Not sure if you’re SEO efforts are paying off? Below are some of the key metrics you need to look at to determine whether your attorney SEO campaign is working.

We also include the third-party tools you’ll need to track these metrics.

1. Check Your Organic Rankings for Commercial Intent Keywords

Using a divorce/family law firm as an example, you’ll want to ensure you rank well for keywords like: “divorce lawyer.”

Below are example keywords you want to rank for depending on your practice type:

  • Personal Injury
    • Personal Injury Lawyer
    • Car Accident Lawyer
    • Truck Accident Lawyer

  • Criminal Defense
    • Criminal Defense Lawyer
    • Criminal Lawyer
    • Domestic Violence Lawyer

  • Family Law
    • Divorce Lawyer
    • Family Law Attorney
    • Child Custody Attorney

Pro-Tip

Also, check GEO-modified keywords. For example, if you’re a personal lawyer in Houston, check terms like Houston car accident lawyer and Houston truck accident lawyer. If you practice in Chicago, make sure to check terms like Chicago personal injury lawyer.

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2. Check Your Traffic for Informational Intent Keywords

In a nutshell, you need to measure whether Google is sending users to your site. Think of your website as your virtual storefront. To get leads from your site, you need site visitors.

And how do you get visitors? By having Google send people to your site.

But how do you do that? By publishing content that answers questions related to your services.

Think about it. When you shop, do you always know what you want or research the product or service first? Let me guess, the latter.

Most people start by researching a topic before entering the commercial intent phase.

Sticking with the “divorce lawyer” example from above. Imagine coming home and seeing your spouse doing the following Google search: “Will I lose my house in a divorce?” You would be panicked (or relieved), right?

If you’re a family law attorney, you would want to answer that question instead of allowing another attorney to answer it. 

Why? Because that search shows intent to hire a divorce lawyer.

How much traffic should my site get?

It depends on your practice area and market. But as a general rule, you want at least 5,000 monthly visitors.

Another reason why you need site traffic is because traffic justifies links. Google might see it as suspicious if you’re getting a lot of new backlinks but no traffic. If you have no traffic, then who is linking to you?

How do I track my traffic?

Google Search Console (GSC) is the best and completely free tool. Additionally, GSC data comes directly from Google. You should already have access to your GSC data. If not, ask your current marketing company to provide access.

Red flag: If your marketing company gets nervous about providing access to your GSC, you should look for another marketing company.

SEMRush: Another great tool is SEMRush. Their plans start at $129 per month. With SEMRush, you can not only see your traffic, but compare it to the top competitors in your market.

Tools

3. Check Your Local Pack Visibility (Local Rankings)

This one is simple. Using commercial intent keywords like “personal injury lawyer,” do you rank well in the local pack?

You may be searching out of your office and think, “I’m in the local pack!” But that’s not the way you want to measure it. Think about it. If someone is Googling “personal injury lawyer” from your office, you have bigger fish to fry.

Instead, use the gold standard for measuring Local Pack visibility – Local Falcon (LF). With LF, you can see how visible in the Local Pack using the radius of your choosing. We suggest you start with a 1-mile radius and go from there.

Plans start at $24.99, so there’s no reason not to get a LF account.

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4. Check Your Call Volume

Another metric to consider is your call volume. Your marketing company might show you reports indicating that the above three items look good. But none of that will matter if the call volume isn’t there.

What should you expect from your legal marketing agency? They should be getting you leads, defined as:

  • Topically relevant: People who believe they have a legal issue that is relevant to what you do, and
  • Geographically relevant: People who are located in an area that you serve.

How do I track my call volume?

To track your call volume, we recommend using CallRail (CR). With CR, you’ll be able to get a ton of useful info such as:

  • Caller location,
  • Duration of call,
  • Keyword they used to find you,
  • Page they were on when they called you, and
  • Ability to record the call for quality control purposes.

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5. Check Your Return on Investment (ROI)

At the end of the day, all that really matters is whether you’re making enough money on your marketing investment to continue on with your current marketing provider. That’s what return-on-investment (ROI) is all about.

What is a good ROI?

In general, you want to shoot for at least a 5x ROI.

In other words, for every $1 you pay your marketing firm, you get back $5.

How do I measure ROI?

Take the average value of a signed case and multiply it by how many cases you received in the time period you’re measuring. Then divide that number by how much you paid your marketing company.

Important Caveat to ROI

If you only take high-value cases, you may put downward pressure on your ROI.

Why? Because you’re passing up a lot of smaller cases that would help justify the marketing expense.

There’s nothing wrong with cherry-picking for the best cases, but if your threshold is too high, you may lose out on a lot of great cases that will help pay for your marketing efforts.

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Pro-Tips

If you have great rankings, traffic, and visibility but you’re still not getting calls, then you may have an issue with one or both of the following:

  • Website Design: Is your site conversion-driven? If not, it might be time for a design refresh.
  • Intake: Does your team do a good job of handling inbound calls? If you don’t know, use CallRail to record the calls and spot-check their intake.