Ever wonder what your law firm Internet marketing consultant is actually doing? While more and more law firm seos are moving in the direction of transparency, still far too many continue to cry "secret sauce" when asked about what it is they are actually doing for your website.
Just above the "secret saucers" there are those that are willing to share their strategies but provide you only with jargon, industry terminology, and buzz words. They will sell you on the number of keywords they will "target", the number of links they will build, and guarantee you rankings (although not necessarily the keyword). Typically, you will get a large quantity of low-quality links to your website. You may even get some traffic. However, you are unlikely to get real results.
Here are some ways to actually measure your law firm Internet marketer's efforts:
1. Tracking Phone Number- Use a dedicated tracking phone number for your various campaigns (website, paid search, directory listings). This way you can determine which efforts are actually resulting in calls to your law firm.
2. Web Form- Include a source field in your web intake forms. You will need to experiment with how you present the question in increase accuracy. You should also use web analytics on your forms (see below).
3. Ask The Question- While I am not in love with this method, simply asking your prospective clients where they found you can give you some insight about the performance of your campaigns. Unfortunately, the answers you get may range from vague to just down-right wrong.
4. Web Analytics- If you're using the Internet to market your law firm, a web analytics application is an absolute must. It will help you identify keywords, optimize for conversion, and track visitor behavior on your site.
Implementing these strategies can help ensure that you are getting results from the money you spend with an Internet marketing consultant. In the end, no marketing is worth continuing that isn't producing a positive return on investment. In order to determine whether you are getting a return, you have to measure.
Image by: Brooks Elliott
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