A well-respected personal injury firm in downtown Des Moines did excellent work for clients but could not be found by the people who needed it. After more than a year stuck on page four for its most important keyword, the firm came to us to compete with the large, established names dominating the Des Moines legal market.
For over a year the firm sat on page four of Google for "personal injury lawyer Des Moines," the single term that drives the most valuable cases in their market. Almost no one scrolls that far, so the phone stayed quiet at around 12 inquiries a month, most from referrals rather than search.
Des Moines is the most competitive legal market in Iowa, and several large firms with bigger budgets owned the first page. The firm needed a focused strategy that could win specific, high-intent keywords rather than trying to outspend everyone at once. They also needed proof that their investment was actually working, month after month.
We prioritized the practice areas and Des Moines neighborhoods that brought in the best cases, targeting buyer-intent terms like "car accident attorney Des Moines" and "workers comp lawyer Iowa" rather than vague, low-value phrases.
We built deep, genuinely useful pages for each core practice area and a library of FAQ content answering the exact questions injured clients search before they call.
We earned backlinks from legitimate legal directories, local press, and relevant guest placements, each delivered with a live URL the firm could verify in their report.
We optimized the Google Business Profile and local citations so the firm showed up in the map pack for nearby searches across the Des Moines metro.
Every item below ran on a steady monthly cadence, and every link we placed showed up in the client’s report with a live, clickable URL.
| Keyword | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| personal injury lawyer des moines | #41 | #3 |
| car accident attorney des moines | #56 | #5 |
| workers comp lawyer iowa | not ranked | #2 |
| des moines law firm | #38 | #4 |
Within six months the firm moved from page four to position three for "personal injury lawyer Des Moines," and reached page one for 14 target keywords in total. Several of those landed in the top three, including a position-two ranking for a high-value workers compensation term they had never ranked for before.
The impact on the business was immediate and measurable. Monthly case inquiries climbed from 12 to 64, a 433 percent increase, and the quality of those inquiries improved because they came from people actively searching for help. Just as important, the firm could see exactly where every ranking gain and every backlink came from in their monthly report.
Full technical audit, competitor analysis of the top Des Moines firms, and a prioritized keyword and content plan.
On-page and technical fixes, practice-area pages, Google Business Profile optimization, and the first citations and links.
Steady content and link building. The core keyword broke onto page one and the map pack rankings climbed.
Position three for the primary keyword, 14 keywords on page one, and case inquiries up to 64 per month.
We were stuck on page 4 for 'personal injury lawyer Des Moines' for over a year. Six months in, we hit position 3 and our case inquiries went from 12 to 64 per month. The monthly reports show exactly where every link was placed.
Representative client results. Outcomes vary by market, competition, and starting point. Details anonymized to protect client confidentiality.
Get a free analysis of your site, your top Iowa competitors, and your biggest search opportunities. No commitment. No payment required.
