and they have a point. However, where their arguments lose steam is when you consider that all of these new elements beyond organic search results are Google owned properties which they sell and monetize to varying degrees.  

WHAT ABOUT MOBILE SEARCH RESULTS?           

As we have previously discussed, #mobilesearch is expected to exceed PC search to websites by 2016. If you don’t believe me, simply look at a group of people ages 10-28 waiting in line and see if they are still twiddling their thumbs. When I compare the same “divorce attorney” search in my iphone 5 (see example) with Google, I see roughly 25% of the screen displaying organic results – the rest are Google properties. Moreover, of the top three results, the top two are PPC ads and one includes a click-to-call feature…something the organic listing does NOT provide. Once again, advantage Google.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ATTORNEYS?

Google makes their money from advertising and they have added a lot of vehicles to help them accomplish this over the years. The problem for the average user is that as more display options have increased, the space on their computer screen has not. In fact, with the advent of mobile search, the screen is now increasingly shrinking for most search engine users. Google has made it very clear through their actions that organic search results (the stuff they don’t get paid on) will be minimized to the point where they can maximize their revenues and still keep people coming back for more. If that number has fallen from around 70% in 2001 to 13% today, will people still see the value in Google?

Here are a few things to consider:

If you run PPC with Google, you need to make sure you are changing your focus to mobile ads along with your user base. It is also important to note that being in the top two PPC positions on mobile may be the only effective answers to being crowded out of a dramatically shrinking screen. This may mean better search results but it also comes at a very high price you mayneed to pay to Google.

Long-tail search results increasingly give you the best chance for real results in the organic search world. As people become more sophisticated in how they search, they are becoming more specific (ie long-tail searches) in what they are looking for. When attorneys spend high amounts of money for organic vanity search phrases like “Personal Injury Attorney…” or “Divorce Attorney…”, aren’t they really competing with Google PPC? In this case, why not pay Google instead for these top of the page results (PPC) and stick with the money searches in the long tail? Economists would argue that pricing parity will eventually be reached if a keyword PPC result for “Personal Injury Attorney…” came at the same cost as organic. And who do you think Google would prefer to be the benefactor of this search spend? Welcome to the 13% solution.

A mixed marketing plan may be more effective moving forward. A combination of Website, SEO, PPC, active content (blogs) and social media tend to be the most effective combination of web marketing today. The search engines reward each to varying degrees and by having those all work together, you have a rising tide that lifts all boats.

You need to consider both traffic generation and conversion. Gone are the days when #attorney search was weak and cases were easy to generate online. Search results are a function of competition and you now have a lot of it. If you have invested in ways to generate traffic to your web properties, you must now determine how best to convert them into new cases and clients. Remember, the average person will look at 4.8 attorney websites before they contact a firm and your referrals are also making judgments about you online before they ever call. You never get a second chance to make a good first impression…and conversion.

 

The biggest threat to Google is not another search engine like Bing – it is those little black devices that everybody is carrying around with them…and in ever increasing numbers. The time spent on smart phone APPS is far outpacing the flat-line of time in search and this means that people are finding APPS more useful than search engines for many of their daily needs. Do you need an APP for your law practice? That’s like asking if you need a search engine for your law practice – it is not the point. Marketing 101: “fish where the fish are.” If the eyes of your clients are moving to APPS, then why not advertise your services on them. This after all was how a small project at Stanford University ultimately became known as Google. 

#lawyermarketing  #google  #seo  #ppc #apps

The Return of Long Tail Attorney Search

OK – long tail search never really went away but the ever changing landscape of the search engines are certainly giving it a new emphasis. This was recently written on Search Engine Watch and here are some of the biggest drivers leading to an increased emphasis on long tail search for attorneys…

INCREASING USE OF MOBILE SEARCH

As we have previously discussed, mobile search for attorneys is expected to exceed PC based search by 2016. We also recently learned that 77% of mobile search takes place at home or work – not exactly places requiring high mobility. In short, mobile search is the future of search.

One of the more interesting aspects of mobile search is the growing popularity of voice-based commands over typing. Thanks to the technology provided by smart phones, more people are talking to search instead of typing leading to longer and more specific queries (i.e. long tail search).

