New site for an Estate Planning Attorney in Clear Lake!

Check out Kim Hegwood's new site at Houston Estate Planning Attorney. Kim helps her clients with legal matters ranging from family law to Probate Administration. Her practice includes preparing everything from simple wills to setting up special needs trusts.
The site is informative, easy to navigate and provides contact information for anyone in need of a EFFECTIVE Estate Planning counsel. Be sure to check out the How We are Different page for some insight into the philosophy of the firm.

The three aspects of a internet visibility

I meet with people who think they are marketing their business on the Web. They may have a website. They may even have some meta tags and keywords on that site. Maybe they have a small PPC campaign driving traffic to the site.
Picture a stool with three legs. If the seat of that stool is labeled "VISIBILITY" then what do we call the three legs that hold up the stool?
The THREE legs should be:
SEO - sitemap & relevant, updated content, meta tags, etc.
PPC Ads - Effective Ad Copy, Targeted Keywords and Phrases
Inbound Links - take advantage of powerful, relevant directories; adding power to your site

You can get leads from the Web if you use any of these three principles but ALL THREE will take your web-presence to another level.

CALL TO ACTION!

Have you ever visited the website of a business with a product or service that you were interested in only to get frustrated at how difficult it is to find the businesses contact information? I hate that.
Furthermore, add a CALL TO ACTION at the top of every page. What do you want to prospective client to do? Tell them to contact you. Your business is the right business for them to give their money to, right?
Don't make them scroll down to the bottom of the page to find a phone number. People go to the internet for information. Once they find that information, make it easy for them to contact you.

New Family Law Campaign here in Houston

Peter Steinmann has a small website and hasn't done much marketing in the past. His practice includes Family Law, Estate Planning and some Personal Injury Law. He is an avid golfer and enjoys getting outside whenever possible. His office is a virtual "who's who" of Golf as he has met or played with numerous pro golfers over the years.

He and his wife update the website regularly and he would like to drive more traffic to it. When I initially contacted Mr. Steinmann he was hesitant to meet with me as he receives numerous marketing calls throughout the week. I asked him for 20 minutes and he accepted the appointment but told me "not to get my hopes up."

After a brief presentation of how simple a Google and Yahoo PPC campaign can be he was on-board. He agreed to start with a small focused campaign with Call Tracking and is looking forward to hearing the phone ring more often.

Visit his site Houston Divorce Lawyer and check it out when you have the chance.

PPC campaigns and negative keywords...

If you are going to have a successful PPC campaign, you will have to use at least a small list of negative keywords. Using negative keywords effectively is a sure-fire way to refine your keywords and drive QUALITY clicks to your site. Yesterday I performed a search for "wrongful death attorney" on Google. The first PPC result on the right side of the page was an employment attorney who no doubt is bidding on "wrongful termination" terms. As the consumer, looking for a wrongful death attorney how likely is it that I hire an attorney who's site is full of employment law content? Not very likely at all so that's a wasted click and wasted money. Adding "death" as a negative keyword would make sure that his clicks weren't being used up on leads that he has no chance of converting.
Another example - I found an attorney who practices medical malpractice in a search for "legal malpractice houston" on Google. If I click on that ad, I go to a site which is 100% medical malpractice related and dont' see any information about my search for legal malpractice. Again, if the term "Legal" was added to a list of negative keywords it would eliminate these irrelevant clicks.
In this very competitive and expensive SEM game, the more qualified and specific the lead, the better. Use negative keywords effectively to make sure your traffic is worth paying for.

Filteau & Sullivan, LLP launch new site.

The attorneys Filteau & Sullivan specialize in business and commercial litigation as well as employment law. The partners, Bob Filteau and John Sullivan have practiced law together since 1980 and the firm is located near downtown Houston in The Heights. They handle cases ranging from personal injury to shareholder disputes and everything in between.
Visit their site at Houston Commercial Litigation Attorneys to find out more about their practice.

Location, Location, Location...

Its been said many times. Location is everything when it comes to business. Not only where your business is located but also where it is marketed; Billboards, Newspaper, Magazine ads, etc. Its true with Internet Placement as well. Where do you market your law firm? I hope its where people are looking. When people go to Google, Yahoo, Yellowbook.com, FindLaw.com, AVVO.com; can they find you? Let me stress this point, these are people looking for you! They need your expertise. Can they find you?
It would be great if a consumer who needs you hears your radio ad or drives by your billboard at the EXACT time that he needs you, writes down your number and calls you. How often do you think this happens? I think it would be better to be visible when THEY initiate the search. This is what we call "directional advertising." In other words, buyers looking for sellers - NOT sellers looking for buyers.