When Ben Nelson from Allen, Nelson & Wilson first contacted us, he wasn’t looking for a quick fix or a sales pitch. He wanted to understand how SEO actually works. Three months after we started working together, his law firm saw a 469% increase in impressions and more than double the clicks. This case study walks through how we:
- began with training,
- developed a custom strategy, and
- implemented the work that helped his firm get found online.
Let’s start with a closer look at the firm and how Ben found his way to Emily Journey & Associates.
Meet the Client
Allen, Nelson & Wilson is a Missouri-based law firm. They have a strong reputation in Central Missouri. Their success is built on results, referrals, and a long track record in personal injury and workers’ compensation cases.
However, when it came to showing up online, their visibility didn’t reflect the results they achieved for their clients.
Ben Nelson, one of the firm’s partners, found us by searching “Top SEO Training Companies” in ChatGPT. Emily Journey & Associates appeared in the top five and that was enough to get his attention.
He had worked with SEO agencies before. They sent him monthly reports that looked impressive—full of charts, metrics, and marketing buzzwords. But Ben didn’t have a way to tell whether those reports were meaningful. He wanted to understand:
- Whether the SEO strategy was moving the needle or just checking boxes
- How to connect the dots between SEO data and real business results
- What terms like impressions, queries, and click-through rate actually mean
Meet the SEO Strategist
I’m Darlene Kong, an SEO Strategist and Website Manager at Emily Journey & Associates. I led the SEO training, strategy development, and implementation for this project with Allen, Nelson & Wilson. My favorite part of this work is helping people understand how SEO works so they can stop feeling like they’re guessing and start making decisions that move their business forward. My approach is grounded in clarity, honesty, and tangible results.
I started building websites in 2006 with zero knowledge of SEO. I thought SEO was for some other expert to figure out and that it would always be a mystery to me. Once I understood that SEO is just like a language, with its own rules and structure, it all began to click. Today, I help business owners across industries use SEO to get found online and reach the people they’re meant to serve.
» Learn more about my client-centered approach to SEO Training and Strategy
The Challenge
Ben told me the number of clicks to their website had dropped significantly over the past couple of years.
The firm had previously invested in SEO, but Ben couldn’t say with confidence whether it was still delivering results.
His relationship with previous SEO companies usually followed the same pattern: he met with a sales rep who passed messages along to an invisible team. When he asked questions, the answers were vague. He wanted to trust what they were saying, but he wasn’t sure which questions to ask.
The Plan
SEO Training
After listening to Ben share his past experience, I said, “It sounds like you would like to know what SEO actually is and how it works. That way, when you work with SEO service providers, you aren’t guessing at what is supposed to be happening.”
He agreed, so we began with SEO training. Ben wanted to understand how SEO really worked so he could make informed decisions for the firm.
What stood out to Ben was that the training was a complete, stand-alone service. He didn’t feel pressured to buy into a long-term contract. He knew that when the training ended, he’d walk away fully equipped to do SEO work either on his own or with a team.
During the training, we reviewed the fundamentals of search engine optimization, and he learned how to:
- Perform keyword research
- Interpret SEO data and track performance
- Understand how keywords, content, and site structure work together
- Align SEO strategy with the firm’s business goals
By the end of the training, Ben could evaluate what had been done in the past, recognize what still needed to be done, and decide what made the most sense going forward.
» Build your SEO confidence just like Ben did. Start with SEO Training
SEO Strategy Package
With his training complete, Ben felt ready to take the next step. We worked together on the custom SEO Strategy Development Package. This service allowed us to create a clear plan for the firm to follow, whether they handled the work in-house or chose to outsource it.
Just like the training, the strategy package was a stand-alone product. It wasn’t a sales funnel. Ben knew exactly what he received and how to use it.
To develop the strategy, we:
- Audited the firm’s existing content for gaps and opportunities
- Identified search terms with strong local and service-based intent
- Reviewed competitors to uncover areas of opportunity
- Prioritized technical fixes to support performance
- Created a content plan focused on driving organic traffic to high-value pages
- Outlined a link-building approach and local SEO improvements
Everything was documented in a comprehensive SEO Strategy Package, complete with action steps and recommendations tailored to the firm’s goals.
How We Put the Plan Into Action: Done-for-You SEO Services
Ben approved the strategy and then gave it some thought. With a small team and limited internal bandwidth, he decided it made the most sense to hire Emily Journey & Associates to carry out the plan we had developed together.
We moved into the implementation phase through our Done-for-You SEO Services.
Our focus was simple: make it easier for the right clients to find Allen, Nelson & Wilson online and take action when they did.
