The Framework Law Firms Use to Evaluate SEO Agencies — Before Signing Anything

This framework is written for managing partners, firm administrators, and marketing directors at law firms who are actively evaluating SEO providers — not researching whether SEO is worth it (that decision is already made), but deciding which agency to trust with that investment.

The legal vertical is one of the most competitive in search. Personal injury, criminal defense, family law, and estate planning are all high-CPС practice areas where organic rankings translate directly to signed cases. That competitive reality attracts both excellent SEO agencies and operators who sell generic services with legal-sounding packaging.

This guide gives you a structured way to separate the two. It covers:

• The specific questions to ask during an agency evaluation
• A scorecard for comparing proposals side by side
• Contract terms that protect your firm if the relationship ends
• The red flags that appear in sales calls before you ever sign

One important note: this guide addresses general business and marketing considerations in hiring an SEO agency. It does not constitute legal advice. For questions about bar advertising compliance specific to your jurisdiction, consult your state bar's ethics resources or a legal ethics attorney.

When you're comparing two or three agencies, subjective impressions are unreliable. Use a structured scorecard so every agency gets evaluated on the same criteria.

1. Legal-Specific Experience

Has the agency worked with law firms in your practice area? There's a meaningful difference between an agency that has optimized a general services website and one that understands how Google evaluates legal content under its YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) framework. Ask for examples in your specific area — not just 'legal clients.'

2. Bar Advertising Awareness

Any agency creating content or running campaigns for your firm needs at minimum a working awareness of ABA Model Rules 7.1–7.3 and the advertising regulations in your state. They don't need to be your ethics counsel — but they should not be surprised when you raise this. Agencies that are unaware these rules exist will create compliance problems. (Verify current rules with your state bar — regulations vary by jurisdiction.)

3. Technical SEO Capability

Can they audit and fix site speed, crawlability, schema markup, and Core Web Vitals? Legal websites often have legacy code issues that suppress rankings. Ask to see a sample technical audit, not a slide deck about their 'approach.'

4. Content Quality and Process

Who writes the content? Are they legally trained writers or generalist freelancers? How do they handle practice area pages, FAQ content, and blog strategy? Ask for content samples in your practice area before you commit.

5. Local SEO and Map Pack Competency

For most law firms, Google Business Profile optimization and Map Pack visibility drive a significant share of leads. Does the agency have a documented local SEO process? Can they show Map Pack improvements for comparable firms?

6. Transparent Reporting

What does their monthly report look like? You should see keyword rankings, organic traffic trends, conversion events (calls, form fills), and GBP performance — not just a summary paragraph. Ask for a sample report before you sign.

Most agencies present well in a pitch. The tells usually come from specific claims or omissions — things that are easy to miss if you don't know what you're looking for.

• designed to rankings. No agency can guarantee a specific Google ranking. Google's algorithm is not something any vendor controls. Guarantees are either a misrepresentation or a sign they're planning to use tactics that produce short-term results and long-term penalties.
• Vague link-building language. If you ask 'how do you build backlinks for law firms?' and the answer is 'we have a network of partners' without any further detail, press harder. Ask for examples of sites they've placed links on. Spammy link profiles are one of the most common causes of Google penalties in legal SEO.
• No mention of compliance. An agency pitching legal SEO that never raises bar advertising rules, attorney ethics, or YMYL content standards has likely not worked deeply in the legal vertical before.
• Lock-in contracts with no asset ownership clause. If the agency owns your website, your content, or your backlink profile — and you have no exit rights — you're building on rented land.
• Generic case studies. 'We grew traffic for a law firm by X%' without specifying practice area, market, or baseline is not verifiable evidence. Ask for specifics or for a reference call with a current client.
• Pressure to decide quickly. Legitimate agencies don't manufacture urgency. If you're being pushed toward a signature before you've had time to review a contract, that's a signal about how the relationship will be managed.

None of these flags alone disqualifies an agency — but each one warrants a direct follow-up question. How they respond to scrutiny tells you more than the pitch did.

