Kudos to MormonLawyers.com

Just this past week I learned that MormonLawyers.com was awarded the Best Mormon Law Blog by City Weekly! The award was given back in April but I guess I was too busy studying for finals and getting ready to graduate to have noticed. What a pleasant surprise to see that one of our dozens of visitors enjoys what they read. Below is a snippet of the article. 

While I'm busy patting myself on the back I'd also like to note that this blog is listed in AVVO's ranking of the country's top legal blogs. You may be as surprised as I am that there are more than 217 legal blogs period but it's still nice to be noticed.

The JRCLS Fireside Has Been Rescheduled

F.Y.I. the J. Reuben Clark Law Society Fireside with Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been rescheduled for February 4, 2011 at 6:00 pm MT.

The fireside will originate from the LDS Conference Center, Little Theater with a live broadcast at 6:00 pm MT and rebroadcast at 7:30 pm MT.

Feedback on Nate Moller Blog Posts

I've written for a few weeks now.

Thanks for the comments.

From time to time, I like to get feedback from readers.

Please take a few moments to fill out this short survey:



Thanks again for the feedback!

Nate Moller
MollerMarketing.com

Inspirational Thought via JRCLS

Periodically the J. Reuben Clark Law Society sends out an "inspirational thought". This past week I received one of these inspirational thoughts and enjoyed it so much I posted it below.

"One of the Law School's goals is to "foster an enlightened devotion to the rule of law." Respect for the rule of law makes a free society possible. Without it, society could devolve into tyranny on the one hand or anarchy on the other...Lawyers help the rule of law to function. It could not exist without them."


James D. Gordon III, "Lawyers and the Rule of Law," Life in the Law: Service & Integrity, 2009, 295.

The How To's of On-Site Search Engine Optimization

I talked last week about some of the basic things you need to consider when you create a website for your business. Knowing the "what's" and the "why's" is important, but, to me, the "HOW'S" are where you can really take action and do something.

Today I'm going to share a few details on how to make your business website search engine friendly. (If there are things I don't cover in enough detail or you feel you need a bit more one on one help - contact me for a free consultation.)

Hopefully by now you've focused in on what you want your website to do for your business.

1. Make sales
2. Generate leads
3. Serve as an online resume
   

A website can perform these and many other important functions, but I recommend you FOCUS on one or two core things first before you attempt to become the next "Wal-Mart" of your industry.

Here's a quick review of the three things you need to do short-term to make your business website effective:

1. Make sure your website is SEO (Search Engine Optimization) friendly.
2. Create a way to capture names and emails.
3. Start a pay per click campaign.

Number 1 could really take up 5 or 6 in-depth posts to really "get it". However, if there is ONE THING you can get about creating an SEO friendly site it would be this:

*** Understand the IMPORTANCE of Keyword Research ***

Here's a video that should help you get started:

This is a quick tutorial. If you have more questions about how keyword research pertains to YOUR business, you can read the following articles or contact me for a bit of "hand holding":

• Keyword Research: Demand vs. Competition
• Keyword Research: A Step by Step Guide
• Exclusive Interview: Why Keyword Research is Essential

To summarize these articles, you need to answer the following questions:

1. How do I want people to find my website if they are using a search engine? Simply typing in your business name or your website address is NOT the answer I'm looking for here. Instead, phrases like "utah county small business attorney" or "phoenix arizona mal-practice lawyer" are the types of phrases I would think people should be searching for to find your business. A good way to answer this question is to write down the services or products you actually provide to your clients and then see how many times those phrases are searched for in search engines like Google.
   
2. Are the phrases you listed "buyer" or "browser" phrases?
   Although this question is primarily targeted to my clients who are selling tangible products, I feel it's still essential for a service business too. Here are a few examples of "buyer" vs. "browser" phrases: BUYER - "child custody lawyer" BROWSER - "lawyer"
   
   With a service business, it's a little more complicated to tell the difference, but let me expound: "Buyer phrases" are generally much more specific. People typing in these phrases know what they are looking for. For a service business, a location is a good example of a "buyer phrase" (ie. [the town your business is in] malpractice attorney)
   
   "Browser phrases" are generally vague. They may include phrases like "free" or "information about". They also tend to be one word - which means they are really general.
3. Where do I put these phrases once I have them?
   Here are some answers to that question:

• Title Tags and Meta Information
• Keyword repetition within the content of your pages
• Names of pages
• Names of categories
• Friendly URLs

Conclusion

As you can see, this is just the start of the How-To's of on-site search engine optimization. If you feel this is way over your head or that you just don't have the time to do this "mundane" and "techie" work, contact Moller Marketing for a free consultation.

Next week we'll talk about creating an internal linking strategy for your business website. We'll also begin touching on creating a way to capture names and emails.

Nate Moller offers online marketing consulting to small to medium sized businesses. He specializes in on-site search engine optimization, keyword research and implementation, email marketing, and pay per click marketing campaigns. For more information, contact Nate on Twitter or add the Moller Marketing Fan Page to your Favorites on Facebook.

