Law firm rebuilds intake, lifts qualified leads 4x

The challenge

Their previous agency was running broad-match keyword campaigns against generic intent, paying for clicks from people researching legal terms — not people with cases. The site took 6+ seconds to load on mobile, and their intake form asked 14 questions on the first page, which tanked conversion. Partners were frustrated — spending was up, but qualified case volume was flat or declining.

Our approach

• 01

  Rebuilt the Google Ads account from scratch around high-intent keywords and matched locations, separated by practice area

• 02

  Implemented conversion tracking tied to qualified-lead status inside their case management CRM, not just form fills

• 03

  Replaced the WordPress theme with a custom Next.js build — LCP dropped to 0.9s on mobile

• 04

  Redesigned the intake flow using progressive disclosure: 3 fields to escalate, remaining questions captured on the call

• 05

  Set up call tracking with dynamic numbers tagged back to ad source so the intake team knew where each call originated

• 06

  Weekly reporting dashboard the partners actually read, with qualified-lead-per-dollar metrics front and center

Results

• 4x increase in qualified leads month-over-month within 120 days

• 42% lower cost per qualified lead versus the previous agency benchmark

• Site performance: LCP dropped from 6.2s to 0.9s; bounce rate cut in half

• Google Ads quality scores lifted from 4 to 8 average — resulting in lower CPCs

• Intake team capacity expanded without new headcount

Timeline

Engagement: 5 months to full deployment; 12-month retainer ongoing.

What we learned

• Fixing conversion tracking was the single biggest unlock — before that, every other optimization was flying blind
• Progressive disclosure on intake forms recovered 20%+ of previously abandoned form starts
• Speed matters more than most legal marketers realize; a 6s site to 0.9s was worth the full rebuild