Year-End Review & 2026 Planning — 2026-04-05
Overview
Sebastian Gant (Asymmetric) and Nicole Hadaway (Axley) reviewed 2025 marketing performance and aligned on 2026 strategy priorities. The meeting covered strong organic and paid results, a family law page restructure to fix keyword cannibalization, a new PPC pause protocol, and a forward-looking roadmap including LSAs, Waukesha local SEO expansion, and FAQ additions across practice area pages.
Attendees:
- Nicole Hadaway — Axley (nhadaway@axley.com)
- Sebastian Gant — Asymmetric
- Paul Buniel — Asymmetric
2025 Performance Highlights
Organic Search
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Ahrefs Health Score | ~65% → 98% |
| New Top-10 Keywords | ~100 gained YTD |
| Google AI Citations | 41 nationwide (from 18 pages) |
- Consistent blogging per the attorney SEO checklist contributed directly to ranking growth.
- Dedicated local pages were built but not yet published; nmh plans to publish in January.
Paid Ads (PPC)
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Total Conversions | ~900 |
| Cost Per Lead | ~$132 |
| Website Clicks | ~15,000 |
- CallRail was integrated mid-year for better attribution.
- Several campaigns shifted to manual CPC to improve cost control.
- Google's AI optimization feature was enabled at some point and began pulling irrelevant search terms; it has since been disabled.
Year-End Report
- Sebastian built the report in Gamma (AI presentation tool); nmh was added as a collaborator to edit slides.
- nmh will use the report for an executive presentation; she may send clarifying questions before the Jan 16 meeting.
Key Decisions
1. Family Law Page Restructure (Keyword Cannibalization Fix)
Multiple pages were competing for "divorce" queries. Agreed restructure:
| Page | New Intent |
|---|---|
Family Law |
General overview of practice area |
Collaborative Divorce → renamed Divorce |
Primary divorce page; includes a section on collaborative divorce |
Divorce, Annulment, Legal Separation |
Refocused on annulment and legal separation only |
2. FAQ Sections on All Practice Area Pages
- Decision: Add FAQ sections to all practice area pages.
- Sebastian will draft FAQs for existing and proposed pages; nmh will review and approve before publishing.
- Existing landing page FAQs may be repurposed where relevant.
3. PPC Campaign Pause Protocol
- Decision: Campaigns may be paused for practice areas at or near capacity to protect ROI and control spend.
- Process: Sebastian emails nmh with a pause recommendation → nmh responds with approval or direction before any change is made.
- Capacity risk assessment:
- Low risk: Criminal Defense, Personal Injury, Academic Misconduct
- Primary risk: Madison Family Law (especially during long trials — rare, first time in ~a decade)
4. 2026 Budget & Spending Thresholds
- PPC spending thresholds to be reviewed and finalized at the January 16 meeting.
- Family Law Waukesha spend was already reduced following the prior in-person meeting.
2026 Priorities
- Local Service Ads (LSAs): Launch as a new channel.
- Waukesha Local SEO: Expand content and visibility in the Waukesha market.
- FAQ Additions: Roll out across all practice area pages.
- Backlink Profile: Continue building referring domains and industry partnerships.
- Reviews Integration: Add embedded reviews to practice area pages (SEO benefit).
- Blog Content: 9 family law articles planned, written by associates using Sebastian's top-10 topic list with focus keywords added.
- Salesforce Discussion: Schedule a post-holiday meeting with Mark (flagged from prior in-person meeting).
- Spotify Advertising / Video Assets: Exploratory — discussed as potential new channels.
Action Items
| Owner | Action | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Sebastian | Draft FAQs for existing and proposed practice area pages; send to nmh for review | ☐ Open |
| Sebastian | Add focus keywords to the top-10 Family Law blog topic list | ☐ Open |
| Sebastian | Email nmh before pausing any PPC campaign (new standing protocol) | ☐ Ongoing |
| Sebastian | Resend end-of-year SurveyMonkey link to nmh | ☐ Open |
| Sebastian | Cancel next scheduled meeting; keep Jan 16 on calendar | ☐ Open |
| nmh | Review year-end report; send clarifying questions to Sebastian | ☐ Open |
| nmh | Review and approve new criminal defense and family law page copy | ☐ Open |
| nmh | Publish dedicated local pages (built, not yet live) | ☐ Open — January |
| nmh | Complete end-of-year survey | ☐ Open |
| Both | Finalize 2026 marketing budget and PPC spending thresholds | ☐ Open — Jan 16 meeting |
| Both | Schedule post-holiday Salesforce discussion with Mark | ☐ Open |
Next Meeting
January 16 — Agenda will include 2026 budget finalization and PPC threshold review.
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