Yes, one company can build your law firm’s website while another handles SEO and marketing. Choose the arrangement that gives your firm a capable team, clear responsibility for changes, and a workable path from a prospective client’s first visit to a handled inquiry.
A single agency can reduce the coordination you have to manage. Separate agencies can make sense when you already have a strong relationship with one provider or need development expertise beyond the marketing team’s scope. Neither arrangement guarantees better rankings, more qualified inquiries, or a return on your budget.
Juris Digital provides both website design and SEO for law firms. This guide explains how to compare the two arrangements, including the questions to ask before signing with us or another provider.
When should one agency build and market your website?
Consider one agency when you need a new website and an ongoing marketing program, and the same team can demonstrate the skills for both. Ask who will plan the practice pages, write the content, build the site, check search visibility, and maintain the contact forms. A single contract is useful only if those responsibilities are covered.
The practical advantage is a shared plan. The people choosing which matters and markets to pursue can work with the people building the pages and contact paths. Your staff has one accountable contact when a change affects several parts of the site. That can simplify decisions; it does not excuse a vague scope or weak work.
Evaluate each capability separately. Review relevant launched websites and ask how the team checks inquiries against the firm’s intake records. A polished design portfolio does not establish SEO capability, and an SEO proposal does not establish development capability. Our law firm SEO service describes that part of our work.
When do separate website and SEO agencies make sense?
Keep separate providers when there is a concrete reason to do so: a trusted developer understands your existing system, your current marketing team is performing work you want to retain, or the project needs a specialist integration. Ask both providers to agree to the working arrangement before either contract is signed.
A client portal, payment workflow, or connection to a case management system may require specialist development and security review. Specify the actual requirement before deciding that it needs a separate agency. Do not assume that every marketing agency can build it, or that every specialist must replace your entire public website.
Standalone website projects can also be a sensible purchase. Define what the finished site must do and who will maintain it after launch. Juris Digital offers standalone law firm website design and rebuild projects; the right scope depends on the firm’s needs.
Which agency should you hire first?
Agree on the firm’s target matters, markets, useful existing pages, and inquiry path before approving a design. If separate teams are involved, bring the SEO provider into planning before the developer fixes the page structure and begins the build. This gives both teams a chance to identify changes while they are still proposals.
You do not have to replace a working website just to start SEO. Ask the marketing provider to explain what needs to change, why it matters to prospective clients or search access, and whether the existing site can support it. If the reason for a rebuild is unclear, ask for a written diagnosis before buying one.
If the site will move to a new platform or change URLs, include the SEO provider in the migration plan. Google’s guidance on site moves with URL changes covers URL mapping, redirects, testing, and monitoring. A migration plan is a way to manage risk, not a promise that search performance will stay unchanged.
Put these responsibilities in writing
Use the following as a discussion checklist with either one agency or two. Name a person or team for each item, describe the deliverable, and state how your firm will approve it.
- Content and page plan: Who decides which practice and location pages to retain, revise, or create? Who checks the legal meaning and approves public copy?
- Website access: Who controls the domain registration, hosting account, administrator access, source files, and backups? What access and files will the firm receive if the engagement ends?
- Changes and support: Who can publish a change? Who handles a broken form or site outage? What are the response expectations and charges for work outside the scope?
- Measurement: Who maintains analytics and call or form tracking? Who reconciles inquiries with intake records so a page visit or duplicate call is not counted as a new client?
- Launch and migration: Who tests contact paths, reviews URL changes and redirects, approves launch, and checks the public site afterward?
- Coordination: Who resolves a disagreement between providers, approves additional costs, and tells your staff what they need to do?
Account access and ownership are different questions. Have the contract identify the firm’s rights to the website, content, accounts, and supplied assets. Ask for an exit and handoff process while everyone is still planning the project.
If you use two agencies, agree on one launch checklist
Ask the developer and marketing provider to work from the same page list and acceptance criteria. For example, the marketing provider can review proposed URLs and page content; the developer can explain technical constraints; and the firm can approve the legal copy and the contact path. These are suggested responsibilities, not a universal allocation.
Before launch, have the responsible team test the site on a phone and desktop, complete a clearly identified test inquiry, check where it arrives, and confirm who responds. If URLs change, test the agreed redirects and key pages. Decide who can pause or reverse the launch if an essential contact path fails.
After launch, review the actual public pages and intake path together. Record unresolved problems, the person responsible, and the next check. Do not leave the firm to relay conflicting explanations between two providers.
Compare the full scope before comparing price
Ask for the website project fee, recurring marketing fee, hosting and maintenance costs, third party licenses, and expected charges for additional work. With two providers, include the time and cost of coordination. With one provider, identify which services are included and which are separate purchases.
Ask what happens if the firm wants to keep the website but change marketing providers. You should be able to understand the proposed transition, access arrangements, and remaining obligations before you commit. Judge each proposal against the same deliverables rather than assuming the lower monthly number buys the same work.
Choose the team you can hold accountable
Choose one agency when it can do the required work and a shared plan will help your firm. Choose separate agencies when the specialist capability or existing relationship is worth the coordination, and both teams accept a clear division of responsibility.
Your next step is to ask each provider for a written scope, named owners, a launch checklist, and an exit plan. If you would like to discuss how Juris Digital could handle your website and marketing needs, Explore Partnership.
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