Information Economics

Information economics or the economics of information is a branch of microeconomic theory that studies how information affects an economy and economic decisions. Information has special characteristics. It is easy to create but hard to trust. It is easy to spread but hard to control. It influences many decisions.

The internet has fundamentally changed how people find and consume information.  Information that was once difficult to attain is now only a quick search and click away.  As a result, there is a demand for information online.  

The online marketing "winners" will be the firms that are able to supply that demand for information.  You need to create an online presence where you position yourself as a trusted resource, a supplier of information for your niche.  This is not attained by simply setting up a website that talks about how great your firm is and running some ads to get people to the site.  Sure this might generate a few leads and prospects, but it is not a recipe for long-term success online.

Success online will come to the firms that are putting out information that makes the web better.  As the article states:

Will you:

• Answer someone’s question?
• Make someone laugh?
• Provide a reasoned disagreement?
• Help solve a problem?
• Make some data more easily understood?
• Fix technical errors?
• Provide a different perspective?
• Leave a thoughtful comment?
• Participate in a discussion?
• Share something new you’ve learned?
• Meet someone new?
• Introduce people to one another?
• Create something aesthetically amazing?
• Review a product or service?
• Recommend a colleague?

Not so different from traditional networking concepts, is it?  However, doing this requires creativity and effort.  You actually have to create good content that is helpful for people.  You need to add to the conversation in some way.  Regurgitating news stories and recent verdicts in the area doesn't really accomplish this.  Neither is stuffing a page full of keywords for search engines.  

Some might argue these methods work or one man's spam is another man's treasure.  However, my larger point is that in order to stand out as a supplier of valuable information in the long run, in order to become a resource people come to, you will need to think about how your marketing is making the web better, not just making more of the same noise that already exists.  Easier said than done.

Gorillas are the largest extant species of primates. Adult males, also called silverbacks, range in height 1.65–1.75 metres (5 ft 5 in–5 ft 9 in), and in weight 140–200 kg (310–440 lb). Occasionally, a silverback of over 1.8 metres (5 ft 11 in) and 230 kg (510 lb) has been recorded in the wild. Obese gorillas in captivity have reached a weight of 270 kg (600 lb).

In other words, they're big.

Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians (or "irregulars") use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and less-mobile traditional army, or strike a vulnerable target, and withdraw almost immediately.

In other words, it's lean and strategic.

They covered some of the basics of blog SEO and how search engines "rank" web pages.

They also provided some actionable tips, specifically applicable to lawyer-bloggers about both what "to do" and what not to do.

And while the specific blog SEO tips were really quite good, it was a point that Kevin made about how a law firm might think about approaching SEO, and internet marketing more generally, that resonated with me.

His point was that if you are a larger firm with a significant marketing budget, who has been aggressively marketing and advertising in the offline world, you will probably approach internet in a much different way than if you're a small firm or solo, with a very limited (or nonexistent) marketing budget.

In other words, how you approach internet marketing will depend, to a large extent, upon whether you're more a gorilla or a guerilla.

And while this might seem like an obvious distinction, failing to consider in advance whether you're more of a gorilla or a guerilla can have a significant impact on whether you meet the goals of your internet marketing campaigns.

Gorillas

Have you historically spent big advertising marketing dollars on yellow book, television, radio, and billboard advertising? Does your firm use direct mailers?

Does it sponsor industry trade shows, seminars, charity events, and scholarships? Does your firm have a recognized brand?

If so, you might be a web marketing gorilla.

Web marketing gorillas typically take an aggresive comprehensive approach to their web strategy. They usuallly commit large budgets to paid search marketing and have professional paid search managers optimizing their accounts.

They may also make significant investments in paid online legal directory advertising, content distribution platforms, and a variety of other internet advertising programs.

Gorillas also invest heavily in web design and development. They often purchase complex websites with custom designs, video integrations, live-chat features, and a host of other web bells and whistles.

Some gorillas will be able to leverage in-house resources like attorney-writers, subject-matter experts (like doctors, engineers, nurses, etc).

Typically, the gorillas we have worked with have benefitted from high-level agency strategy support, managing, maintenance, and consulting.

