Are you a lawyer or a law firm that wants to reach more clients? Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the best strategies to achieve this goal. Although you can do it yourself, working with an SEO agency will be a bigger boon for your business, especially if you don’t have the time to spare.
However, choosing the right SEO company can feel a little challenging. Pick the right one, and you’ll see more traffic and increase your website’s authority eventually. But if you’re unlucky enough to choose the wrong agency, your business can be greatly affected. So, here are some of the things that will help you choose the best agency that provides SEO services for law firm websites.
The Benefits of Using SEO for Law Firm Websites
Some law firms have a dedicated SEO team, while some look for cheaper providers online. However, these usually aren’t the best options since a dedicated SEO team would be more expensive in the long run and cheaper agencies can be a bit hit or miss. Instead, you should look for trusted SEO experts that will:
- Make a snappier and more visually appealing website that can result in a better user experience.
- Produce convincing website copies and calls to action (CTA) that can motivate visitors to schedule an appointment and avail of your legal services.
- Enhance and improve your law firm’s rankings on search engines which would result in more traffic/clients and eventually more revenue.
You should treat your search for the right SEO specialist as if you’re hiring a new member of your team. The best SEO for attorneys will give you a more in-depth knowledge of search engine algorithms, be able to take into account the complex nature of marketing legal services, and tailor their experience and expertise to the needs of your law firm.
Choosing the Best Digital Marketing Agency for Law Firms
Before choosing an SEO agency to work on your law firm website, you should:
Set your goals
To improve efficiency and avoid problems, you should make a detailed list of the things that you want to accomplish after hiring an SEO agency. Perhaps you’re looking to increase your website’s rankings on search results related to “vehicular accidents”, increase your website’s conversion rate, or reduce its bounce rate. Having a list of all your goals ready will help when you discuss it with the SEO agencies that you want to work with.
By doing so, you will know which one can provide what you’re looking for and who can provide the best price.
Find reviews, client feedback, and case studies about the SEO agency
There are countless SEO agencies that you can stumble upon online. But you should narrow your options by conducting due diligence. You need to:
- Review their website carefully to see the services that they offer.
- Check if they have any experience in doing SEO for law firm websites.
- Read their case studies and portfolio. If the SEO agency lacks these two, consider it as a red flag.
- Review testimonials both on their website and on online review sites like Yelp. They may opt to post and highlight only the positive reviews that they receive but actively hide the negative ones. You should also ask them for a list of their past clients and talk to them about their experience.
Know if the SEO agency must use data-driven methods
After making a detailed list of clear and attainable goals, you need to make sure that the digital marketing agency for law firms that you choose employs a benchmark for their progress. Both you and the SEO agency must always be on the same page when it comes to key performance indicators (KPIs). Also, the SEO agency that you choose to work with must use these KPIs to make sensible decisions to improve your website’s performance. Some of the important KPIs that need to be tracked include:
- Keyword rankings
- Organic sessions
- Conversion rates
- Page load times
See if the agency offers complimentary services
A seasoned agency that provides SEO services for law firm websites should also offer content creation, website design, social media marketing campaign, and other complimentary services. When all of these strategies are employed, they will have a great impact and increase the chances of having a successful SEO strategy. Using them would be more efficient for your workflow, make your campaigns more cost-effective, and cause less strain on your law firm’s management team.
Pick an SEO agency that always communicates effectively
Book an appointment and ask for advice from prospective providers for you to learn more about how they talk to their clients. You should:
- Determine whether they employ methods that align with your goals and treat their clients properly.
- Know if a representative from the company will analyze the KPIs on Google Search Console and Google Analytics regularly.
If you follow these guidelines to choose the best SEO business for your law firm, you will surely get your money’s worth and increase the number of prospective clients visiting your website.
How Much ROI Can You Expect from Using SEO for Your Law Firm
Based on a report published by Gladiator Law Marketing, these are the important numbers to remember:
- 2x: Your law firm breaks even.
- 3x: This is almost the same as a standard referral fee.
- 5x: This return is enough to fund your law firm’s growth.
- 10x: This is usually the highest ROI that law firms can hit and sustain year over year.
If your firm is looking to spend $50,000 on hiring an SEO agency, you should expect at least $150,000 in legal services fees in return.
There are four main stakeholders when it comes to the ROI that your law firm will have when you use SEO for your website:
- Your law firm: Even though you employ SEO strategies on your website, the results are still uncertain. Some law firms are better at converting traffic on their website than others. But you won’t know if these include your law firm if you won’t try.
- The SEO agency: There are some agencies and SEO consultants who provide better services than their competitors.
- The competition: Your industry is over-saturated. Not all law firms track their ROI, and some are overspending when it comes to SEO. Not only will this hurt their returns but the whole market as well.
- Google: Since they own the most dominant search engine of today, they make the rules. They often publish their new guidelines and rules for anyone to see, but it’s often vague and up for interpretation. They can also change the rules without informing anyone.
An SEO agency could think that they have done everything right and still not achieve your desired results. This can be frustrating, so finding the right SEO agency is very important.
How SEO Agencies Should Report Progress
Each month, you should receive a performance report that indicates the progress that your law firm’s website has made and the actions taken by the agency that can be tracked online (e.g. visitors to your website filling out contact forms or people clicking on your phone number). You should also tell the agency how many clients you’ve had that month and the revenue that you generated.
After 2-3 quarters of continued collaboration, you’ll have a very good outlook of how your website is performing and if you’re getting what you pay for. But if your digital marketing agency doesn’t deliver the results you’re looking for, it’s time to rethink the strategies that are employed or find a new SEO provider altogether.
Start Earning Valuable Traffic to Your Firm’s Website Now!
Finding the right SEO agency that provides SEO services for law firm websites is very challenging, especially if it’s your first time. Before you do your research, you should have a detailed list of the goals that you want to achieve, do due diligence and read reviews about their service, and pick an agency that provides results and communicates with their clients effectively.
Aside from that, you should also look for an SEO provider that has experience in working with law firms. By doing so, you will find an agency that has the experience and is best suited to understanding the complexities in employing digital marketing strategies for law firm websites. Most importantly, you should remember that employing SEO techniques is a long-term strategy that will aid in shoring up your brand and getting more clients. In the long run, it will foster a healthy relationship between you and your SEO partner.
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