Custom Content Management, More Trouble Than Value

A long time ago, on the internet, most web pages were hard-coded by developers. Over time, webmasters and developers began to recognize that there must be a better way to create, organize, update, and remove web pages without having to edit HTML files. Along came the concept of the content management system.

At first, these content management systems were very basic and not more more user-friendly than editing the hard-coded pages. Some developers began creating proprietary CMS solutions. Users would basically rent (license) the software for use on their sites.

Today, there are a variety of CMS solutions from which to choose. Even better, many are released under open-source and general use licenses. Not only are these CMS platforms free, they're constantly updated by a large community of very talented developers.

Unfortunately, some CMS platforms don't follow best search engine optimization practices out of the box. However, most mainstream open-source general use platforms are moving in the direction of 100% search engine-friendliness. And some that don't have easy fixes through the use of various plugins.

Nonetheless, there are still many custom content management systems out there on the world wide web. While some of these provide additional value over the ready-to-use general use platforms, in my experience, most aren't worth the problems they create in terms of search engine optimization.

I've worked with a handful of clients who have custom content management systems that create big search problems. Two of the most common are the lack of semantic information in URL and page/post titles.

This is a huge problem as these are two key signals to search as to what a web is about.

If you're using a custom CMS and you're not sure whether or not it's search engine-friendly, you should check for some of these basic issues:

• URLs - Do you URLs contain keywords related to the content on your pages or do they look bizarre containing strange special characters?
• Page Titles - When you create new page or post on your site does it create an HTML title tag that reflects the page title?
• Headings - When you create a new page does your CMS create an H1 tag that reflects your page/post title?

If your URLs, page titles, and headers don't accurately describe what your pages are about, it's likely that you are creating some serious problems for your site's visibility within search engines.

Vetting Your Internet Marketing Agency

Trying to figure out who is who and what is what when it comes to internet marketing agencies can be really tough. However, there are some things you can do to separate the good, from the bad, from the ugly.

 Learn

 The first thing you can need to do is to spend some time learning at least the basics. You can't even begin to effectively vet an internet marketer without having some common ground in terms of definitions, concepts, etc. Make sure you understand the differences between organic and paid search marketing. I recommend you check out SEOmoz.org and search Google.com (site:google.com seo). These are really phenomenal references for getting getting down some basics. I also recommend GetListed.org for learning about local search which is especially important if you're a local business.

 Ask

 Once you've got the basics down, you should start compiling a list of questions. Ask your prospective internet marketer for examples of clients. Ask them very specific questions about what they plan to do on your behalf. Ask them how they will measure the effectiveness of what you're paying them to do. Ask them how long you will have to commit to them. Ask them is they have specific experience working with businesses like yours. Ask them if they're working with your competitors.

 Expectations

 One of the best ways to avoid problems with an internet marketing agency any vendor is to identify specific expectations from the start. Identify expectations in terms of performance metrics. Identify expectations in terms of results. Identify expectations in terms of what will specifically be accomplished and when. The less surprises that you face, the more likely that you will have a positive experience with an agency.

 Run, Don't Walk

 If your prospective internet marketer is talking in terms of "magic," "special relationships," or "secret sauce," my advice is that you politely say no thank you. If you're dealing with someone that is selling secrets, it's likely that the secret is that you're being taken for sucker.

Still Don't Think This "Internet-Thing" Is Catching On?

We talk to a lot of lawyers about how the internet, search engines, and a variety of other websites can a play a role in enhancing their professional reputation.

And yes, we still get a lot of resistance about the value of web marketing, search engine optimization, and social networking.

   

 In fact, one of the most common objections we hear from lawyers about web marketing is:

"My clients don't use the internet to hire lawyers." Really?

 

In my experience, most of the time that lawyers draw the conclusion that their clients don't hire lawyers from the internet, it's because they don't connect-the-dots about the ways that people use the internet.

Which is not entirely surprising. Have you ever watched someone else use the internet? If not, then your perspective about how others might use the internet is rather limited.

Nonetheless, you don't have to be an internet marketing expert to understand some of the most common ways people use the internet:

• Research.
• Get answers to questions.
• Shop.
• Vet.
• Compare.

And once you understand some of these basic internet uses, all you have to do is apply them to your clients.

For example, let's say that you represent businesses. Do the people that make decisions about which law firm they are going to hire use the internet? How do they use the internet? Do they research issues related to running their business? Do they turn to the internet to get answers to their questions? Do they read online news? Do they subscribe to online industry publications? Do they follow industry-specific websites, blogs, or communicate with other industry leaders online?

If your clients use the internet, then you should probably consider how they use it and find ways to get in front of them online.

Now let's be clear. Is a business owner likely to type "chicago business lawyer" into Google and see who comes up? Probably not (although you might be surprised that some actually do). But they are very likely to use the internet to do research, get answers, and consumer a variety of information.

As a lawyer, your goal should be to demonstrate your knowledge of the issues that concern your potential clients and display that knowledge online.

And your website, how it is designed, what information it contains, and how well it demonstrates your knowledge, skill, and experience it just the beginning of developing an effective online professional presence.

Still think that your clients don't hire lawyers from the internet? Think again.

Content Sharing: The Online Popularity Contest

We spend a lot of effort preaching the importance of developing, publishing, and sharing quality content as part of an effective internet marketing campaign. However, I've noticed that, to a large extent, the chances of your content getting shared are often more tied to who does the sharing as opposed to what is being shared. Is online content sharing a popularity contest? To some extent, the answer is yes.

Think about it. Aren't you more likely to share, discuss, and engage with the people you "know" online? Of course your are. So am I. But sometimes I find that I'm sharing something that's "okay" at best just because I have an online relationship with the person.

From this observation, there seem to be two conclusions. First, I need to find ways to get more people to "know" me online. This will increase the likelihood and frequency with which my content is shared. Second, I need to be a more selective consumer of web content. The internet is a gigantic marketplace of ideas. However, in order for the market to work to reward quality content, it's up to us as web content consumers to make better choices about who and what we consume and share online.

The Long-Term Internet Marketing Contracts

I understand why a lot of law firm marketing agencies require their lawyer-clients to enter into long-term contracts. In addition to the obvious (more revenue over a longer time), they're also probably concerned that they will make significant up-front investments into website design/development and internet marketing efforts only to have the client quit before they've had a reasonable opportunity to generate some results.

In my experience, these long-term contracts just don't make a lot of sense for lawyers. In fact, on the internet, really any long-term marketing contract doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. Especially if there aren't performance goals/measurements/metrics built-in to hold the marketing agency accountable for something.

While there is no question that many web marketing strategies take some time to develop (especially things like organic search visibility), these long-term deals usually turn out pretty ugly.

In fact, I've seen cases where even website design and development ends up taking much longer than it should. Which means that the agency is probably sitting on its hands until it reaches a "critical mass" of frustration from the client.

If you've decided to work with an agency that requires a long-term contract commitment, please make sure that you have built-in some "accountability metrics." These might include specific task metrics (i.e. website launch date, x profiles claimed by date, etc).

Make your internet marketing agency commit to something tangible in terms of performance. Give them a reasonable opportunity to deliver results. If they fail to deliver upon what they promised, find someone new.

The best way to protect yourself is to clearly define goals and objectives from the beginning and maintain regular communication to see that these goals are being met.