Whether they're looking for a quarterback for their existing efforts, or want more turn-key solutions, the common theme is that they want to cast a comprehensive online net and measure, track, and analyze how these different moving pieces are working to increase the firm's online footprint, and ultimately deliver new business.

They're usually not interested in getting mired down in all the specific details and prefer the 30,000 ft. view of how the internet is adding value to their practice.

Guerillas

Are you a solo or small firm lawyer? Do you typically stick to only the most proven and efficient forms marketing and advertising? Are you committed to doing most of the heavy-lifting yourself?

Would you rather invest your time than your money into building your practice? Do you find yourself analyzing where the competition is weak and positioning yourself against those weaknesses? Do you prefer the scalpal to the shotgun?

Then you're probably a web marketing guerilla.

Typically, guerillas put a higher priority on efficiency and effectiveness. They want maximum bang for their buck and aren't looking for a lot superfluity.

They put a higher priority on marketing strategies that are lean, versatile, and affordable.

They're willing to spend some of their own time learning and executing proven web marketing strategies.

They want a professional web profile, but not necessarily all the bells and whistiles. They usually handle the majority of content development, link acquisition, and campaign management themselves.

The guerillas that we've worked with have benefitted more from individualized education sessions where they can get answers to specific questions about a specific aspect to web marketing.

They're interested in understanding the role the web can plan in word of mouth referrals.

They usually appreciate someone watching over their shoulder to make sure that they're avoiding common mistakes.

They like having access to professionals to help point them in the right direciton, but prefer to execute the various strategies themselves.

Why It Matters

Determining whether you're a gorilla or a guerilla should be a huge factor in how you build your web marketing program.

For example, if you're a gorilla, you might be disappointed with campaigns that don't provide you maximum online exposure across several channels in a short period of time.

On the other hand, if you're a guerilla, and you elect a campaign that attempts to take gorillas head-on, you might find yourself exhausting your budgets before they are able to generate a return.

Understanding your identity in this respect will help you structure your marketing initiatives in a way that makes the most sense for your specific goals.

Nonetheless, whether you're a gorilla or guerilla, before you spend a lot of time or effort on a particular strategy or to hire a consultant, you should:

• Spend some time learning about how the web and search engines can actually serve to complement your existing marketing efforts.
• Think about your specific marketing message, budget, and short and long-term goals.
• Talk to similarly situation lawyers about their experiences with various strategies, consultants, and vendors.
• Before you hire anyone, ask a lot of questions about "how this stuff works" and what level of transparency, accountability, and reporting is available.

While implenting the "right" internet marketing plan can serve as an excellent piece of your firm's greater marketing campaign, getting stuck with the wrong plan can put a dent in your pocketbook, harm your professional reputation, or even get you into legal ethics hot water with your state bar.

There's just no substitute for learning about internet and search marketing before you dive in head first.

Since Rand did such a nice job articulating the differences between interruption and inbound marketing, I thought it worth applying these concepts to some ways legal services consumers use the internet to when they think they need a lawyer.

Here's a recent television commercial I saw here in Chicago:

So that's there's no confusion, I don't know this attorney. I don't know what the cost of this campaign was. And I have no idea what kind of return it generated.

However, I do know that when their potential clients think they might be in need of a lawyer, they might do this:

And they might see this:

And some folks might not know whether they even need a lawyer yet. So they might ask a question like this:

And some of those consumers may have been referred by friends. So those folks might do this:

And they might see this:

And this:

And they'll eventually find this:

And they may even get to this:

Whether they're directly searching for a lawyer, trying to get answers about their legal issues, or vetting a referral that they received from a friend or family member, the way legal services consumers find information about their legal issues has been forever changed by the internet.

I don't know if interruption marketing will ever completely die. However, I am pretty confident that providing your potential clients with content that demonstrates your knowledge, skill, and experience, when they are looking for it is much more likely to motivate them to contact and hire you than when you interrupt their favorite television show or sports game.

And the internet provides a variety of ways for you to do that. And most of these are much less expensive than their interruption counterparts.

What is Double Ad Serving?

