Legal Search Marketing

Posts Tagged ‘Google AdWords’

Google introduced a new match type, well, a modifier to a match type that helps you control your match types a bit more. The modifier lets you be more specific with your broad match keywords, but be more lax than the phrase based match.

This new modifier is named the “broad match modifier” and it is currently being tested in Canada and the U.K. To implement the modifier, just put a plus symbol (+) directly in front of one or more words in a broad match keyword. Each word preceded by a + has to appear in your potential customer’s search exactly or as a close variant. Close variants include misspellings, singular/plural forms, abbreviations and acronyms, and stemmings (like “floor” and “flooring”). Synonyms (like “quick” and “fast”) and related searches (like “flowers” and “tulips”) aren’t considered close variants.

The graphic below illustrates the relative reach of different keyword match type strategies. As you can see, modified broad match keywords match more searches than the equivalent phrase match keyword, but fewer searches than the equivalent broad match keyword. Match behavior also depends on the specific words you modify. For example, the keyword formal +shoes will match the search “evening shoes,” but the keyword +formal +shoes will not.

During initial tests, advertisers who mainly used phrase and exact match found that adding modified broad match keywords increased campaign clicks and conversions, while providing more precise control than with broad match.

This seems like a good idea and hopefully they launch this in the USA soon!

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SPONSORED AND ORGANIC SEARCH  LISTINGS

Many lawyers are confused by the difference between the pay per click sponsored listings and the free organic listings at Google, Yahoo and other top search engines.

The free or "organic" search listings at Google are listed on the left side of the page and the sponsored PPC listings are located on the right side of the page under "sponsored links" and sometimes at the very top of the page, right above the organic listings.

Organic listings take time and effort to achieve and are usually a result of a legal web site that has a lot of good content, is listed in the Yahoo and Open directories and has a lot of links pointing to it from other sites.

The pay per click or sponsored listings are a result of web sites that bid a certain amount per click on a keyword. The higher the bid, the higher the ranking. Even though at Google its a little bit of a different bidding process then at Overture. At Overture, its simply a matter of whoever bids higher, gets the higher listing, where at Google, its a combination of different criteria including amount bid.

Obviously you want to be listed in the organic listings because its like the gift that keeps on giving and you don’t have to pay every time someone clicks on your site.  Yet it takes time to get the free listings and sometimes you have no choice but to pay extra to visitors to your legal web site. Some lawyers do both, get great organic listings but then also pay for the sponsored links to cover all bases.