In fact , it ’ s fair game .
You may be wondering why other law firms would bother trying to bid on your name- a keyword that clearly “ belongs ” to you . The answer is pretty simple . If a lesser-known or lesser quality law firm is using the name of a better-known , higher-quality law firm that ’ s bid substantially on advertising and branding their name , they can essentially capitalize on your success by riding your coattails .
Not cool , right ? So what options , if any , does that leave you ? While there ’ s no hard and fast way to stop the competition from bidding on your brand name , there are a few steps you can take .
1 . CHECK TO SEE IF YOUR STATE ’ S ETHICS LAWS FORBID IT .
Each state has a different take on it . But if your state does consider it unethical , you can report them to the state bar .
2 . ASK THEM TO STOP .
It ’ s always the best course of action to just ask someone to stop .
The worst thing you could do is wage a full-on Google war without any initial communication . So start smart and politely ask them to stop using your brand name as part of their keyword strategy .
I ’ m not saying a simple direct request will work . In fact , if they really are driving the high ranks and click-throughs with your name , they probably won ’ t be likely to stop simply because you said “ Please .” But what you do want them to know is that you ’ re aware of what they ’ re doing , and you ’ re not okay with it .
Start by sending an email to the offending party , giving a quick introduction . Find something about their site or product to compliment . ( This is the key to effective marketing communication .) Then tell them you ’ ve noticed they ’ re using your keyword , and ask them if they wouldn ’ t mind refraining from doing so in the future .
If you don ’ t hear back from them , you can always follow up with another polite email ; only this time , tell them that you plan to enact some PPC-style revenge if they don ’ t want to handle it the easy way .
Again , if they don ’ t comply , no harm , no foul . You took the high road initially ; now it ’ s time for things to get interesting .
3 . INCREASE YOUR BID ON YOUR BRAND NAME .
One of the reasons competitors may be bidding on your brand name is simply because you are . The fewer bids on a keyword , the less expensive it will be . And the less expensive your keyword is , the more likely competitors are to snatch it up . So your first step is to make sure that you are , in fact bidding on your own brand name .
Now , some law firms really don ’ t like to do this .
They feel that if they are already ranking organically for their firm ’ s name , they shouldn ’ t spend money bidding on it when they could allocate that budget to new terms .
But here ’ s the kicker : If you aren ’ t bidding on your own name , your competitor ’ s paid ads will be shown above your organic listing .
That ’ s absolutely not what you want , so if you find a competitor is , in fact , running ads on your brand name , you better be , too . Remember , you want to dominate the top of the search engine rankings for your brand name , which means your ultimate goal should be to take the top spots for both paid and organic .
The good news is that it ’ s unlikely to be an expensive bid . Assuming there aren ’ t that many competitors bidding on your name , the cost per click is generally pretty low . The bad news is that if your competitors are still ranking high , you ’ ll want to increase your bid . Not only will that increase the likelihood that your ad will rank higher , but it will make clicks more expensive for your competitors , and they ’ ll ultimately have to increase their bid if they want that ranking .
4 . STOP COMPETITORS BIDDING ON BRANDED TERMS : INSPECT THEIR ADS FOR VIOLATIONS .
While using a trademark as a keyword isn ’ t against the rules , using it in the ad copy is ; ( Big Hint : if you haven ’ t trademarked your law firm ’ s name , you might want to get on that now ).
So make sure that as you research different websites and networks that you ’ re taking the time to read through any ads you find .
If you do find any violations , you can report them to Google . Again , this doesn ’ t apply to keywords alone , but if you can catch them using your trademark in the actual copy , you have a good case for Google and a good case for trademark infringement .
5 . STOP COMPETITORS BID- DING ON BRANDED TERMS : INCREASE YOUR AD RANK .
Your ad rank determines how high your ad will be placed in the search engine rankings . Naturally , you want to be as high as possible . Google calculates ad rank primarily using your bid amount , expected click-through rate , and manning page experience . We already talked about increasing your bid , so let ’ s focus on the other two .
First , aim to up your expected click-through rate .
Keep in mind this is the expected click-through rate which Google calculates with an algorithm .
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