Dawson Criminal Defence
Rebranding an Established Criminal Defence Firm Without Losing Organic Visibility
After years of operating under various partner names, Edmonton-based criminal defence firm Dawson Criminal Defence made the strategic decision to establish a permanent brand identity. Serving clients throughout Edmonton, Fort McMurray, and the Northwest Territories, the firm wanted a name that would stand the test of time and support long-term growth.
The challenge was significant: execute a complete rebrand, including a new business name, visual identity, and domain name, while preserving the organic search visibility and lead generation the firm had spent years building.
The Challenge
A domain migration and rebrand can be one of the riskiest projects for an established law firm. Search engines rely on years of historical signals to understand and rank a website, and major changes can often lead to traffic losses, ranking volatility, and reduced lead flow.
Dawson Criminal Defence had two primary goals:
- Minimize disruption to incoming leads.
- Preserve existing organic search performance throughout the transition.
With hundreds of pages indexed in Google and strong visibility across highly competitive criminal law search terms, maintaining continuity was critical.
The Strategy
Rather than treating the project as a website redesign, we approached it as a business identity transition.
Our objective was to send the clearest possible signal to Google that this was the same trusted law firm, simply operating under a new name.
To achieve this, we intentionally kept nearly every aspect of the website unchanged:
- Implemented the new business name across the site.
- Developed a new visual identity, including logos and brand elements.
- Migrated to a new domain.
- Preserved all existing content.
- Maintained page layouts and formatting.
- Kept all URL structures intact.
- Retained every existing page.
- Avoided adding new pages during the migration.
- Kept existing imagery in place.
By limiting variables, we reduced the likelihood of search engines interpreting the change as an entirely new website.
The Results
Just five weeks after launch, the transition was proving successful.
The new Dawson Criminal Defence website maintained strong organic visibility, continued to generate traffic, and was already appearing in Google’s AI-generated search experiences.
Most importantly, the firm completed a full rebrand and domain migration while preserving the organic foundation it had built over many years.
By focusing on continuity, technical precision, and search engine best practices, Dawson Criminal Defence successfully launched a new brand identity while maintaining the organic performance that fuels its growth. The result is a modern, future-focused brand built on the authority and trust the firm has earned over years of serving clients across Alberta and the Northwest Territories.
