My name is Matthew Rupp and I am the CEO of Matthew Rupp Consulting in Wichita, KS. We specialize in helping brick and mortar service businesses that serve their local market dominate Google. I love helping companies improve their rankings on Google. It’s challenging, it’s dynamic, and if you have the right client in the right industry, you can bring them a TREMENDOUS amount of real world value.
Actually, I don’t like the word “value”– you can’t pay your employees or your bills with value and that’s what my clients are looking for and what I bring to the table. Growth. A clear advantage over their competition. Dollars in the bank.
The website we will be looking at today is – http://www.timjlarsonlaw.com/
Before we jump in I have to warn you – this is a pretty deep dive. Think 50 pages and 8k words – with lots of images and screenshots so it’s not as boring as it sounds! We are going to review the Larson website, content, and competition, optimize their site, and links, with the goal of lining out exactly what needs done to help them dominate the “estate planning” niche in Wichita, KS. Here’s a teaser of what’s to come:
Click the link to jump into a specific chapter.
Section 1: Is SEO worth pursuing?
- How well is the Larson website helping the business?
- Huge Opportunity (waiting to be capitalized on)
- Keywords (Getting your piece of 5k searches a month)
- REALLY big opportunity (if played well)
Section 2: Website Feedback
- 3 things I like
- 4 improvements I would make
- 4 questions that need answered
- 4 Small items (worth fixing)
Section 3: How to rank better on Google
- Tell Google who you are and what you do
- Why Content is King
- Mobile friendly (yes!)
- Optimizing your website
- What McCafferty is doing right (a lot)
- Links baby, links
If you have any questions about a particular section or just want to get right to work addressing all these items feel free to give Matthew a call at (316) 285-0729 or you can send an email here.
SECTION 1: Is SEO worth pursuing
How well is the Larson website helping the business?
Let’s start with how “worth it” is it to the Larson team to improve their rankings on Google?
How much traffic is there to be had?
Where are they ranking today for the highest volume keywords?
Back in 2010, I was running a party rental business and getting that business ranking in the top 3 for 64 of the most important keywords and on the first page for 119 total keywords translated to 200k in sales growth in 18 months but not every industry has that potential – and some have a LOT more to gain.
Let’s take a peek at Google and see how well the Larson website is ranking for some of the most popular keywords:
According to this in depth post from Moz, we get a pretty good idea who is getting what percentage of this traffic.
McCafferty is crushing it with 36% of all traffic (for estate planning Wichita,KS) and listed twice in the top 5 spots.
The Larson website is #1 on the second page
Let’s look at “need help with a will”:
Google didn’t find anything local or return anything useful related to wills.
Let’s try “setting up a will Wichita KS”
Not much, but there is McCafferty again. #2 for estate planning Wichita,KS.
Let’s look at “trust administration WichitaKS”:
A couple new players and there is McCafferty again.
Let’s try one more keyword, “probate WichitaKS” and see who, according to Google, the players are:
One new player and McCafferty again. This guy is crushing it compared to everybody else in Wichita.
Huge Opportunity (waiting to be capitalized on)
One thing I noticed in browsing through the Larson site (and a number of other estate planners here in Wichita) is a lack of “genuine” content that really related to me personally.
This is an enormous opportunity waiting to be capitalized on.
I see this all the time: the client wants to rank for “insert keyword they think is important here,”I think the greater opportunity is probably “something else” (because I am one step removed from the clients business) and we do some keyword research and find out we were both wrong. That happens ALL the time.
It’s important to realize a couple things when thinking about content for your website
- 16-20% of searches on Google have never been searched for before.
- http://www.internetlivestats.com/google-search-statistics/
- People search for words and strings of words THEY think of when they think of your industry (which may be very different than what you, your competition, your friends, or coworkers believe that may be)
The best plan for success is to create content that answers your actual client’s pain points:
- What are they struggling with?
- What questions do they commonly ask you?
- What are they looking for?
THAT is the content that will resonate with visitors to your website and I have seen very little of that so far.
We have a content section coming up – so sit tight on that idea!
Okay, so now we know that the Larson website isn’t ranking very well for a number of popular keywords. Now we need to know how much search volume are those keywords getting? If 10 people per month are searching for those keywords, there is no reason to even care about ranking on Google better.
Keywords (getting your piece of 5k searches a month)
Let’s jump into Google Adwords and take a quick look at how often are people looking for some of the most popular keywords? A keyword is simply a word or strings of words people type into Google when they are searching for something.
We will focus on Wichita and Sedgwick County, specifically.
We find a pretty small amount of searches a month for these keywords (in the Wichita area)
80 searches a month: Nothing to write home about.
BUT, remember how I touched on how people use an incredible number of keywords when they search for what you would think is essentially the same subject?
This is where that starts to make sense. Check this out.
