Mark O’Brien Legal · Case Study · Fresh Digital
Case StudyMark O'Brien Legal · markobrienlegal.com.auSydney

Defamation Lawyer Sydney.
From outside the top 100
to number one.

A month ago none of the 67 terms we track ranked in Google's top 100. In the 1 to 20 October 2026 report 7 do, with defamation lawyer Sydney at number one. Alongside the rankings, a new website and a Google review clean up are under way.

1
Term at number one on Google
4
Terms in the top three, up from none
5
Terms on page one, up from none
7
Terms in the top 100, up from none
Client
Mark O'Brien Legal
Prepared by
Mitchell Galvin
Account Director, Fresh Digital
01Ranking improvements

Seven terms now rank,
four in the top three.

Every term below was outside Google's top 100 in the report's month-ago column. Full detail in the ranking report.

Search termNowA month agoMovement
defamation lawyer Sydney
No.1
100+
▲ Into top 3
defamation solicitor Sydney
2
100+
▲ Into top 3
reputation management lawyer Sydney
2
100+
▲ Into top 3
celebrity defamation lawyer Sydney
3
100+
▲ Into top 3
directors' duties lawyer Sydney
4
100+
▲ Into top 10
reputation crisis lawyer
18
100+
▲ Into top 20
social media defamation lawyer
30
100+
▲ Into top 100
Report period 1 to 20 October 2026. 67 terms tracked, 60 still outside the top 100.
02The work

What we set out to fix.

From the Fresh Digital website recommendations for the firm, in priority order.

Website recommendations and SEO plan

A full site review was prepared and published at markobrienlegal.pages.dev: health checks, titles, H1s, meta descriptions, alt text, URL changes and a content plan.

Core expertise pages

Plan to update the five core expertise pages: commercial disputes and litigation, corporate governance and directors' duties, corporate crime and investigations, employment and discrimination, and media, defamation and reputation management.

Defamation restructure

Plan to split the combined media, defamation and reputation page into dedicated pages for media law, reputation management, defamation claims and defences, and online defamation.

Technical fixes

Schema markup, article URLs under /resources/, category archives set to noindex, old portfolio pages and sitemaps removed, footer heading corrected, click to call and a sitewide HTTPS redirect.

On-page updates

New page titles, H1 headings and meta descriptions across the key pages, plus image alt text.

Resubmit and monitor

New sitemaps submitted to Google Search Console, indexing requested, rankings tracked.

03Website before and after

The website, before and after.

Before: markobrienlegal.com.au as captured on 22 October 2026. After: the new website, added once complete.

Desktop

Before
Desktop at 1440px, above the fold
Desktop at 1440px, above the fold
After
Desktop, above the fold
Coming soon, new website in progress

Desktop, full page

Before
Desktop at 1440px, full page (scroll inside)
Desktop at 1440px, full page (scroll inside)
After
Desktop, full page
Coming soon, new website in progress

Mobile and how it works

Before
Mobile at 390px, first screen
Mobile at 390px, first screen
Mobile menu open
Mobile menu open
Mobile, scrolled
Mobile, scrolled
Mobile, contact form
Mobile, contact form
After
Mobile screens
Coming soon, new website in progress

Mobile video

Before
Mobile recording: scrolling and opening the menu
After
Mobile video
Coming soon, new website in progress
04Google reviews

Google reviews, before and after.

8 of the profile's 12 reviews have been flagged to Google for removal as suspected fake reviews. All 8 have no review text and are escalated with Google.

Before
2.5
★★★★★

12 Google reviews, 8 flagged for removal

Google Maps listing, 22 October 2026
Google Maps listing, 22 October 2026
After
New Google rating
Coming soon, once the flagged reviews are removed

Reviews flagged for removal

DateRatingTextStatus
26 Jun 2025★★★★★ 1 starNo textEscalated
27 Feb 2025★★★★★ 1 starNo textEscalated
31 May 2024★★★★★ 3 starNo textEscalated
16 Apr 2024★★★★★ 1 starNo textEscalated
28 Nov 2023★★★★★ 1 starNo textEscalated
10 Apr 2023★★★★★ 1 starNo textEscalated
6 Apr 2023★★★★★ 1 starNo textEscalated
6 May 2022★★★★★ 1 starNo textEscalated
Reviewer names withheld for privacy. Source: Google Business Profile, confirmed by Mitchell Galvin and seen on Google Maps 22 Oct 2026.
Questions on any of this?
Mitchell Galvin · Account Director, Fresh Digital · 1300 720 265 · freshdigital.com.au
Suite 5/492 Christine Avenue, Robina, Gold Coast QLD 4226