1. BUILDING
AN ONLINE
MARKETING
FOUNDATION
Follo@HingeMarketingr Blog:
Hingemarketing.com/blog

2. Today’s Moderator and Speaker:
Sylvia Montgomery Sean McVey
Partner, Hinge Directory of Online Marketing, Hinge
sylvia@hingemarketing.com sean@hingemarketing.com
Follow Me on Twitter: Follow Me on Twitter:
@BrandStrong @SeanTMcVey

3. What We’ll Cover
› Finding Your Foundation
› Understanding SEO on a High Level
› Get Started with SEO and Analytics
› Measuring Success
› Bonus Tips from the Experts

4. Web Clutter – How is this Helping My Firm?

5. Key Concern for Executives:
“Ithink online marking is important, but I
don’t have the resources to do it all.”
 Few firms have both the time and money to execute on a
full range of online marketing techniques
 Executives want to carefully invest in marketing that
produces new business consistently
 So… what techniques are most effective?

6. What is your foundation?

7. SEO Serves as a Solid Foundation
 Without web traffic, nothing else matters
 More and more are using Google to find services
 SEO can be highly profitable
 SEO is measurable
People are searching for your services!
Keyword Monthly Search Volume
Architecture Dallas 9,900
Tax Services New York 4,400
Electrical Engineering Services 4,400
Data Warehousing Services 1,300
Law Firm San Diego 14,800

8. How SEO Works on a High Level
① Conduct keyword research
② Optimize web page with keyword phrase
③ Build inbound links to page
④ Track rankings of page
⑤ Repeat

9. How is SEO Different for Professional Services?
Buying Process for Most Products and Services
Start
Buy!
A little
research
Buying Process for Professional Services
Start Buy!
Research and Education for a Year or More

10. An SEO focus on early and late stage leads
Early Stage Keywords Late Stage Keywords
 “Benefits of sustainable  “Memphis architecture firm”
building”
 “General contractor DC”
 “How to hire a green architect”
 “MEP services”
 “What is the better buildings
challenge?”  “Green design services”
 “BIM definition”

11. Where to start?
Start by optimizing your home page
① Conduct keyword research and select 1 – 2 keyword phrases
for the home page.
② Implement the phrases into the page in several ways,
including the page title, headers, and paragraph text.
③ Run a link building campaign to the home page, acquiring
quality links pointing to your site.
④ Track rankings for target keywords.

12. Then what?
As you secure homepage rankings, begin to focus on sub
pages and rich content pages such as blog posts.
① Select pages with a specific focus that will drive the
right traffic
② Repeat the same steps from the home page

13. What types of results are we looking for here?
› Rankings
› Traffic from organic search (by keyword)
› Conversions (soft and hard)
› New Business

14. Finding your core metrics
Website Traffic by Source Contact Us Conversions by Source
4500
Organic Search Direct Referral 16 Organic Direct Referral
4000
663 14
3500
12 3
3000
1222 10
2500 3
8
2000
6
1500
4 8
1000 2130
2
500
0
0
1/14-2/14
1/14-2/14

15. Finding your core metrics
Core Keyword Rankings
unranked 4th and later 2nd or 3rd First Page
100%
9.09% 9.09% 13.64%
90%
80% 22.73% 22.73%
70% 31.82%
60%
22.73%
50% 100.00%
40% 27.27%
68.18%
30%
20% 45.45%
27.27%
10%
0%
1/30/11 2/6/11 2/13/11 2/20/11

16. Visits and Quality of Visits by Keyword

17. Conversions by Keyword

18. Total Conversions by Goal

19. Analytics – A Key Foundational Piece
› SEO is pointless without analytics
› Download Google Analytics right now!
› Evaluate key metrics on a weekly basis
› Continually change your strategy based
on where conversions and business are
coming from

20. Bonus Time!
TIPS FROM THE EXPERTS

21. How long should SEO take?
“It should take no more than three days to get a page
indexed in search engines. In terms of ranking
improvements, you should start to see results after a month.
SEO campaigns can go on indefinitely however, with
rankings continuing to improve throughout time.”
- Danny Dover
Author, Search Engine Optimization Secrets

22. How long should SEO take?
“The time it takes to see SEO results depends on the
competitiveness of the industry. In a less competitive space
you should start to see results in a month or two. In a
competitive space, you’re looking at three or four months.”
- Brad Geddes
Author, Advanced Google Adwords

23. Where should I focus my SEO efforts?
“For professional services firms, focus on the homepage
first. This is your highest priority. After securing initial
rankings, focus 50% of your efforts on the homepage and
50% on sub services pages.”
- Eric Enge
Author, The Art of SEO

24. Where should I focus my SEO efforts?
“We focus on a mix of long tail and short tail keywords. For
professional services firms, targeting broad keywords on
your home page is a solid start. However, nailing those
more specific sub page keywords is also a huge part of the
process.”
- Kristopher Jones
Author, Search Engine Optimization

25. The Most Important Aspect of SEO
“Both parts of SEO are extremely important. If you get the
keywords wrong, everything else is futile. And without
quality inbound links, you’re not going to rank. You need
both pieces for success.”
- Jim Boykin
CEO, We Build Pages

26. Best Way to Build Quality Links
“Start by obtaining links from credible directories such as
Yahoo’s directory. Then focus on creating white papers and
blog posts. Rich educational content is the best way to
attract links and build authority in the long run.”
- Loren Baker
VP, Blue Glass

27. The importance of content for SEO
On a scale from 0 – 10, rate the importance of
consistently publishing content on a website to
increasing search engine traffic.
› James Beswick: 10
› Jim Boykin: 7
› Kristopher Jones: 8 Average: 7.57
› Loren Baker: 10
› Danny Dover: 7
› Brad Geddes: 3
› Eric Enge: 8

28. PPC vs. Organic
“We favor organic to PPC, focusing about 95% of our efforts
on organic. PPC is great for targeting very specific terms.
However, the majority of people searching are clicking in
organic results.”
- Jim Boykin
CEO, We Build Pages

29. Biggest Misconception About SEO
“The biggest misconception is that you can go out and buy
a lot of links and rank very quickly. People think link building
is like media buying. It’s not.”
- Loren Baker
VP, Blue Glass

30. Best Piece of Advice
“There are no shortcuts. If it’s a shortcut, it won’t work. Roll
up your sleeves and stay in it for the long run.”
- Jim Boykin
CEO, We Build Pages

31. To Learn More…
1. Subscribe to the Professional Services Marketing Blog
www.hingemarketing.com/blog
2. Download the report, “Online Marketing Research Study”
www.hingemarketing.com/library
3. Follow us on Twitter:
@SeanTMcVey @BrandStrong

32. Thank you! Questions?
Sean McVey Continue the Conversation
@SeanTMcVey
sean@hingemarketing.com
Sylvia Montgomery
@BrandStrong Join our LinkedIn Group, the
sylvia@hingemarketing.com
Professional Services Executive Forum
Give us a Call! Search for it in LinkedIn Groups now!
703-391-8870