Questions to Ask Before Buying SEO Services

Securing the right search marketing agency for your law firm or other professional practice is challenging. Here are questions you should ask not only of yourself, but to potential search engine optimization (“seo”) consultants, before you sign on the dotted line.

Questions You Should Answer First

• What are my goals? Better positioning on search engines is an “ok” goal. But it’s more valuable to you if the goals are specific (and realistic), such as “20% more inbound leads” or “50 requests for more information per month.”
• How will I measure the success of this campaign? I work almost exclusively with law firms, and it’s common for lawyers to want double or triple firm revenues as a result of an SEO campaign. But in nearly all cases, this isn’t realistic, since contested matters could take many months or even years to yield fee revenue. Instead, refine your goals a step further and look at total number of cases or files working as a good indicator of success (at least early in the campaign).

Questions Good Consultants Will Ask You
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people selling SEO just looking to get rich quick. Most don’t have a clue about your business and very few even understand the basics of website optimization. The best, most capable consultants will ask questions like these:

• How much can you afford to pay for a lead, subscriber, download, etc.?
• What’s worked best (and least) in the past to generate the above?
• How will you measure the success of this campaign? The consultant is looking for realistic, measurable goals, which you’ll have already prepared.

Questions to Ask Your SEO Consultant
Finally, the time has come for you to examine the qualifications of the consultant. Ask some or all of these questions to help make your decision the right one:

• Do you have proof of your work? You’re looking for the consultant or vendor to have or quickly produce client testimonials, case studies, and sample rankings for firms similar in size and scope as yours.
• What results can I reasonably expect? And how long will it take? Demand to see or have prepared a detailed game plan. Get vague responses explained., and avoid any consultant or vendor promising specific placements (e.g. “We guarantee first place results for keywords on Google”).
• What is your experience in my industry? Work with a specialist. You wouldn’t go to a general practitioner for your heart condition, and neither should your law firm or other professional practice go with an all-purpose vendor.
• What techniques do you use to achieve results? What is the overall strategy? Anyone who mentions “meta-tags” as their first answer should be shown the door. You really want to hear them say things like “produce high-quality content” or “develop relevant inbound links within your industry.”
• When do I get updates? How often do you communicate to me? Who can I call with questions? At minimum, monthly reporting on progress and monthly reports on positions achieved should be the norm. And every program should have a point-person or main contact person, since most vendors use a team of specialists, strategists and analysts to fulfill your objectives.

Armed with these questions, you’re certain to catch most consultants (even the good ones) off-guard. Listen carefully to the responses, and if you get resistance, move on.

Photo credit by svilen001.

Three Free Ways to Grow Your Business in 2010

Here are three areas to focus on or add to your January marketing plans. Each of these will generate new leads for your law firm or other professional services practice. The best part? All of these are free, requiring only time and talent.

Local Listings
The practice of law, or any other service, is typically a combination of a problem + a location (e.g. “divorce lawyer in Dallas”), so claim your listing on Google’s Local Business Center and on Yahoo Local.

Ratings & Reviews
Ask current clients to rate and review your practice on Yelp. This site has grown beyond just reviews on restaurants, and organizes businesses in more than 20 categories, such as Local Services, Professional Services, and Real Estate. If you’re not part of the conversation, how do you know what’s being said? Simple instructions are found on Yelp’s Business Owners Guide.

Networking
When asked, nearly all service providers like to say they get business “by referral” so put your networking on steroids and join LinkedIn. The best ways to use this site, beyond simple networking, are by joining groups and answering questions. But don’t neglect your network! Writing unsolicited recommendations is the best way to get more of your own. And if you’re a lawyer or an attorney, join Martindale-Hubbell Connected, which is a professional network is designed exclusively for legal professionals.

Build your marketing plan from these three foundational elements, and you’ll be well on your way to growing your service-based business in 2010.

