Law Firm PPC: How Law Firms Can Avoid Overspending with Google Ads

Law firms looking to generate leads immediately can look no further than PPC (pay-per-click) advertising campaigns on Google – aka Google Ads. It’s worth knowing though, that Google Ads can be quite costly. Law firms need to pay particular attention to their strategy in order to target accurately, spend wisely, and get the return on investment they’re hoping to achieve.

What is PPC?

PPC stands for pay-per-click, a model of internet marketing in which law firms pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked. The most common form of PPC is Google Ads, however there are a lot of other PPC providers and models, such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, YouTube, more. Essentially, law firms will pay publishers to display their firm content (whether in the form of an image, search result, etc) and then they are charged for each time that action takes place. You can see how a budget based on someone completing an action makes it essential to limit that action to only those most likely to convert.

Why should law firms use PPC? 

As part of an integrated marketing strategy, PPC can often bring immediate results for law firms. Other forms of digital marketing such as search engine optimization (SEO) take some time to work – PPC can help immediately while you wait for other programs to become effective. It essentially helps marketers to fill gaps in lead generation while executing other targeted online programs. 

How much does a Google Ad cost a law firm? 

Legal search terms tend to be on the expensive end of the spectrum. You can use a keyword research tool to determine the cost of individual keywords or phrases. Despite estimates, there are several factors that can impact what legal marketers will end up paying for their advertising. Some of these include geographic area, targeting settings, how frequently their ads are shown, and at what times of day. In general, the less targeted campaigns are, the more expensive they tend to be. 

To keep costs as low as possible while still obtaining results, try the following: 

• Choose a more specific radius to target, such as a city versus an entire state.
• Schedule ads to run only during business hours of your potential clients. 
• Use exact, phrase, and broad match modifier keyword match types to limit irrelevant clicks on your advertising. 
• Review your search terms regularly to see what people actually seek and click on. This can help build a negative keyword list as well. 
• Upload negative keyword lists that contain terms like “free” or other phrases you’re not interested in being found for. 

4 Steps to Setting up Your Law Firm’s Google Ads Campaign

Some of the best ways to ensure you don’t overpay for PPC advertising are to complete careful prep work and be intentional about your targeting. 

1. Keyword research

You can conduct research within your Google Ads campaign builder or using third party tools like Ahrefs Keywords Explorer. Use a seed keyword to find other words and phrases that can make sense to target, along with search volume and other metrics. 

2. Competitor research

Google Ads also offers a competitor research tool that allows you to see who you’ll be competing with in their search results. To complete this process you’ll use the Ad Preview and Diagnosis Tool. Enter the keywords, geographic area, and device type and preview both desktop and mobile results. 

3. Landing page optimization

It’s essential that your landing page is doing its job as part of your law firm’s PPC campaign. If the landing page isn’t what people are expecting to see, or doesn’t contain a clear CTA, you’ll probably waste money driving traffic to it. For your campaign to succeed, you need to create pages for each ad group, optimized for the goal of converting clicks into leads. Landing pages should be 100% relevant to the keyword phrase and audience you’re targeting. To ensure that happens, follow these tips: 

1. Create compelling headlines that match the text traffic used to reach the ad. 
2. Develop ad copy that further explains why someone should choose your firm. 
3. Incorporate videos or other media that support your ad copy. 
4. Consider including a live 24/7 chatbot to capture real-time interest. 
5. Include a short form that people can fill out to obtain more info. 
6. Highlight testimonials or other social proof, along with trust indicators like a well-written privacy policy. 
7. Ensure all landing pages have a clear call to action. It should be obvious what people can do if they want to take a next step. 

Related: Anatomy of a Perfect Law Firm Landing Page

4. Remarketing lists for search ads (RLSA)

Just as important as reaching new audiences, you can use Google Ads for Search to reach people who have previously visited your website. This will help your firm to stay top of mind with searchers who are in the research phase. In order to perform this type of targeting, you must have Google Analytics set up on your website. 

Takeaway

If you’re not careful, your PPC budget can disappear at the blink of an eye. If you do not ensure that your target audiences are narrow and relevant, or you don’t carefully craft landing pages aligned to your ad copy, you’re likely to blow through your PPC budget without meeting campaign goals. In many cases, it makes sense to work with a PPC expert to ensure your campaigns are set up correctly and in a way that generates traffic and results immediately while maintaining your budget.