# FAQ > Straight answers on law firm SEO, digital marketing, websites, intake, and how working with a Marketing Engineer differs from an agency. ### What is this site about? CarlosArias.com is the practice site of Carlos Arias, a Marketing Engineer for law firms. I help firms connect search, websites, lead intake, and automation into one system measured on signed cases, not vanity traffic. You work with me directly, not a junior account team. ### What is digital marketing for law firms? It’s the full path from how a prospective client finds you to whether they become a signed case: SEO and local search, your website and conversion, paid channels when they make sense, intake and follow-up, and attribution. Rankings and traffic matter only if the rest of the path holds. ### Should a law firm hire an agency or a Marketing Engineer? Hire an agency when you need a bench — design, paid, content — under one retainer, and you’re prepared for the layers that come with it. Hire a Marketing Engineer when you want one senior person accountable for strategy and the technical systems: SEO, site, tracking, intake, without junior handoffs. Many firms use both: me for systems and diagnosis, specialists for volume production. ### How long does law firm SEO take? Local and map-pack work can move in weeks. Competitive practice-area rankings are usually a six-to-twelve month build. Conversion and intake fixes often pay earlier than rankings do. Anyone promising page one in thirty days for a contested legal term is selling something. ### How much should a law firm spend on marketing? Enough that the cases produced are worth more than the spend, and not a dollar more until you can measure that. For many small-to-mid firms the first problem isn’t the budget number; it’s whether tracking can show what the last budget bought. ### Can you guarantee #1 rankings or ChatGPT recommendations? No. Nobody controls Google or AI answers. I can assess the opportunity, execute the work, and measure honestly, including where the data stops. ### Do I need a new website? Usually not. Most firms have a site that works structurally and fails at conversion, which is cheaper to fix than a rebuild. I’ll say plainly when a rebuild is the right call. ### Do you only work with law firms? Law firms are the focus. I also take technical and white-label work from marketing agencies, and a small number of service businesses that win or lose on lead response time. ### Do you work outside Florida? Yes. I’m in Boca Raton, South Florida, and a large share of the work is Florida. But local SEO is location-specific work, not location-bound. I work with firms nationwide. ### Will you take a firm that competes with mine? Not in the same practice area and the same market. ### How can I get in touch? Email , call 561-460-0660, or use the contact form. I typically reply within a day. ### How often is it updated? I publish regularly on law firm marketing, SEO, AI search, websites, and the systems behind client acquisition. The archive carries the latest writing, and the changelog notes site and product updates. --- Source: https://carlosarias.co/faq/