Lawyer SEO Update: Natural Search Still Beats Pay-Per-Click

April 8, 2011
5:29 pm

legalnewsnow

Lawyer SEO Update: Natural Search Still Beats Pay-Per-Click

/lawyermarketing101.com/Rene Perras/ 04/07/2011

While Google may still dominate the pay-per-click landscape for law firm marketing and for other goods and services, recent studies have shown that most searchers may be missing the pay-per-click ads completely. As reported by eMarketer, an eye tracking study by user experience firm User Centric showed that “organic search results were viewed 100% of the time, but only 28% of participants looked at the right-side ads on Google.” Even more telling was the amount of time participants spent reviewing the natural search results vs the ads. The research showed that participants viewing Google search results spent an average of 14.7 seconds per page and about 10.7 seconds per page on Bing search results. Less than one second was spent viewing the pay-per click ads on either search engine.

In spite of the accuracy of the research, law firm marketers should be aware that the study was done in a staged environment with specific key words assigned to participants who may or may not have been using their search engine of preference. What this means is that although there is still a place for pay-per-click advertising for attorneys, it does not take the place of an effective lawyer search engine optimization (SEO) program. Web users have gained knowledge through experience and some overlook the pay-per-click ads deliberately rather than because of where they are placed on the page.

In addition, as the web evolves search behavior does as well. Social media sites like Facebook are becoming more of a venue for search and gathering information or recommendations about goods and services than ever before. With the evolution of search behavior and the evolution of the search engine algorithms, it has become increasingly important to have the appropriate lawyer marketing team on your side so your marketing strategy can keep pace with the changes. Whether those changes are to aspects of search like Google Local or to the overall methodology of SEO, having seasoned lawyer Internet marketing professionals may be the key to your future lead generation success on the web.

If you would like more information on SEO for lawyers or how your law firm can leverage social media to boost your firm’s visibility, contact Rene Perras.