The Struggle
Attorney Havilah Lilly came to Nifty wanting a strategic marketing partner to drive growth. She had tried some SEO in the past, but wasn’t getting the strategic direction she needed to get to the next level. With more competition popping up all the time, she knew she had to get on top of things fast.
Website
The website wasn’t performing. It was outdated and lacking essential conversion elements such as a prominent contact form and clear calls to action.
SEO
While some SEO groundwork had been laid, the site’s critical landing pages struggled to achieve top rankings, and SEO KPIs showed signs of stagnation.
Competition
With competition on the rise, it was imperative to take proactive measures to secure and maintain a leading position before facing any downturn.
Expansion
Growth plans involved creating a second office in a neighboring city and hiring additional attorneys to accommodate the growth.
Branding
Client needed outside help to establish a formidable and recognizable brand throughout Northern Colorado renowned for being the premier choice in criminal defense.
The Solution
A full digital makeover
Website
A fresh new website beautifully designed and custom-coded on WordPress featuring industry-leading page speed and user experience.
SEO
A comprehensive overhaul of her website’s SEO addressing hundreds of issues that were turned after auditing.
Competition
Comfort in knowing she had taken proactive steps to get her site and SEO up to standards, giving her the best chance of success against the competition.
Expansion
An expansion plan detailing the necessary steps and their sequence for a successful launch of a second office in a neighboring competitive market.
Branding
New branding assets and guidelines gave her the tools to start shaping a robust brand presence in her local market and future areas of impact.
The Redesign
Old Site in Dec 2021
New Site in Mar 2022
We aimed to create Attorney Lilly’s new website with a strong focus on user experience, ensuring seamless navigation for visitors. But we didn’t stop there. We coded her design on our Nifty custom theme which doesn’t rely on page builders (e.g. Elementor, Salient, Divi Builder, etc). The reason this is significant is because page builders add an unnecessary and bulky layer of code that slows down a site, and when it comes to Google Bot and the end user, page speed matters a lot. Page builders are used extensively on legal websites, but not this one.
What was the result? A visually appealing website that maintained lightning-fast load times, and struck the perfect balance for next-level web experiences.
Old Page Speed
New Page Speed
Current Design
The SEO Overhaul
During the initial two months of our SEO efforts, our primary focus was on improving various aspects of her website’s performance. This included addressing her onsite issues from the audit, ensuring consistent and accurate local NAP signals, optimizing her Google Business Profile, and strengthening her domain authority.
One of the tools we use in our auditing arsenal is Ahrefs. Our initial audit of her site showed a lot of SEO technical errors and an overall health score of 50/100. After addressing the issues, the health score improved to 99/100.
Old SEO Audit Score
New SEO Audit Score
Havilah’s other issue was related to her content quality. When she came to us, her landing pages were too thin to rank well so we began writing high-quality content tailored to her target audience to help satisfy Google’s Helpful Content Criteria which rewards websites that produce content that is unique, accurate and helpful.
We launched her new site in March 2022 with all the new content and optimizations we had been working on while her site was under development. We knew the website launch would mark a significant milestone in her journey towards achieving more success.
Six Months In
Are we gaining any traction?
Ranking Improvements Over Next Six Months
Clicks & Impressions from Google Search Over Next Six Months
12 Months In
Call Volume Over First 12 Months
Toward the end of her first year with us, Attorney Lilly was looking to increase her lead count and decided to explore Local Services Ads (LSA). Within the first few months of running her ads, she realized this channel could bring her firm a high number of quality leads and chose to increase her budget for November and December 2022; generating nearly 100 calls over these two months. Over the last *two years, her firm has achieved a 52.09% lead book rate and a 24.09% lead conversion rate from LSA. With an **industry average lead conversion rate of 9.90% for criminal defense attorneys, it’s safe to say Havilah has found success with this platform and has continued her investment with LSA.
*LSA only active for 13 months over the last two years.
**A study done by LocaliQ in 2023 indicated an average of 9.90% conversion rate for criminal defense legal advertising campaigns.
The Results
Q1 2024 vs Q1 2022
322%
increase in local organic traffic
87%
increase in form completions
204%
increase in phone calls
When we look at Havilah’s performance from her initial full quarter with Nifty in Q1 of 2022 compared to the most recent quarter, Q1 of 2024, the transformation is obvious. We’ve achieved solid results, with her local organic traffic tripling and her leads doubling, all while operating within a modest monthly SEO budget. Havilah’s journey from a solo practitioner with an outdated website and limited online presence to a thriving multi-partner firm has positioned her as a prominent force not only in Greeley and Fort Collins but also in surrounding areas.
Today, Havilah has two offices – her HQ in Greeley and a second office in Fort Collins with plans to expand further.
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