Double ad serving happens when one advertiser tries to show more than one ad on a given search result page. Here is what Google says about it:

To protect the value and diversity of the ads running on Google, we don't generally permit advertisers to manage multiple accounts featuring the same business or keywords except in certain limited exceptions. Furthermore, Google doesn't permit multiple ads from the same or an affiliated company or person to appear on the same results page. We've found that pages with multiple text ads from the same company provide less relevant results and a lower quality experience for users. Over time, multiple ads from the same source also reduce overall advertiser performance and lower their return on investment.

Whether it's because Google isn't very good at enforcing this policy, or really doesn't care as much about protecting the value and diversity of the ads running on the platform as they claim, double ad serving occurs much more frequently than Google would like to let on.

Recently, while performing some competitive analysis for medical malpractice terms in Washington, DC, I noticed yet another example of double ad serving. In this case, it was being done on behalf of a local DC malpractice lawyer.

As you can see, the number one paid search ad is for wilsonlaw.com:

You will also notice another ad a little further down the page for the website: http://www.medical-malpractice-lawfirm.info/. Curiously, that ad appears to be another advertisement for the same lawyer:

Hmmm... That's interesting. The same advertiser, serving the same looking website on two separate domains, on the same results page. Looks to me like a clear violation of Google's double serving policy.

Should I Do This?

Like other issues involving lawyers and online marketing, many readers will look at this example and contemplate, whether this is something that they should be doing. My short answer is no, as it could jeopardize your ability to advertise on Google altogether.

But some will argue that this is an excellent way to "dominate" search engine results pages. In fact, it's my guess that the lawyer doesn't even realize that he's advertising in violation of Google Adword's policy.

In my humble opinion, each advertiser, whether doctor, lawyer, or plumber, needs to make an informed decision about how they advertise and market themselves. Further, specifically for lawyers, there are rules of professional conduct with which lawyers should comply.

Who is to Blame?

So who is to blame for non-compliant advertising? There appear to be three probably suspects: The lawyer-advertiser, the advertising/marketing company, and Google.

Unfortunately, in most cases, lawyers don't have the time, desire, or knowledge, to be able to make informed decisions about their online advertising and marketing. Obviously, this is no excuse for "bad advertising" practices and they are the ones ultimately accountable for their reputation and license. However, it seems that at least some blame must be attributed to their advertising/marketing agency.

As you've probably experienced elsewhere, many advertising and marketing companies aren't in the business of adhering to advertising rules, or lawyer rules of professional responsibility. And in fact, there are some lawyers who insist on gaming the system. So not all blame can be attributed to them either.

Finally, there's Google. Google's incentive is for their users to click on ads. That's how they make money. Do they have incentize to police violations of their policies? Sort of. They contend that if they don't maintain the integrity of the engine and the ad platform, people will search elsewhere. But since Google has become synonymous with search, it isn't realistic to think that people will abandon Google for these types of infractions. In fact, most users wouldn't even notice this form of double ad serving.

Does it Matter?

Undoubtedly, some readers will ask whether it even matters that advertisers participate in double ad serving. Which is a fair question. It's almost a victimless crime. The only groups that may suffer are users, who my be misled that there are more options on search result page than there actually are, and other advertisers who comply with the ad policies.

On the other hand, perhaps the advertiser is taking some risks too. There's a chance that they are penalized for double ad serving by Google. Additionally, they may take a reputational hit or even face ethical issues with their state bar.

Despite the competitive advantage it might provide, I strongly recommend that you don't double ad serve. It is one more reason to learn about online marketing and advertising before you dive in head first.

UPDATED: Was it an Accident?

It was suggested to me that this might have been an accident. For example, the firm might have been handling their paid search in-house and then subsequently decided to outsource to an agency and forgot to turn off their in house campaign.

I think that's a fair possibility in this case. However, I've seen several other instances where an advertiser is working with multiple agencies. In those cases, the "accident" card isn't as easy to play.

He was worried that his reviews had been removed because of a violation or error he was not aware of.  He reached out to see what we thought had happened and what steps we could take to rectify the problem.

I began to do some research and realized that our client was far from the only one experiencing this.  In fact, the change in review counts was an intentional move by Google.  

