New Orleans Internet Marketing

No, never. Think back to when you were in stats class in undergrad or post-graduate school and you learned about all of the different methods of computing statistical analysis. It was pretty confusing right? The fact is, it is SO confusing that still to this day, many thoroughly written research studies are frequently debunked due to errors in statistical analysis or flaws in their methodology.

Website stats are even worse. So much worse, in fact, that there are virtually no standards by which they are measured, that are shared amongst all of the different analytic tools available. (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_analytics#Key_definitions for some basic definitions).

If you have the time, read my earlier article about “buying internet advertising and the truth behind website statistics.” The Family & Marriage Counseling Directory (http://family-marriage-counseling.com) has never used website statistics as a way to sell our advertising because our traffic is much different than many of our competitors. Our traffic is focused on two things:

1. People searching for “marriage counseling” and similar phrases – my personal experience in running therapists’ search engine marketing campaigns has shown that nothing converts better into therapist referrals than people actively typing these search phrases into Google.
2. Consumers who are seeking help in their marriages and relationships. We operate two very successful consumer-oriented websites, that direct visitors to our directory when they are  seeking a therapist: The Marriage Counseling Blog and Talk About Marriage which is currently averaging between 15k – 16k unique visitors per day.

Other factors that weigh into the effectiveness of directory listings are the competitiveness of the directory in your particular area (how many therapists are listed in my city?) and how much exposure a particular directory has in a particular area.

So how should we evaluate advertising in directories?

I always recommend that therapists evaluate their advertising the same way that I evaluate any advertising I buy: put all of your traffic sources on a level playing field by tracking your own website stats and referrals.

This can be easier than you might think, especially if you have your own website. Sign up for Google Analytics, and have your web designer put their tracking code on your web pages (it’s free, and it’s one of the most trusted analytics tools on the web). If you have a “contact form” on your website (and you should get one if you don’t), you can go a step further by adding a “Goal” in Google Analytics, that will track which traffic to your site actually fills out that form!

My experience has been that therapists’ websites  that display a phone number prominently on every page and have contact forms, generate the most referrals for their practice. Your website should make it as easy as possible for visitors to contact you and go from “visitor” to “referral.”

For phone calls, always ask how the referral found you, and keep a log of the information so you can evaluate it in the future.

That Being Said

Are therapist directories trying to “fool us” with their stats? No. They are just trying to give advertisers the information they are asking for. It’s the same reason I’m writing this article (I got asked again this morning). Those directories that do are only trying to show that they get a lot of traffic, which they probably do in some cases.

As an experienced professional in the internet marketing business, I recommend to therapists that they try out as many different marketing techniques and directory listings as their budget allows, but measure the results carefully so that money is spent on the advertising that produces the best results.

As the owner of The Family & Marriage Counseling Directory, I want therapists to know how successful advertising on our site can be, but at the same time I realize that sometimes it may not work as well for certain therapists in certain areas, which is why I don’t usually push testimonials. I know we get a lot of great feedback from advertisers, but regardless, every now and then one tells me it didn’t work and they cancel.

I want therapists to be successful in their online marketing regardless of whether it involves my websites (you should try out our competitors, in fact). I’ve seen way too much misinformation out there over the years, and I’m not going to promote it. My success online is only the result of experience, trial, and error. Sometimes you have to spend money to make it, and I’ve tried just about every internet marketing gimick known to man.

I’ve no doubt thrown away thousands of dollars on advertising that produced little to no return on investment over the years, and I will keep doing it again and again in the future. It’s that small percentage I find that works, which makes it all worthwhile.

So measure your own results and make better informed decisions when it comes to advertising your practice. Don’t trust what others tell you just because they cite numbers.

Related Posts

• Chris’s List of Web Directories
• Chris’s List of Article Directories