Keyword | Avg. Monthly Searches (exact match only) | |
1 | power of attorney | 90 |
2 | Will | 70 |
3 | power of attorney form | 50 |
4 | living will | 50 |
5 | durable power of attorney | 40 |
6 | probate | 40 |
7 | wills | 30 |
8 | last will and testament | 20 |
9 | living trust | 20 |
10 | durable power of attorney form | 20 |
11 | irrevocable trust | 20 |
12 | revocable trust | 20 |
13 | estate tax | 20 |
14 | probate court | 10 |
15 | lasting power of attorney | 10 |
16 | making a will | 10 |
17 | enduring power of attorney | 10 |
18 | trusts | 10 |
19 | power of attorney forms | 10 |
20 | estate planning attorney | 10 |
21 | power of attorney template | 10 |
22 | medical power of attorney | 10 |
23 | powers of attorney | 10 |
24 | power attorney | 10 |
25 | probate process | 10 |
26 | financial power of attorney | 10 |
27 | will writing | 10 |
28 | online will | 10 |
29 | wills and trusts | 10 |
30 | will and testament | 10 |
31 | medical power of attorney form | 10 |
32 | executor of will | 10 |
33 | executor | 10 |
34 | special power of attorney | 10 |
35 | probate fees | 10 |
36 | limited power of attorney | 10 |
37 | wills and probate | 10 |
38 | specific power of attorney | 10 |
39 | probate attorney | 10 |
40 | power of attorney document | 10 |
41 | estate planning lawyer | 10 |
42 | estate lawyer | 10 |
43 | power attorney form | 10 |
44 | executor of a will | 10 |
45 | legal will | 10 |
46 | special power of attorney form | 10 |
47 | health care power of attorney | 10 |
48 | probate lawyer | 10 |
49 | estate planning for dummies | 10 |
50 | durable power of attorney for health care | 10 |
51 | limited power of attorney form | 10 |
52 | estate planning checklist | 10 |
53 | trusts and estates | 10 |
54 | probate a will | 10 |
55 | living trusts | 10 |
56 | asset protection | 10 |
57 | power of attorneys | 10 |
58 | dual power of attorney | 10 |
59 | probate will | 10 |
60 | legal power of attorney | 10 |
61 | estate law | 10 |
62 | estate planning attorneys | 10 |
63 | living will template | 10 |
64 | wills and estates | 10 |
65 | will online | 10 |
66 | special needs trust | 10 |
67 | power of attorney cost | 10 |
68 | will executor | 10 |
69 | living will forms | 10 |
70 | estate planning lawyers | 10 |
71 | poa form | 10 |
72 | power of attorney letter | 10 |
73 | conservatorship | 10 |
74 | probate property | 10 |
75 | revocation of power of attorney | 10 |
76 | make your own will | 10 |
77 | financial power of attorney form | 10 |
78 | making a will online | 10 |
79 | wills and estate planning | 10 |
80 | preparing a will | 10 |
81 | probate lawyers | 10 |
82 | revoke power of attorney | 10 |
83 | getting power of attorney | 10 |
84 | writing your own will | 10 |
85 | power of attorney for health care | 10 |
86 | trust attorney | 10 |
87 | estate planning basics | 10 |
88 | probate estate | 10 |
89 | executor duties | 10 |
90 | forms for power of attorney | 10 |
91 | estate planning trusts | 10 |
92 | will making | 10 |
93 | the power of attorney | 10 |
94 | executor fees | 10 |
95 | probate search | 10 |
96 | simple power of attorney | 10 |
97 | estate lawyers | 10 |
98 | power of attorney papers | 10 |
99 | probates | 10 |
100 | estate planning law | 10 |
101 | estate probate | 10 |
102 | legal power of attorney form | 10 |
103 | power of attorney documents | 10 |
104 | will and probate | 10 |
105 | power of attorney form download | 10 |
106 | will preparation | 10 |
107 | setting up a trust | 10 |
108 | a living will | 10 |
109 | estate executor | 10 |
110 | will trust | 10 |
111 | asset protection trust | 10 |
112 | wills probate | 10 |
113 | estate trust | 10 |
114 | power of attorney form pdf | 10 |
115 | legal wills | 10 |
116 | life estate | 10 |
117 | will and trust | 10 |
118 | register of wills | 10 |
119 | durable medical power of attorney | 10 |
120 | wills trusts and estates | 10 |
121 | blank power of attorney form | 10 |
122 | probate costs | 10 |
123 | personal will | 10 |
124 | simple wills | 10 |
125 | medical durable power of attorney | 10 |
126 | make will | 10 |
127 | joint will | 10 |
128 | testamentary trust | 10 |
129 | power of attorney paperwork | 10 |
130 | simple power of attorney form | 10 |
131 | deceased estate | 10 |
132 | will and estate planning | 10 |
133 | power of atty | 10 |
134 | will s | 10 |
135 | will lawyer | 10 |
136 | last will & testament | 10 |
137 | power of attorney example | 10 |
138 | estate planning documents | 10 |
139 | a power of attorney | 10 |
140 | estate attorneys | 10 |
141 | durable power of attorney forms | 10 |
142 | power of attorney lawyer | 10 |
143 | poa forms | 10 |
144 | will documents | 10 |
145 | probate offices | 10 |
146 | estate administration | 10 |
147 | will testament | 10 |
148 | probate real estate | 10 |
149 | health care power of attorney form | 10 |
150 | power attorney forms | 10 |
151 | inheritance planning | 10 |
