Click Through Rate (CTR) and Rankings For Attorney Search

A recent study by Catalyst Search Marketing has followed-up years of Click-Through-Rate (CTR) data to better reflect the recent changes in Google and how rankings compare to CTR. As you can see from the blue chart to the right from 2011, The average CTR for the #1 position in Google was disproportionately higher (36%) than the #2 position (12.5%), the #3 position (9.5%) and so forth. The basic message back in 2011 was it is great to be #1, ok to be #2, and then everything else.

Long Tail Search Improves Click-Through-Rates and Conversions for Attorneys

Attorney search has become VERY competitive over the past 5 years with a growing number of attorneys coming online meaning greater competition and higher costs per lead. The recent explosion in attorney PPC spending is a perfect illustration of this.

In response to the explosion in PPC costs for common attorney terms, more attorneys have turned to an active content strategy by building up a larger content net to be found through long-tail search. Since we know that client conversion rates are higher for long-tail searches and Google rewards this action through their recent Panda release, this only seemed logical. But now, the data may better support this…

The most recent study on CTR by Catalyst provides a new twist to this data since it now shows a trend of most distributed CTR to long-tail search results (unbranded) over branded search. What is interesting when comparing the red chart (2013) to the blue chart (2011), you will notice how being #1 in Google, although still important, is less important now than in 2011. Moreover, showing up in any of the top 3 spots for long-tail attorney search could strongly beneficial.

So What Does All This Mean?

Long-tail search, as an alternative to branded search may have much better Return On Investment (ROI) implications than it did two years ago. In short, if you still adhere to a strategy for narrow term results, you have a much higher cliff to fall from absent the #1 position than you do with a long-tail search strategy. What about the impacts on mobile search? What is absent from this data is the further analysis provided by mobile search which has a far narrower search results footprint. One could argue that the typical one-organic result typically displayed above the smart phone fold could help reverse this trend? Possibly. But right now, we have no further data to support or deny that.What we do have however is the increasing importance of the long-tail and attorney search results.

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

Long Tail Search Tools - Making The Most Of Your #lawyermarketing Dollars

Everything online is a function of competition. When attorneys want to compete with other attorneys for new cases and clients online, they commonly and mistakenly feel that they need to go toe-to-toe with every other attorney based on vanity search terms like "Omaha Real Estate Attorney", Phoenix Personal Injury Lawyer", Denver Divorce Lawyer," etc.

Many attorneys want to compete with have long-established attorney websites that have actively been building up authority for a number of years. In short, starting out from behind creates an "authority gap" that needs to be closed in order to compete. The challenge with this strategy includes many hurdles including:

• Authority building must look natural to Google otherwise you can get penalized. Build up authority too rapidly and against Google rules and you put your firm and your future at risk.
• The best attorney websites will continue to extend their lead while you try to catch up with them. This is like trying to hit a rapidly moving target.
• Most attorney searches online that convert into clients and cases ARE NOT from vanity search terms. Over time people are becoming increasingly more sophisticated in how they search and simple "head term" searches like "Omaha Estate Planning Attorney" are simply not specific to most client searches any longer. People are becoming more sophisticated online and so must your search marketing techniques to match it.
• Most attorneys simply do not have the budget to compete at the levels of many of the top vanity search terms attorneys in most metropolitan areas. 

As we have discussed before, long-tail attorney searches are considered to be "money searches"and are largely created through an active content strategy. The problem with this strategy is that many attorneys either hit a writer's block, do not know how to properly structure and distribute content,  and/or simply do not know how to research long-tail terms.

For those struggling with direction in long-tail search, there is one tool I would recommend: http://www.hittail.com/. This tool takes a lot of guess work out of the equation and for a small monthly subscription fee, can provide a high level of value for your firm. It should be noted that this should not be a substitute for a more detailed and strategic case generating process. Rather, this should help in assisting with the process of creating more unique and relevant search results in areas of lesser competition and authority.

As they say, there is more than one way to skin a cat and when it comes to attorney search online, this is especially so. Try to tool and tell us if you see the value...


#lawyermarketing #longtail #SEO

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.