Google recently revamped the look and layout of their Places pages.  Most of the changes were aesthetic in nature including a cleaner overall look and more prominent "call to action" buttons.  However, one significant change was that Google is no longer showing reviews from 3rd party review sites such as Yelp and Citysearch nor is it counting them in the total number of reviews it shows for each place.  Instead, Google is showing the 3rd party review counts at the bottom of the page with a link to the reviews.

As a result, many businesses saw their total review counts go down.  One example from this Techcrunch article points out:

For instance, the Google Places page for Paxti's Chicago Pizza in San Francisco went from 1,110 reviews to 171 reviews after the non-Google reviews were stripped out.

Why The Change?

So now that we know the change wasn't due to a violation of guidelines or penalty of some sort you may be curious as to why Google made this switch.

One theory is that Google now has enough reviews of its own so that it no longer needs to use 3rd party reviews.  However, another theory is that Google is making adjustments after the launch of the FTC antitrust investigation.  According to the article:

The people familiar with the matter said issues in the FTC probe are expected to include whether Google searches unfairly steer users to the company's own growing network of services at the expense of rival providers.

Techcrunch explains the investigation's connection to Google's Places pages in more detail:

The issue appears to be that Google is using its market power in search to push consumers to its own services. Perhaps the most egregious example of this has been with Google Places, which comes up at the top of search results for pretty much every local search, whether or not it is the best result. The FTC, no doubt, will be asking Yelp about this, which is constantly having run-ins with Google Places. Expedia, TripAdvisor, and Microsoft have also complained about lost clicks.

It seems that Google is looking to ease concerns that it is using 3rd party reviews to bolster their own local places properties. 

Google Co-founder Larry Page once described the “perfect search engine” as something that “understands exactly what you mean and gives you back exactly what you want.” We can’t claim that Google delivers on that vision 100 percent today, but we’re always working on new technologies aimed at bringing all of Google closer to that ideal.

And while many search engine optimizers study how Google works to deliver perfect search results, you don't need to be Rand Fishkin to understand some basics about how you can help Google deliver perfect results. In fact, if we apply Larry Page's perfect search engine definition to websites, it might go something like this:

The perfect website is something that understands exactly what the site's visitors (that it is designed to attract) want and gives them exactly what they want.

Obviously, understanding exactly what your visitors want and delivering that to them, is a great challenge. But focusing on this single aim is likely to have the most dramatic impact on improving your visibility in search results, as well as, converting more visitors into clients.

Before we get to what your visitors want, it's worth thinking about who your visitors are. If you're an injury lawyer, it might seem logical that your visitors are injury victims. And if you're a criminal defense attorney, you might assume that it's people that have been investigated and/or charged with a crime. And these are most certainly some of the people (and in fact some of the most targeted visitors in terms of becoming new clients) that might visit your website. But if you stop there, you are probably not considering a wide variety of other visitors that are visiting your website.

The perfect law firm website takes into consideration all the different people that might visit your website. Here are a few to think about:

• Journalists
• Other Lawyers
• Law Professors
• Legal Bloggers
• Law Students
• Judges
• Jurors

From planning, to design, to development, to management, these people should be foremost in your mind when launching a new website. And in order to work toward publishing the perfect law firm website, you also need to give these visitors what they want.

What Do The Visitors of The Perfect Law Firm Website Want?

Understanding what your visitors want, is probably the most challenging aspect to Internet strategy. You need to get some idea of how your visitors use the Internet and what they are looking for. Obviously, if you're an injury attorney, you might expect that they would go to Google and search for "personal injury lawyer." And the truth is that they do. However, this directory-style searching is by no means the only way that people might use the Internet to find an injury lawyer.

In fact, they might not even be thinking about finding a lawyer at all. Instead, they might be researching how they will pay their medical bills. Or perhaps they are looking for answers about their insurance policy. Or maybe they are the parent, family member, or friend of an injured person and they are researching more information about the injury. Does your website provide them the answers that they are looking for?

The perfect law firm website should strive to provide the information and answers, for which the visitors that it is designed to attract, are searching.

