Law Father Issues 2011 “State of Lawyer Search” SEO Report for Seattle Attorneys

If you are like me, ringing in the new year is usually a time to wipe the slate clean, leaving old worries behind. January has traditionally been a month of optimism, but ask around and you will probably find most attorneys are still a little pessimistic after 2010's continued economic hard times. What we all could use are a few simple strategies for getting more out of our marketing efforts. Below is a sneak peak at two of the items I will cover in my “State of Lawyer Search” report for attorneys in Seattle. Implementing these items will make better use of your time and help you focus your
attorney search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.

First, know what “Google Suggest (GS)” is. Google believes GS is an efficient and convenient way to simplify search. GS does this by introducing a drop down menu from the Google search bar that makes keyword suggestions as a user begins to type in a search. For example, when I type in “Seattle Law” I get the following suggestions (in order of appearance): Seattle Law Firms, Seattle Law Jobs, Seattle Law Review, and Seattle Lawyers. If potential clients are searching for an attorney online, we would assume that they would choose either “Seattle Law Firms” or “Seattle Lawyers” as the most applicable. Since “Seattle Law Firms” is the first result, and the meanings to a lay person are generally perceived as the same, we could expect potential clients to click on “Seattle Law Firms” as a matter of convenience. The result of GS could be that the keyword “Seattle Law Firms” becomes the more coveted keyword over “Seattle Lawyers” as Google continues to 'suggest' it. Keep that in mind as you write search engined optimized legal content. Also note that if we go to Google's Adwords traffic estimator, we find that “Seattle Lawyers” has an estimated search traffic of 6600 searches per month. “Seattle Law Firms” only gets about 1900 searches per month. But if Google is suggesting “Seattle Law Firms” we should start to see that estimated search traffic go up (and fast). So there is a bargain to be had here. If your law firm has a pay-per-click (PPC) strategy, the cost-per-click (CPC) for “Seattle Law Firms” is $5.82, while “Seattle Lawyers” CPC is $7.74. Attorneys who recognize that Google is suggesting “Seattle Law Firms” over “Seattle Lawyers” could save $1.92 per click and receive almost identical ad position by choosing “Seattle Law Firms” over “Seattle Lawyers”. Go to Google and play around with different searches to see what Google is suggesting. You may find other money saving PPC opportunities such as these.

Second, do not make assumptions about how potential clients search. One mistake I made early in my SEO career was that I took some keywords for granted. I assumed that “seattle auto accident attorney” would get more traffic than “seattle car accident attorney”. Similarly, I assumed “seattle personal injury attorney” would have more traffic than “seattle injury attorney”. I did this because I was accustomed to the language attorneys use in their law firms. My wife is a “PI” attorney, and I was not able to separate the 'personal' and the 'injury'. I certainly was not able to fathom that internet searchers would. But with Google's improvement of webmaster tools and using some of the phenomenal private SEO software now available, we have been able to quickly pinpoint our errors of assumption and correct our SEO strategy to bring more potential clients to our websites faster. Here are a few things to keep in mind before you make an error of assumption. 1.) “Attorney” appears more popular than “lawyer”. According to Google's search traffic estimator, the keyword “Seattle Personal Injury Attorney” receives 2900 monthly searches while “Seattle Personal Injury Lawyer” only receives 1300 monthly searches. 2.) We call it 'personal injury', most potential clients do not. The keyword “Seattle Injury Attorney” receives 4400 monthly searches – 1500 more than the keyword “Seattle Personal Injury Attorney”. 3.) People do not wreck their autos, they wreck their cars – and 'car' is the word they use when they talk about their accidents. According to Google, Seattle internet searchers type “Seattle car accident attorney” more than 3 times as often as “Seattle auto accident attorney”.

For 2011 keep in mind that the internet has already outpaced the phone book as the number one way people search for a new product or service. Make sure your marketing budget is adjusted appropriately. Also remember that search engine optimization is a cumulative marketing strategy. The more you invest, the better your results and the higher your search return rankings. Eighty percent of search traffic goes to the listings on the first page. Take advantage of the fact that the poor economy has other law firms spending less on SEO. Capitalize on the reduced competition for first page spots. Invest more now in your SEO strategy and rocket your website to the top of the search returns. A focused, smart, and consistent lawyer seo strategy may hold the key to your own economic recovery in 2011. Find out more about how Law Father can help your firm by calling 1.800.325.7715 today.

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