Twelve questions to ask a law firm SEO agency, what a good answer sounds like, the red flags that should end the conversation, and how we answer them ourselves.
Table of Contents(7 sections)
The short answer
Most firms compare agencies on price and sales calls. The questions below compare them on what decides the outcome: ownership, the actual work, how it is measured and how much risk it puts on your licence and your site.
What Google itself warns about
Google's own guide for site owners, "Do you need an SEO?", says no one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google. It suggests asking an SEO for examples of previous work, whether they follow Google Search Essentials, and how they will communicate, and it warns against those who claim a special relationship with Google or promise guaranteed rankings. It is short and worth reading before any sales call.
The 12-question scorecard
| Ask | A good answer | A red flag |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Who will own my Business Profile, website, domain and analytics? | You do; the agency gets manager access. | The agency creates or holds them in its own account. |
| 2. What exactly happens each month? | Named deliverables: pages, profile changes, fixes. | "Ongoing optimisation" with no list. |
| 3. What will the report show? | Calls, form fills and signed cases, alongside rankings. | Rankings and traffic only. |
| 4. Do you work with my competitors in the same city and practice? | No, or a clear exclusivity policy. | Yes, or no straight answer. |
| 5. Can you show results, and are any of them law firms? | Dated, verifiable results, and honesty if none are legal. | Unverifiable screenshots or round-number claims. |
| 6. How do you get links and mentions? | Directories, real local and legal publications, PR. | Buying links, or networks of sites. |
| 7. How do you handle several cities? | Separate pages with real local detail for cities you serve. | One page copied with the city name swapped. |
| 8. Who writes the content, and who checks the law? | A writer, with attorney review for legal accuracy. | AI-generated pages with no review. |
| 9. How do you keep copy within bar rules? | Knows ABA Model Rules 7.1 and 7.2 and checks your state's version. | Copy that promises outcomes or calls you a "specialist" without basis. |
| 10. What does the contract say? | Month to month, or a short term with a clear exit. | A long lock-in before any work is visible. |
| 11. What do you guarantee? | The process, and measurable progress by a set date. | A #1 ranking or a number of cases. |
| 12. When should I expect movement? | First measurable movement in about 60 to 90 days; longer for competitive terms. | "Page one in 30 days." |
While you’re thinking about this
Is your own site making this mistake?
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Red flags that should end the conversation
- A guaranteed #1 ranking — Google says no one can promise one.
- A "special relationship" with Google, or paid "priority" indexing.
- Your profile or website in the agency's name. Leaving should not cost you your listing or your reviews.
- Bought links or private blog networks. They can lead to a manual action against your site.
- City-swapped pages at scale. Google treats them as doorway pages.
- Outcome promises in your copy. A bar complaint is a worse result than a ranking drop.
Questions to ask yourself first
- Can your intake handle more leads? If calls go to voicemail, more leads mostly means more lost cases. See what a slow intake costs.
- Which practices and cities matter most? A focused plan beats a thin one spread over everything.
- Can you judge it on signed cases? That needs a source field in your intake system.
- What can you afford for long enough to judge? SEO starts moving in about 60 to 90 days and builds after that. See what law firm SEO costs.
How SearchPrex answers these questions
For transparency, here is how we answer the scorecard ourselves.
| Question | Our answer |
|---|---|
| Ownership | Your profile, website, domain and analytics stay in your name. |
| Monthly work and reporting | A written plan, and a report every Monday on rankings, calls and form fills. |
| Competitors | One firm per city and practice area. |
| Law firm results | None yet. We have not completed a law firm engagement, so we publish no legal results. Our case studies are in local services and ecommerce, labelled by industry. |
| Contract | Month to month. |
| Guarantee | Measurable progress in rankings, traffic or leads within 90 days, or we keep working at no extra cost or refund those 90 days' fees. No ranking guarantee. |
| Timeline | First measurable movement usually within 60 to 90 days. See how long law firm SEO takes. |
The full picture is in the complete guide to law firm SEO, or request a free audit.
Frequently asked questions
What should I ask a law firm SEO agency before hiring?
Who will own your accounts, what happens each month, what the report shows, whether they work with your competitors, how they get links, who checks legal accuracy, how they follow bar rules, the contract terms and what they guarantee.
What are the biggest red flags in an SEO agency?
A guaranteed #1 ranking, a claimed special relationship with Google, your profile or website held in the agency's name, bought links, city-swapped pages at scale, and copy that promises legal outcomes.
Should a law firm SEO agency have law firm case studies?
They help, but only if they are dated and verifiable. An honest agency without legal results will say so and show the same kind of work in other industries, labelled as such.
Should my agency work only with my firm in my city?
Ideally, for your practice area. An agency serving two personal injury firms in the same city is working against one of them.
Can an agency guarantee results?
No one can guarantee a ranking; Google says so. An agency can commit to the work, to reporting, and to measurable progress by a set date, with a remedy if it does not happen.
Mubashar Sharif
LinkedIn ProfileMubashar Sharif is the founder of SearchPrex. Semrush and HubSpot certified, he works on technical SEO, Google Business Profile and local search for US businesses.
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