The Attorney Marketing Blog

Yesterday, Mike Kondoudis (the SEO Contest Winner) and I had our first conversation about his business. We’d talked Monday but that was only to let him know he had won. I would have liked to have had a long discussion about his practice then, but our schedules didn’t work out.

We spent a half-hour or so talking about his practice, mainly to bring me up to speed on his specialty, Patent Law. Mike’s typical clients are other law firms either located in the U.S., or International Firms, looking for a Patent Attorney in the D.C. area.

Then we discussed his website and what actions would be needed to optimize his site and get it the point where it would be bringing in new clients.

Mike told me he used a website template and did most of the work himself. The website, www.mekiplaw.com, is only seven months old, which typically is a concern because the Big 3 Search Engines, particularly Google, usually “sandbox” newer sites.

I’d already did some broad research earlier, but while we were talking, I did a little more and discovered that his practice area is highly competitive with a significant number of searches conducted monthly by outside firms looking for help.

It appeared that there were hundreds of searches being conducted each month by law firms looking for Patent help in the D.C. area. That makes sense since the USPTO is located there.

Since his site was new and the number of searches many, I thought to myself, “Lord, what have gotten myself into. This is going to be a challenge.”

About halfway through our call, one sentence from Mike changed all that.

He said, “I read your e-book.”

Mike had paged through it quickly and decided to spend an hour or so on Title Tags, which are covered in Chapter 3 of How To Dominate Google, Yahoo and MSN.

He made a few mistakes (see if you can catch them) - but his limited work resulted in….

His Home Page going from obscurity on the 4th page of Google for the search term “DC Patent Attorney” to the 1st page….

In 5 business days.

In fact, this morning, it’s even one spot better than it was yesterday - His Home Page occupies the #7 spot for that term….and that term is searched on more than 50 times a month.

Hold on though, it gets even better - This past Monday, before I first spoke with him, I did a search for “Patent Attorney in Washington” which has well over 100 searches a month, and is one that I would absolutely covet if it was my business.

His Home Page sat on the 6th page of results on Google, which for any business, is as good as invisible.

After our phone call on Wednesday, I looked up the results for that search phrase again and it was on the second page of Google at the #20 spot.

Twenty-four hours later….and it’s sitting at #9 on the 1st page!

Amazing stuff - Just an hour or so of his time….and working one Chapter of the e-book.

Will his site do any better than that, as is? No, and in fact, it’ll probably drop.

But Mike has given me a head-start and next week my work begins in earnest. I’ll modify what he’s done, restructure things a bit, and within a very short time…..

Mikes website will be sitting at #1 or #2 for the search terms that other law firms use to locate his services.

Do you think Mikes going to be busy in the near future? I wish I could find a line in Vegas on it….It would be an easy bet to win.

Internet Marketing for Attorneys

Michael (Mike) Kondoudis, principal of The Law Office of Michael E. Kondoudis was the winner of the SEO Contest.

Mikes practice focuses on IP Law and his office is located in Washington, DC.

Mike and I are in the process of scheduling our first working session and soon after that, you’ll be able to follow his websites progress.  On this blog, I’ll post regularly on the steps we’re taking to move his website from obscurity to the first page of Google, Yahoo and MSN….And from getting a few clients a year to getting a handful of new clients each and every month.

Search Engine Marketing for Attorneys
The Attorneys ATM

In an earlier post, I recommended that you avoid investing in Paid Search campaigns like Google Adwords and Yahoo Sponsored Search till after your website has reached the top of the search engine rankings.

I’ve had several attorneys ask why you would do that.  They wanted to know why in the world would you want to spend more cash on paid search if your site was already ranking well for search terms related to your practice.

To find out why, let’s get into the mind of the potential client for a moment - in fact, let’s use an example a potential client who’s searching for an attorney who can help with a custody issue.  And when Google gives them the search results they’re looking for, they see your website sitting near the top of the page.

And if you have a solid Paid Search Campaign in place…look at that, your ad is near the top of the page too - just on the right.

Quickly now….what’s that potential client thinking at the exact moment they see your website shown two times near the top of the page?

They’re thinking “This attorney must be good - His website is listed all over Google”.

At that exact moment, the potential client is making no distinction between the natural search results and a paid search ad. They’re simply impressed by the fact that your site is shown multiple times.

Immediately after that initial thought, the potential client then begins to suffer from “winners syndrome” - they want to be associated with a winner.

And the perception the potential client now has is that you must be a winner because your website is ”all over the place”.

Care to guess who clicks over to your website?

Can Google Adwords and Yahoo Sponsored search bring you new clients? For most attorneys….

No.

And I say no because as more and more people become familiar with what these products are (ads), more and more of these folks are ignoring them - particularly if the search phrase they type in gives them the results they were looking for.

Want proof? Then look at the image below. It’s from a recent study that mapped users eyes when using google. It shows exactly what they look at….and what they don’t.