I Have a Business Website - Now What?!

So you have a website for your business, now what?

I've worked with thousands of clients who are either just getting started, have dabbled a bit with online marketing, or who have quite a bit of online experience. Although they all have different backgrounds and knowledge about internet marketing, most usually seem to have one thing in common...

They don't know what they really want their website to do.

What can a website do for my business?

• Makes Sales: Products, services, memberships, information, affiliate products, advertising space, cross promotions - what CAN'T you sell online? To me, if you have a website and you're not selling something (even another companies products, services or ad space), you're missing a source of business revenue.
  
• Generate Leads: A website is the perfect place to build a database to market to over and over again via email. You can also create leads to contact via phone or direct mail and share valuable content to get visitors to continue coming back over and over again (this can also be known as "online reputation management").
• An Online Resume: This is a no-brainer. Your website should share information about your business, answer Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), and show directions and contact information. If this is your only reason for having a website, I strongly suggest you find a way to integrate one or both of the first two suggestions in to your online marketing plan - otherwise, you're definitely not using your "online real estate" effectively.

Once you've answered the first important question about what a website can do for your business, the next question is probably even MORE important:

What should I do NOW to make my website most effective?

This question can be broke down in to two categories:

1. Short-term
   
   vs.
   
   
2. Long-term

If you're looking for short-term results, which most businesses are, here are a few things to consider in order of importance:

1. Make sure your website is SEO (Search Engine Optimization) friendly:

• Use keywords effectively to get you the right traffic;
  
• Customize meta info: title tags, meta descriptions, meta keywords, page names and category names for all pages;
  
• Follow friendly URL rules (ie. http://utahcountyreviews.com/tag/provo-utah-restaurants/ = friendly vs. http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=115 = not friendly)
  
• Create an internal linking strategy so all pages have a chance to be indexed by search engines

These are core strategies that, if done right, will help your website so much down the road. They are really a short and long-term strategy that can't be skipped over.

2. Create a way to capture names and emails

• I use a couple different options for this: Aweber or Constant Contact.
• There are pros to both of them
• They are known as email auto-responders
• Aweber has a $1 sign up for the first month and then a $19 monthly fee after that (it's the one I use most)
  
• Constant Contact has a 60 Day Free Trial (I've used this one a little too)
• Even if you don't have products to offer for sale, capturing a name and an email can be extremely valuable long-term
• Here's what an invitation might look like:

Can You Have More Sales, Too?

Helping over 75,000 businesses like yours raise profits and build customer relationships using AWeber's opt-in email marketing software for over 10 years.

Take a Free Test Drive today!

Like the first recommendation, this is both short AND long-term. What I've found, though, is that the sooner you have invitations like this on your website, the more accustomed your visitors will get to it.

3. Pay per click campaigns

• You'll need a budget for this, although it can be small at first
• Again, keyword research is ESSENTIAL - going after phrases like "attorney" or "lawyer" will break the bank in a few clicks and it WON'T get you the targeted traffic you want
• There are a few different places to test PPC campaigns - Google, Facebook, and maybe Yahoo are the three I recommend
• Hiring an experience professional will save you lots of "trial and error" money (if this is something you're interested in considering, contact me)
  

These first three steps for short-term results may seem a bit overwhelming; however, if you get off on the right foot by following these steps, you'll be well on your way to both short and long-term results with your business website.

What questions can I answer for you?

How did this article help you get a better picture of what you want your website to do for your business?

Next I'll talk about HOW to do some of these things!

Nate Moller offers online marketing consulting to small to medium sized businesses. He specializes in on-site search engine optimization, keyword research and implementation, email marketing, and pay per click marketing campaigns. For more information, contact Nate on Twitter or add the Moller Marketing Fan Page to your Favorites on Facebook.

Nate Moller's Plan of Attack Based on Your Feedback

Thanks for the comments on my introduction post.

Based on the feedback, I think the best approach would be to start with the topic of building a professional website. Even if you currently have a "professional website", there are probably a few simple things you can do to make it better and more easy to use for users and for search engines. If it's something you just don't have time to do, that's where I can come in and help :)

After a few posts about that topic, I'll then share a few tips and tricks about using Facebook and other social networks to promote your website.
(I may even give you all a taste of an eBook I've been preparing to roll out soon titled "Facebook for Business: the Start-Up Guide on How to Use Facebook for Business")

The bottom line about online marketing is this:

1) You NEED a professional website
2) Just having a site isn't enough, you have to get TRAFFIC and the right kind of traffic to your site
3) Once you get the right traffic, you want the traffic to do one of a few things: BUY something, sign up for something (name and email), or at the very least browse around and/or make a comment about something, maybe even save your site to their favorites or bookmarks

My goal will be to post every Tuesday for the next 6 - 8 weeks or so.

Stay tune...!

Nate Moller is a professional online marketing consultant who focuses on teaching clients how to start an online business. He specializes in using social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and blogging to promote ideas and products to the masses. Follow Nate on Twitter and sign up for his online marketing newsletter today!