The Numbers Behind Bankruptcy Lawyer SEO — And What They Mean for Your Practice

Before diving into numbers, a note on methodology — because misread benchmarks lead to misaligned expectations.

The figures on this page draw from three sources: publicly available keyword research tools (search volume and CPC estimates), U.S. Courts bankruptcy filing data (published quarterly), and observed ranges from campaigns we have managed for bankruptcy attorneys across different market tiers. Where a figure comes from a third-party tool or government dataset, we note that. Where a figure reflects our own observed experience, we say so explicitly.

What these benchmarks are not: They are not guarantees of performance. A $35 average CPC for "Chapter 7 attorney near me" in one metro tells you almost nothing about what you will pay in your city. Search auction prices shift daily. Organic ranking timelines depend on domain age, existing link authority, content depth, and how aggressively competitors are investing.

We have also excluded cherry-picked outlier results — a firm that ranked in three weeks because a competitor's site went down, or a CPC that spiked during a news cycle. The ranges here represent typical conditions across mid-size to large U.S. markets.

Disclaimer: Benchmarks vary significantly by market, firm size, and service mix. This page is educational content, not marketing advice tailored to your practice. Verify any regulatory figures with your state bar and current U.S. Courts data.

Bankruptcy-related search terms follow a predictable pattern: demand rises during economic stress and moderates during recovery periods. The 2020–2021 period was anomalous — filing volumes actually dropped due to stimulus programs — while searches for financial distress information surged. That gap between searcher intent and actual filing behavior matters for how you interpret traffic data.

Based on publicly available keyword tool estimates, core terms attract the following approximate monthly search volumes nationally:

• "Bankruptcy attorney" — high volume, highly competitive, dominated by legal directories in organic results
• "Chapter 7 attorney" and "Chapter 13 attorney" — moderate to high volume, stronger purchase intent than head terms
• "File bankruptcy near me" and geo-modified variants — lower individual volume but collectively significant, high conversion intent
• "How to file Chapter 7" and informational variants — high volume, low immediate conversion, useful for top-of-funnel content that builds brand recognition

The more important metric for most bankruptcy practices is not national search volume but local monthly search volume in your metro. A mid-size city market may show 200–600 monthly searches for "Chapter 7 attorney [city]" — enough to justify significant SEO investment given average case values, but not the numbers that justify assuming national directory-level traffic strategies will work at the local level.

Seasonal patterns matter too. Industry data from U.S. Courts shows bankruptcy filings historically dip in December and peak in late Q1 and Q2. Aligning content publishing and link-building efforts to lead those seasonal spikes by 60–90 days is a standard planning approach.

Bankruptcy is one of the more expensive practice areas in legal paid search. That expense is exactly what makes organic SEO attractive as a long-term alternative — but it also signals how competitive the landscape is for any channel trying to reach these prospects.

Based on keyword research tool data and industry estimates, CPC ranges for bankruptcy-related terms generally fall into the following tiers:

• Broad head terms (e.g., "bankruptcy attorney", "bankruptcy lawyer"): $20–$55 per click nationally, with major metros reaching higher
• Chapter-specific terms (e.g., "Chapter 7 attorney", "Chapter 13 lawyer"): $15–$50 per click, slightly lower than head terms in many markets due to more specific audience
• Geo-modified terms (e.g., "bankruptcy lawyer Chicago"): $30–$70 per click in competitive metros; lower in smaller markets
• Long-tail intent terms (e.g., "how much does bankruptcy cost", "can I keep my car in Chapter 7"): $5–$20 per click, higher click-through on organic but lower immediate conversion rate

These ranges are estimates from publicly available tools and should be treated as directional, not exact. Actual auction prices depend on your Quality Score, ad relevance, landing page experience, and local competition level on any given day.

The practical takeaway: a firm spending $3,000–$5,000 per month on paid search for bankruptcy keywords may be generating 60–150 clicks at average CPCs, translating to a handful of consultations depending on landing page conversion. Organic rankings, once established, deliver equivalent click volume without the ongoing per-click cost — which is the core ROI argument for SEO investment in this practice area.

