Before any SEO work starts, seven things should sit in your firm's own name: the domain, the website, the content, the Google Business Profile, the Google Analytics and Search Console accounts, the phone numbers, and the directory profiles. This checklist explains why each one matters and how to confirm it in about ten minutes.
Why ownership comes before the SEO work
Good law firm SEO builds things that last: pages that rank, a Google profile with years of reviews, and search data that shows what clients look for. That value sits in a handful of accounts. When the firm holds them, it can bring in any provider as a user and remove them later without losing anything.
It also answers the questions lawyers ask before hiring: who owns the content, and how to switch providers without starting over. Use the list whether you are starting law firm SEO or reviewing current work.
1. The domain name
Why it matters
The domain is the address of your website and, in most firms, your email. Whoever controls the registrar account controls where both point. Every link and ranking the site earns is tied to that domain.
How to check it in 10 minutes
- Log in to the registrar account yourself, with a login the firm holds.
- Confirm the domain is listed there and the registrant is the firm, with a contact email on a mailbox the firm controls.
- Confirm auto-renew is on, the card on file is current, and note the expiration date.
If the domain sits in another account, most registrars can move it into one the firm creates.
2. The website and its hosting
Why it matters
The website lives on a hosting account and usually runs on a content management system (CMS) such as WordPress. With the hosting account and an administrator login, the firm can keep the site running, bring in a new provider, or change hosts on its own schedule.
How to check it in 10 minutes
- Log in to the hosting account and confirm the firm is the account owner.
- Log in to the CMS with a firm-held account that has the top role (Administrator in WordPress), and review the user list.
- Find the backup or export option and confirm the firm can download a full copy: site files and database.
If a provider hosts the site on its own platform, ask in writing what the firm receives if it moves: pages, images and text in a usable format.
3. The content
Why it matters
Practice-area pages, blog posts and photos are what earn rankings. Ownership of work commissioned from an outside company turns largely on the written agreement. Good agreements state that pages, posts and photos written or bought for the firm belong to the firm, or are licensed to it permanently, including after the engagement ends.
How to check it in 10 minutes
- Open the agreement and search for "ownership," "intellectual property," "license" and "termination."
- Confirm the terms cover both text and photos, and say what happens to each when the work stops.
- For stock photos, ask whose name the license is in and whether it continues if the firm changes providers.
This article is not legal advice. Contract questions belong with your firm's own counsel.
4. Google Business Profile
Why it matters
Your Google Business Profile drives map results, holds your reviews, and is often the first thing a client sees. It sits at the center of how law firms get into Google's map pack.
Per Google's help pages, a profile can have several owners and managers but only one primary owner. Owners and managers can both edit business information, reply to reviews and post updates. Only owners can add or remove users and remove the profile, and only the primary owner can transfer primary ownership. New owners and managers may need to wait seven days before they can remove other users or change the primary owner.
Good setup: the firm is the primary owner, through a Google account it controls. A provider gets Manager access, which covers day-to-day SEO work, or Owner access if it needs to add people. The firm can remove either one at any time.
How to check it in 10 minutes
- Sign in with the firm's Google account, open the profile, and select More, then Business Profile settings, then People and access.
- Confirm the firm's account shows as Primary owner.
- Review every other name and access level, and remove anyone no longer working with the firm.
Sources: Manage your Business Profile owners and managers and Transfer primary ownership of a Business Profile.
5. Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console
Why it matters
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) records what visitors do on your site. Search Console shows which searches bring them there and reports indexing problems. Together they hold the history you need to judge any SEO work, and a new GA4 property starts with none.
GA4 has five roles: Administrator, Editor, Marketer, Analyst and Viewer. Administrators have full control and can add and remove users. Editors control property settings but cannot manage users. Search Console uses Owner, Full user and Restricted user. A verified owner proved ownership with a token such as a DNS record; a delegated owner was added by a verified owner. If all verified owners are removed, everyone else loses access after a grace period.
Good setup: the firm holds the Administrator role in GA4 and is a verified owner in Search Console, ideally on a Domain property verified with a DNS record at the firm's own registrar. Google notes that record must stay in place. Providers are added as users: Editor or a lower role in GA4, Full user in Search Console.
