I have had several conversations recently with law firms that are asking if they can purchase SEO services as more of a "one-time shot". Another words, they want to pay a one-time fee for some SEO work and then call it a day. While there are some instances where this may be appropriate, I am afraid that lawyers ask for this type of service due to a lack of understanding of how SEO works and what exactly is involved.
If it's too good to be true......then it probably is.
If it was as easy as paying someone a few hundred bucks, as a one-time fee, to achieve high rankings on the search engines, don't you think everyone would just be doing that? Do you think that large, successful companies would have business models revolving around performing SEO work if this is all it took? The truth is that the SEO industry exists by virtue of the fact that it is time intensive work and requires constant maintenance to perform it correctly. However, the return on investment for well executed SEO work can be tremendous.
So what exactly needs to be done?
There is keyword research to perform, on-page optimization that needs to be done, link building on a continuous basis, content production, on page testing, and analytics analysis. After this analysis you should be expanding your efforts, going after more keywords and repeating the cycle. SEO is a dynamic, living thing. It grows and evolves over time. You plant seeds in the beginning and then care for sapling and the tree as it grows. Paying to perform one of these tasks, one-time isn't really performing SEO. In the Getting Found In Google guide posted below, we touch on just a few of the aspects and techniques of proper SEO. After reading the guide, you will see that it takes a commitment of time and resources to perform SEO correctly.
When a one-time SEO consultant package might make sense
If you were in a situation where you were performing your SEO services in house, another words had people on staff or even yourself handling the work each month, then it might make sense to retain the services of a professional consultant to do a one time analysis and give you guidance. However, too many firms I speak with do not have an SEO in house to handle the work. Instead, the firm is operating under the misconception that paying someone to perform a once-over on your current website will get the job done. Unfortunately, the legal industry is too competitive and there are too many other firms willing to pay professional SEO services top dollar to get a return on their online marketing. You will not be able to compete with these firms "on the cheap". You will need to make an investment of time, money, resources, and patience to properly implement a successful online strategy.