Family law and divorce
Local SEO for family law and divorce attorneys.
Nobody asks a friend to recommend a divorce lawyer. They research alone for weeks before they contact anyone. Family law also has the cheapest clicks and the highest conversion rate in legal marketing, which makes this the most winnable practice area there is.
- $5 to $25
- cost per click, against $200 to $1,000+ for personal injury
- $500 to $2,000
- client acquisition cost, the lowest of any major practice area
- $89
- cost per lead through Local Services Ads
- Highest
- conversion rate of any legal practice area
The client finds you weeks before they are ready to call
Wednesday, 1.10am
She is in the spare room with the door shut, searching what happens to the house in a divorce. She will not contact a lawyer for another six weeks and she will not tell anyone she looked.
What a family law client costs against what a case is worth
Family law has the best acquisition economics in legal, and most firms have never run the comparison.
| Cost per lead | $40 to $180 | |
|---|---|---|
| Client acquisition cost | $500 to $2,000 | |
| Cost per click | $5 to $25 | |
| Same click in personal injury | $200 to $1,000+ | 40x higher |
| Retained matters from ranking, monthly | your target |
You are competing in the cheapest and highest converting corner of legal search.
A personal injury firm has to spend $2,500 to $3,000 to sign a case. A family law firm signs one for $500 to $2,000, on clicks that cost a fortieth as much, with the highest conversion rate in the category. Ranking work compounds on top of that rather than competing with it, and the firms that build the position early tend to keep it.
Retained matter value varies enormously between an uncontested divorce and a contested custody dispute. Bring your own average retainer to a call and the arithmetic becomes specific rather than general.
The work that fills a family law consultation diary
A page per matter type
Divorce, child custody, child support, spousal maintenance, property division, prenuptial agreements, modifications and relocation. Each is a separate search with separate urgency. Most family law sites hold them all on one practice areas page and rank for none.
Content built for the private research phase
What does a divorce cost, how long does custody take, do I have to leave the house, what counts as marital property. These are the searches that happen weeks before a consultation, and answering them honestly is the most effective client acquisition in this practice area.
Google Business Profile that reads as approachable
Correct categories, practice areas listed individually, consultation information clear, and photographs of the actual attorneys. Someone choosing a divorce lawyer is choosing who to be honest with about the worst period of their life.
Suburb level coverage across the county
Family law is filed by jurisdiction and searched by proximity. Ranking in your courthouse suburb and nowhere else means missing most of the county you practise in.
Reviews handled with the sensitivity the matter requires
Family law clients are reluctant to review publicly and their reviews matter enormously when they exist. We build a process focused on communication and clarity rather than outcomes, within your ethical obligations.
Cost transparency where you can offer it
Flat fee uncontested divorces, consultation pricing and retainer ranges. Firms willing to publish something concrete convert dramatically better than those requiring a phone call to learn anything at all.
Three of these happen before anyone is ready to hire you
| Search type | What they type | Where their head is at | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research | how much does a divorce cost, what happens to the house, custody rights | Weeks before contact. Invisible to referrals, decisive for who gets called. | Highest |
| Matter type | child custody lawyer, spousal support attorney, prenup lawyer near me | Decided they need counsel, comparing two or three firms. | Highest |
| Urgent | emergency custody order, restraining order lawyer, served divorce papers | Immediate and non negotiable. Converts fastest of all. | High |
| Head term | divorce lawyer [city], family law attorney near me | Ready to retain. Competitive but genuinely reachable here. | High |
The first 90 days on a family law firm
- Days 1 to 30
Audit and foundations
Profile and citation audit, practice area entries built out, county wide ranking measurement, and a review of how a first time visitor currently learns anything about cost.
- Days 31 to 60
Matter and research coverage
Matter type pages built, research content created for the questions that precede a consultation, consultation booking path shortened.
- Days 61 to 90
Authority building
Citations, legal directory consistency, local links and profile posting. Matter type and research terms typically move first.
- Ongoing
Own the county
Coverage extended matter by matter and suburb by suburb, with the head term approached once the foundation supports it.
Local SEO for family law attorneys, answered
Family law seems less competitive than personal injury. Is that true?
Dramatically. Family law clicks run $5 to $25 against $200 to $1,000 or more for personal injury, and client acquisition cost sits between $500 and $2,000, the lowest of any major practice area. Family law also has the highest conversion rate in legal marketing. That combination is the best unit economics available to any law firm, and it is the reason a small family practice can realistically own its market.
Our clients come from referrals. Why would they search?
Because divorce is private in a way that a car accident is not. People do not ask friends for a divorce lawyer recommendation until they have already decided, and often not even then. They research alone, late at night, for weeks before contacting anyone. That research phase is entirely invisible to a referral network and entirely visible to search, which is why it is the single largest untapped channel in this practice area.
What actually converts a family law search into a consultation?
Usefulness before persuasion. Someone researching custody arrangements at 1am is frightened and looking for information, not for a pitch. Firms that answer the real questions honestly, what the process costs, how long it takes, what happens to the house, get the consultation because they have already demonstrated competence. A page that only says we fight for you converts badly against that.
Should we separate divorce, custody and support?
Yes, and it is usually the fastest win available. Divorce, child custody, child support, spousal maintenance, property division, prenuptial agreements and modifications are all distinct searches with distinct urgency and thin competition. Most family law sites have a single practice areas page and rank properly for none of them.
How long does this take for a family law firm?
Faster than most legal categories precisely because the competition is thinner. Specific matter types and suburb level terms often move within two to four months. The head term in a large metro takes longer but is genuinely reachable here in a way it is not in personal injury, because the firms above you are not spending $300 a click to hold it.
Be the firm she finds at 1am, six weeks before she calls.
We will measure where you rank across matter types and suburbs, review whether your site answers the questions that precede a consultation, and show you what the position is worth.