SEO is a long term strategy to generate leads for a law firm 24/7, 365 days a year without the law firm SEO expert ever having to worry about the source of those leads.

On the other hand SEM or Google Ads requires a daily budget to show up in front of potential clients on search engines. SEM is a great tool to test the market and see how potential clients interact with your law firm’s website. But for law firms SEM can be very expensive. Depending on your keywords a single click can cost over $100. If you convert at 5% you might need to spend $2,000 ($100 per click x 5% conversion) before you get a client.

The goal of SEO is to reduce SEM spend and create a sustainable and cost effective lead funnel for a law firm. The more clicks you get through organic search the less you’ll need to spend on other channels to acquire new clients.