For most bankruptcy practices, the Google Map Pack — the three local listings that appear above organic results for near-me and city-modified searches — generates more inbound calls than page-one organic rankings. Based on campaigns we have managed, local pack placement consistently outperforms organic positions 3–10 for phone-call intent searches.

Competition for Map Pack placement in bankruptcy law varies sharply by market size:

• Small markets (under 200K population): Map Pack positions are often accessible within 3–6 months for a well-optimized Google Business Profile with consistent NAP citations and a modest review count
• Mid-size markets (200K–1M population): Expect 6–12 months to compete meaningfully, with review velocity and proximity factors playing significant roles
• Major metros (1M+ population): Map Pack competition is intense. Established firms with hundreds of reviews and strong local backlink profiles dominate. Entry requires sustained investment in GBP optimization, review generation, and local citation authority

The ranking factors that most consistently influence local pack placement for bankruptcy attorneys, based on our experience and widely reported industry patterns, include: Google Business Profile completeness and category accuracy, review count and recency, proximity to the searcher, and the strength of local citations across legal directories (Avvo, Justia, FindLaw, state bar listings).

One often-overlooked factor: the consistency between your GBP address and the address on your website's contact page and structured data markup. Discrepancies here create trust signals Google cannot reconcile cleanly, which suppresses local rankings. This is a straightforward fix that many firms have not made.

Search rankings drive traffic. Traffic only matters if it converts to consultations. Conversion benchmarks in legal SEO are among the most variable metrics to report honestly, because they depend heavily on factors outside the SEO channel: intake process quality, response speed, attorney reputation, and pricing transparency.

With that caveat stated, here are the ranges industry data and our experience suggest for bankruptcy law website conversions:

• Organic traffic to form submission or call: Many bankruptcy attorney websites convert at 2–5% of organic sessions. Firms with strong trust signals (testimonials, clear pricing communication, professional photography) tend toward the higher end of that range
• Consultation to retained client: Industry benchmarks for consumer bankruptcy practices suggest a consultation-to-retention rate of 40–70%, depending heavily on how well the intake call qualifies prospects before the consultation
• Average case value for Chapter 7: Varies significantly by state and market. Attorney fees for no-asset Chapter 7 cases typically range from $1,000–$2,500 in most U.S. markets, with higher ranges in complex cases or high cost-of-living metros
• Average case value for Chapter 13: Generally higher than Chapter 7, often $3,000–$5,000 or more over the life of a plan, depending on state and fee approval process

These figures matter for understanding ROI timelines. A firm generating 20 organic consultations per month from SEO traffic, converting 50% to clients on $1,500 average Chapter 7 fees, is producing $15,000/month in revenue attributable to the organic channel. That math justifies most mid-market SEO investment budgets within 6–9 months of achieving target rankings.

Note: Case fee ranges are general estimates for illustration only. Actual fees depend on complexity, jurisdiction, and individual attorney pricing. This is not legal fee advice.

U.S. bankruptcy filings are a macro-level leading indicator for the demand environment your SEO investment is operating in. When filing volumes rise, search demand for bankruptcy attorneys rises with it. When economic conditions stabilize and filings drop, competition for a smaller pool of prospective clients intensifies.

Data published by the U.S. Courts Administrative Office shows that consumer bankruptcy filings (primarily Chapter 7 and Chapter 13) declined sharply during 2020–2021 due to stimulus programs, eviction moratoriums, and pandemic-era financial support. As those supports ended, filings began recovering. As of the most recent reporting periods, filings are trending upward year-over-year, though still below pre-pandemic historical averages in many districts.

The SEO implication is straightforward: the time to build organic authority is before demand spikes, not during it. Firms that invested in SEO during the low-filing years of 2021–2022 are better positioned to capture organic traffic in a rising-filing environment than firms starting their SEO programs now.

For firms evaluating SEO investment today, the relevant question is not "is search demand high right now?" but rather "where will filing volumes and search demand be in 12–18 months, and will my site have the authority to rank when that demand arrives?" Based on historical filing cycles and current economic indicators, the case for building organic authority now is strong — though anyone claiming certainty about future filing volumes is overstating what the data supports.

Data source note: Filing volume figures referenced here draw from publicly available U.S. Courts statistical tables. Always verify current figures at uscourts.gov, as quarterly updates change the picture.