Build Links To Drive Traffic

Most search engines, such as Google, Yahoo and Bing, present search results based on the quality of inbound links to your site. Links also drive traffic to your website. Imagine this scenario:

You (the search engine) are vacationing in a distant city (the Internet), and want to find the best place to eat in town (search engine query). Stopping at a convenience store for a map, you ask the clerk where she likes to eat.

“Sunrise Diner is my favorite place,” she says (a link).

Not satisfied, you walk a few doors down to the local chamber of commerce. You ask for a recommendation for lunch. The receptionist hands you a stack of fliers for all the businesses in town (bunch of unrelated links). She winks at you and says “I eat lunch at Sunrise Diner three times a week” (a link).

Thinking you have found the perfect place, you hop in a taxi.

“Sunrise Diner, please”.

The driver turns towards you and smiles.

“Of course — my wife works there. She’s the best cook in town (a link)!”

It’s easy to see how website links are like face-to-face networking to the search engines.

Get your first links today.
Hop on the Internet and look for directories in your niche. For example, OutFishing.com is a directory of fishing related businesses, and SEMPO maintains a list of certified search engine marketing professionals. In addition, based on your budget, consider a link on Business.com and/or the Yahoo! Directory (both $299/year). Directory listings are valuable in a number of ways: they imply credibility, they often have established traffic volumes and most are “human-edited”, meaning your URL is subject to some editorial guidelines (which search engines also appreciate).

Don’t overlook obvious link partners.
Look at the websites of your local chamber of commerce, your business associations, networking or referral groups, etc. for a “links” or “directory” page. Most organizations will gladly list their member businesses. These easy links are very relevant, frequently including local or location based listings, and are often yours for the asking!

Other ways to get links.
There are many other ways to get links.

• Create a short “signature file” that includes your name, URL, and a brief sales message (ex. “Follow me on Twitter”). Then make comments on blogs and forums within your industry, adding your “signature file” to each posting (when permitted). Although these links do not pass along any search engine value, potential clients and prospects may see them, and click through to your website.
• Write and distribute articles, including your website URL and short bio in the footer. There are hundreds of article directories available. I like GoArticles.com and eZineArticles.com.
• Similarly, you can distribute an online tool, offer a free service, or create an award logo (such as “YourWebsite.com’s Site of the Week”). Don’t forget to ask visitors to link to you.

Find out who’s linking to you now.
Want to know who is linking to you now? Use the Yahoo! Site Explorer (https://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com; free, requires Yahoo! account). Enter your URL, hit Explore and then filter by InLinks. This should present a list of links. Or try using the tools located on the following websites:

• LinkPopularity
• Submit Express
• Market Leap

Why inbound links are so important.
Create lots of high quality content for your website, which creates a larger funnel of pages for search engines to find you. If the content is relevant and interesting, webmasters naturally link to it. And since search engines prefer to find your page from links on other websites, link building is a necessity. Just remember, it’s the relevance of the link, not the number of links, that determine your rankings. Link building is like making friendships – best done one at a time.

What are your link building strategies?

Website Landing Page Checklist

Many marketers pre-sell very well, painting pictures of product (or service) benefits in their prospect’s mind. But they fall flat on the landing page. Use this checklist when designing yours.

• Does the copy on your website agree with the copy of your ads?
• Have you removed or disabled outbound links on your landing page? Consider keeping only links that move your prospect towards a sale.
• Does your website copy answer predictable questions in your prospect’s mind? Create a rationale for purchase.
• What more could you offer to make your pitch more compelling?
• Have you built trust with your prospect? Explain shipping costs and return/refund policies up front to avoid surprises later.
• Can you minimize the number of clicks it takes to complete a sale? Combine pages and request only the data necessary to transact a sale.
• Do you have a clear, call to action? “Buy now”, “Subscribe”, “Order” and other descriptive buttons tell your reader what to do.

Nothing on your landing page will make a customer convert if the features and benefits aren’t a solution to a problem they have. But once your prospect decides to buy, make it easy for the transaction to take place.