152 | applying for probate | 10 |
153 | revoking power of attorney | 10 |
154 | wills and probate law | 10 |
155 | my will | 10 |
156 | probate laws | 10 |
157 | temporary power of attorney | 10 |
158 | power of attorney pdf | 10 |
159 | health power of attorney | 10 |
160 | health care directive | 10 |
161 | legal forms power of attorney | 10 |
162 | trust law | 10 |
163 | power of attorney for property | 10 |
164 | trust and estate planning | 10 |
165 | power of authority | 10 |
166 | probating a will | 10 |
167 | probated will | 10 |
168 | drafting a will | 10 |
169 | family trusts | 10 |
170 | elder care attorney | 10 |
171 | where to get power of attorney | 10 |
172 | create a will | 10 |
173 | power of attorney lawyers | 10 |
174 | printable power of attorney | 10 |
175 | will and power of attorney | 10 |
176 | power of attorney templates | 10 |
177 | make a will online | 10 |
178 | probate attorneys | 10 |
179 | living wills forms | 10 |
180 | will power of attorney | 10 |
181 | trusts and wills | 10 |
182 | power of attorney for | 10 |
183 | power of attorney medical | 10 |
184 | living trust attorney | 10 |
185 | probate attorney fees | 10 |
186 | durable poa | 10 |
187 | trust estate | 10 |
188 | probate cost | 10 |
189 | pour over will | 10 |
190 | trust lawyers | 10 |
191 | living will and trust | 10 |
192 | right of attorney | 10 |
193 | where to get a power of attorney | 10 |
194 | estate planning information | 10 |
195 | write will | 10 |
196 | making a living will | 10 |
197 | forms power of attorney | 10 |
198 | durable power attorney | 10 |
199 | probate records | 10 |
200 | will attorney | 10 |
201 | trust planning | 10 |
202 | medical power of attorney forms | 10 |
203 | probate court records | 10 |
204 | estate will | 10 |
205 | where can i get a power of attorney | 10 |
206 | final will and testament | 10 |
207 | making will | 10 |
208 | living will document | 10 |
209 | will planning | 10 |
210 | probate of a will | 10 |
211 | wills power of attorney | 10 |
212 | ordinary power of attorney form | 10 |
213 | revocable living trusts | 10 |
214 | will format | 10 |
215 | power of attorney for finances | 10 |
216 | local probate office | 10 |
217 | power of attorney financial | 10 |
218 | probate procedure | 10 |
219 | full power of attorney form | 10 |
220 | wills attorney | 10 |
221 | where can i get a power of attorney form | 10 |
222 | will contest | 10 |
223 | writing a living will | 10 |
224 | family limited partnership | 10 |
225 | estates and trusts | 10 |
226 | write my own will | 10 |
227 | probate and wills | 10 |
228 | writing your will | 10 |
229 | probate documents | 10 |
230 | death will | 10 |
231 | creating a trust | 10 |
232 | planning law | 10 |
233 | trust lawyer | 10 |
234 | no will probate | 10 |
235 | elder law attorneys | 10 |
236 | get a will | 10 |
237 | inheritance taxes | 10 |
238 | is probate required | 10 |
239 | wills and probate records | 10 |
240 | a living trust | 10 |
241 | executors | 10 |
242 | lawyer for power of attorney | 10 |
243 | power of authority form | 10 |
244 | statutory power of attorney | 10 |
245 | revocable trusts | 10 |
246 | durable power of attorney for healthcare | 10 |
247 | living wills and trusts | 10 |
248 | durable financial power of attorney | 10 |
249 | power of attorney rights | 10 |
250 | estate planning will | 10 |
251 | irrevocable trusts | 10 |
252 | living will trust | 10 |
253 | durable healthcare power of attorney | 10 |
254 | where to get power of attorney forms | 10 |
255 | legal documents power of attorney | 10 |
256 | elder attorney | 10 |
257 | legal trust | 10 |
258 | wills trusts | 10 |
259 | probate no will | 10 |
260 | living will lawyer | 10 |
261 | family living trust | 10 |
262 | attorney for power of attorney | 10 |
263 | house in probate | 10 |
264 | living will documents | 10 |
265 | make a living will | 10 |
266 | living trusts and wills | 10 |
267 | financial poa | 10 |
268 | power of attorney health | 10 |
269 | poa paperwork | 10 |
270 | power of attorney revocation | 10 |
271 | special needs trusts | 10 |
272 | power of attorney for healthcare | 10 |
273 | is probate necessary | 10 |
274 | where can i get power of attorney forms | 10 |
275 | financial and estate planning | 10 |
276 | power 0f attorney | 10 |
277 | where to get a power of attorney form | 10 |
278 | death probate | 10 |
279 | power of attorney will | 10 |
280 | estate laws | 10 |
281 | financial durable power of attorney | 10 |
282 | will in probate | 10 |
283 | where do i get a power of attorney | 10 |
284 | lawyers estate planning | 10 |
285 | probate proceedings | 10 |
286 | real estate probate | 10 |
287 | create power of attorney | 10 |
288 | will lawyers | 10 |
289 | making a will legal | 10 |
290 | attorney power of attorney | 10 |
291 | power of atty form | 10 |
292 | living will power of attorney | 10 |
293 | where to get power of attorney form | 10 |
