I’m not sure anyone is more skeptical than me about internet marketing firms who convince law firms to pay good money on the elusive promise of higher organic rankings on search engines like Google.

(Note – If you have no clue what I just said, my apologies. This discussion fits under the extremely arcane subject of SEO – Search Engine Optimization. In a nutshell, SEO, all about making sure your website shows up at the top of the list when someone searches on Google or another search engine for a personal injury attorney.)

I was recently approached by a friend who said he had developed a product specifically designed for the plaintiff’s bar that would dramatically improve Search Engine Optimization. Since he was a friend, I didn’t start badgering him like I normally do SEO vendors. But I did throw down the gauntlet. “Prove it,” I challenged him.

And so we agreed on a simple experiment. He is going to use the product on my website, TrostReport.com. We will measure the results. Will his product cause my website to rise in the ranks of relevant search results? Or, will it prove to be another empty SEO promise?

Caveat #1 – Since my website is not geared towards attracting potential PI clients, I am not attempting to rank high for the normal PI search terms like “auto accident lawyer.” I am more interested in climbing the ranks for search terms like “legal marketing”. There is less competition for the search terms I am vying for. So, even if the product is able to dramatically improve my results, it might not produce the same results for PI law firm websites. But not to worry. If the experiment is a success, I will put it to the test with a typical law firm website and see what happens.

Caveat #2 – This experiment will take two or three months. There are very good reasons for this that I will discuss as we go along.

So, what is the product and what does it do?

Stay tuned.