Diamonds in the Rough: The Google Adwords Campaign

Fellow Blogosphere Readers:  I admit it, I succumbed to the hype and launched a Google Adwords campaign.  What is it?  Its the "pay per click" that happens when you punch in, for example "San Francisco Estate Planner" and a bunch of names come up on the right-hand side of the page.   These spots are auctioned off to bidders who pay each time someone clicks on their ad.

Initially, it worked well in bringing traffic to the site.  But here's the problem:  there is no pre-existing relationship with anyone affiliated or associated with our firm, so it is a completely anonymous view of us.  It commoditizes the particular service advertised, and when your service becomes a commodity, the only remaining determinant between your ounce of gold and someone else's ounce of gold (or whatever commodity) is . . . what?

That's right, price.

So, here, below, is what I guess Google Adwords will generate for me for the foreseeable future as a result of my monthly contract with them.  I have redacted personal information so the questioner is anonymous, and combined a fact from another query.

TO: PMyers@TheMyersLawFirm.com; PMyers@TheMyersLawFirm.com
Subject: Form Submission
Importance: High

realname: ______________

Telephone: ______________

email: __________________

Question: I'm wondering what your fee is for a living trust. I am a married woman with separate property. My husband already has one. My only community property asset is my X which I plan to leave my half to my children in trust if I should die first (and allow my husband to live in the house as long as he wants). I have X trusts already pre-determined to be left to my children so I don't need to address them. I want to make sure my personal assets (my X, Y and Z) goes to my children and I want a health directive. What would the fee be for this?

How do you respond to this type of email?  I couldn't figure out where to start, so I am going to suggest my readers try to improve upon my draft.  This is my draft:

Hello Anonymous:

I cannot quote a fee in a vacuum. If you just need the word processing done, and price is an issue, there are cheaper alternatives than our firm.

Our model is based on clients who want to make sure things happen correctly, and this frankly has nothing to do with the cost of the documents. It has a lot to do with relationships, trust, confidence, and commitment. Yes, at the end of the day, we draft documents that carry out your hopes, fears, dreams and aspirations. To do this correctly, in our experience, requires a time commitment. The time of a quality lawyer or law firm is not inexpensive. That might be obvious, but sometimes I have to say it.

Our rates range from $100 per hour for a paralegal to $375 an hour for my associate to $600 an hour for me. I would not be comfortable drafting your trust and AHCD under the circumstances you describe without reviewing everything else that has been done, because, among other things, these other trusts may have a material impact on what we choose to do, and they may increase or decrease the size of your estate (depending upon how the powers of appointment are drafted, who holds them, whether they are revocable or not, and by whom, among about 100 other possible iterations).

Contrary to some popular opinions out there in the financial community (Suze Orman comes to mind), estate planning actually IS rocket science. There are very few estate plans that are "simple," just as there are very few families that are "simple."

I am sorry I cannot give you more direction.

You may call us to schedule a time to meet if you understand and appreciate the wisdom of our model.

Thanks, in advance,

-Peter

OK, readers, was I polite?  Did I express the concepts well?  How much longer do I give Google Adwords before I conclude increased internet-source client volume is not such a good idea?

Comments

[Vince Runza]

Dear Counselor,
I am a Direct Response Internet Marketer. I specialize in helping local businesses develop and effective and powerful Web presence. I found a reference to your blog post here: http://www.lawyercasting.com/2008/05/adwords-lawyers.html (which gave an incorrect date for this post). You may not check back this far in your post archive to see this response, but I hope you do.

Like most lawyers, you know your profession. What you don't know is Web promotion. The wonder of using Google, both as a search engine and a means of promotion, is targeted traffic and search results. What you ask for is what you get, when you search. What you describe is what people find, when they search.

What you describe in reference to your AdWords campaign is typical of a beginner's attempt to do keyword optimization: go broad, and see what the results are. However, rather than "drilling down" to more specific (and cheaper) keyword phrases, you apparently stuck with what you started with.

Here's how you could, if you choose, go back to AdWords with a more targeted approach to selecting the keywords for your ads. Start by looking at your practice as a business:

1.Examine your business plan, specifically your Mission Statement.
2.Identify which aspects of your practice are the most profitable.
3.Consider any underused capacity you wish to “ramp up”, i.e. billable hours your paralegals could be handling.
4.Think about what causes (or could cause) the most aggravation and annoyance in your practice.

A great example of the last part is the response you got from the lady who wanted information, but was clearly “budget conscious”. To prevent that kind of aggravation, stay away from broad search terms, both in AdWords campaigns and the body copy on your website. Get specific as to whom you wish as a client.

Keyword selection is easier when you put yourself in the place of your Ideal Client. What, exactly, would that person want, in terms of results? Tax savings? Wealth preservation? Cruel domination of recalcitrant family members? Setting up a legacy or foundation to immortalize him or herself?

Once you understand that the motivated searcher for services has a specific goal in mind, keyword selection becomes more targeted and specific. Yes, you will get less clicks (and spend less money), but you will get more of what you want and less of what you apparently don't want.

One other point – the title of your main Web page. This meta tag is NOT supposed to be like the title of a book or movie. It is an index tag, like the category entries in the index of a non-fiction book.

“Welcome: California Lawyers: The Myers Law Firm, P.C. Attorneys serving the San Francisco Bay Area” is great for your description tag. However, that doesn't categorize your practice at all. “Estate Planning San Francisco” or, more specifically, “Best Estate Planning SF Bay Area” might serve you better.

I hope this helps,

Vince Runza