Law Firm SEO
Organic Search & Paid Search Explained

The answer to this depends on three things:

1. Your budget;
2. Where you are in your business life cycle; and
3. Your short- and long-term business objectives.

If you are in your first few years of business, you won’t likely have the budget for a full SEO strategy and rollout but you can get a start. Begin by getting yourself familiar with it and how it works. You can also start applying some of the more simplistic elements to get some runs on the board (we often offer SEO programs and other training opportunities on this page). Then, when you are in a position to do it more comprehensively, and are confident about the investment, you can engage a team like ours to do the heavy lifting, while ensuring it all works in with your brand voice. If you are an already established firm, that has the  resources to invest in an organic search strategy, speak to a few different SEOs and be  discerning about who you partner with to do it as there are varying degrees of specialisation.

Importantly, organic search (organic SEO) is an ongoing process that takes time. It’s not going to meet your expectations if you needed clients yesterday.

Of the firms we work with, while they work with us for a minimum of 12 months, typically it’s ongoing in some capacity. Why? Because search engines also like to know that your ‘old’ content is being revisited and updated to be relevant to new audiences. 

During the first year we get to showcase the changes in ranking and get fantastic results because we can take them from not being found by particular phrases to being found and to being towards the top (if not the very top) of the search results for numerous search terms (keywords). 

Paid ads can be a great strategy when you are looking to have an injection of traffic to your site. However, a carefully constructed strategy is required to ensure you get quality traffic, not just volumes of traffic (that you pay for) that have a lower  chance of converting into being a paid client.

If you are unable to, or do not have the the time to execute an organic SEO plan, and you cannot do without the leads coming in, paid ads can be a good way to get in front of the market. However, know that you will pay for the traffic regardless of whether your leads become a client or not. 

It is proven time and time again that a combination of both paid search and organic SEO can be very powerful. After all, search engines like Google are not only in the business of serving up the best and most relevant content, but they are also in the market of revenue generation, as any good business should be.

Organic Search and Paid Ads is a speciality area and while many will tell you all about their great results, not many will have the depth of insight into the work that lawyers and law firms do, to replicate those great outcomes.

Give yourself a little time to do you research, ask questions to learn about their depth of knowledge in your practice area, not just with law firms generally. See our recommendation questions to ask resources at the bottom of this page.

SEO is both a science and an art. It is complex and deep work when done well. The results, while not as quick as paid search ads, are for those who value and understand the power of the long-game.

There is a solid strategy piece that is involved in getting a good return on investment.

At LawUE, we start with an analysis of where a firm currently stands in the market through a variety of data sources, as well as take a good look at where your competitors sit currently in terms of search ranking (amongst other elements). 

We gain deep insights into your direct competitors that we share with you, take into account your objectives and create a strategy that not only helps you rise in the rankings but also has you prominent across the networks and platforms that count. 

What is fascinating about the law space is that organic SEO and organic search marketing is incredibly underutilised.

Coupled with our deep work, we get incredible results for our clients because so few care for the long game and avoid investing in the organic search marketing approach.

Those that solely pay for ads like it because it can offer quick wins. But it is an organic search strategy that can have them far more prominent in the market as well as their referral network and peers. 

We see that it is the discerning practice owners and already leading lawyers  who value the deep work we do to get them appearing in more organic search results and higher up the rankings.

The trust they put in us, and the curiosity they have in the early strategy piece is what helps them truly understand the long-term benefits of an  organic search strategy. And, it’s the firms that are investing in this now that are reaping the rewards. Especially when they have a focus on high quality clients.

Importantly, law firm SEO is not a fad. It is here to stay (while always evolving) is entirely measurable and responsible for the most significant rises in market prominence that no-one can see coming. Partially because it is progressive work and most people don’t understand it’s power. 

That being said, each business’ goals are different and not everyone wants to grow their firm profile in the same way. 

That is why we have a confidential discussion with business owners before we work together to ensure we find a match between the firms objectives and any marketing strategy or initiative.