One of the most common questions we get is about how much a law firm should pay for SEO. And this isn’t the first time that I’ve written about this subject either. The problem, of course, is that it really depends. But the ultimate answer is, over time, less than it generates in new business. Which, depending on your sophistication, can be a difficult thing to measure.
Instead of focusing on the cost of SEO for your law firm, I humbly suggest that you focus on defining goals for your SEO, or really, any marketing or advertising that you’re doing.
For instance, if your SEO goal is merely to have some information for search users that look for you, then, unless you have a very common name or popular name, your SEO shouldn’t cost you very much at all. In fact, by simply registering a domain, installing wordpress, and optimizing the home page of your site for your name, you will likely be able to very quickly, easily and inexpensively appear prominently in organic search results for searches for your name.
On the other hand, if you’re intent on “ranking #1″ for very competitive and highly searched for queries, then it’s like you will have to make much more significant investments of time and money into your search engine optimization marketing initiatives.
It’s a fact that, with a little bit of learning, you can do a lot of search engine optimization on your own. And so, much of the cost of do-it-yourself SEO is merely a matter of a time investment. Investing in learning, strategy, and execution. But of course, the question becomes how much time do you have to invest? Do you have some of the necessary skills? How competitive is the sand box within which you are operating?
If you decide that your online business development goals require some professional attention, make sure you thoroughly vet your prospective SEO professional. Ask a lot of questions. Especially questions about their experience working with law firms, examples of their work and what specific strategies they intend to execute on your behalf.
