I founded an SEO agency for law firms. SEO helps people find you in search results. It works best when those people need the work you want to do and your firm has time to help them. These five checks will help you choose where to put your next effort.
Every call gets a quick reply
Intake is what happens between a person’s first call or message and the next step with your firm. A clear reply process helps you make the most of the inquiries your website brings.
Pull up a recent inquiry with the person who handles calls and forms. Follow it from arrival to reply. Who received it? Who called back? What happened next? Your firm can check this in its own records and keep private case details with its team.
Then look at the next step. When a suitable caller wants to speak with a lawyer, can you offer a time? Give each incoming call or message an owner who will reply and arrange that conversation.
A prompt reply and time for the next conversation give new search inquiries a clear path into your firm.
You want more of the work you promote
Start with the firm you want to run. Referrals may already fill your calendar with work you enjoy. SEO can help when you want to add more matters, build a team or replace some work with a practice you prefer.
Try this question before the next agency call: if a suitable new client called today, would you add the matter or make room by taking less of something else? Name the work you want more of and the places you serve.
Give the budget a clear place in that plan too. Set aside money for the work while search results develop, with enough left for your firm’s current bills. If you need matters sooner, compare the cost and timing of other ways to reach clients, such as ads or directories.
Google’s guidance on hiring an SEO provider says to ask what results to expect and in what timeframe. Ask: “What work will you finish by then, and which results are estimates?” A page’s delivery date is a work commitment; the timing of new inquiries is an estimate.
Your practice areas are settled
Build the SEO plan around the services you intend to offer. As your plans change, update the work list and fee so each task supports the practice you want to grow.
For example, your partners decide to focus on other work and close employment law to new matters. The next SEO list includes employment pages and a repair to the contact form used across your site.
Ask for a revised list without the employment pages and a fee to match. Keep the form repair so people can reach you about those services. Ask for its price and test it by sending an inquiry and checking that it arrives.
Review the remaining work in the same way. Which practice does it promote? Do you want more of those matters, and can you take them on? Your agency reports calls and form inquiries from search; your firm judges whether they fit and which become clients.
If the revised list is a set of repairs, agree on a project price and a finish date. For a change to monthly work, confirm the notice period, last payment and what the agency will complete.
Your site turns visits into inquiries
A useful page helps the right person see that you handle their problem and find a clear way to contact you. Read one of your main practice pages on your phone. Can you find the service, area, phone number and inquiry form easily?
Test the phone link and form with your team. Then ask the agency to show which pages and searches bring calls and messages. Keep inquiries and signed cases as separate counts so you can see each step clearly.
Check local demand alongside those results. Ask the agency which searches cover your services and area, and which phrases describe the same need. This gives you a useful view of the people your plan can reach.
An Inoriseo employment law case study shows why this matters. Over 12 months, monthly organic leads went from 0 to 5. Those are inquiries from unpaid search results. The main keyword reached position 2, with about 70 monthly searches for that phrase.
Use that example to ask what a useful result would look like for your firm. Five inquiries can have value when they fit your work and fees. Compare likely demand with your goals and budget; each firm’s results will differ.
For more on that decision, read Inoriseo’s guide to the value of SEO for law firms.
Your website is up to date
A person referred to you needs your number and a clear account of the work you take. Check that your services, locations and contact details match your firm today.
Give any updates a clear scope and price. An accurate, usable site helps people who already know your name reach you. An ongoing SEO plan has a further job: helping more people discover your firm through search.
Choose the work that serves your current goal. Start with website updates when that is what you need, and review an ongoing plan when you have room and a reason to attract more inquiries.
Questions law-firm owners ask
When is ongoing SEO a useful next step?
When you want more inquiries for the work you offer, have time to help the people who contact you and can fund the work while search results develop.
Can I review SEO spending if I already pay for it?
Yes. Match the work list and fee to your current practice areas, capacity and goals. Use calls and form inquiries from search to help decide where to put the next effort.
When should I revisit my SEO plan?
Review it when your capacity or goals change. For example, a new lawyer may give you room for more matters in a practice you want to grow.
Free SEO audit for your law firm
Book a free audit with Inoriseo, a law-firm-only SEO agency.