One dimensional marketing campaigns executed by firms usually have the primary target of being number #1 in Google for a selected keyword, or a number of them. In other words, a firm which is located in Moonee Ponds, invest everything in ranking #1 for the term, “Moonee Ponds Lawyers,” or variations of the keyword phrase or spend excessively on Adwords. It can prove to be a race to the bottom, particularly in geographical locations where there isn’t an abundance of search for the keywords that your firm is wanting to dominate for. In fact, search numbers we’ve found can be extraordinarily inflated by a bunch of firms wanting to rank #1 for a chosen keyword phrase and repetitiously each day, keep checking where they’re at, thus with every search escalating recorded search numbers.
This issue aside, more globally speaking, searching generally suffers from a diminishing impact on ultimate client conversion anyway. From 2004 to 2011, according to Forester Research, the way in which people found specific websites had declined from 83% to 61% and is said to be decreasing every day. You may be surprised given the usage of the internet has grown exponentially by people trying to find legal services. But, here lies the difference! Between 2004 to 2011, the online funnel was largely reliant upon search and obviously since then, there are a myriad of other ways a person with a legal problem will end up on your law firm’s website and notwithstanding this, smarter firms have diversified their marketing spend across multiple digital and non-digital mediums to assert their brand values.
While ranking for key search terms is important, your firm is missing out on a plethora of other opportunities if its sole focus is to reach the top of the search pile, be it via aggressive search engine optimisation or Adword campaigns. In fact, in our experience working with many of our clients who rank exceptionally well for well-trafficked keyword terms, it doesn’t always follow that big search numbers will convert into big client conversions. The far better approach is targeted content marketing, both online and off to specific segments of your market, rather than a one-dimensional strategy preoccupied with ranking #1.