How Do I Build The Perfect Law Firm Website?

Which brings us to the central question. And here is the answer: Listen.

Listen to your clients. What questions are they asking? What problems are they trying to solve? Listen to your colleagues. What issues are they facing? What questions are they asking? Listen to relevant legal bloggers. Listen to journalists that cover topics that impact your practice. Listen to your state bar. Listen to what writers in various legal publications are talking about. Listen to your online social networks. Listen to your web analytics data. How are your visitors finding you? Where are they looking for you? What searches are they performing to find you?

And once you've listened, spend the majority of your effort on publishing helpful information and answers.

When it comes to web strategy, for most legal professionals, there is a huge knowledge gap. This is at least part of the reason that terms like "search engine optimizer" or "SEO" have become synonymous with snake oil. But whether you call it SEO, web strategy, or internet marketing consulting, the fact is that there are a lot of reasons why working with a web strategy consultant can make a lot of sense.

Choosing to retain the services of a web strategy consultant is a decision that should be made with care after understanding some basics about how people use the web and search engines.

While hiring the right partner can improve the effectiveness of your web properties, as well as, help you save time, hiring the wrong partner can result in a big waste of money and even cause damage to both your website and your professional reputation.

But what should a web strategist be hired to do and how does someone distinguish between the right and wrong partner?

Before we get into the specifics of some of the types of things your web strategy partner might be able to help you with, it's important to understand that not all services are right for all people. This means that you should seek someone out that is willing to take a customized approach to assisting you with your online reputation. There really needs to be an evaluation, inventory, and research period so that your prospective web strategy partner has understanding of your marketing messaging and goals. That being said, here are some services that might make sense for you:

• Website Content & Structure Analysis & Development Assistance

  Making sure that your website content and architecture is well-organized is one of the most important services a web strategy partner can provide. Making mistakes in this area can have a significant negative impact on your site's effectiveness. Further, aside from making sure your site is technically sound, content development is the single most important aspect to your web strategy. Having someone that has experience developing web content can have a significant impact on your results.

• Technical Web Design & Development Advice

  Unless you have experience with domain registration, hosting, and content management systems, working with someone that has experience planning and developing websites is really a must, in my humble opinion. While these aspects of web strategy aren't difficult per se, mistakes in this department can cause expensive headaches. In fact, some mistakes here can even prevent your website from appearing in search results altogether.

• Keyword Research, Discovery, Mapping, and Planning

  In my experience, the importance of keyword strategy is often overlooked. While some will claim that all you need to do is to "write on topic," the truth is that your keywords matter. Getting help from someone that has specific experience with legal keywords makes a big difference.

• Web Strategy Training

  While there are many things that your web strategy partner can and should handle for you, there are some things you may decide are better handle by you or someone at your firm. If this is the case, your web strategy partner should offer training to ensure that what you are doing in-house follows best practices.

• Link Acquisition

  If you know anything about the web and search engines, you know that links are extremely important. But not all links are created equally. And how you go about acquiring new links is critically important. While your primary focus should be on developing content that your visitors want to link to and share, there are other ways of acquiring links that you might not have thought about or don't have time to research. This is another area your web strategy partner can assist you.

• Social Media Design, Support, & Training

  As you've probably noticed, social media and social networking platforms are the hot thing. And there is no doubt that social signals will continue to play an important role in terms of your visibility online. However, it's important to understand that social networks are not very good advertising platforms. You should work with someone that understands how lawyers are effectively using these tools for business development and professional networking.

• Local Search Marketing Strategies

  If you have a local consumer practice, local search marketing is a great opportunity. Unfortunately, the number of web consultants that understand local online marketing is much smaller than those that know traditional search engine optimization only. With recent changes made by search engines related to local search marketing, this is an area that can get fairly confusing without some experienced assistance.

It's also important to recognize that not all online landscapes are the same. Legal is a particularly competitive online space. That is why it is helpful to seek out a web partner that has expertise in working with law firms, practice areas, and even geographies similar to yours. Further, as you know, marketing a law firm is unique in terms of professional ethics rules. Your web strategist should have some understanding of these rules and help you make decisions that keep you in compliance.