Why is my law firm paying for marketing without getting results? One of four things: the work is not being done, the work is being done badly, the right work is aimed at the wrong channel, or the programme is working and failing at your intake. Diagnose in that order.
Three of the four causes look identical from the outside. The sequence below separates them before you make any decision.
- Published pricing — $2,500, $3,500 and $4,500 a month, on the site.
- Month to month. No contract is holding you anywhere.
- A former attorney of 17 years who filed 5,000+ cases works your account.
- You see your rankings move for 14 days before you are billed a dollar.
- Law firms only — no other industries, ever.
| Attorney Pro Marketing | Scorpion | FindLaw | Typical legal agency | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing published on the website | Yes — $2,500 / $3,500 / $4,500 per month | Not published | Not published | Rarely published |
| Contract term | Month to month, 30 days’ notice | Not published | Not published | Commonly 12 months |
| Who works on your account | A former attorney of 17 years, in every account | Assigned account team | Assigned account team | Account manager, often across industries |
| Your website is built on | Standard, portable code | Proprietary platform | FirmSite platform | Varies — ask before signing |
| See results before you are billed | Yes — 14 days, then you decide | No | No | No |
| Ad spend billed by Google directly to you | Yes, no markup | Ask | Ask | Often passes through the agency |
“Not published” means the figure does not appear on that company’s own website as of October 2026 — check for yourself before you sign anything, with them or with us.
The Four Causes
Every version of this problem resolves to one of these, and they require completely different responses.
- 1. The work is not being done. You are paying a retainer and little is happening. Leave.
- 2. The work is being done badly. Thin templated content, a badly structured ad account, a profile left static. Fixable with the right agency.
- 3. The right work, aimed at the wrong channel. Competent execution of a strategy that does not fit your practice area or market. Fixable with a conversation.
- 4. It is working, and failing at your intake. Calls are arriving and not converting. No agency change fixes this.
Causes 1, 2 and 3 look identical from your chair: the invoice arrives and nothing feels different. Cause 4 looks the same too, which is why so many firms change agencies and get the same outcome.
Is the Work Being Done?
This is the fastest and most decisive check, and it takes one email.
Ask for the URLs of every page created or edited in the last three months, with dates. Then open four of them. A page either exists or it does not; this cannot be dressed up.
Ask for the ad account change history. If the account is in your name you can read it yourself: every adjustment, timestamped.
Open your Google Business Profile. Posts this month? Reviews responded to? Photographs added? All visible to you and to every prospect.
If three months produced no pages, no account changes and no profile activity, you have your answer and you do not need the rest of this page.
Is It the Right Work, in the Right Place?
Suppose the work is real. Two further questions.
Is it aimed at terms that produce clients? A firm ranking well for terms nobody searches, or for terms searched by people who will never retain, is receiving competent work pointed at nothing. Check which terms are being tracked — and whether you chose them or the agency did. An agency reporting on terms it selected after work began is reporting on whatever improved.
Is the channel right for your practice area? Estate planning clients research for weeks and respond to content; criminal defence clients search on a phone at 11pm and respond to the Map Pack and ads. A content programme sold to a criminal defence firm is competent work in the wrong channel.
And is the site converting? Compare monthly visits to monthly contacts. Below roughly two percent, the traffic is arriving and the page is losing it, which is weeks of work rather than a new agency.
Is It Working and Failing at Intake?
Two numbers, both yours, and most firms have never measured either.
Answered-call rate. Pull the tracked-call report and count unanswered calls. Twenty to forty percent is common at small firms. Every one is a matter that went to the next result on the page.
Median response time to form submissions. Measured in minutes or in days? Somebody who filled in a form wanted to talk and chose the less confrontational route. Answered the next afternoon, they have already retained someone else.
If either number is poor, the programme may be performing and you cannot tell. Our page on leads that do not sign covers the fix, and the first three steps of it cost nothing.
The Hour-Long Sequence
- Email the agency for pages created or edited with URLs and dates, and the ad account change history. Five minutes.
- Search your three main terms in a private browser window. Note whether you are on page one and in the Map Pack. Ten minutes.
- Open your Google Business Profile. Check posts, reviews, photographs, hours. Five minutes.
- Compare visits to contacts for last month in your analytics. Ten minutes.
- Pull the tracked-call report and count unanswered calls and median callback time. Twenty minutes.
At the end of that hour you will know which of the four causes you have, which is a far better position than the conversation most firms have with their agency.
Our structure is designed so cause 1 cannot hide and cause 4 is visible. Rankings recorded on day 0, movement reported on day 14 before you are billed for that period, up to 30 keywords of your own choosing on every tier rather than ones we pick, call tracking with recordings from the Growth tier, and the ad account and Google Business Profile in your firm's name so you can audit the work without asking. Published pricing at $2,500, $3,500 and $4,500 a month, month to month with 30 days' notice.
See it before you pay for it.
We snapshot your rankings on day 0, build and launch your site within three days, and show you the movement on day 14. If it has not moved enough to be worth continuing, you owe nothing for that period and you keep the Google Business Profile work.
Related Questions
One of four causes: the work is not being done, the work is being done badly, the right work is aimed at the wrong channel for your practice area, or the programme is working and the output is being lost at intake. The first three look identical from outside, which is why so many firms switch agencies and get the same result.
Ask for the URLs of every page created or edited in the last three months with dates, then open four of them — a page either exists or it does not. Ask for the ad account change history, which is timestamped. And open your Google Business Profile to check posts, review responses and photographs yourself.
Yes, in two ways. It can be aimed at terms nobody searches or terms searched by people who will never retain — check whether you or the agency chose the tracked keywords. And it can be the wrong channel for your practice area: content suits estate planning research, while criminal defence clients respond to the Map Pack and ads.
Two numbers: your answered-call rate from the tracked-call report, where 20 to 40 percent unanswered is common at small firms, and your median response time to form submissions. If either is poor, the marketing may be working and you have no way to see it.