294 | does a will have to be probated | 10 |
295 | where to find power of attorney forms | 10 |
296 | planning a will | 10 |
297 | will maker | 10 |
298 | medicaid estate planning | 10 |
299 | will writer | 10 |
300 | probate the will | 10 |
301 | power of attorneys forms | 10 |
302 | family will | 10 |
303 | in probate | 10 |
304 | home wills | 10 |
305 | where to get a will | 10 |
306 | wills & estates | 10 |
307 | trusts estate planning | 10 |
308 | power of attorney pdf form | 10 |
309 | elder attorneys | 10 |
310 | power of attorney for legal matters | 10 |
311 | power of attorney for financial | 10 |
312 | trust will | 10 |
313 | powers of attorneys | 10 |
314 | death wills | 10 |
315 | free wills | 10 |
316 | legal forms | 10 |
317 | free power of attorney form | 10 |
318 | last will and testament forms | 10 |
319 | make my will | 10 |
320 | where do i get a power of attorney form | 10 |
321 | last will and testament form | 10 |
322 | estate in probate | 10 |
323 | sample power of attorney | 10 |
324 | generic power of attorney | 10 |
325 | last will and testament template | 10 |
326 | rights of power of attorney | 10 |
327 | how to get a power of attorney | 10 |
328 | power of attorney for child | 10 |
329 | how to get power of attorney | 10 |
330 | will probate process | 10 |
331 | free power of attorney forms | 10 |
332 | a durable power of attorney | 10 |
333 | free power of attorney | 10 |
334 | example of a will | 10 |
335 | estate administration attorney | 10 |
336 | durable power of atty | 10 |
337 | power of attorney explained | 10 |
338 | lawyer for wills | 10 |
339 | do i need power of attorney | 10 |
340 | texas power of attorney | 10 |
341 | signing as power of attorney | 10 |
342 | elder care law | 10 |
343 | power of attorney form free | 10 |
344 | elder law firm | 10 |
345 | what is power of attorney | 10 |
346 | what can a power of attorney do | 10 |
347 | joint wills | 10 |
348 | letters of administration | 10 |
349 | what is probate | 10 |
350 | non durable power of attorney | 10 |
351 | probate power of attorney | 10 |
352 | probate with a will | 10 |
353 | do i need a lawyer for power of attorney | 10 |
354 | elder law lawyers | 10 |
355 | sample power of attorney form | 10 |
356 | downloadable power of attorney form | 10 |
357 | probate after death | 10 |
358 | estate planning | 10 |
3940 searches a month
This is closer to FIVE THOUSAND searches a month related to what the Larson firm offers, right here in Wichita and Sedgwick County. That’s a LOT. Now, not all of these show “intent” like “need help with estate planning” and most of them have a low search volume, but considering this was just a small sample of the total keywords typed into Google each month, yeah, I think it’s safe to say there is serious benefit for the Larson firm to rank better on Google.
A blog post about Keyword Research we did for a spine surgeon that was very interesting
REALLY big opportunity (if played well)
If you look at the above sampling there is a TREMENDOUS number of searches related to “power of attorney” right here in Wichita, KS, and not ONE local company is even trying to fill it. When it comes to marketing online, that is a great big present being left on your door with a big red bow on top. It’s a natural fit and I have a hard time believing that if a local estate planning firm went to the trouble to put together a helpful form that people could download for free (in multiple formats), with no hassle, that NONE of those people would be in the market for a smart team of estate planners and trust administrators at the Larson firm.
This would be EASY to rank for and guess what, while they are getting their free form, they also see:
- What you need to be aware of with ‘free’ Power of Attorney forms you find online
- Why Power of Attorney might not be the right answer
- Questions to ask before you sign a Power of Attorney
- What if you signed a Power of Attorney and now you wish you hadn’t?
- Options besides Power of Attorney
- Read this before you think about giving somebody Power of Attorney
I know very little about Power of Attorney forms and not much more about estate planning so without talking to somebody smarter than myself I don’t know how best to capitalize on this niche. I just know there is tremendous search volume and nobody local is filling that need and there is a number of ways, from an SEO perspective, the Larson team could benefit from this.
Not one local result for “power of attorney WichitaKS”
On my second pass, I noticed Cathleen Gulledge squeezed in at the very bottom of that page.
OK, so now we know the Larson team isn’t ranking on Google as well as they would probably like. We know there is an impressive number of searches per month, (thousands) right in their immediate area.
SECTION 2 : WEBSITE FEEDBACK
I will start with providing some feedback on the website. Why start with the website? Good question.