GROWING LEVELS OF TARGETED KEYWORD SEARCH COMPETITION

How many times have you heard an attorney (or yourself) judge results by how they (you) show up for a specific search term? Did you ever think to ask yourself that what you are paying for may also be what other attorneys are also paying for? Why invite such high levels of competition and at such high costs? Since 50-70% of attorney searches online are typically non-repeatable searches, why focus only on the smaller number of terms that cost more? As we have reported, attorneys are spending record amounts of money on PPC terms and driving up the costs at the same time. Remember: everything online is a function of competition and being a lemming is not typically the smartest way to lead.

CHANGES RESULTING FROM GOOGLE PENGUIN AND PANDA RELEASES

Last year Google made 665 changes to their search algorithm. In addition the quantity of changes, Google also made two of the arguably most impactful changes with the Penguin (Links) and Panda (Content) changes.  These changes were so transformational that it has led many in the SEO community to literally change all of the rules they worked under for many years…or go out of business altogether. Some law firms responded by successfully changes to a more rich-content strategy with social media while others simply gave up on SEO and started buying PPC ads again. Remember, Google makes over 98% of their money from their paid advertising and the more people who give-up, the more competition and higher prices they will command…which is exactly what they want and you should not.

CONVERSION AS A MEASUREMENT OF SUCCESS

There is an old saying that “you cannot manage what you cannot measure.” When it comes to attorney marketing online, most failure comes from a lack of quality measurements. In short, many attorneys continue to infatuate on search term rankings, traffic levels, etc. while losing site on the whole reason they advertise to begin with: new cases and client generation. Why would an attorney want to be #1 for a specific search term that is more ubiquitous at the expense of a more case-specific term? To wit: Is being #1 for “Kansas City Injury Attorney” any better than showing up #1 for “Need Attorney For Truck Accident Injury on 435”. Which term do you think is more case specific? BTW, both of these terms came from actual searches to a client’s site…I am pretty sure how they would answer this question. The question is a function of conversion. So if you measure success by your overall level of visits, wouldn’t more case specific (long tail) visits naturally convert better? Then why, assuming the same level of visits, would an attorney want better results for lower converting terms? Again, false measurements lead to bad results.

If you are an attorney who wants to be successful online, you need to understand how ‘targeted” content and an active content strategy is the key to capturing long-tail search results, leading to new case and client generation.

WHAT TO DO NEXT…

Being a successful attorney online is not complicated if you clearly define your goals and utilize good and knowledgeable resources to help you achieve them. One of the most cost effective ways to doing this is by creating a long-tail search strategy around true measurements (cases and clients) of your results. Or you can choose to be a lemming and see where that leads you.

Social Media for Attorneys CLE: Kansas City Bar Association, January 31st @12pm

Dustin Ruge will be conducting a CLE on Social Media for Attorneys at the Kansas City Bar Association on January 31st at 12noon.

CLE Credits: Missouri (1.2), Kansas (1.0), Kansas Law Practice Management (1.0)

Location: KCMBA HQ, Two Pershing Square, 2300 Main St., Ste. 100, Kansas City, MO

Registration:  11:30 a.m.        Seminar: 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.

For More Information: http://kcmba.inreachce.com/Details/Information/103a8002-dcff-4ce7-8956-4318f1e69b0e?ref=featured

Google Penguin Got You Down?

Every year, Google makes around 500 changes to their search algorithm but when April of 2012 rolled around, Google unloaded a whopper in their Google Penguin release. A lot has been recently written about the impacts of this release and we are still measuring the effects. The bottom line is that a lot of websites were affected both positively and negatively and most people want to know why. Google won’t tell us because they make money selling their paid advertising which is the one thing they will help you understand.  What we do know is the following:

Link Building Just Became More Complicated

Receiving links from “irrelevant websites” can hurt you…and hurt you bad. Google now wants to see links coming from websites and web pages that are related to your website. If you are an attorney, you ideally want links for other legal related websites and web pages – not from Viagra sites and unrelated blogs. Getting relevant links is nothing new but now getting penalized for having bad links really is.

WHAT TO DO: Generate links from relevant websites and/or web pages. If you are a divorce attorney, try to get links from other divorce attorney websites, blogs and/or legal directories

Having good anchor text in a link has always been a good way to send signals to Google as to what the linked to page is all about and how to rank it for that term. The problem is that too much of a good thing looks unnatural to Google and they will now penalize you for it.

WHAT TO DO: Diversify the anchor text from your inbound links. Use a number of keyword variations and no keywords (eg your URL address) in some of your links as well. If a link’s anchor text reads “personal injury attorney”, it is best to have the anchor text on a website, blog and page that also makes mention of those same keywords in the text and tags.

