Jack, my law partner, and I have had this ongoing dialogue for the past year or so about which word is better:

1. Attorney
2. Lawyer

What we do know is that lawyers prefer the “high-brow” word Attorney and so many of them use it in their marketing too. In their opinion, it increases the perceived value of their services.

What we didn’t know is whether the general public felt the same way or not. We both had a hunch that the word lawyer was more commonplace, and therefore a better keyword for us to use in our online marketing and pay-per-click campaigns.

Now, one year later, WE KNOW WHICH WORD IS BETTER. Let me tell you how we found out:

We used a keyword tool to find out what people are searching for. You can try out the Overture Keyword Selector Tool Here. What it told us was that in the context we are using, people search for the term “lawyer” at least 25% more of the time than they do “attorney.”

There it is the answer for the ages. The important question you need to ask in the online world — or the offline world — is “What Key Terms Connect with the Maximum Amount of People?” Well, thanks to pay-per-click advertising, now you know without all the esoteric junk that a marketing agency will feed you in order to run up your bill. 10 minutes of searching will tell you instantly which term is better.

Now, go ahead and give it a try, but set a time limit, because I’m warning you this is really addictive. Oh, and make sure you actually get some work done today!