What is the point of improving rankings and building the Larson brand online, driving 5-10x the amount of traffic to the site if only a very small percentage of those visitors actually act on it?
It’s very common that a handful of tweaks to a client’s site can bring the fastest bottom line results.
3 THINGS I LIKE ABOUT THE LARSON WEBSITE:
The site itself is very well put together. Very clean and professional. Fresh. Not messy or overwhelming like so many sites today.
1. I love the clean, professional, well-lit image of the actual office.
2. I love that they are very clear right up front about what they do
3. Real people on the homepage is excellent. People want to do business with “real” people.
4 IMPROVEMENTS I WOULD MAKE:
This isn’t meant to be remotely negative in any way. While the Larson website looks great, there are some things you can do to make a significant difference in what percentage of their visitors reached out to them.
1. Adding an ABOUT page.
We install a tool in all our clients’ sites that provides us an actual heat map of their website so we can see exactly what is getting clicked on (and what isn’t).It’s amazing how many times the About page of my clients site is the HIGHEST viewed page of their entire website.
- While the Larson site has an “our team”page and good bios of the attorneys, an About page will go further: It will answer the who, what, where, when, and why the business started.
Few examples for the tool we use for all our clients.
Here is my site – http://www.sawwebmarketing.com/
Actual clicks
Cambridge Family Dentistry – http://www.cambridgefamilydentists.com/
Actual heatmap of what is getting clicked on
Treescapes in Andover – http://www.treescapeit.com/
Actual heatmap of the most recent 1,236 visits
It’s easy to see people want to do business with “real” people that they can relate to, that they can trust or feel can solve their problems.
2. The text on the homepage:
This is such a thick heavy block of text that very few people will read it. Still, there is vital information here:
- Services provided
- Services NOT provided
- One attorney was recognized as a “Top Lawyer” in the State of Kansas.
I think this is a missed opportunity and if the home page quickly informed visitors that they were in the right place, you would have a higher conversion rate. A separate About page will clear this up.
3. www.timjlarsonlaw.com/resources
This is a big opportunity as well. This page has a lot of documents that I am sure people would find very helpful. But there are issues:
- The documents are “buried” in Word documents that visitors can use, but Google can’t see them, so it doesn’t help you rank.
- Clicking on one takes you away from the website – it should open in a new window.
- There is no contact information for Larson on any of the documents.
If this content is original and not duplicate content from another site, the best way to display these would be to make them actual pages of the site with the option to download a copy if they wish. This would allow Google to see a true wealth of relevant content.
4. NAVIGATION / CONTENT
When it comes to this website, I saved the most important for last.
In the navigation we have
Let’s see where this takes us. http://timjlarsonlaw.com/practice
Once again, I am going to reiterate I am not being negative or critical when I review this website. My intention is to help show the Larson team what would help them start ranking on Google (without having to pay for Adwords).
This page is essentially worthless. Let me explain:
We have to remember that Googles “job,” their very success as a company, lies in returning the BEST possible result based on what somebody types into that search bar. Google looks at hundreds of factors and are very, very good at this. When we look at this page we see that the Larson team specializes in
And then we have a whole pile of other areas we can click on to ‘learn more’.
Is there any chance that Google is going to think this one page dedicated to living wills http://timjlarsonlaw.com/practice/living-wills is the BEST possible result in Wichita, KS? No.
Is there any possibility, however remote, that Google might determine this page http://timjlarsonlaw.com/practice/small-business-planning is the BEST possible result related to “small and family owned business planning in Wichita, KS?
No.
If there is zero chance the Larson website will rank #1 for these terms, all they are doing is muddying the water and making it harder for them to rank for what they really care about – Revocable Trusts, Trust Administration and Wills, their specialties.
Quick story: we moved into our home about a year ago (close to Valley Center and love it). Shortly after we moved in, we had a guy come out to give us a bid on a privacy fence. While he was out, he wanted to write up a bid for pest control, landscaping, the fence and something else.
Did I hire that guy for any of those things? NO.
I know there was no way he was REALLY good at all those things. The same with Google. If you tell Google you are the BEST at fixing everything related to a car they know that isn’t true and when somebody searches for transmissions or windshield repair you will get companies that are good at THOSE things.
The more you can narrow your focus in and really show your users first (and then Google) that you are reputable and very good at that specific item the better you will rank.
The same is true with Google.
When we click on the ‘Revocable Trusts’ we should see as much relevant, useful content related to Revocable Trusts as possible.
- FAQ
- Images
- Testimonials
- Why is the Larson team uniquely qualified to help with Revocable Trusts
- External links related to Revocable Trusts
- Video or useful content related to Revocable Trusts
- A guide to understanding what they are and what the limitations are
- When do you need a revocable trust and when you don’t
Let me show you an example of what I see when I Google “windows Wichita KS” that might help.
Take a look at this site if you would – http://www.windowworldwichita.com/
- Is there ANY doubt in the world this site is ALL about windows?
- Is there ANY chance you will call them with a question about windows they can’t answer?
- Is it blatantly obvious they have a wealth of real world experience when it comes to windows? Absolutely.
