Family Law SEOfor Divorce andFamily Firms.
Family law is local: clients want a lawyer near them, licensed in their state, whom they can meet. Our family law SEO gets your firm into the map pack and search results for each matter you handle, with pages that answer what clients ask and follow your bar’s rules on fees and advertising.
Built for family law firms relying on referrals and ads, firms missing from the map pack, and firms with one page for every matter
Family law search is local
Clients need a lawyer licensed in their state and usually one they can meet, so most searches for a family lawyer are local, and the map pack sits at the top of them.
Divorce searches drive most of it. Joy Hawkins’ team at Sterling Sky finds that divorce terms bring most of the traffic to a family law firm’s website and Business Profile. They have also seen rankings for divorce searches improve when a firm’s primary category was changed from “family law attorney” to “divorce lawyer”. It is worth testing, not assuming.
Then they look for answers. Before calling, a client wants to know that you handle their kind of matter, how your fees work and what other clients say. A firm with one page covering every type of case gives them, and Google, very little to go on.
Small inconsistencies cost more than they look. Our San Francisco client’s details differed across its listings. Fixing them was part of getting it into the top three.
The firms we work with most
The discipline is the same. Where it starts depends on the firm.
Most of your clients come from referrals and ads.
Referrals are good clients, but you cannot grow them on demand, and ads stop when the budget does. Our San Francisco client was in this position before its organic enquiries grew.
You are not in the map pack for your own city.
Firms you know are no better than yours appear above you. The cause is usually specific: the wrong category, details that differ between listings, or reviews that stopped coming.
One page covers every type of matter you handle.
Divorce, custody, support and mediation share a single “family law” page, so none of them ranks well, and a client with a custody question finds nothing about custody.
What the work covers, measured in new clients
We run these together, in the order your audit says matters most.
A page for each matter
Divorce (including uncontested, high-asset and military divorce), custody, child and spousal support, mediation, prenuptial agreements and adoption, each with its own page for the areas you serve.
Map pack and listings
The right primary category, tested rather than assumed, and the same name, address and phone number on every listing, so Google has no reason to doubt your firm.
Reviews, handled with care
A review process that suits a sensitive practice: an easy, private ask at the right moment, and replies that never confirm anyone was a client or discuss their matter.
Fee and advertising rules
Fee pages that explain retainers and flat fees without contingent terms, and results presented with context, written to your state’s version of the rules from the first draft.
Guides and calculators
Answers to the questions clients ask before they call, written for your state’s law. Sterling Sky reports that support calculator pages are among the strongest traffic sources for its family law clients.
Technical foundation
Crawling, indexing and page speed fixed, so each new page can rank as it goes live. Our San Francisco client needed technical fixes alongside its new pages.
Pages that follow your bar’s rules on fees
Family law has its own fee rules, and many marketing templates ignore them. A page copied from a personal injury site can promise something a family lawyer is not allowed to offer.
No contingent fees on the divorce or support itself. California’s Rule 1.5 is typical: a lawyer cannot charge a fee in a family law matter that depends on securing the divorce or on the amount of support or property awarded. The ABA’s model rule, which most states follow, says the same. So “no fee unless we win” has no place on a family law site, and a clear page on retainers and flat fees usually does more for enquiries anyway.
Results need context. Under Rule 7.1, results and testimonials can mislead if they suggest the same outcome is likely for a different client’s case. We write them with that context. We are not your ethics counsel, and your firm approves every page before it goes live.
What the first six months look like
Our San Francisco client reached the map pack top three for its main searches within six months.
The person who audits your firm is the person who runs the work.
- Weeks 1–2
Audit
Your Business Profile and listings, your map pack position for each matter, your pages against the searches clients make, and the technical foundation.
- Month 1
Fix the listings and the site
Correct details on every listing, test the primary category, and fix the technical problems that block ranking.
- Months 2–4
Build a page for each matter
Starting with the matters worth most to your firm, each page reviewed against your bar’s rules before it goes live.
- Ongoing
Reviews and reporting
A steady review process and a monthly report on enquiries and new clients, from your intake records.
- Month 6 onward
Expand
Guides, calculators and nearby areas, built on what is already working.
How we differ from a typical SEO package
Google’s own advice to anyone hiring an SEO: be wary of guarantees. “No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.”
Results for law firms
A mid-size family law firm that relied on referrals and ads. Its details differed across its listings, holding it back in the map pack. We corrected the listings, built a page for each matter, set up a review process and fixed technical issues. Organic enquiries rose 50 to 100%.
Read the case studyThe wrong primary category on its Business Profile and its details inconsistent across 14 citation sources. We fixed both and added LocalBusiness markup. Top three in the map pack for 27 high-intent searches, and enquiries tripled with no extra ad spend.
See local SEOA respected firm with almost no organic visibility after 14 months of blog content from a previous agency. We rebuilt the technical foundation, restructured the practice area pages and built local authority across 12 counties. #1 in the map pack.
Read the case study“The team at Crown were very professional and deeply knowledgeable about legal marketing and the specifics of our family law niche. We were able to achieve our goals together.”
Family law firm, San Francisco
Start with a free audit.
The free audit is our full process at a diagnostic level, by the senior strategist who would run your account, in 48 hours. We scope and quote the work after it, so you know what it is for before you pay for it.
Family law SEO sits within our lawyer SEO services, alongside local SEO and our work for personal injury firms.
Your free audit covers
Five checks, in 48 hours.
- Your map pack position for divorce, custody and support searches
- Your Business Profile category and listing consistency
- Your practice pages against the searches clients make
- Technical health, from Google’s field data
- Which searches show an AI answer, and which firms it names
If SEO is not right for your firm yet, the audit says so
Questions family law firms ask us
Our San Francisco family law client, measured on enquiries in GA4 and its intake records.
The share of local businesses we audit with the wrong primary Business Profile category.
Family law SEO: common questions
How long does family law SEO take?
Fixes to listings and technical problems can show within weeks. Our San Francisco family law client reached the map pack top three for its main searches in six months, with new pages and a review process running alongside the fixes.
Should our primary category be “family law attorney” or “divorce lawyer”?
It depends on what most of your clients search for and which category the firms above you use. Sterling Sky has seen divorce rankings improve after switching to “divorce lawyer”. We test it on your profile and keep whichever performs better.
Can our website say “no fee unless we win”?
Not for divorce or support work. Most states, including California under Rule 1.5, prohibit fees that depend on securing a divorce or on the amount of support or property awarded. Explain your retainer or flat fees clearly instead; your ethics counsel has the final word.
How should we handle reviews in such a sensitive practice?
Ask every satisfied client privately, at the right moment, and make it easy. When you reply, never confirm that someone was a client or mention their matter, even to correct an unfair review.
How much does family law SEO cost?
We do not sell packages or publish a price list. We quote after the free audit, based on your market, offices and the matters you handle.
Can you guarantee we will rank first?
No, and no honest agency can. What we commit to is finding what holds your firm back, fixing it in the right order, and reporting what it produces in new clients.