Someone was asking me about the best tools for keyword research. The question is whether we’re talking about Adwords or search engine optimization.
When we’re talking about Adwords, I typically use broad match modifiers. I think about what related terms can you target that will not be as competitive, but that people would still be looking for.
The “DUI In San Diego” Example
Here’s a perfect example. We did a campaign in San Diego for a DUI attorney, and the cost of each click was absurd: it was almost $200 a click at that point. What we found out is that people are also searching for related items, like “San Diego DUI attorney” or “San Diego DWI attorney.”
They were also searching for “DWI” or “drunk driving lawyer,” different things like that. We found that those search terms were searched pretty heavily, but collectively they weren’t searched as much as things that were related, i.e., something like “San Diego DUI penalties” or “California DUI penalties.”
You can target California and then limit your search to the San Diego area since that’s likely the area where people have been arrested.
For example, if I was arrested in Florida, I’m not going to search “Lakeland DUI penalties” even though I live in Lakeland. I’m going to search for “Florida DUI penalties.”
Other Search Terms
Another thing to search for is statutes. I learned this when I got a speeding ticket about 10 or 12 years ago when I used to work at a law firm.
Before I got into marketing, I was planning to go to law school. I worked at the US Attorney’s office and a private firm. One thing we always did was we always Googled the statutes. So, when I got the speeding ticket, I thought, let me Google this statute and see what this ticket is actually for.
I Googled it and discovered that they gave me a ticket for driving a school bus faster than 55 miles per hour. I was obviously not driving a school bus, so I took it to court, and I beat it.
Later, I started thinking, I bet I’m not the only one who searches the statutes. When you get arrested for a DUI, you’re panicked and think you’re going to lose your license and maybe your job, your money, and your house.
Or perhaps you don’t even have a job. You’re just freaking out, so you start Googling everything. It’s like when you have a weird spot on your face, and you start going to Web MD. The same thing happens with a traffic ticket or a DUI.
What we found is that people were Googling the statutes that they were being arrested for. So, we ran an Adwords campaign targeting those statutes and were able to get clicks for about $5 a click when people are paying $150 or $200 a click for “San Diego DUI lawyer.”
I think about the related stuff that people might be searching for. They may not necessarily be the exact match, but that’s what I would do. You can also search for the kinds of questions that people are asking.
More Great Keyword Resources
I love the website answerthepublic.com. You can search DUI for example, and it gives you all the questions related to DUI that come back in Google autosuggest. You just have to play around with it. I would go there and check out the questions that people are asking about DUI.
Then in Google, there’s going to be a section that says “people also ask.” At the bottom, it is going to say related searches. Those are gold because that’s Google telling you these are searches that people enter.
When people are looking for a DUI attorney, I would start there. I’d go to Google, and I’d start thinking outside the box, like what are some of the questions and concerns that people typically have.
I would also use AnswerThePublic.com, and you could also use keyword.io. In addition, I have a tool called AttorneyKeywords.com that we’re working on that’s in Beta at the moment. If you go there right now, you can sign up for 20 bucks a month, and there’s a ton of tools in there that you can use.