It’s not extraordinary for a small law firm to spend more than $5,000 per month on search engine optimization. This usually comes with a package of services like building a blog, tweaking pages, building inbound links, writing articles, creating videos, etc.

I’d be shocked if you haven’t been solicited by a company offering a package like I’ve described.

I interacted with a firm recently spending right at $6,000 per month for a marketing package with all of this included.

Was it worth it?

Yes and no.

The firm got some quick results and moved nearly to the top of some search engine rankings. That resulted in increased traffic and increased call volume. All good.

Unfortunately, the results weren’t long lasting.

As the dust settled, over a period of a year or so, many of the search engine rankings declined. Some of the search terms where the firm achieved a top ranking proved insignificant in generating traffic. Much of the content the marketers created proved useless to users and damaged the firm’s reputation for quality. The firm thought it was buying long-term marketing results. It wasn’t.

Was the firm happy with its spending decision? Not really. After spending nearly $100,000, the firm’s leaders have some regrets. They feel they would have been better off using the money internally by producing high quality content that was more helpful to their site visitors. They would have, had that they gone that route, created an asset for the firm rather than using the money to achieve short-term results.

If they had it to do over again, they would have asked attorneys inside the firm to write explanatory articles for their website dealing with a variety of issues faced by their clients. They would have worried less about gaming the search engines and focused more on providing value to prospective clients. They would have looked for a long-term fix rather than a short-term victory.

It’s easy to get caught up in the hype of vendors selling attorney marketing ideas. They’ve got a strong self-interest in getting you to sign up and start paying.

You won’t find marketing sales pitches advocating doing it internally and going slow. You won’t find slick brochures advocating doing it yourself. It’s not easy to plan your own online marketing and then stick to a to-do list for getting it done. It’s easier to outsource the entire project and buy your way to the top of the search engines.

Unfortunately, the quick and easy solution isn’t always the long-term solution. The marketers will be long gone when you’re stuck with unsatisfactory results.

Be careful. Think before you act and try to determine whether you’re going to be another firm filled with regret about the money you spent.