How to choose the right SEO (Search Engine Optimization) company

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Raise your hand if you’ve been burned by a salesperson before. Yes, anyone reading this has fallen prey to shady sales people and companies in the past. Whether it was the Don Lapre infomercials from years ago (Don Lapre spoof), or that salesman the told you your first website was going to bring in tons of business from the Internet, most lawyers just don’t trust salespeople. I don’t blame them. Even salespeople don’t trust other salespeople. It’s just natural to think like that because 90% of the time people trying to sell a product or service think about themselves and not about the best interest of who they’re trying to sell to. When you’ve been assured that “this advertising will work, I’m sure of it” and it falls short of your expectations, it just gets that much harder to trust the next salesperson you meet with. Although they are hard to come by, there are excellent SEO firms out there and you need to find the SEO (search engine optimization) company who can help you meet your needs of generating new business on the web. So how do you choose the right SEO company to handle your law firms Internet marketing? Here are some things to think about when trying to find the right SEO firm.

 1. Have them show you their ORGANIC results in Google.

If they can show you their clients on the 1st page of the Google search engine results pages for competitive phrases, that’s a good sign. A good example would be “San Antonio personal injury attorney“. A bad example would be “San Antonio motor vehicle collision law firms“. Why? Because nobody searches for “San Antonio motor vehicle collison law firms”.  Use a keyword suggestion tool to find competitive phrases. I’ve heard of many SEO companies trying to showcase their results by showing off the results of phrases that are not commonly searched.  Yahoo and MSN also matter, so ask for results on those search engines as well. The rest just don’t matter. The up and coming search engine is ASK, but it only has a 5% of Internet traffic. Google however owns 50% of the market and it’s the engine that will generate the most traffic to your site if you are ranked highly.

2. Do they understand the nature of your practice?

If you meet with someone who has no idea about the practice of law they may still be able to help you improve your Internet marketing, but usually companies that specialize in Internet marketing for attorneys are your best option. SEO firms that understand the legal field typically have a better understanding of how to sucessfully market your law practice online since they know what has worked for other law firms. Companies that specialize in search engine optimization for lawyers also tend to know the legal directories to list your firm in. Aside from having your site appear in the search results, directories are the other way for consumers to find your firm so it can be a crucial part of your overall Internet marketing plan. Look, you could go to a buffet and find Italian food, but if you want a great Italian mean you have a much better chance of getting a quality dinner at an Italian restaurant. Same thing with SEO’s. Choose someone who understands your practice.

3. How long will it take them to get you ranked high?

For those of you with new sites, this is a great question to ask in order to find out if you can trust them. If you have a brand new domain, Google typically takes a minimum of 9 months to rank well. Yahoo roughly 4 months. MSN, as short as a month. Keep that in mind when you talk to them. If they tell you “a couple months”, they don’t know what they’re talking about. If you have a domain that has been on the web for a long time, you’ll be able to see results faster. The time it takes to get your site ranked well will depend on the age of your site, the amount of links on the web that are pointing to your site, where those links are coming from, your site structure, and the level of competition on the web for your desired search terms. There is no easy answer for this question but the answers they give you will probably give you  more insight into their company.

4. How many clients do they currently have that are going after the same search terms you want?

If they have a bunch of clients going for the same search terms, you’re probably better off looking elsewhere. Someone is going to get the short end and it may be you. Many of the larger firms that do lawyer website design and attorney search engine optimization  take as many clients as they can in as many cities as they can. If they have 15 personal injury clients in Los Angeles, someone’s going to be upset with their results.

5. Ask for referrals

Referrals are always a good thing. You can speak to a client instead of the SEO firm and get more honest feedback. Don’t bother asking for referrals from a competitor, even if you know them. You wouldn’t want to give your marketing secrets to your competition would you? They don’t either.

6. Pricing

What type of pricing do they offer? SEO firms all charge different prices so find out about their fee schedule. If they are much cheaper then other SEO firms, you begging for trouble. Do NOT shop on price alone or you will pay for it in the long run. Some SEO companies will get your site banned by the search engines and that’s the last thing you want.

7. Methods

Ask them about their methods for optimizing websites and make sure they are clear about what they do. You do not want someone optimizing your site that will use tactics that can get your site blacklisted or penalized by the search engines. Some of these tactics include invisible text  (text on page is the same color as the background so you can’t see it but search engines can), cloaking (showing a visitor one page and a search engine spider a different one), and link farms. In regards to linking, take a look at some of their clients websites. Find the links page(s) or resources page. If they link to sites that have nothing to do with the legal industry, stay away from them. Your only begging for trouble. 

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