How to check it in 10 minutes
- In GA4, open Admin, then Access management at the account level, and confirm a firm-held login has the Administrator role.
- In Search Console, open Settings, then Users and permissions, and confirm a firm-held login is a verified owner, not only a delegated one.
- Write down every other user and role in both tools.
Sources: GA4 access management, Add, edit and delete Analytics users, Search Console owners, users and permissions and Verify your site ownership.
6. Call tracking numbers
Why it matters
Many SEO providers use tracking numbers to count calls from the website. The numbers live in a call tracking account, and whose account that is decides what happens to them if the firm changes providers. Listings also need one stable number: consistent name, address and phone details help clients and search engines match every listing to the same firm. Keep the firm's main number as the primary number on the Google profile and directories.
How to check it in 10 minutes
- Ask for a list of every tracking number, where it appears, and which line it forwards to.
- Ask whose account holds the numbers and whether they can be transferred or ported to the firm when an engagement ends.
- Check your Google profile and two or three directory listings for the main number.
7. Review and directory profiles
Why it matters
Legal directories and review sites send referrals, appear in searches for your firm's name, and often carry their own reviews. Examples include Avvo, Justia, FindLaw, Martindale-Hubbell and Lawyers.com, Super Lawyers, Yelp, Bing Places and Apple Business Connect. Each profile should be claimed with a firm-held login and show the same name, address and phone number.
How to check it in 10 minutes
- Start a sheet with one row per directory: profile link, login email, and who else has access.
- Search the firm's name on each site and open the profile.
- Compare name, address and phone with the Google profile, and note any that differ.
The checklist at a glance
| Item | Where it lives | What the firm should hold | What a provider should get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domain name | Registrar account | Account login, registrant listing, auto-renew | DNS changes made on request, or user access if offered |
| Website | Hosting account and CMS | Hosting account, Administrator login, backups | Its own CMS login; hosting access as needed |
| Content | Written agreement | Ownership or a permanent license | Edit access to publish approved work |
| Google Business Profile | People and access | Primary owner | Manager, or Owner if it must add users |
| Google Analytics 4 | Access management | Administrator | Editor or a lower role |
| Search Console | Users and permissions | Verified owner | Full user |
| Call tracking | Call tracking account | Main number on listings; agreed terms for tracking numbers | Access to set up numbers and read call reports |
| Directory profiles | Each directory's dashboard | Logins under a firm email | User access where offered, or edits on request |
How to hand over access safely
- Add users, never share passwords. Google Business Profile, GA4, Search Console and most hosting panels and CMS platforms let you add a person with their own login.
- Use firm-controlled email. Register every account to a mailbox on the firm's domain that more than one person can reach, so access does not leave with an employee.
- Turn on two-step verification for the registrar and the firm's Google account.
- Keep an access log. One page listing each account, the firm's login, every other user, their role, and the date added.
- Remove access when work ends. When an engagement or a staff member's role ends, remove their access that week. If a password was ever shared, change it.
Owning these keeps the value with the firm
None of this depends on who does the SEO. When the firm holds these seven items, a change of provider is a change of users. The pages, reviews and data stay put, and whoever comes next starts from there.
If you are comparing proposals, see what law firm SEO costs at four budget levels. At LawSEO, everything I build sits in the firm's name from day one. Read who I am, see how an engagement is set up in my process, or request an audit for an outside view of where your firm stands.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns a law firm's website content if a marketing company wrote it?
It depends on the written agreement. Good agreements state that pages, blog posts and photos written or bought for the firm belong to the firm, or are licensed to it permanently, including after the engagement ends.
Can we switch SEO providers without starting over?
Yes, when the firm holds the accounts. The new provider is added as a user, the previous one is removed, and the pages, reviews and data stay where they are.
What access should an SEO provider get to our Google Business Profile?
Manager access covers most SEO work, including editing business information, replying to reviews and posting updates. Owner access adds the ability to add and remove users. The firm stays the primary owner and can remove either role later.
What should we ask a law firm SEO company before hiring?
Ask whose name each account will be in, what access the company needs and at what role, whose account holds any tracking numbers, and what the firm keeps when the engagement ends.
SEO consultant for US law firms. I work with one kind of client, US law firms, and do one thing for them: SEO. More about me