Key takeaways
- NMR, an Oregon personal injury law firm, wanted to increase traffic to their site and, in turn, earn more client consultations.
- Longstanding firms in the deeply saturated vertical of personal injury law posed a challenge in ranking for high-value, non-brand terms that could help push the conversion rate they needed.
- Redefine Marketing Group aimed for reputable local directory citations, high-quality reviews, and content syndication. That and some content and speed optimizations helped NMR see a sharp increase in new users and overall sessions.
The client
Nelson MacNeil Rayfield Trial Attorneys PC, or NMR, is an Oregon-based law firm centered in Portland, Albany, and Corvallis. With decades of experience between the three attorneys that make up its namesake, they assist residents of their Pacific Northwest practice area with personal injury cases, including in the realms of auto accidents, malpractice, wrongful death, and mesothelioma resources.
Jim Nelson, Chris MacNeil, and Dan Rayfield are recognized as some of the most respected personal injury lawyers in their area. They approach personal injury cases differently than other firms, looking not just to get clients what they want, but to ease the stress and disruption that the circumstances around these cases can create. They hope to guide clients through the legal process and answer their questions thoroughly and compassionately.
The challenge
When Redefine Marketing Group started its relationship with NMR in 2017, the primary goal was improving site traffic, as increased traffic would lead to more consultation requests. The roadblock was that most of the rankings in their local 3-pack were branded, and the competition ranked for high-value, non-brand terms.
Ultimately, the challenge boiled down to identifying how to best capitalize on their competitors’ weaknesses, especially when those competitors are longstanding firms in a heavily saturated vertical.
Redefine Marketing Group’s solution
The game plan was that Redefine would grow NMR’s site traffic through a well-rounded SEO strategy designed to keep them ahead of the other firms fighting for those higher rankings.
With our local SEO expertise, we needed to hone in on building positive reviews and creating content that addressed the personal injury questions people in the area were asking. If our blog content didn’t fully clarify the reader’s personal injury query, they’d be directed toward a consultation.
How we did it
First, RMG prioritized those local 3-pack rankings. We achieved reputable local directory citations, high-quality reviews, and content syndication to do this.
Reviews and citations
‘Citations’ cover a broad spectrum, and they all require monitoring and maintenance. Between search engines, local directories, and apps, there are a lot of places where one could focus on local citations. With the landscape changing so frequently, it can be hard to zero in on what will have the most noticeable impact.
As far as search engines go, Google is the cream of the crop, and one of the most important places to maintain a search listing. Redefine set up Google Business Profile listings (or Google My Business, as it was formerly known) with a monthly schedule of maintaining NMR’s twice-weekly Google Posts.
Setting up accurate structured citations on Facebook was also essential to maintaining that side of the local directory; it also served as a platform for clients to post reviews.
On the subject of reviews, RMG put review management and solicitation programs into place to help NMR’s average rating across Yelp and Google.
Focusing on technical SEO
What we realized was that many of their competitors lacked basic SEO fundamentals. Because of this, we prioritized making plentiful technical optimizations. Regular upkeep like on-page SEO recommendations, content pruning, and getting into the nitty-gritty of finding keywords without anchor text helped get their site Google-ranking-friendly.
Additionally, focusing on site speed would aid in giving NMR a leg up. We performed a speed data analysis on both their desktop and mobile sites and found a few areas that needed improvement, with the main culprit being unused CSS. To put the pedal to the metal, we performed a plugin configuration and update, plus managed their CSS issue.
Creating valuable content
Content that answered the questions that the people of Oregon were asking about personal injury-related topics would not only serve NMR’s purpose of informing and providing resources, but it would also build on keyword themes related to high-value practices.
A schedule of four SEO-targeted blog posts per month – posted once a week – not only allowed for the site to rank on a broader range of keywords, but created opportunities for greater backlink potential.
The difference one year can make
While we continue to work with NMR to this day, here’s a snapshot of our first year with this well-respected Oregon law firm.
Organic traffic from Oregon searches YOY rose steadily, welcoming a 122% rise in new users, while sessions went up 117%. Keeping with that trend, the firm saw a boost in leads of 119%.
After reviewing their plugins and clearing out the unused CSS, the site was now running at twice the speed it was before. As for accumulating reviews, they accumulated 29 of them in our first year together, earning an average rating of 4.8 out of 5.
| +122% | +117% | +119% | 2x |
| New Users | Sessions | Leads | Site Speed |
Going strong
Redefine Marketing Group and Nelson Macneil Rayfield continue to enjoy a strong relationship as we roll into Q1 of 2023. We’re still dedicated to optimizing their site and content to help drive traffic and keep them ranking against other branded competitors. Want to learn more about our local SEO services? Contact us today for more information.