- We have useful links that relate to windows
- We have a list of different kinds of windows
- And windows inside doors and types of doors
- Icons for industry associations
- Window styles
- Colors of windows
- Window styles
- Accreditations
- 13 reasons to buy from Window World
- Company history
- Written reviews
- Video reviews
- Financing
- TON of resources
ALL related to windows!
Granted, they definitely went overboard with that site and Estate planning is not the same as replacement windows, but hopefully you see my point. It is very easy for Google to see that website is very clearly all about windows – you name it, financing, repairing, and replacing windows of every shape and size.
The Larson team wouldn’t need to go THAT far but trying to get them to rank for important keywords, that they specialize in, would be much easier with more content that helps Google understand why they deserve to be #1 when it comes to Revocable Trusts, Trust Administration and Wills.
4 Questions that need answered
Here is an excellent article about four questions every website should answer as quickly as possible – http://menwithpens.ca/questions-website/
- Who are you?
We know that very quickly.
Could add an About page and make the homepage more focused on what their clients care about - Why should I care?
Tell your visitors enough about you that they know you’re qualified for the job, and then put the bulk of your efforts on showing people that they’re dealing with a human being who cares about them, their problems and helping them find a solution.This is an opportunity - Can I trust you?
While reading your website, your potential client is skeptical. Everyone is. And that person is thinking, “Yeah, right. Why should I believe any of this?”Do you answer that question?I think this is another opportunity. The pieces are all there, but it’s hard to quickly glean which is what people do with websites pages. Some logos or links to some of these organizations mentioned below would give the Larson team a great deal more credibility.
I think a handful of well-placed logos and meaningful testimonials could give this website a tremendous of credibility to their visitors, which is imperative when it comes to their business I can only imagine.
- What’s next?
This is definitely one of the greatest opportunity this website has. The look is clean and professional. Bios of real people, Q&A is great, and their practice areas are listed, but there is no ‘Call to Action’ to be had. This doesn’t have to be a cheesy “Call today, operatory are standing by!”It could be a simple “This is where we are located and these are our hours and this is our number, if you have questions about ‘x’ we are here to help.”Or maybe a friendly guide they can download for free for each of the age groups listed on this page – http://www.timjlarsonlaw.com/planning-process nothing pushy just a friendly invite or a way to get more information.A few clients I’ve had were surprised when, after we added an“Ask a Question” box to their site, the questions were coming in late at night. But it makes sense: This is when the kids are in bed and they have a chance to actually work on something. You aren’t around to answer the phone then, so an online form makes sense.With Google Analytics, it is easy to set up these calls to actions as “goals” and then be able to see exactly what percentage of visitors to your site took this action and that one, this can be invaluable in tracking how well your website is actually “working” for your business.
4 SMALL ITEMS (worth fixing)
- I wouldn’t make people scroll down the home page to find the phone number or address. Granted it’s right in the sidebar and you don’t have to scroll much, but people find this annoying to have to look for this.
- This page is bringing no value to the table – http://www.timjlarsonlaw.com/links (honestly I haven’t seen one of these in years. I admit I clicked on MSN just to see if it worked, that’s how long it’s been since I have been to the MSN site :)
- The map of where the office is located on the contact page needs to be an actual working Google Map. The benefits of this alone could be tremendous. This is one of several ways you are telling Google this is who we are and where we are located.
- I would lose the ‘naked’ email address. This is a magnet for spam. Where this is on the homepage and on the sidebar of some of the pages I would replace it with “contact us” and link to the Contact page. OK, 7810 words and 48 pages in, let’s move off the site and bring this ship back into port!
SECTION 3: How to Rank Better on Google
Tell Google who you are and what you do
First things first, after the website you need to tell Google who you are, what you do, and where you are located!
To the delight of many in the SEO world, Google rolled out a platform called “Google My Business” on June 11th, 2014. This platform allows business owners to log in and claim locations, edit info and upload photos.
This is step ONE in improving your rankings, especially for companies serving their local area.
More on this subject:
https://matthewrupp.com/marketing/marketing-in-the-age-of-google/#chapter18
WHY CONTENT IS KING
Content. Content. Content.
LONG TAIL KEYWORDS.
In a nutshell (I will provide links below you can read if you want to know more) is this:
- “Estate Planning” for example is a very general term and has roughly 8,560 searches (nationwide) for this term every month and a tremendous amount of competition (over 67,000,000 website pages all fighting to rank for this keyword)
- “Estate planning for farmers” has less search volume, only 2,120 searches and only 4,500,000 competing pages.
- “Estate planning for couples, WichitaKS”has even less search volume, 30 plus a month and very few competing pages.
- “Estate planning for second marriages, WichitaKS” has about 40 searches a month and by the time I got to the bottom of page 4 on Google, I started getting sites that weren’t relevant or local which means only 40 (local) websites are ranking for this keyword at all. (Of course McCafferty is at the top of that list).
When you add up the hundreds and hundreds (oftentimes thousands) of keywords that people type into Google when they are searching something,the ones at the top of the long tail are called “head terms.”These get a LOT of traffic and are very difficult to rank for thanks to lots of competition and lots of strong competitors. As you move down the tail the keywords get more and more specific and easier to rank for.
