From 8 Consultations a Month to 31 in 6 Months
A solo divorce attorney with eight years of strong outcomes was hard to find on Google. Six months of Local Service Ads, paid ads and SEO working together took her to #1 in Google Maps, nearly quadrupled her consultations and returned 214% on her marketing.
Book Your Discovery CallEight Years of Excellent Work. Hard to Find on Google.
A highly qualified solo family law attorney with strong client outcomes and loyal word of mouth. Thousands of people in her city searched for a divorce attorney every month, and almost none of them found her.
What Was in the Way
- A website that hadn't been updated in 4+ years
- An unoptimized Google Business Profile, buried in Maps
- Only 6 Google reviews, none recent
- No paid ads and no Local Service Ads
- Referrals that swung between busy and slow months
What She Had Going For Her
- 8 years of family law experience
- A strong reputation with past clients
- Full service: divorce, custody, support and adoption
- A free initial consultation
- Flat-fee options for uncontested divorces
No Crisis. Just a Steady Leak.
Nothing dramatic was wrong. Consultations were quietly going to competitors with better placement and more social proof.
No Paid Presence
Competitors ran paid ads and Local Service Ads on every high-intent search. She didn't appear in paid results at all.
7th–9th in Maps
With 6 reviews and an incomplete profile, she sat below firms with 40–90 reviews each. People making a quick decision never scrolled that far.
One Page for Everything
A single "Family Law" page tried to cover divorce, custody, support and adoption, so it ranked for almost none of them.
Revenue Set by Referral Luck
Good months and slow months depended on who happened to refer someone. There was no system.
She Stopped Waiting for Referrals
After two slow months in a row, and watching a less experienced competitor outrank her on every search, she came to us with a simple goal: more consultations, every month, without depending on luck.
A Layered System Built Around How People Search for a Divorce Attorney
Each channel covers a different moment in the search, and each one makes the others work better.
- 1.
Local Service Ads and the Google Screened Badge
Weeks 1–2
We enrolled the firm in Local Service Ads and completed Google Screened verification. Ads were live within 10 days, sitting above paid ads, Maps and organic results, with a badge that gave cold prospects an immediate reason to trust her.
Result: First new consultations within 10 days
- 2.
Paid Ads on High-Intent Family Law Searches
Weeks 2–4
Campaigns targeting "divorce attorney [city]," "child custody lawyer near me," "uncontested divorce [city]" and "how much does a divorce cost," with ad copy built around her free consultation, flat-fee options and experience. Every call and form tracked to its keyword from day one.
Result: $87 average cost per consultation in month one
- 3.
Google Business Profile Rebuilt
Month 1
The right categories (Family Law Attorney, Divorce Lawyer, not just "Law Firm"), complete service descriptions and the common client questions answered.
Result: In the Maps 3-Pack by month 3
- 4.
A Page for Every Practice Area
Months 1–2
Separate pages for contested and uncontested divorce, child custody, child support, spousal support, property division and adoption. Each is written for someone searching in a hard moment: clear, calm and structured to rank, with FAQ markup Google and AI Overviews can cite.
Result: Page one for 18 family law keywords by month 4
- 5.
Content That Builds Trust Before the Call
Month 2+
Articles answering what people ask while they research: "How is child custody determined in [state]?", "Legal separation vs. divorce," "How long does a divorce take?" Clients arrived at the consultation already confident in her.
Result: 3 articles ranking page one for research-phase searches
- 6.
Ads Data Steering the SEO
Month 3+
The searches that produced the best consultations became the targets for organic pages. By month 5, organic rankings were carrying more of the load.
Result: Ad spend down 38% while consultations kept growing
From Overlooked to the #1 Family Law Firm in Google Maps
Six months in, she averages 31 consultations a month, up from about 8. She holds the #1 spot in Google Maps, up from 7th–9th, and pays 38% less per lead.
Monthly consultations
The First 90 Days
At 6 Months
Nearly 4× the Consultations, at 38% Less per Lead
214% ROI at six months, with organic rankings still improving and ad dependency falling every month.
Before Photon SEO
- Consultations / month: ~8
- Consultation-to-hire rate: 35%
- New clients / month: ~3
- Google Maps: 7th–9th
- Lead source: referrals only
After 6 Months
- Consultations / month: 31
- Consultation-to-hire rate: 40%
- New clients / month: ~12
- Google Maps: #1
- Lead source: LSAs, paid ads and organic search
Beyond the Numbers
- Consultation requests arrived better informed and more serious
- Uncontested divorces, which are faster and higher-margin, became a bigger share of new cases
- Steady monthly lead flow replaced the referral rollercoaster
- The Google Screened badge earned trust with cold prospects before they reached her website
- Within 4 months she had the most Google reviews of any family law attorney in her city
I always assumed I needed a big firm to compete on Google. What I didn't realize was that with the right setup — the LSA badge, a few dozen real reviews, and pages that actually matched what people were searching for — a solo practice can absolutely dominate locally. I went from hoping the phone would ring to turning away cases that aren't a good fit. That's a problem I'm very happy to have.
What This Means for Your Firm
LSAs Are the Fastest Start for Attorneys
Local Service Ads with the Google Screened badge sit above everything else and often produce consultations in the first two weeks, while SEO builds.
Your Reviews Do the Persuading
Her review count grew from 6 to 34, and in a high-stakes hire that matters. Asking clients for reviews stays with you. Our job is making sure the profile those reviews sit on actually gets found.
One Page per Practice Area
Separate pages for divorce, custody, support and adoption each rank on their own, so you show up across every search a client might use.
Solo Firms Can Win Locally
Local search rewards the strongest local presence, not the biggest budget. A focused solo practice can outrank larger firms in Maps.
Is Your Firm Leaving Consultations on the Table?
Book a discovery call. We look at your market and competitors before we talk, and show you what it would take to get results like these, on a realistic timeline.
- Local Service Ads
- +
- Paid Ads
- +
- SEO
- =
- 31 Consultations a Month
More Results From Law Firms
Client names and identifying details have been changed or omitted to protect confidentiality. Results shown are real but specific to individual circumstances.
Patent Attorney: 103 Leads a Month
A stalled solo IP practice relaunched with Local Service Ads, paid ads and SEO. Now 103 leads a month on average, up to 164, and 1000%+ ROI.
Read the case study →Estate Planning Attorney Becomes the Top Local Result
Swapped networking events and seminars for search. Now the leading result for "estate planning attorney [city]" and related searches, and attracting higher-net-worth clients.