How long does a new agency take to get up to speed?
Three to six months, and the in-house team absorbs most of the disruption, which is why switching should not be rushed.
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How to challenge your agency without falling out with them
By building your own evidence and asking better questions, framed as help rather than accusation. Keep a year-on-year tracker outside the agency's report, with leads against your firm's agreed definition, leads by practice area and source, conversion from visit to lead and from lead to billable matter, hosting costs and page speed. Then ask what changed in the analytics setup, how this month compares with the same month in previous years, and what the agency would do differently if it were starting from scratch.
Why do agency reports always look positive?
Because agencies optimise for keeping the relationship, like every supplier. Most marketing leads at law firms have an agency relationship that is slightly uncomfortable: the agency has been there for years, knows the partners and the brand, and has done good work in places, but the monthly report feels thin, the numbers always tell a positive story, and the answers to hard questions come back too technical to judge. Tidy numbers and green arrows keep a relationship going; declining engagement, weak conversion to billable work and missing CRM tracking get less airtime because they invite questions. Most agencies are not aware they are doing it. The reporting framework was often set up years earlier by someone who has since left, and nobody has revisited it.
What should a firm track outside the agency's report?
The metrics you actually care about, month by month, for two years back. The ones I usually include are total leads against your firm's agreed definition; leads by practice area; leads by traffic source, whether organic, paid, direct or referral; conversion from website visit to lead; conversion from lead to billable matter, which needs the CRM; hosting costs; and average page speed on the top ten pages. It takes a couple of hours a month. When the agency presents its report, compare it with your tracker: if they agree you have a clean conversation, and if they disagree you have one worth having.
Which questions should you ask on the monthly call?
The ones agencies do not expect. What changed in our analytics setup this month, since occasionally something has been changed without telling you. How does this month compare with the same month last year and the year before, since month-on-month comparisons can hide structural decline. Which pages drove conversions and which drove the most traffic, since they should differ, and if they do not the rest of the site is not pulling its weight. Which page has the highest bounce and the highest traffic, since that is budget spent on visitors who leave at once. And what would you do differently with the same budget if you were starting from scratch, which draws out the work the agency has wanted to propose and has not.
How do you push back without damaging the relationship?
Frame it as help you need. "I am trying to defend our digital budget at the next partner meeting; help me understand the numbers in a way I can defend" usually lands well, because the agency wants the budget protected too. "I think your numbers are wrong" puts the agency on the defensive. If a reasonably framed question gets a bad reaction, that tells you the relationship has become more transactional than a partnership.
When is it time to change agency?
When the relationship has clearly stopped working, and not in a rush, because a new agency needs three to six months to get up to speed and the in-house team absorbs most of the disruption. The signs are an agency that stops answering questions in writing, reports that never change format even when you ask, and pitches for new work before delivering what you have already paid for. If you see any of these, run a structured RFP process, where independent help saves weeks and gives you a decision you can defend to the partners.
Related evidence: How a mid size regional UK law firm grew online enquiries by 190% without rebuilding their website. Earlier in this journey: A review with no actions is an invoice.
Questions people ask
Why compare against the same month in previous years?
Because month-on-month comparisons can hide a structural decline that a year-on-year view makes plain.
Not sure where to start?
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