Here’s what we implemented during the first phase of Done-for-You SEO:
- Rewrote core service pages
- Optimized the content for search intent, clarity, and conversion. We focused on Workers’ Compensation, Car Accidents, Truck Accidents, and Personal Injury services.
- Optimized the content for search intent, clarity, and conversion. We focused on Workers’ Compensation, Car Accidents, Truck Accidents, and Personal Injury services.
- Published new blog content optimized for local search
- Articles were designed to answer the exact questions potential clients type into Google.
- Articles were designed to answer the exact questions potential clients type into Google.
- Optimized the Google Business Profile
- Updated categories, improved descriptions, added services, and began posting weekly content to drive local visibility.
- Updated categories, improved descriptions, added services, and began posting weekly content to drive local visibility.
- Improved internal linking
- Added contextual links across pages to improve navigation, increase dwell time, and support SEO.
SEO Strategy Implementation Results: Before & After
Within three months of implementing the strategy, Allen, Nelson & Wilson experienced a dramatic shift in their online visibility and engagement. The numbers tell a clear story, and so does the quality of the traffic.
Quantitative Gains
Website impressions increased by 469%
The firm’s website went from just 8,410 impressions in March (before we started working together) to 47,900 impressions in July.
This dramatic increase showed that the website was now appearing far more frequently when people searched on Google. It was especially showing up for services the firm wanted to be known for in their area.
Click-throughs more than doubled
In the same period, website clicks jumped from 27 to 64, a 137% increase. Users weren’t just seeing the firm’s content—they were clicking to learn more, explore services, and potentially reach out.
Traffic shifted to high-value pages
New and optimized content began doing exactly what it was designed to do: attract qualified visitors. Among the top performers:
- Workers’ Compensation page (optimized)
- Truck Accident in Macon, MO (newly published)
- Personal Injury and Car Accident location pages (newly published)
These pages had zero traffic in March. By July, they were ranking, earning impressions, and bringing in clicks. The strategy was working, and Google recognized the relevance of the new content.
Strong Keyword Alignment
The firm was now ranking in the top 10 for search terms that mattered:
Top new search terms after strategy implementation:
- personal injury attorneys
- workplace safety attorney
- moberly workmans comp lawyer
- truck accident attorney fulton
Old, irrelevant keywords dropped off:
- ssdi lawyers near me
- social security attorney
This shift reflected a realignment of visibility around the firm’s core services. The SEO strategy we developed produced clear, measurable results.
From Confusion to Clarity
Once we presented the data to Ben, he could see exactly what had changed and why it mattered. The reports weren’t just numbers; they told a story of progress that aligned with the goals we set at the beginning. For the first time, Ben had insight into the data and how it allowed the firm’s online visibility to grow.
“Before, when I worked with SEO agencies, it just felt disconnected. I didn’t know who was actually doing the work, and I had no idea if what they were doing was even helping. I am thankful to see the data to back up the work that you are doing.” –Ben Nelson
That clarity changed everything. Instead of wondering whether his investment was paying off, Ben could see the results, understand the strategy behind them, and feel confident about what to do next.
Reflections on the Journey
For Ben, the biggest difference wasn’t just in the numbers; it was in the relationship.
This wasn’t the agency model he’d experienced before. There was no middleman or mysterious team behind the scenes. When we met, he talked directly to the person doing the work.
“I’ve had SEO companies that sell you services through a middleman. They say they’ll pass your message along to ‘the team,’ but you never really know who’s doing the work.” –Ben Nelson
That transparency made a difference. It built trust early on and kept the process collaborative every step of the way.
Ben also appreciated that our work together extended beyond just SEO. When a PHP update caused issues on the site, we stepped in. When it was time to rethink the contact page experience, we brainstormed solutions. When Facebook visibility became a priority, we started strategizing.
“It’s nice to have somebody who can bring in more than just the SEO. For example, we’re thinking about the contact form, PHP, and even Facebook. It’s more of a holistic approach.” –Ben Nelson
This wasn’t a one-off project. It was the start of a strategic partnership rooted in clarity and honesty.
What’s Next
After completing the first phase of SEO implementation, we moved right into phase two. We built on the momentum we created and continued to strengthen the firm’s online presence.
Ben now has a clearer understanding of how SEO works, how it connects to his business goals, and what questions to ask. He is now a part of the strategy development and is no longer dependent on vague reports.
At Emily Journey & Associates, that’s exactly the kind of partnership we aim for: one where the client is empowered, the results are measurable, and the work is grounded in trust.
» Talk to us about how SEO training can give you the clarity, confidence, and results you’ve been missing