What is so great about the long tail of search?
70% OF ALL SEARCHES ARE IN THE LONG TAIL. Regardless of your industry.
Thing about it, which would you rather try and rank #1 on Google for?
- A very general, very popular keyword like “accident attorney” that gets thousands of visits a month (many of which are very general and have no buying intent) and costs a fortune and a mountain of time to rank for?
- Or 15-20 mucheasier keywords that get less traffic but are 100x easier to rank for?
The key is to target keywords that, added together, have significant search volume but not a great deal of competition (or strong competitors)
This is a tremendous opportunity for small businesses to beat the much bigger players in their market – while spending very, very little money.
That means you could never rank #1 for ‘home builder,’ or ‘estate planning,’ or ‘body shop,’ or ‘exterminator,’ and STILL have growing traffic and greater and greater sales and never rank #1 for your ‘top’ keyword!
Let your competition bang their head against the wall trying to rank for terms that are crazy competitive, have no intent, will take forever and expensive as can be to try and rank for
You can read more about long tail keywords here if you wish:
http://www.wordstream.com/long-tail-keywords
https://yoast.com/focus-on-long-tail-keywords/
So what is a great way for the Larson firm to create a wealth of Long Tail keywords and dramatically improve their chances of ranking better and turning their website into a true asset that helps grow the firm?
Interview a client (or potential client) once a month. Hell, have a mock interview with their IT guy, receptionist, or a friend.
That’s it. Take me for example. Imagine if one of the attorneys on the Larson team and I were to sit down and we had a conversation where I asked questions and they answered them and we made a blog post out of this every month, what would we have?
A ton of really, really great long tail content. What would make it SO great?
They would be answering MY questions, a potential client who isn’t familiar (very much) with estate planning. This means I would be using verbiage that their customers are using when they search on Google!
I am 43 and married and have 3 kids. I own my home and have a little bit of stocks and cash in an IRA. I own about $140,000 in vending equipment and an SEO business (that I love).
- What do I need to worry about first?
- What would happen to my assets if I were in an accident and died tomorrow?
- How would an LLC help?
- What can I do to help my family has as little hassle as possible if I were gone?
- What should I be concerned about most at my age?
My questions, coupled with their simple answers (doesn’t have to be elaborate), times 6-10 of these could work wonders for helping the Larson website rank for keywords that have intent, very little competition yet enough search volume to make them worthwhile – that’s a perfect recipe for SEO success. (Coupled with a handful of these other suggestions of course)
Creating content for a boring industry? No problem.
MOBILE FRIENDLY
Yes!
The Larson website is mobile friendly. This is so important and only becoming more and more important. On April 21st, 2015, Google came right out and said that mobile friendly sites will get a boost in the rankings. Less than a month later Google announced that in 10 countries (including the US) more searches take place on mobile devices than on computers.
More on this subject:
https://matthewrupp.com/marketing/marketing-in-the-age-of-google/#chapter14
OPTIMIZING YOUR WEBSITE
What does it mean to ‘optimize’ a website page? Trust me, it’s not as complex as many SEO ‘know-it-alls’ want you to believe.J
Let’s run through a GOOD example real quick. We will take this page for example –
http://www.cambridgefamilydentists.com/dental-implants-in-wichita/
(This is a dentist here in Wichita I got ranking #1, #5 AND #6 on the first page of Google – all at the same time!)
Let’s take a look at how well this page is optimized for ‘dental implants’
This is called the ‘Title Tag’ and is the #1 suggestion in the Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide put out by Google themselves.
This is perfect. The most important keyword we want to rank for is FIRST. Not the business name which is a huge mistake I see almost daily. Our goal is to rank for “dental implants” not “Cambridge Dentistry.”
Here we have “dental implants” again in the website address. Perfect!
The title of the page itself mentions “dental implants.”Perfect!
We have a YouTube video on the page about dental implants
Is there ANY doubt to Google what it page is about? None. Zip. Zero.
That, my dear friends, is a page very well optimized for ‘dental implants’. A huge mistake would be to muddy the water about how great Cambridge is at all kinds of dentistry or how they have the best waiting rooms for example.
Let’s take a peek at the Larson website real quick and see how well it is optimized around a specific keyword.
I will use this page because it’s the one with the most content and images – http://www.timjlarsonlaw.com/planning-process
The Title tag should start with the most important keyword first, then the city you want to rank in and then the business name (or brand) IF it fits. In this case it would ideally be “estate planning” since “planning process” is very general and could be related to planning a new neighborhood, airport and campout.
The Title Tag is your opportunity to tell Google what this page is ABOUT and what you want it to rank for.
We are off to a rough start. (Plus having the same Title Tag for every page is a big no, no)
This is a great example of content that isn’t bad for visitors to the Larson website, but its making it downright impossible for Google to trust it enough to make it a top result related to estate planning. Long term care was mentioned twice. Charities, savings, profession, business, family, attorney, heir’s needs, succession plans, children and grandchildren, protecting assets, worries, retirement planning were mentioned as many times as “estate planning.”
