Selecting Search Terms

A fundamental part of search engine optimization is the selection of search terms that are both relevant to your practice and are also terms being used by prospective clients. Optimization is the process of designing your website for specific search terms so that when those terms are utilized in a search, your website will appear in the listings.

This principal seems lost on the vast majority of businesses that offer search engine 'submission'. Reading their ads, you would think that all you need to do is submit your website to the search engines and it will magically appear when a prospective client searches for a lawyer in your city.

The issue isn't submission of your website to the search engines, it's the design of your site for particular search terms--or optimization. Saying the issue is submission is like a business telling you they're going to submit legal briefs to the courts on your behalf, which would naturally lead you to ask them precisely what the brief would say. What your website 'says' determines your positioning. No amount of submission will change the content of your website.

For starters, optimization must begin with identification of search terms. Major pay-per-click services provide keyword suggestions and a traffic estimator, including Google's AdWords. This is Google's pay-per-click sponsorship program in which you bid for particular search terms. Your sponsorship listing then appears in a shaded box on the right-hand side of the search results page when a search including your search term is performed.

Take statistics with a grain of salt. Many advertisers search for phrases to see what websites appear so they can sell those law firms products. When Vioxx hit a couple of years ago, my website was heavily traveled by peddlers of Vioxx advertising. They found me by searching for Vioxx lawyers in the search engines. So that traffic was goosed not by bona fide potential clients, but by companies wanting to sell me advertising.

Regarding subscription services, frankly, I haven't found one that I think is worth a mention in light of the excellent free resources available.