Charge pages carry most of the weight on a defense firm website. They rank for the searches that bring in cases, and they are where a frightened reader decides whether to call. That makes them the obvious place to test changes, and also the place where a careless test can do real damage.
A firm that rewrites its DUI page on a hunch, loses a few positions in Google and sees calls drop has learned very little. It cannot tell whether the new wording, the lost ranking or a slow month caused the drop. A planned test avoids that confusion. This article explains how to test charge page changes in a way that protects rankings and produces an answer you can trust.
Every test should start with a single question. Does moving the call prompt above the penalties section bring more calls? Does a shorter opening keep more readers on the page? Does adding a section on the local courthouse change anything?
Write the question down along with the number that will answer it. For a charge page, that number is usually calls or form submissions that start on the page. Time on page and scroll depth are useful hints, but they do not pay the bills.
Pick only one change per test. If you rewrite the opening, reorder the FAQ and change the button text at the same time, you will not know which change mattered.
A true split test shows two versions of the page to different visitors at the same time. It gives the cleanest answer, but it needs enough traffic. Many charge pages on local defense sites get a few hundred visits a month, which is often too few for a split test to reach a clear result in a reasonable time.
A before-and-after test changes the page and compares a period after the change with a similar period before it. It is easier to run and works with less traffic, but seasonal swings and ranking changes can muddy the result. Compare the same weeks of the year where possible, and note anything else that changed during the test.
For most defense firms, careful before-and-after tests on high-value charge pages are the practical choice.
Google publishes guidance on running website tests without harming search performance. These are the main points:
Following these steps keeps Google indexing the original page while the test runs.
Some parts of a charge page do more for rankings than others. The title tag, the main heading, the opening paragraphs and the sections that answer common questions about the charge tend to matter most. Be cautious about large changes to these during a conversion test.
Start with lower-risk elements. The wording near the call button, the order of sections lower on the page, the presence of an attorney photo and the design of the contact form can all be tested with little risk to rankings. Save rewrites of the core content for a separate project where rankings are the main goal and you are watching Search Console closely.
Before the test starts, make sure calls and forms are tracked by page. Call tracking numbers or a reliable click-to-call event, plus a form submission event tagged with the page URL, are the minimum. This guide to measuring calls and forms before A/B testing a law firm site walks through that setup.
Decide in advance how long the test will run and what counts as a meaningful difference. Ending a test early because the first week looks good is one of the most common mistakes. Low numbers swing a lot from week to week.
Keep a simple test log with the page, the change, the dates, the result and any outside events. Over a year, that log becomes a guide to what works on your charge pages and what does not. Share it with whoever writes or edits the site so new pages start from lessons already learned.
For more on testing and measuring changes, see the library of conversion testing guides for law firm websites.
Long enough to collect a steady number of calls or forms for each version, which for many local firms means at least several weeks. Avoid ending a test during a holiday period without accounting for it.
A test that follows Google's guidance should not cause lasting harm. Large changes to the main content can affect rankings, so keep those separate from conversion tests.
Not for before-and-after tests. A split test usually needs a testing tool or a developer who can serve two versions properly.
SBD Marketing works only with criminal defense firms, one firm per city. It helps them with website design, SEO for the charges they defend, visibility in AI search tools and SEO audits.