Not many are are even looking to the right where your ads are placed, are they?

They are looking at the “natural” search results.

So, we have thousands of attorneys either spending their own time creating and managing these ad programs….or paying someone else a princely sum to do it for them.

And is it bringing potential clients to your website? A small trickle, perhaps.

Granted, if your bid is high enough so that your ad appears at the top of the page (in the colored box) you’ll get a lot of eyeballs and a lot of clicks. But you’ll blow through your daily ad budget in no time and your monthly ROI will be in the toilet.

At the end of the day, it might be wiser to invest in your website….so it shows up where your potential clients are going to be looking - on the left - in the natural search results.

When that’s accomplished, then invest in PPC campaigns. Why?

In my next post, I’ll reveal the “why” and what happens when a strong website is backed-up by a PPC campaign. It’s an interesting look at human behavior.

Most solo-practices and small firms represent clients in a number of areas. A firm might practice in the Divorce and Family Law area, Criminal Defense and Personal Injury.

Many attorneys would consider it a given because in order to pay the bills and earn a living, you have to.

But when it comes to marketing a practice, these law firms market themselves as a “jack-of-all-trades” practice.

For instance, in an earlier post, I mentioned that many attorneys advertise in multiple headings in the local yellow pages.

That’s a great idea….but they use the same ad for each heading - that’s a bad idea.

Here’s an example - let’s say you’re an attorney in Birmingham, Alabama, represent clients in Divorce and Family Law, Criminal Defense and Personal Injury, and uses the yellow pages to market your practice.

If a potential client in Birmingham is looking for a personal injury lawyer and starts cruising through the yellow pages and see your ad which highlights Divorce and Family Law, Criminal Defense and Personal Injury, that potential client quickly moves on to the next ad.

Why is that? Because that potential client wants an attorney that can help with a PI issue, not an attorney that can help with Divorce, Family Law, Criminal Defense and PI.

Bottom line, they want and need to see an ad that flat-out shows them, here’s an attorney that specializes in PI. Give them an ad that provides that, in the right format, and you win.

Why Search Engines are Just Like The Yellow Pages

When it comes to websites, Google, Yahoo and MSN are very much like the Yellow Pages….Here’s why.

The search engines wander the Internet looking for information they can use and present to their clients - those looking for information about a particular subject.

Though instead of paging through the yellow pages like a potential client, they page through your website - on a regular basis.

And when they visit, they try to “find out” what your site is about.

They “read” your websites content, figure out it’s an Attorneys site, and that you have numerous practice areas, such as Divorce and Family Law, Criminal Law and PI.

They wander around your site a bit more, note that information….and then take it back to HQ.

So, let’s say you’re that same attorney in Birmingham, Alabama, and your websites content equally covers what you offer - Divorce and Family Law, Criminal Defense and PI.

Each month, Google, Yahoo and MSN users type in “Personal Injury Lawyer In Birmingham Alabama” - in fact, there’s a couple hundred searches a month on that phrase, or slight variations of it.

So Google, Yahoo and MSN dive into their files and present search results (websites) that are the most pertinent to that request.

Unlike the Yellow Pages though, where you’re guaranteed a placement, the search engines only show results they know match the users request.

If you’re that Birmingham attorney, I mentioned above, you’re in good shape, right? Your website is good. It’s clean and attractive. And it has solid content. You’re all set.

Unfortunately, no, you’re not.

Google, Yahoo and MSN have been to your site, noted what you do….and treat it the same way a potential client that uses the yellow pages -

They ignore it. Why? Because his websites content covers Divorce and Family Law, Criminal Defense and PI.

The Search Engines want to provide the most relevant search results, and his site is just like his yellow page ad….it equally covers everything he does.

So, his website is buried in the search results on page 5 or 6, and not one of those potential clients will ever see that he helps personal injury victims.

There are two options he can look at that will solve this problem.

The first option (it’s the the easiest and least costly) - sit down and figure out what part of his practice he enjoys the most (and where he can make a good living). Is it Divorce and Family Law, Criminal Defense or PI. Once he determines that, he devotes at least 90% of his websites content to that practice.

The Search Engines will love him….and reward him. Within 3 months, he’ll be getting clients, from the Internet, for that practice area.

The second option is a bit more time intensive and requires a greater investment.

First, redo his existing website and devote 100% of the content to the one particular practice area he wants to focus on.

Then build two additional websites, each one focusing on the other practice areas he specializes in.

If done professionally, the second option will result in his original website dominating the search engine rankings for that particular practice area within 3 months.

The other two sites will dominate the search engine rankings in their prospective practice areas within 12 - 18 months.

Is the second option cheap? Nope.

Is it Rewarding? Yep.

In fact, it’s a very effective way to perhaps double or triple your firms revenue.

Treat it as a long term investment in the growth of your practice…and you’ll find it a little easier to make the leap.