Successfully implementing SEO for law firms requires more than just technical expertise. It demands creative solutions that work within the realities of a busy legal practice where attorneys’ time is at a premium. This case study examines how one of our clients enhanced their digital presence using innovative approaches to implement a comprehensive SEO strategy, despite limited attorney availability for marketing initiatives.

Case Study Highlights

• Creative solutions minimized the burden on attorneys while maximizing marketing impact.
• Over $623,000 in new client revenue from the website in 2025 (Jan-Nov)
• 174 matters were opened in 2025 from over 300 website-based leads
• Significant improvement in lead quality across targeted practice areas
• Organic traffic increased by 12% year over year

These results demonstrate that strategic SEO can thrive even when attorney engagement in marketing presents challenges, provided the approach is tailored to the firm’s unique operational realities.

Client Overview

For more than 75 years, this law firm has served clients across the Mid-Atlantic region. Their offices are strategically located in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. The firm has built a strong reputation in two primary practice areas: Family Law and Employment Law, each requiring distinct marketing approaches and client acquisition strategies.

Our multi-year partnership is built on a customized strategy, meticulously engineered to align with the firm’s unique infrastructure and marketing capabilities. What distinguishes this engagement is our understanding that one-size-fits-all marketing solutions rarely work in legal environments. Instead, we’ve focused on creating systems and workflows that generate results without placing excessive demands on attorney time and resources.

Overcoming Obstacles in Getting Attorneys Involved in Marketing

Like many law firms, this client faced a common but significant challenge that was hampering their digital marketing success. While the firm recognized the importance of strong online visibility, getting attorneys actively involved in marketing initiatives proved difficult. Attorneys, understandably focused on serving clients and managing caseloads, had limited time and energy to dedicate to content creation and other marketing activities.

This challenge created a ripple effect across the firm’s digital presence. Without regular attorney input and content contribution, the firm struggled with low visibility in search results and relatively modest website traffic. The website itself lacked optimization, and there was no consistent focus on improving its performance or search engine rankings.

The impact on the business was tangible. Lower search visibility meant fewer opportunities to connect with potential clients actively searching for legal services. The firm’s expertise and strong reputation weren’t translating into online discovery, creating a gap between their actual capabilities and their digital presence.

The firm needed a solution that would allow them to make meaningful SEO progress without requiring extensive time commitments from their attorneys. The question wasn’t whether SEO mattered; it was how to execute an effective strategy given their practical constraints.

A Tailored Plan for SEO Success

9Sail developed a comprehensive strategy that acknowledged the firm’s attorney engagement challenges while still driving meaningful SEO improvements. The key was finding creative solutions that minimized the burden on attorneys while maximizing marketing impact.

Allowing Attorneys to Focus on Billable Hours

Rather than implementing a traditional content strategy that relied heavily on attorney-written articles, we developed innovative methods to involve attorneys in marketing with minimal time and effort on their part. This included structured interviews and collaborative content sessions that allowed us to capture attorney expertise efficiently, then transform those insights into optimized content.

We also identified opportunities to leverage existing attorney knowledge through brief consultations and reviews rather than full content creation, ensuring we could still move the needle on SEO performance without adding large amounts of non-billable hours.

Strategic Site Architecture Development

A major component of our strategy involved building out comprehensive sub-pages for both Family Law and Employment Law practice areas. These targeted service pages addressed specific client needs and search queries, creating more entry points for potential clients to discover the firm online.

Each sub-page was strategically optimized for relevant keywords while providing genuine value to visitors seeking information about specific legal services. This approach allowed us to capture traffic across the full spectrum of family law and employment law queries rather than relying solely on broad, highly competitive terms.

High-Quality Link Acquisition

We implemented a proactive backlinking strategy focused on acquiring high-quality media mentions and backlinks from authoritative sources. This involved identifying relevant publications and platforms where the firm’s expertise could provide value, then securing placements that strengthened domain authority while expanding brand visibility.

These efforts not only improved search rankings but also positioned the firm’s attorneys as thought leaders in their practice areas, creating additional value beyond direct SEO benefits.

Conversion Rate Optimization

SEO improvements are only valuable if they convert visitors into leads. We identified a significant conversion barrier: the firm’s phone number was difficult to find, buried on the contact page rather than readily accessible throughout the site.

By adding the phone number to the site header, making it visible across all pages, we saw a significant increase in calls to the firm, many of which were qualified leads. This simple but strategic change ensured that visitors ready to take action could easily connect with the firm, dramatically improving the conversion rate from website traffic to actual client inquiries.

Measurable Growth Across Traffic and Revenue

Through strategic implementation of tailored SEO tactics that worked within the firm’s operational constraints, this client achieved impressive results that directly impacted their bottom line.

Revenue and Lead Quality

The most significant result speaks directly to business impact: the firm earned over $623,000 in new client revenue from the website in 2025. This demonstrates that the strategy successfully attracted not just more traffic, but qualified prospects who converted into paying clients.

The firm is now receiving an increased volume of qualified potential new clients, specifically in the practice areas we’ve been focusing on.

Organic Traffic

Organic traffic continues its steady upward trajectory, increasing 12.08% year over year from January through November, representing approximately 8,600 additional sessions. This consistent growth demonstrates the compounding benefits of ongoing SEO efforts.

Perhaps most impressive is the targeted success in Family Law, where organic traffic to related service pages increased 38.38% year over year. This near-doubling of traffic to Family Law pages shows the power of focused optimization and strategic sub-page development.

These metrics reveal that the creative solutions developed to work around attorney engagement challenges didn’t compromise results. Instead, they enabled consistent progress that delivered both traffic growth and revenue impact.

Start Your New Year Right With Digital Visibility Top of Mind

This law firm has improved measurably since implementing 9Sail’s tailored SEO strategies. The firm now enjoys stronger search visibility, increased qualified lead flow in their target practice areas, and significant revenue generation directly attributable to their digital presence.

The success demonstrates that attorney engagement challenges, while real, don’t have to be roadblocks to SEO success. With creative approaches and strategies designed around practical constraints, law firms can achieve meaningful results without requiring extensive attorney time commitments to marketing.

If your firm faces similar challenges with attorney engagement in marketing, or if you’re simply ready to strengthen your digital presence and attract more qualified clients, contact 9Sail today to learn how our tailored strategies can drive growth for your practice in the new year.