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Morais Leitão

Becoming the go-to Portuguese law firm for UK legal partners
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SEO strategy to break into a new market 

 

Morais Leitão is one of Portugal’s leading full-service law firms. With a strong domestic reputation, they set a new goal: becoming the legal partner of choice for UK-based firms needing Portuguese expertise. Following a meeting at a 2023 CMO event in London, Morais Leitão partnered with Novicell to help them reach the UK legal market through a tailored SEO strategy. While their offline credentials were high, they lacked digital visibility in key international markets, especially where it mattered most: search. 

The challenge

Morais Leitão has the experience, the people, and the results. However, they weren’t being found online by UK firms actively seeking legal partners in Portugal for cross-border work, such as M&A, tax, and arbitration.  They needed to:  * Improve visibility for UK-based legal search queries.  * Position themselves as a trusted partner in cross-border legal matters.  * Drive relevant, high-quality traffic, not just more traffic.  They needed a highly targeted SEO strategy to support international business development. 

The solution

We began with a comprehensive SEO audit, not just checking boxes but uncovering the structural, technical, and content-level opportunities that could support market growth. 

Key findings included: 

  • Metadata, internal linking, and missing content for UK search terms
  • Technical issues affecting crawlability and indexation
  • Lack of dedicated landing pages targeting UK-based search intent 

From there, we designed a phased, precision-focused SEO strategy to get the basics right:

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    Search intent mapping

    We analysed how UK firms search for Portuguese legal services. Not just keywords but intent. For example: “Portuguese M&A legal partner” vs. “cross-border M&A advice Portugal.”

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    Strategic content creation

    Developed targeted, high-impact landing pages and editorial content answering key UK legal queries built to rank and resonate with decision-makers.

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    Technical SEO enhancements

    Resolved indexation issues, improved performance, and implemented structured data to ensure search engines and users could find and understand the content.

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    Authority alignment

    We aligned Morais Leitão’s offline authority with digital best practices: improved internal linking, optimised author pages, and laid the groundwork for future outreach.

The results

Within our collaboration, Morais Leitão saw: 

34 0 %

Uplift in the UK-based organic traffic within three months

26 0 %

Improved keyword rankings & positioning in the UK within three months

50 0 %

Higher quality enquiries

Looking ahead 

This is just the beginning. SEO is a long-term investment, and Morais Leitão now has a strong foundation to grow its presence in the UK and beyond. Together, we continue to expand their digital reach, build authority, and identify the next big opportunity. 

Ready to grow into a new market?

Start with visibility. Start with an SEO strategy that works.

Micky
Micky Christensen
Client Account Director
Get in touch with Novicell