Before I launch into today’s email, I wanted to let you know about something new I’m going to be doing from now on.
Now, I’m not saying this to be contrarian or a “bad ass” or anything, but I want to speak out about one of the biggest myths in my profession.
It’s something a lot of marketers believe, maybe because most of the folks billing themselves as SEOs or “marketing experts” don’t really have a great deal of experience creating real bottom-line business improvements.
Here’s the myth:
(I.e. the “winning formula” for getting more business.)
First, you have to do some research and find “valuable keyword targets”. Things like “new york city auto accident lawyer” or “dallas dwi attorney”.
(These are keywords that get the most searches — and demand the highest bids from advertisers, since they have “commercial value.”)
Then, you need to spend 12-18 months pumping out content and building links (or pay an SEO/web firm to do this for you).
Finally, when you make it to the top of the coveted first page for that keyword, a torrent of traffic is going to come and flood your website and your phones will ring off the hook with new business.
Now, I’ll be honest with you, I bought into this myth too.
Back in 2010, I was building a lead-generation site (myDUIattorney.org, it’s still going strong, albeit with a new owner). I spent a LOT of money getting onto page #1 for “DUI attorney” and “DUI lawyer”.
Great keywords, right?
Well, they were. I was getting 33,000 visitors to my website every month, which translated into a lot of business for my clients.
There was just one problem:
Only 16 of these visitors were from the “high-value commercial keywords” for which I paid a fortune. Strange.
But it gets even stranger.
Because it turns out, the lion’s share of the other 32,984 visitors were coming from Google searches that didn’t even have a “page”.
Here’s what I mean by that:
I did some digging around, and I later found out that Google themselves stated publicly: 50% of their searches on any given day are unique. In other words, they’re for keywords that have never been typed in before.
Things like:
“arrested in san francisco and blew a .11 now what”
“2nd dui will i go to jail”
“cop said i failed the breathalyzer but i wasn’t drunk”
“attorneys in milwaukee who take payment plans on drunk driving cases”
We tracked where each and every lead came from, and almost all of them came from keyword searches like these, or even longer. (It seems the only folks who type “dallas dwi attorney” into Google are marketing firms hunting for new clients. Go figure.)
Here’s the thing though:
Google doesn’t have a “page 1” for these keyword searches, because they’re unique. It’s unlikely someone typed it in before, so Google doesn’t keep a ranking record. It seems results are generated on the fly.
Where does this leave your firm?
I’ll tell you.
You need to do what I did with myDUIattorney.org (and now do with all my attorney clients whose results you read about in this newsletter), and use my alternative strategy for generating business from Google.
After all, it generates real business you can take to the bank.
I explain this strategy in detail in my book, Secrets of Attorney Marketing Law School Dares Not Teach. You’ll get actionable information you can put to work immediately and see tangible results from.
For a limited time, I’m giving out complimentary copies to my newsletter subscribers. (It retails on Amazon for $14.95.)
All I ask for in return is an honest review.
Click here to get a free copy of this book shipped to your office.