Law firm building Dutch editorial authority on trusted publishers

A mid-sized Dutch law firm had strong referral relationships but weak organic visibility for practice-area queries. Competitor firms appeared in business press explainers; this firm mostly showed up for branded searches.

Partners were wary of anything that sounded like advertising. Prior freelancers produced generic Dutch content that partners refused to put their name near, and a few proposed hosts looked like soft directories rather than serious editorial sites.

They needed placements on Dutch legal and business publishers that partners would recognise, with accurate practice-area language, Ahrefs DR 30+ floors, and links to specific service pages rather than only the homepage.

We built the brief around practice areas first: employment, commercial contracts, and privacy. Samples focused on Dutch legal and business publishers with real readership, excluding thin directory and article-mill hosts.

Native Dutch writers drafted educational pieces on process and buyer questions, never promising outcomes. Each draft cleared a named partner before outreach confirmation. Mentions stayed factual and page destinations matched the topic.

The shared sheet tracked partner review status beside outreach status so marketing and the managing partner saw one queue. Delayed reviews were visible early enough to keep monthly quality intact without rushing weaker hosts.