Vernsten Law: 1,238% Increase in Calls From Local SEO

Client Testimonial

Hear It Directly From the Attorney

"They have done such an amazing job. I've gotten rid of my paid leads. I have so many leads I can barely service the business. I highly recommend working with them. They are incredible."

Eric Vernsten

Divorce & Family Law Attorney, Rockford, IL

vernstenlaw.com

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The Challenge

A Strong Attorney Invisible to His Own City

Vernsten Law is a divorce and family law practice in Rockford, Illinois. Despite being a skilled attorney with real courtroom results, the firm was virtually invisible online. When someone in Rockford searched "divorce lawyer near me," Vernsten Law was nowhere to be found.

Zero Map Pack Visibility

Not showing up in Google Maps for any divorce or family law search in Rockford. The entire local grid was red. No rankings in positions 1-20 across the metro area.

Phone Wasn't Ringing

Leads were few and far between. Without any local search presence, the firm was relying entirely on word-of-mouth, an unpredictable, unscalable source of new business.

Competitors Dominating Search

Other divorce attorneys in Rockford had claimed the top spots in both organic results and the Map Pack, capturing every high-intent searcher before they ever saw Vernsten Law.

"I used to get leads from various places: other attorneys, paid leads. Unbelievable results. I've gotten rid of my paid leads entirely and I have so many leads I can barely service the business." Eric Vernsten, Vernsten Law, Rockford, IL

Tired of Being Invisible? Let's Fix That

The Results

How Vernsten Law Became the #1 Divorce Attorney in Rockford

Phone Calls from Local SEO

Before ~4/mo

After 50+/mo

+1,238%

Organic Website Visitors from SEO

Before ~40/mo

After 156/mo

+289%

Google Business Profile (GBP) Views

Before ~1,840/mo

After 9,660/mo

+424.7%

Google Business Profile Search Appearances

Before ~200/mo

After 1,495/mo

+647.5%

"Divorce Lawyer Rockford": Google Maps Visibility

Drag the slider to see the transformation. Every dot is a search location in Rockford.

After: Google Maps heat map showing complete local dominance (all green) for Vernsten Law across Rockford

Before

Slide to compare

#1 on Google for "Divorce Lawyer Rockford"

1,300 people search this term every month. The #1 position captures 28-33% of all clicks. That's 400+ potential clients seeing Vernsten Law first, every single month.

Google search results showing Vernsten Law ranking #1 for 'divorce lawyer rockford'

100% Non-Branded, High-Intent Traffic

Every single top search term is someone looking for a divorce lawyer, not searching for the Vernsten brand. This is pure discovery traffic from people ready to hire.

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Our Approach

The Strategy: Local SEO Dominance

Google Business Profile Optimization

Complete GBP overhaul: categories, services, attributes, photos, posts, and Q&A, all optimized to signal relevance for divorce and family law in Rockford.

Local Citation Building

Consistent NAP data across 80+ legal directories and local business listings to build authority signals that Google trusts.

Review Generation Strategy

Systematic process for earning genuine client reviews that build trust and boost Map Pack rankings.

On-Page SEO & Content

Practice area pages targeting high-intent keywords like "divorce lawyer rockford il" and "family law attorney near me."

For Vernsten Law, the right play was 100% organic. Paid ads absolutely have their place, and we run them for other clients, but Eric's market and competitive landscape made local SEO the highest-ROI channel. Every dollar went toward building a compounding asset that gets stronger over time.

The result: a firm that now generates north of 50 qualified leads every single month from people actively searching for a divorce lawyer, not from brand recognition, but from pure high-intent discovery.

See What This Strategy Can Do for Your Firm

Frequently Asked Questions

Questions Attorneys Ask Before Working With Us

How long does it take to see results from local SEO?

Most of our law firm clients start seeing measurable improvements within 60-90 days: increased profile views, more search appearances, and phone calls starting to pick up. Full local dominance (like what Vernsten Law achieved) typically takes 6-12 months of consistent work. SEO is a compounding asset: the longer you invest, the stronger the returns.

How is this different from running Google Ads?

Google Ads and SEO both have a place in a law firm's marketing strategy. Ads can generate leads immediately, but they stop the moment you stop paying. Local SEO takes longer to build, but the results compound over time and don't disappear when you pause spending. Vernsten Law chose to go fully organic because it was the right fit for their market. For other firms, we often recommend a combined approach where ads drive leads in the short term while SEO builds a long-term foundation.

Do you work with law firms outside of Illinois?

Yes. We work with law firms across the United States. Local SEO strategy is tailored to your specific market: your city, your practice area, your competitive landscape. Every engagement starts with a deep analysis of your local market to build a strategy that works for your firm specifically.

What if there's already a firm dominating local search in my area?

That's exactly the situation Vernsten Law was in. Competitors had locked up every top position. We specialize in displacing established competitors through systematic local SEO. We analyze their strategy, find the gaps, and build a plan to outrank them. The key is consistency and a data-driven approach.

Do you only work with divorce lawyers?

No. We work with law firms across all practice areas: personal injury, criminal defense, estate planning, immigration, and more. The local SEO playbook adapts to any practice area. What matters is understanding your specific market and the search behavior of people looking for your services.

Why do you only work with one firm per practice area per market?

Because we can't ethically rank two competing firms for the same keywords in the same city. Our exclusivity model means you get our full effort without competing against another client of ours. Once you lock in your market, no competing firm in your practice area can hire us.