We helped Portia Law skyrocket from page 11 to page 1 on Google in one month

Competition in the legal sector is fierce in New Zealand – a large number of firms compete for a relatively small pool of clients. And differentiating yourself is difficult, something that Jarrod Coburn, CEO of Portia, knows all too well.

“We are an excellent law firm, but it’s very hard to communicate that. There are certain things that I know we excel at, but we are limited by professional ethics in terms of what we can say and the claims we can make. It’s very hard to blow your own trumpet when you’re not allowed to make too much noise.”

These restrictive rules on what you can and can’t say create a truly unique marketing challenge.

Named after Shakespeare’s famous legal heroine, Portia is a firm built on principles of aroha (kindness), manaakitanga (respect for others) and ihumanea (cleverness). The team’s goal is to be the most ethical law firm in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Portia has been New Zealand’s biggest provider of family legal aid for the past decade. They’ve built an enviable reputation within the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), and the fixed fee nature of this work has led them to become ultra-efficient (they get paid the same no matter how long the work takes), while remaining ultra-effective, as regular audits are part and parcel of MoJ work too.

Portia was always recognised as experts in legal aid. However, they knew they could compete with any firm in terms of knowledge, expertise, efficiency, effectiveness, technology, and client experience in other areas, too. So, they saw an opportunity to push further into the private space.

The challenge was to find a way to secure more of that private business. But this was easier said than done: not least because they found themselves buried on page 11 of the Google results.

They knew they needed specialist marketing expertise, so they turned to Traction for help.

Like many businesses, Portia had previously struggled to find quality marketing partners. Having been burnt in the past, they cast a wide net and committed to a rigorous interview process.

The priority was expertise, but as a global signatory to the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles (UN WEPS), the firm also carefully considered a number of equity issues when evaluating potential partners. Ultimately, Traction revealed itself as the obvious choice.

“Speaking with Jordana and Chris, their values matched our values,” says Coburn. “They appreciate their staff and bring a really nice vibe. It just felt good. And subsequently, that’s proven to be true.”

In terms of the marketing itself, Portia had some experience with online advertising, but it wasn’t the best channel for their goals. Their hope was to get in front of their audience organically and to present themselves as the trustworthy, high-quality firm that they are.

Portia was preparing for a website rebuild at the time, so Traction’s approach would begin by laying the architectural groundwork for SEO, before shifting to ongoing optimisation once the site was live.

The results were both instant and impressive. Just one month into the engagement, Portia Law went from ranking on page 11 for the keyword ‘family lawyers Christchurch’, to position four on the Google results page.

“To get us to the front page of Google, wow! that was such an amazing effort. That first month with Traction was at least 100 times more impressive than six or 12 months with another agency.”

Coburn was all the more impressed because he was no novice. “I’ve got some experience in marketing, but every time I leave a Traction meeting, I feel like I’ve been to another class.”

The result: inquiries for services like relationship property, an area of focus for Portia, have increased significantly. But more than that, a solid marketing foundation has given the firm the confidence to attack its bigger goals, and potentially transform the way New Zealanders engage with law – without saying too much, this tech-forward firm is very much working toward its vision of ‘access to justice for all’.

“Everything that Traction has said that it was going to do, it has done. There’s no drama, no issues, no excuses. We have a partner who we can trust, who can take us to the next level.”

How would Coburn summarise his Traction experience? When pressed, he says professional, respectful, attentive and delightfully surprising.

“Traction is the thinking person’s digital marketing company.”