SEO contracts are not standardized. What you negotiate before you sign determines your options if the results don't materialize or the relationship breaks down. Here are the terms worth reviewing carefully.

Asset Ownership

Confirm in writing that your firm owns the website, all published content, Google Business Profile, and any backlinks acquired on your behalf. Some agencies retain ownership of sites they build as use to prevent churn. This is a structural problem, not a negotiating point — it should be a hard requirement.

Initial Term and Exit Rights

A 6–12 month initial commitment is standard in legal SEO because meaningful results take time to materialize. That's reasonable. What's also reasonable is a provision allowing exit after month 3 or 4 with 30 days' notice if specific deliverables haven't been met. Ask what those milestones are and get them in the contract.

Deliverables, Not Just Services

The contract should specify what will be delivered each month: number of content pieces, technical fixes, link-building activity, and reporting cadence. 'Ongoing SEO services' with no specifics is not an enforceable standard.

Scope of Work Clarity

Be explicit about what is and is not included. Paid ads, social media management, and website redesign are often sold as add-ons. Know what you're buying and what would trigger an additional cost.

Performance Benchmarks

Agree in advance on how success is measured. Organic sessions, lead volume, keyword movement, and Map Pack presence are all trackable. An agency that resists defining benchmarks is an agency that doesn't want to be held accountable.

Subcontractor Disclosure

Ask whether any work will be outsourced to subcontractors or offshore teams, and whether those parties have access to your accounts or client data. For law firms with confidentiality obligations, this matters.

After evaluating two or three agencies, most law firms arrive at a similar set of hesitations. Here's how to work through the most common ones honestly.

'We've been burned by an SEO agency before.'

This is the most common objection — and it's legitimate. In our experience working with law firms, a prior bad engagement usually involved one of three things: an agency that applied generic tactics to a competitive legal market, an agency that stopped delivering after month 2, or a contract that locked the firm in without recourse. The answer is not to avoid SEO — it's to use the vetting criteria and contract terms above to structure a better engagement this time.

'We don't have time to manage an agency.'

A well-run SEO engagement requires roughly one hour per month from your side for a review call and content approvals. If an agency is requiring significant time beyond that, they haven't built a functional workflow. Ask specifically what they need from you each month before you sign.

'We're not sure SEO is the right channel.'

If your prospective clients search for attorneys before calling — and in most practice areas, industry benchmarks suggest the majority do — then organic visibility is a durable channel. The alternative (paid search only) requires continuous spend with no compounding return. Both have a role; neither should be dismissed without data specific to your market.

'The proposal is more expensive than we expected.'

Legal SEO in competitive markets is priced higher than general SEO because the work is harder and the stakes are higher. That said, price alone is not a quality signal. Compare what's in scope across proposals rather than comparing monthly fees. A lower fee with fewer deliverables is not a better deal.

These are the questions that reveal whether an agency has genuine legal SEO depth — or is applying a general framework with legal-sounding language.

• 'Walk me through a campaign you ran for a firm in my practice area. What did you do, and what happened?' Listen for specificity: market, starting position, tactics used, timeline, and results. Vague answers mean limited experience.
• 'How do you approach bar advertising compliance in the content you produce?' The answer should demonstrate awareness of your state's rules, not a generic 'we follow best practices.'
• 'What does month one look like for my firm specifically?' A credible agency should be able to outline the first 30 days in detail: audit, keyword research, technical fixes, content planning.
• 'Who will actually be working on my account — and can I meet them?' Know whether you're buying senior strategy or junior execution. Both can be fine, but you should know what you're getting.
• 'What would cause you to recommend we pause or change course six months in?' An agency that's willing to have this conversation understands that SEO outcomes are not designed to and that strategy needs to adapt to data.
• 'Can you share a sample monthly report from a current client (anonymized)?' This is the fastest way to evaluate reporting quality. If they can't or won't share a redacted sample, that tells you something.

If you want to explore working with our team, explore our attorney SEO services and see how we structure engagements for law firms in competitive markets.