Keyword Stuffing & Placement Just Became More Detrimental

Far too many law firms get hung up on ranking at the top for one or more specific search terms. This is certainly not a bad thing but it does come at the expense of where the majority of your traffic will come from: long tail search terms. Long tail search terms tend to be more case specific searches and commonly lead to higher conversions. These are also searches were you don’t typically see Google Places listings along with the organic search results which allows you to better compete outside of the Google Places envelope in which you reside.

WHAT TO DO: Diversify the optimization and keywords used in your title tags, H tags, and content on each page. They should read natural and not like a broken record.

Other Things to Consider

• Unique content means more than just passing a copyscape test. Building unique content means creating unique content value that can be measured in natural inbound links, page views and citations from social media and other sources. 

• Creating your own content and controlling those content locations have become even more important. Clearly it is effective to generate authority from relevant sources and the best way to do this is by creating and controlling your own by adding additional relevant websites, blogs, social media etc.

• If you have seen a significant drop off in your website traffic since April 2012, the first place you need look is at your link building. In many cases, rogue link building that took place months and even years ago can now come back to bite you. Run a link analysis on your website and try to clean up all the bad links coming in. 

• This will not be the last Penguin update so be prepared for more changes and gyrations in the months and years ahead. Clearly Google made some mistakes in this current release and as always, they will continue to tweet and tune as they move forward. Remember, Google makes their money by selling advertising, not in helping you understand why they intentionally keep you guessing.

New Nielsen Study: 70% Of People Trust Online Consumer Opinions

A study was recently released by Nielsen that affirms what most of us already know: online consumer opinions have a HUGE impact in today's marketing. If you are an attorney, here are a few things you should know:

- There are now over 18+ major websites that now support consumer reviews
- Most consumer reviews are negative and can hurt your business without you ever knowing
- Most consumer reviews NEVER GO AWAY unless acted upon


THE IMPORTANCE OF CONSUMER REVIEWS

Think about the last time you went online to buy something. Have you bought a book on Amazon or Barnes & Noble? Did you look at the book reviews online BEFORE you purchased the book? How about buying any other product online - did you read the reviews for them? How about buying a car - did you look up the pricing and reviews on Edmunds or Kelly's Blue Book online? Or how about a local business or restaurant - did you read review about them on Yelp, City Search or Google Places? Chances are, most of us can say yes to one or all of the above questions.

Consumer reviews online have direct impacts on nearly every product and service we purchase today - online or offline. The bottom line is that consumer reviews can either hurt or help you and IT IS UP TO YOU to decide which. Control and promote them and they can help. Ignore them, and you do so at your own peril.

TRENDS IN CONSUMER REVIEWS

According the Nielsen's new findings (see the adjacent chart), 92% of people still trust recommendations from people they know - this is why referrals will always remain one of the most important marketing arms of your legal practice. This number has increased by 18% since 2007. 

What is interesting however is that 70% of people will accept the opinions (referrals) for people they don't know - which has increased 15% over the past four years! 

Looking at the more traditional forms of advertising (interruption based advertising), we see the opposite trend with drops of 24% for television, 20% for magazine, and 25% for newspaper ads from 2009 to 2011...ouch!

TIME TO TAKE ACTION

When is comes to information and reputation management, you can either proactively control it or let it control you. For most attorneys, reputation is everything. In the past if somebody would write a positive or libelous opinion about attorneys in a newspaper or magazine, it would most certainly grab their attention. Just look at the waiting room of any prominent attorney and you will likely see a host of written publications involving them. If this traditional print information was so important to them then, then why is it not a focus now online? After all, looking at the trends listed above, it is clear that opinions on the wall are increasingly of less value then the opinions about them online - a trend you cannot ignore.

More on how the create an effective consumer review strategy.

Is Google + a Minus For Attorneys?

There is an old saying in marketing that you should "fish were the fish are" so when Google announced their competitive offering to Facebook, many people took immediate notice. This was then, this is now:

- Google + has 90 million registered users VERSUS 845 million for Facebook
- PC users on average are spending 3 minutes a month on Google + VERSUS 6-7 hours for Facebook.

These numbers were courtesy of a recent report in ComScore and further reported on in the Wall Street Journal. 

As I previously posted in July of last year about Google +, I had my doubts about the effectiveness and sustainability of Google + for a number of reasons: chiefly amongst them was the value proposition and intuitive ease of use provided by Google with this new system. I recently heard a lecture where the speaker referred to Google + as the best social media system that nobody uses. The WSJ went further to describe Google + as a "virtual ghost town" compared to places like Facebook - surprise!

