You hear a lot these days about "website optimization." In fact, you're probably being bombarded with email exhortations from outside firms to analyze your site for free, then offer their optimization services to ensure you get tons of traffic to your site. They can offer the analysis for "free" because their optimization packages are typically quite expensive and involve ongoing maintenance fees as well. We recently received such a solicitation. The SEO package that was offered to us ran $5,250 (initially) plus $250 (and up) per month for ongoing maintenance, plus a 25% mark-up to manage a Google AdWords campaign.
And, by the way, I think those fees are reasonable. Let me explain why. And why you may or may not want to invest that kind of money to optimize your site.
First understand that "website optimization," is a separate service from website design, hosting, content updates & routine maintenance. While website design and optimization often go hand-in-hand, they are separate aspects of the same site. If Integrity Marketing designed and maintained your site (with our basic services), it will work very well for for your primary practice development goals. For example, if you are meeting with a prospective client or referral source, and they are going online to check you out and verify your credentials, or their family members are doing the same, your website has a very professional and reassuring message. This is the primary focus of any website for an estate or elder law attorney.
With website optimization, however, we are now delving into a new aspect of design which really is about getting the highest traffic online. This is both an art and a science, and as such must be very focused.
Now, you need to REALLY think about what you want from your site. For most estate attorneys, the investment required to get (and keep) top-ranking with the search engines is not only unnecessary, but could be counter-productive. If you think about it, would you pay for a full-page ad in the yellow pages? Probably not. Most people do not find their estate attorney by leafing through the yellow pages. The full page (and often full-color) ads are VERY expensive, and most estate attorneys realize that their money is better spent elsewhere. Even though lawyers represent the the single largest section of most city business directories, peruse that section and you will not find many estate lawyers. That huge section of the directory is populated primarily by personal injury, bankruptcy, and divorce attorneys. Not only does a directory advertising campaign eat up a LOT of marketing resources that could be better spent elsewhere, but if successfully executed, it could make your professional life miserable!
The last thing you want in YOUR practice is the phone ringing off the hook from lookey-loos who found you through the yellow pages ... OR an online search of "elder law attorneys." Where your money is best spent is on developing quality leads, not just quantity. Most estate attorneys "settle" for a line listing in the yellow pages ... so that if someone is looking for them, they can find the number. They don't waste any more dollars screaming through the clutter.
Online marketing is VERY similar.
However, having said that, if you are willing to make the investment, Integrity Marketing can (and does) offer search engine optimization services that make sense for estate and elder law atorneys. We look at your target markets, your ideal clients, and your geography. We integrate your SEO with your web design to capture and convert qualified leads. And we work with you to develop appropriate key search strings that meet your goals, both demographically and geographically.
This is very important. Consider the issue of "keyword search strings." For each attorney, we need to determine which search strings are getting the most hits through Google and Yahoo! For example, are people really looking for an elder law attorney by typing in "elder law attorneys Massachussets" or are they typing in "senior care lawyer" or "senior lawyer MS." A quick (and unscientific) survey of my friends, family and acquintances revealed that NONE of them were familiar with the term "elder law" and would not have typed such a phrase into any search engine. Similary, the term "estate planning attorney" does not flow easily off the lips of a consumer. They might, instead, look up something more generic like "nursing home care" or "wills and trusts."
The "categories" online are not as easily defined as those within the phone book directory because there is no one "in charge" of setting them up. To get dominance in EVERY imaginable "search string" would be cost prohibitive for anyone. So, as professional marketers, we do our research to find out which search strings are getting the most hits and are most relevant for what you want to accomplish with your site.
Next, we need to determine a budget for Google Adwords (which is what those ads along the edge of the directory page are). Google Adwords is a very powerful pay-per-click program that can generate terrific response, but you do have to pay for each click-through to your site. Then, you must create the "landing page" for the click-through. This is extremely important not only to convert visitors (for whom you have now paid) into consultations (and eventually revenue), but if your landing site does not meet Google's guidelines for relevance, they will not display your ad very frequently and your campaign will never get off the ground. One powerful feature of Google Adwords is the ability to define your pull-area geographically. We use Adwords to promote Integrity Marketing, but because we draw from a nation-wide market area, we do not employ their geographic parameters. But we can set those up for you, so your ad will not pop up when someone who lives 1,000 miles away just happens to type in "wills and trusts." (And since you pay for every person who clicks on your ad, you do not want to waste your budget on folks with whom you cannot do business!)
A basic website optimization strategy can be implemented for as little as $1,200 or as much as $50,000 (or more). We certainly can incorporate certain key words into your site when we do your basic design, and that will help with your rankings (and we do not charge you for that when you give us a list of your preferred key words during the design process) ... but that is not a strategy.
If you are interested in optimizing your site, please call James at 1-877-352-2021, ext. 0 to schedule a consultation. The initial strategy meeting usually takes an hour and the charge for this meeting is $150. We will then give you a game plan for implementation and an estimated budget. You are under no obligation to continue, but this would give you a good idea of what would be involved in optimizing your website for your specific goals and to achieve the results you want.
But remember, there are only so many marketing dollars in any budget -- regardless how big or small that budget may be. Optimizing your site for increased online traffic may or may not be the best use of those dollars. That is a determination that should be made within the context of a comprehensive practice development plan. We can also help you develp that plan, and optimize not only your website, but your entire marketing budget for the highest return on investment!