Interviewer: Are most attorneys committed to developing a long-term plan?

Richard: Some are and some aren’t. A lot of attorneys already have a promise for SEO to be done for them, but it’s not done. They’ve been having it “done” for a year, but they have nothing because the companies screw them. Companies say they’re doing work and they’re not. A lot of people are willing to try it because not all of them are desperate. They do understand the value of long-term asset building.

That’s a big piece out there. These are the major elements. There are more ways to advertise a lot more, but these are the major elements that come up again and again.

Interviewer: How do you manage SEO to make it more effective, as opposed to companies promising SEO but really screwing attorneys?

Richard: The only two things that really matter with SEO are content and getting links from other sites to your site. A link is that little, blue clickable text that you click on and it takes you somewhere. Links are important because Google determines who they show for the words this person googled.

So site A has 100 different sites linking to it and site B has seven sites linking to it. “A” looks more popular. It’s called link popularity or authority. They are going to show “A” above “B.” Suppose site A has some really prestigious sites linked to it, and site B doesn’t. Even if site B has 1,000 more links, they may show site A because they trust it. Now, that’s one major pillar of SEO.

The other major pillar is content, meaning articles and stuff on the site. A lot of attorney sites have 10 or 20 articles. They never change, and the site grows cobwebs year after year. Google is not going to consider you an authority if that’s the case. They are a pain in the ass. It is a reality that Google wants to see that you have a lot of relevant, good information that is being added on a regular basis.

The site is growing and more and more content is going on there so it becomes a real resource for people. It’s not just sitting in the middle of the road, getting in people’s way on their road to good information. It is a destination for people to go to; where they really can get what they want to get.

Those are the two things. If your SEO company is not working on both of those things, you’re not going to get there. You’re just not. If you only do content, it’s a one-legged race. If you only do links, it’s a one-legged race. If you do neither- which is what most companies do, then you just sit there and rot. You are stalled on the highway while everyone passes you by. That is what happens.

Why Is Interviewing Attorney Clients A Key Marketing Strategy?

Interviewer: How do you work with your attorney clients to build content?

Richard: I guarantee what you see on most attorney sites is: “DUI is a serious matter. When you’re facing a Minneapolis DUI, you should hire a qualified Minneapolis attorney to fight your Minneapolis DUI charge; blah, blah, blah.”

It sounds like garbage. It’s stuffed with keywords to try get this person’s site to be on page one for Minneapolis DUI lawyers. It sounds like crap, and it reads like crap. It’s boring. It’s just garbage. I figured out a strategy to call the attorneys and interview them.

I do a Q&A. I ask interesting questions on issues people really care about. For example, I ask, “What are the most common misconceptions about being arrested for DUI in Minneapolis?” They will say this and that, that and this; and that you can lose your license.

Now it’s more interesting, and it’s in a conversational tone. It’s not just this regurgitated garbage that only makes sense to a robot; not a person. Another nice benefit of a one hour call is it becomes 7,000 or 8,000 words when you transcribe it. It is a lot content; and I do four, five, six, seven calls with an attorney over three months.

Now they have 30,000 words of content; then 40,000 words. Now their site is really starting to do well on Google, SEO-wise, because it’s a big, fat juicy site with a lot of content. It is legally correct because the person spoke it. It’s interesting, engaging and all that good stuff.