The Truth About Lawyer Internet Marketing

Wow.

I still cannot believe how much bad Internet marketing I see out there all over the West. You would think by 2009 the legal industry would have figured out how to market their firms on the Internet.  Make no mistake-I do not blame the attorneys. They have been sold and promised a bill of goods for years now-often from people they thought they could and should trust.

What is a lawyer to do?

The yellow pages are tanking. RH Donnelly/Dex was de-listed after their stock dropped below 25 cents.

I see anger, frustration and fear on the faces of some of the attorneys at my seminars-not because of me, but because they have been burned so many times in the past. Most of them are relieved to attend a seminar like mine where they are not given a sales pitch, but truly educated on the nuances and truths of attorney Internet marketing.

The good news is that the attorneys and the local bars are realizing they need to educate themselves so they can make educated decisions on how to market their firms online. Our seminars are a great place to start.

Meeting with a good sized firm today that has been trying to find someone to help them successfully market their firm online for a few nears now. I am excited that I have the opportunity to help them out.

Remember, I work with attorneys exclusively. If you have another kind of business I recommend you contact the Denver based, Peter Kent endorsed firm Integrity Internet Consulting. They are the SEO Denver based experts you can trust to steer you in the right direction and give you an honest assessment of your Internet marketing potential. They have clients in Denver and all around the world-but they refer all of their law firm prospects to me, because the legal industry is so competitive you really need a firm that focuses on that industry only.

Good luck-and feel free to comment with any questions you may have. One of my resolutions this year is to try to add content and answer questions every day.

Happy 2009!

“BSEO”:

BSEO obviously stands for “Bad Search Engine Optimization”, but some people seem to think it implies something else.

The major problem with “BSEO” is that it is difficult to define. “BSEO” programs are usually vague “BSEM” (Bad Search Engine Marketing) which include other programs like online yellow pages and pay-per click programs that provide very limited or no results in terms of ROI (Return On Investment). The Best case “BSEO” or “BSEM” scenario is a low priced “SEM” program that is very expensive due to the amount of wasted time and wasted money. Worst case scenario is a long contract costing a LOT of money that wastes even more time and more money.

I have to give credit to LexisNexis Territory manager Mike Mahoney, who came up with the term “BSEO” after he heard me describe a Seattle yellow pages “SEO” program.

Something different: Transparent SEO:Transparent SEO is an integrity based SEO service. It is a service where the SEO expert informs you along every step of the way as to what you are paying for, and what you are getting in the way of service and results. They do not make you sign any long term contracts (more than a year), nor do they ask for huge sums of money up front. You will own the content that you are paying to have developed for you, and you own your optimized site. This minimizes your risk and builds continued trust between you and your outsourced SEO expert that you can keep, promote or fire at any time. In this partnership environment the SEO expert strives to continually earn your business by under promising and over delivering results.

How to detect “BSEO”

1)      Your “SEO expert” implies a lot, but never says anything definitively. For example; “See all of our customers who are near the top of Google? Sign here, pay us only $500 a month and we will build YOU a website.!”

Questions to ask that will thwart their evil plan:

a.      “Are you saying that for $500 a month I will experience the same results your other customers will experience for my competitive keywords like (for example) ‘injury attorney seattle’?”

b.      “I see you have a few customers whose sites are well optimized-how many firms do you limit your services to in a given geographic area for specific areas of practice?”

c.      Can you put any of this in writing?

2)      Your “SEO expert” gives you a quote for a service that includes some sort of landing page, and/or a Pay-Per-Click program combined with an SEO program.

Questions to ask that will expose their elusions:

a.      How much of my money will go towards Pay-Per-Click vs. SEO?

b.      What specific services do you provide on a regular basis that will help my site rise to the top of organic search results?

c.      Do you have examples of other attorneys in my area of practice in a comparable market that you have successfully optimized sites for? 

More on this in my next post. In the meantime, for a free, comprehensive and honest Internet marketing analysis call me on my cell anytime at 206-501-4569.