What should a law firm look for when hiring an SEO agency?
I'm the office manager at a four-lawyer practice. We've had pitches from three agencies, all promising page one for personal injury searches in our city, all with very different prices. How do we tell who actually understands how law firms get clients versus who's reselling a generic package?
Ask who actually writes the content. A lot of agencies selling to law firms outsource it to writers who've never read a statute, and in legal a confidently wrong article is a real problem. Ask for a sample they wrote for another firm and have one of your lawyers read it.
A few things I'd insist on:
- they've worked with law firms before and can show you results in leads or calls, not just ranking screenshots
- the Google Business Profile, website and content stay in the firm's name and the firm's accounts. If they leave, you keep everything
- they understand that legal advertising has bar rules, so no made-up case results or "specialist" claims your state doesn't allow
- they can explain what they'll actually do each month in plain English
Walk away from anyone who guarantees the number one spot, or who won't tell you where the links come from. Spammy links in the legal space are common and they can take a site down with them. Also avoid long lock-in contracts at the start, three to six months is reasonable.
