What actually happens month-by-month when a solicitor invests in SEO

The first two months focus on establishing SEO foundations. This includes technical audits, site structure optimization, on-page SEO implementation, and initial content planning. Google needs time to crawl, index, and understand your site—this phase looks invisible to most firms.

During this period, you'll likely see no movement in rankings or organic traffic. This is normal and expected. Behind the scenes, your team is fixing crawl errors, implementing schema markup for local business data, optimizing site speed, and creating the content roadmap.

What to watch for: Confirmation that Google Search Console shows no crawl errors. Indexation should begin (check Google Search Console for "Pages" stats). Your hosting and SSL certificate work flawlessly. Initial keyword research is complete and content brief templates are documented.

Some firms become anxious during this phase and assume nothing is happening. In reality, technical SEO correctness determines whether your later content efforts compound or stall. This foundation cannot be skipped.

By month 3, your initial content and technical fixes are indexed. You'll see your first organic traffic and ranking improvements—typically on branded terms (your firm name, branded + practice area) and long-tail, low-competition keywords (e.g., "conveyancing solicitor in [town name]" rather than "conveyancing solicitor").

These early wins feel modest but matter. They confirm Google trusts your site enough to rank it and validate that your content strategy is directionally correct. Organic traffic to your site may reach 30–100+ sessions per month depending on site maturity and starting authority.

Local visibility accelerates now. If you've optimized your Google Business Profile and local landing pages, you'll see movement in local pack rankings and local search suggestions. Firms with multiple office locations see this effect amplified.

Lead volume remains low. These early rankings are not yet on high-intent, high-volume keywords. Most traffic converts at low rates because searchers are still in research mode. This is expected. Your job is to confirm the strategy works—which it does, if rankings are improving and traffic is growing.

Update your tracking: set up Google Analytics 4 goals for contact form submissions and phone calls. You need to see which keywords actually drive inquiries.

By month 5–6, your domain authority has grown enough that more competitive keywords begin ranking. You'll see movement on primary practice area keywords (e.g., "family lawyer near [town]" or "employment solicitor") and inquiry volume increases noticeably—often 2–3x the levels from month 3–4.

Some of these inquiries convert to consultations and retainers. For the first time, you can correlate SEO investment to actual client revenue. This is the point many firms stop questioning whether SEO works and start asking how to accelerate it.

Competitive dynamics matter. If your market has many established law firms with strong SEO, your timeline may extend toward 8–12 months before seeing rank one results on primary keywords. Markets with less saturated search results see faster movement. Regional markets typically move faster than metropolitan areas.

Content gaps become apparent. Analyze which keywords bring traffic but have low conversion. These signal content opportunities—perhaps you rank #8 for a keyword but your page doesn't answer the searcher's specific question. Refinement rounds begin here.

Your tracking should now show lead sources by keyword. This data informs your next content roadmap.

Months 7–12 reveal the full compounding effect of SEO. Your domain authority continues building, existing content gains additional backlinks, and high-intent keywords (those with "book a consultation" intent) begin ranking in top positions. Organic lead volume typically reaches 15–40 qualified inquiries per month, depending on practice area and market size.

Your competitive position solidifies. Firms that maintain consistent content output and technical standards see sustained top-3 rankings on their primary keywords. Firms that pause investment or neglect technical maintenance typically plateau or decline during this phase.

By month 12, most solicitor firms understand their SEO ROI clearly. Some practices (family law, conveyancing, employment) show strong returns; others (highly specialized, niche practices) may see slower conversion but still benefit from visibility and authority.

This is the point to assess: should you deepen your investment, maintain current spend, or expand to new practice areas? The data is now mature enough to guide this decision.

Seasonal effects stabilize. By year two, you'll see patterns in seasonal demand. Injury claims peak in spring/summer; family law inquiries spike after holidays and New Year; conveyancing demand follows property market cycles. Your content calendar can now anticipate these waves.

Market competition is the biggest variable. A family law practice in a mid-sized town may rank on primary keywords in 6–8 months. The same practice in London might take 14–18 months. Saturated markets require more domain authority before competitive keywords rank.

Starting domain authority matters. If your firm's site has no prior SEO work or backlinks, you're building from zero. If you're moving from an old domain with some history, you'll move faster. Migration timelines add 2–4 weeks as Google re-crawls and reindexes.

Content scope affects speed. Firms that publish 20+ substantive pieces in the first 90 days move faster than firms publishing 4–6 pieces. Content velocity signals to Google that your site is active and relevant.

Local vs. national keywords. Local keywords rank faster because they have lower search volume and less competition. National keywords (e.g., "employment solicitor" without location) take longer. Most solicitor practices should lead with local keywords first.

Technical quality sets the ceiling. Poor site speed, indexation issues, or broken schema will extend your timeline by months. Flawless technical implementation removes this ceiling.

Seasonal demand in legal services. Conveyancing demand follows property market cycles. Family law peaks post-holidays. Personal injury peaks in spring/summer. If you're in an off-season at launch, your early traffic may appear slower than expected.

If you're at month 5 or beyond and organic traffic is flat or declining, investigate four areas:

1. Technical issues. Check Google Search Console for crawl errors, coverage problems, or indexation drops. Fixes here matter immediately.

2. Content quality. Are your pages answering the searcher's question better than your competitors? If rank #5–10, audit why you're not ranking higher. Often, competitors have longer, more comprehensive content.

3. Backlink growth stalled. If you've plateaued in authority metrics, your backlink strategy may need adjustment. Local citations, industry directories, and relationship-based outreach accelerate this phase.

4. Strategy misalignment. Are you targeting the right keywords? Confirm your keyword difficulty vs. domain authority match. Targeting overly competitive keywords delays results unnecessarily.

Do not assume SEO has failed because month 4 or 5 showed slower growth than month 3. SEO compounds—early progress is fastest; later progress is slower but more profitable.