None of the content on the Larson website is bad, in fact, it is far from it. And yes, this page has a LOT of content (which is great) and almost all of it is related somehow to ‘estate planning’. By far this page is a lot better than most that I look at.
I am NOT advocating stuffing your keyword on a page even ONE more time than it naturally fits. The absolute top priority should always be your visitor and what helps them, guides them, solves their pain point in some way.
At the same time hopefully its easy to see how the Cambridge Dentistry page was very clearly about Dental Implants. We told Google what the page was about and we reinforced that, and reinforced it and reinforced it until there was no doubt.
Helpful article on this subject: http://backlinko.com/on-page-seo
WHAT MCCAFFTERY IS DOING RIGHT (a lot)
Remember at the beginning of this guide when we kept running into the McCafferty website ranking for anything and everything related to ‘trusts’ and ‘estate planning.
There is little wonder why…..
http://www.mccaffertylaw.com/index.php
+ People love video. Keeps them on the site longer and they are clicking on something and staying on the site longer which tells Google they are delivering what they said they would (or people would have quickly left)
+ Video is warm, friendly and inviting
+ The site is reasonably well optimized. Could be better but it’s pretty good.
+ Lots of fresh relevant content (recent)
+ Google Map embedded in the site
+ Nice use of important keywords
+ Newsletter archives (long tail keywords)
+ Videos are also on their own YouTube channel (excellent)
+ Workshops
+ Call To Actions galore
WELCOME
To learn more about Michael L. McCafferty and the services provided by his law office, please visit http://www.mccaffertylaw.com. Be sure to subscribe to his FREE Monthly Trusts and Estate Planning newsletter and browse his Newsletter Archives for instant access to previous issues. While you are vising, be sure to check out Mr. McCafferty’s blog at http://blog.mccaffertylaw.com so you can stay up-to-date on estate planning topics, elder law news and estate tax issues that may affect you, your loved ones or your business.
+ Text is broken up with big bold headers that make the page easy to scan
+ Active on Twitter (related to what he does)
My best guess is Mr. McCafferty spends a pretty penny with – http://www.integritymarketingsolutions.com/
And it’s obvious whatever he is paying them is money very well spent.
LINKS
Last but certainly not least, no SEO analysis would be complete without talking about good ‘ole links.
Links are when you can click on pretty much anything on website A (line of text, an image, a video, a word) and when you do you are taken to site B. This means website A is providing a back link to website B.
Links always have been a massive factor when it comes to ranking on Google. Actually when Google started it was initially called ‘backrub’ and Google ranked websites with the most links (from highly relevant) websites and that is what is what sent them apart.
Convinced that the pages with the most links to them from other highly relevant Web pages must be the most relevant pages associated with the search, Page and Brin tested their thesis as part of their studies, and laid the foundation for their search engine. – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Google
Link building is such an involved, in depth subject I will just share what the link profile for the Larson firm (and the companies ranking high on Google) looks like and leave it at that.
Clearly this is an enormous opportunity for the Larson team (and every estate planner in Wichita) when it comes to building links.
I could write for days about how I would build links for the Larson team. The FIRST place we would start would be to compile a list of ALL the links pointing to every firm that offers estate planning in all of Kansas (yes, we can do that) and then explore that list looking for opportunities for the Larson team to earn (or take away) that link for themselves.
Here are a handful of links that Cathleen Gulledge has that would be great (and easy and possibly free) for the Larson team to nail down for themselves.
http://www.lawyers.com/business-law/sedgwick-co/kansas/law-firms/
http://www.besttaxattorneyin.com/all/KS/Wichita
http://www.nolo.com/lawyers/profile/law-office-cathleen-a-gulledge-llc
http://www.yellowpages.com/search?search_terms=estate+planning+&geo_location_terms=wichita+ks+
You can think of everything we have covered so far (7814 words and 54 pages) as firewood and links as the gasoline and time being the match.
If we were to implement the majority of these suggestions and intelligently (and aggressively) build relevant links and give it a little time, that’s it, the Larson firm will dominate Google when it comes to estate planning.
This is what domination looks like and a client we were able to help here in Wichita.
This was actually a pretty small sample of what my team and I could do to improve the results you are seeing from http://timjlarsonlaw.com/ Believe it or not there are 5-6 more areas I didn’t even touch on J
I would love to work with the Larson team and help you dominate Google!
If you would like to have these suggestions (and a lot more) implemented and really see for yourself what it would do for your business to start ranking well for potentially hundreds of different keywords you can reach Matthew at 316-285-0729 or by shooting him an email here.
Little about my company and how I got started – https://matthewrupp.com/about/
Upcoming speaking engagements (here in Wichita) – https://matthewrupp.com/speaking/
Some of my awesome clients I work with – https://matthewrupp.com/what-clients-are-saying/
My Massive Guide to Marketing in the Age of Google I created – https://matthewrupp.com/marketing/marketing-in-the-age-of-google/