Case study · Hill & Ponton · 2022–2025

Built the content engine behind a national law firm.

For 28 months, I ran digital content across email, SEO, web, courses, lead magnets, tools, print, and earned media, turning dense VA disability information into useful resources and measurable growth.

Digital Content ManagerLegal + regulatedStrategy → execution
Hill & Ponton veterans disability law firm homepage
Hill & Ponton’s public site. My work spanned the content, SEO, resources, tools, landing pages and conversion paths behind it.
50K+Email subscribers
50%Average open rate
7%Email CTR
300+Articles written
70KWeekly sessions
+20%Lead conversions

What I owned

Not one channel. The whole system.

I worked across creative, legal, design and web teams, but my remit was unusually hands-on: strategy, copy, production, publishing, earned-media outreach, optimization, and the operating systems that kept it all moving.

01 · EMAIL

The V.E.T.S. Advantage

Named and built the newsletter, grew the list, led the Pardot → Beehiiv migration, created a public archive and helped turn email into a recognizable editorial product.

Visit the newsletter ↗
02 · SEO

300+ articles

Wrote, optimized and edited high-intent legal content, built pillar/topic-cluster architecture, distributed briefs and enforced voice + SEO standards across the pipeline.

See selected bylines ↓
03 · EARNED MEDIA

Pitch to placement

For roughly 18 months, I identified and pitched third-party publications, developed story angles, and wrote the contributed articles that were placed across healthcare and other external outlets.

See selected placements ↓
04 · COURSES

7 hours in 5 days

Scoped, scripted, coordinated, produced and published a comprehensive VA disability claims course in one workweek. It went on to reach 5,000+ users.

View the course ↗
05 · WEB + LEAD MAGNETS

24+ downloadable assets

Created e-books, checklists, worksheets and graphics, contributed to an SEO-first site redesign, and built landing pages designed around real search intent.

See the VA book page ↗
06 · TOOLS + UX

High-value calculators

Led development of the VA hearing disability calculator, one of the site’s strongest-ranking utility pages and a resource that drew roughly 10K views a week during my tenure.

Use the calculator ↗
07 · PRINT

8K+ direct-mail subscribers

Launched and operated a monthly firm mailer that grew from zero to 8K+ subscribers, contributed about 5% of firm leads, and coincided with a 20% lift in external referrals.

Still live

Four projects you can click today.

These are good snapshots of the range: publishing, education, conversion-focused landing pages and interactive search tools.

Newsletter + audience

The V.E.T.S. Advantage

I helped turn the firm’s email program into a standalone publication with its own identity, archive and growth loops.

50K+ subscribers50% open rate7% CTR
Open live newsletter ↗
Course + curriculum

Master the VA Disability Claims Process

A major educational resource scoped and shipped in five working days, covering the claims timeline, filing, C&P exams, ratings, secondary conditions and more.

7 hours5 days5K+ users
View the course ↗
Landing page + editorial

The Road to VA Compensation

I made the landing page and helped edit the long-form guide behind it, translating an intimidating claims process into a resource veterans could actually use.

107-page guideLead generationEducational UX
Open the landing page ↗
Interactive tool + SEO

VA Hearing Disability Calculator

I led development of this calculator around the VA’s hearing-rating process. It became one of the site’s highest-ranking pages and consistently pulled major search traffic.

~10K views/weekUtility SEOConversion path
Open the calculator ↗

Recent portfolio concept

Turn one asset into a coordinated journey.

I revisited the VA Examiner Digest and built the campaign I would wrap around it today: one offer, one message, and a path from first scroll through exam-day follow-up.

Context: This strategy exercise was created after my Hill & Ponton tenure using an existing resource. It shows my current campaign thinking and is not a claim that this exact funnel ran historically.
01
AttentionOne square creative system that can move between organic social, paid social and site promotion.
02
ConversionLanding-page directions built around the veteran's immediate question: what happens at the C&P exam?
03
NurtureFive short emails triggered by the download, progressing from delivery to prep to a same-day post-exam debrief.
VA Examiner Digest landing page concept
Landing page direction · clear offer + low-friction CTA
VA Examiner Digest campaign creative
Top-of-funnel campaign creative
Five-email C&P exam nurture sequence plan
Lifecycle map · five-email exam-prep sequence
50K → 70K

Weekly organic sessions

Long-form content, pillar architecture, internal linking and SEO-first information architecture helped lift sustained weekly traffic by roughly 20K sessions.

0.03% → 1.5%

Key conversion-point CTR

Reworking page intent, calls to action and content paths produced a roughly 50× improvement on important conversion points.

24+

Lead magnets + educational assets

E-books, checklists, worksheets and graphics were built around the next useful action, not just “download this PDF.”

SEO-first

Site architecture

I contributed to a full redesign organized around how veterans actually search: claim stage, condition, exposure, base, era and specific benefits questions.

Selected bylines

Writing that traveled beyond the firm.

For roughly 18 months, I handled contributed-media outreach myself: identifying outlets, pitching editors, developing angles, and writing the articles that were placed. These are representative examples, along with one H&P byline.

Charlie Health · Veteran mental health

Depression and Anxiety Among Veterans

A clinically reviewed guide to symptoms, overlapping conditions and finding appropriate support.

Read on Charlie Health ↗
ImPACT Federal Health · Oncology

Agent Orange and Pancreatic Cancer

A research-focused look at what the available evidence says about exposure and cancer risk.

Read the article ↗
ImPACT Federal Health · Claims

Top Reasons for Disability Denial Claims

Practical guidance on why VA claims are denied and what veterans can do next.

Read the article ↗
ImPACT Federal Health + AHDB

The Hidden Inferno

Burn-pit exposure in the military and its potential links to cancer, published across two healthcare outlets.

Read on ImPACT ↗
Behavioral Health News

Supporting Veterans and Families in Conquering PTSD

A behavioral-health piece on PTSD education, family support, treatment and self-care.

Read the article ↗
Hill & Ponton · Representative byline

Understanding Secondary Conditions Linked to TBI

One example from the 300+ legal and educational articles I wrote and optimized for the firm.

Read on Hill & Ponton ↗

Portfolio note: these metrics reflect my tenure at Hill & Ponton (Oct. 2022–Jan. 2025). The linked public pages may have been revised, redesigned or updated since I left.

The short version

I can take complicated expertise and turn it into a working content system.

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