Of all the analytical measurements people use on the web, time-on-site is one of the most critical in measuring user value: Facebook has it is spades and Google + clearly does not. It is becoming clear at this point that not only do people create Facebook accounts, but they also use them. Google + might have had a large initial signup - but how many have returned? Social media is largely about connections and reach and what is the point in hanging out in a ghost town? I suppose you could have a good gunfight but who would know?

For attorney marketing, my advise in July still stands: fish were the fish are. If nobody is hanging out on Google +; what type of ediscovery could you possibly gather, how many of your referral partners will follow you, and how will you generate more visibility and new cases from it?

More on Google + for Attorneys : http://www.seolawyermarketing.com/2011/07/will-google-1-help-attorneys.html

New Google Places Charges Will Have Little Impact On Law Firms?

New news broke out of Google land that next year Google is planning on charging high volume users of their Google Places listings: http://www.gpsworld.com/lbs/google-charge-high-volume-users-map-use-12285.

As the story currently goes, Google plans to charge an excess impressions fee for companies who have more than 25,000 impressions per day. Most law firms rarely reach 25,00o impressions daily since more attorneys searches are more practice area specific and parochial in nature.

The question however becomes how does Google plan to define a "company" in their system and how are their totals calculated? Are the totals discussed based on ALL Google Places listings in one account? This would seem logical as the only way to connect the dots here. Or is this based on the total volumes for each listing - no matter where they reside? Since they will likely bill from your Google account, questions remain.

Again, most law firms needn't be concerned about this but the firms with multiple locations and are in higher volume search practice areas should take notice. We will keep tabs on this and see what is the best course of action here...

Integrating Social Media and Law Firm Websites

A lot has been made of lawyer marketing and the addition of social media in your marketing plans. It is hard to deny that 93% of Americans want companies to have a social media presence (Cone Business In Social Media Study 2008) but does have a social media presence alone for attorneys accomplish this? No – and here is why…

• Social properties like Facebook Pages, LinkedIn Pages, Twitter Pages and the like are simply a way to potentially connect with and have people follow your law firm…that is if you have something important and frequent to update them with otherwise they are billboards in a cornfield.

• Marketing experts commonly state that you need to be in front of your potential customers 7-12 times a year for them to remember you WHEN THEY NEED YOUR LEGAL SERVICES. This is what is called frequency marketing and why you see commercials of polar bears drinking Coke every Super bowl when you already know what a Coke is. The problem is unless your social media is frequently updated with content; there is nothing new pushing you in front of your potential customers (and referrals) on social media.

• Most attorneys do a poor job of promoting legal social media properties to their prospective clients and referral partners. They fail to do this on a consistent basis with their business cards, legal marketing materials, networking events, emails, and yes: especially their websites.

Here are a few ways you can better promote your social media on your website/s:

• Place a Facebook Page “Like” button on your website. No matter what the user thinks they are liking, ultimately they are clicking a button to have your information on Facebook in their news feed every time you publish information. This is like having a free newsletter to your customers who almost never change their mailing address and they only have to click on the button once to make it all happen!

• Place Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter icons prominently on EVERY page of your website so no matter what pages a user will possibly enter or exit your website, they will always be able to quickly access and follow you on social media.

• Place all of your social media links next to your phone numbers, on your contact us pages and on your contact us confirmation pages. Since most law firm websites fail to provide a “call to action” on the contact us confirmation pages, this is a perfect pace for users to see a “next step” after initially contacting you.

• Do you offer free initial consultations and/or case reviews? Why not ask the prospective client to click on your Facebook page “like” button as part of your providing a free consultation for them. Since you are giving your time for free, why not ask for something as simple as a click in return?

• Place a stream of your social media postings in a column on the home page of your website. What better way to display the usefulness of your social media postings than by prominently showing them to your website viewers.

• Add your social media links, buttons, and Facebook page “like” buttons prominently on your law firm blog. I am amazed at how many attorneys will work hard to drive customers to their blogs only to not giving them an easy way to continue to follow future blog posts by simply following the law firm on social media properties. Since the blog is the heart of your active content strategy, it only makes sense to help distribute your content to as many places as possible.

Clearly there are many more ways to help integrate and promote your social media properties on your websites and blogs so if we missed something, please feel free to share and we will gladly add to this list…

If you would like to learn more about how best lawyer search engine optimization practices can help your law firm succeed online, please contact the SEO Consultant Firm today…