3 Questions to Ask BEFORE You Sign with a Legal Marketing Company

If you only read one thing on this website, make sure it’s this article. Before you enter into any sort of marketing agreement, protect your investment by getting answers to the following questions:

1. How many clients do you have in my area? Specifically, how many lawyers who practice my area of law in my city/county/region do you have as current clients?

The answer to this question is EXTREMELY important! If the answer is anything other than “NONE,” you’re dealing with a company that sees no issue with working for you and your competitors at the same time. This is clearly a conflict of interest, and you can rest assured that someone – either you, or your competitor – is going to get cheated in the process. Don’t deal with companies that see no problem with working for you and your competitor…how is that being loyal?!?

2. What type of guarantee can you give me regarding results?

As tempting as it may be, no reputable marketing company will ever give you a guarantee, or at least not the type of guarantee on investment that you’re looking for. Guarantees are a tricky thing in this industry. Remember this – no legitimate guarantees can be made when it comes to search rankings. Unless your marketing company has complete control over Google’s ranking algorithm and can manipulate the algorithm however it sees fit, no such guarantee can be made – ever.

However, that’s not to say that promises of “ranking on page one of Google” are completely false. Check out this article we wrote about what a guarantee in this industry really means.

With all of that being said, at SLS, we do offer a guarantee to our clients. Well, it’s actually more of a promise: “We promise to do everything and anything we can within Google’s guidelines to get your site top rankings. We will always work hard for you, every step of the way, and will always be attentive to your needs.” While that may not be what you think you want to hear, a promise to commit to high-quality output is always a good thing.

3. How long is it going to take for my site to rank?

This question is usually followed up with “When will I start signing cases?”

Unless a marketing company is intimately familiar with your website, it cannot accurately ascertain how long it’s going to be before your website starts to see ranking improvements and better conversions. Heck, even if the marketing company IS familiar with your website, it’s not really possible to determine exactly when your rankings and signed cases are going to improve. However, what is possible is to give a non-binding, educated guess as to how long it will be before the site starts showing better search placement.

For instance, after SLS has done a thorough website audit, we have a really good idea as to which site needs are higher priority than others. Focusing on the important stuff first (i.e., the factors that WILL have an impact on how highly you show up in search), we can give a general estimate of when sites similar to yours start to see an improvement (typically anywhere from 3-6 months).

As far as signing cases is concerned, ranking well can definitely drive more traffic to the site, but whether or not that traffic converts is an issue surrounding web design, site layout, and quality of content. A reputable marketing company has to be prepared to constantly tweak and test those things in order to improve the frequency and quality of leads. At SLS, we focus not just on rankings, but on your conversions. What good is it if you rank first in search and your phone isn’t ringing? If your marketing company is dismissive about conversions, focusing only on rankings, consider that a red flag.

At SLS Consulting, Inc., getting your phone to ring is our number-one priority. For more information, call our office at (323) 254-1510.