How Much Should You Be Spending on Law Firm SEO Services?

Knowing how much to invest in your law firm’s SEO is not always a clear answer – as there are many different factors that come into play.

This includes (but is not limited to): the size of your firm, the service area, the number of competing firms, and so on.

From a bird’s eye view, a large personal injury law firm in the heart of New York City will probably call for a considerable SEO budget to stay competitive (to put it lightly). On the other hand, a small firm in the middle of Iowa would not have as tough requirements.

If you’re wondering how much to spend with a law firm SEO company, this post will help clear up some confusion and guide your decision.

Without further ado, let’s get moving!

How Important Are SEO Services for Law Firms?

When most people are looking for a personal injury attorney, family law firm, or anything else, they aren’t flipping through the yellow pages anymore or calling the phone operator – they are turning to Google.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a series of tactics that help a law firm’s website gain visibility on organic Google searches, meaning you don’t have to rely on Google Ads to get your firm’s name out there.

For example, a personal injury law firm in Utah would want to show up at the top of the search results when someone enters, “personal injury firm in Utah”, “injury lawyer in Utah”, and so on. Investing in local SEO services is how the firm would achieve this.

An SEO strategy is arguably the most important ingredient in a law firm’s digital marketing strategy. 

We won’t sugarcoat it, failing to prioritize law firm SEO is essentially giving prospective clients to your competitors who are. Hopefully, this post provides some guidance on getting started.

How Much Does SEO Cost for Law Firms?

Generally speaking, most law firms should invest at least 5% to 10% of their revenue into SEO, but there is no definitive answer to this.

The answer to this question depends on your area of practice, location, and competition. For instance, personal injury law firms tend to have the highest SEO competition. This means it will require a more robust SEO strategy to get placed highly on Google searches for keywords and phrases like “personal injury firm in (Your City).

To reiterate, location also plays a key role in SEO costs. The larger the city/region you serve, the more exhaustive the campaign will need to be.

To give you an idea, prices for personal injury law firm SEO range from $2,000 to $10,000+ per month.

What Should You Expect from Your SEO Investment?

Owners of law firms need to understand that SEO is a long-term investment that requires time, consistency, and strategic planning to generate profitable results. You’re not going to see a boost in legitimate website traffic overnight. If a law firm SEO company promises this, head for the door!  

Positive changes in search engine rankings can take anywhere from several weeks to several months or more, depending on the competition in your industry and the current state of your online presence.

SEO involves a three-prong approach: on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO. When you partner with a law firm SEO agency, here’s what you can expect on a baseline level:

• A complete technical SEO audit of your website (technical SEO)
• Setting up your Google My Business profile (off-site SEO)
• Keyword analysis (on-page SEO)
• Adjustments to your website to ensure it’s set up for SEO (technical SEO)
• SEO-focused content creation – web pages and blogs (on-page SEO)
• Contributions to law-related websites (off-page SEO)

Keep in mind, success in SEO isn’t just about search engine rankings and increased web traffic – the ultimate goal is to drive higher quality traffic to the law firm website – or people who are genuinely interested in your services, and therefore, have a higher chance to book a consultation.

Moreover, search engine algorithms are constantly changing. Your law firm SEO company will be performing ongoing adjustments to keep your website ahead of the curve. 

How Can You Allocate an SEO Budget Properly?

Properly allocating your SEO budget requires a complete, 360-degree understanding of your business objectives, target clients, competition, and the current state of your online presence.

The budget should be distributed among SEO components like keyword research, technical SEO, on-page and off-page optimization, and content creation. When you partner with a professional law firm SEO company, they will take a deep dive into your SEO standings and determine the best course of action.

For example, if their initial SEO audit shows your website’s architecture needs a significant overhaul to make it SEO-friendly, they would advise you to allocate your budget in the early stages toward fine-tuning the website.

Once your site is properly set up, they may advise you to allocate the budget to posting guest articles on popular law-related websites or contributing SEO-focused articles to your own blog section to boost keyword rankings.

Your SEO needs will evolve – and the SEO agency you work with will adjust the strategy accordingly.

What Are the Real Costs of Cheap SEO?

Opting for cut-rate SEO services might seem cost-effective in the short term, but it often leads to subpar results. Moreover, it may even damage your online reputation.

Cut-rate law firm SEO companies usually use black-hat or outdated tactics, such as keyword stuffing, spammy backlinks, or low-quality content. These “shortcuts” almost always lead to penalties from Google’s search engine algorithm. The result can potentially be lower search rankings or even removal from search engine results pages altogether.

Furthermore, these lower-end firms often lack a customized approach, which usually fails to account for your specific goals, client needs, and competition. A common symptom of this problem is a sizable increase in website traffic, yet only a few consultations. This means they are bringing in website visitors who do not need your services, which doesn’t do you any good.

The initial savings from cheap law firm SEO services can end up being outweighed by the missed revenue from a poorly optimized website – or penalties from poor tactics. Moreover, there will likely be additional costs to fix these problems and recover your site’s standing.

Hiring a reputable law firm SEO agency is an essential part of a long-term, sustainable online growth strategy.

Can You DIY Law Firm SEO?

SEO is not objectively difficult. If you conduct proper research to educate yourself on SEO fundamentals and the essential tasks, you can certainly manage this job on your own.

However, the biggest factor in SEO for law firms is the time commitment, assuming you have all the necessary expertise. Law firms generally face tougher SEO competition than other industries. Seeing favorable results takes a team of technical specialists, strategists, content creators, editors, and analysts.

We see a lot of attorneys that have tried to manage SEO on their own. They quickly learn that SEO is not a backburner task for a free afternoon or weekend. Seeing profitable results takes a consistent effort that leaves no stone unturned.

Most importantly: Unless you invest serious time into learning the ropes of SEO, the DIY route typically leads to mistakes that harm your online presence.

SEO is a full-time job. As an attorney, your focus should be providing excellent legal services to clients, leaving law firm SEO to the legal marketing experts.

Turn to the Law Firm SEO Professionals

SEO is a series of large, never-ending tasks for law firms. The competition is tough and it’s not always easy to understand how much to invest in SEO.

The good news is that positive results aren’t always about how much money you throw at it.

An SEO agency with experience in the legal sector will know how to stretch a budget and help you get results on search engines quickly. At Law Edge Solutions, we specialize in law firm SEO services – and we’re here to help you get the results you need for a reasonable price.

We do more than just render SEO services. We take the time to help you understand the value of what we do – and how your budget is being used.

Schedule a FREE strategy call with us today to learn about the next steps.