Law firm pay-per-click (PPC) can be a game-changer for law firms looking to stand out and attract new clients. Effective PPC campaigns will help your firm appear at the top of search results and drive qualified leads directly to your website.
Our list of legal PPC strategies and best practices will help you maximize your PPC efforts, ensuring that every click counts toward building a strong client base. Let’s get started.
Table of Contents
Why Is PPC Important for Lawyers?
PPC for lawyers allows you to drive intent-based leads almost immediately if done correctly. You don’t need to wait months to increase your ranking organically — to achieve visible positions at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs), simply opt for PPC advertising.
PPC advertising for lawyers helps you:
- Find new clients
- Promote your business in specific regions
- Boost visibility and brand awareness
- Stay competitive
1. Find New Clients
Pay-per-click campaigns allow you to craft advertising that is specific and relevant to your legal expertise, based on a broad range of keywords. Showing your firm in the ad positions helps more potential clients notice you while they’re searching for a lawyer.
2. Promote Your Business in Specific Regions
You can set up your PPC campaigns to target clients near your law office or in specific regions, counties, or cities. Known as geotargeting, this approach allows you to specify the geographic location where you want to show your ad. For example, if your practice is in New York, you can only limit your ad appearance to the city or state.
3. Boost Visibility and Brand Awareness
Visible positions on search engine results pages help your potential clients remember your brand name and check your services later, even if they don’t click on your ad immediately. With the right targeting, your ads will reach audiences actively searching for relevant information, positioning your firm as a solution. Over time, this repeated exposure establishes trust and solidifies your brand presence.
4. Stay Competitive
With multiple PPC ads above and below organic listings, and millions of users clicking on them, having your company noticed will give you a competitive edge over the law firms not using PPC. This strategy can be valuable specifically for new firms, those in the early stage of growth, or those in the process of expanding their areas of expertise.
How Does PPC For Law Firms Work?
Attorney PPC involves a targeted approach that drives interested audiences directly to your website. Let’s break down the exact steps of how this happens:
- You select and bid on a keyword or phrase that is relevant to your practice and your target clients. For example, “criminal defense attorney” or “immigration lawyer in NYC.”
- When a user looks up these keywords in a search engine, your ad will show up.
- If a user clicks on your ad, they will be taken to your landing page to view more details about your services. You will be charged for each click.
- Unlike traditional advertising, where you pay a flat fee to appear on TV, a billboard, or in print media, PPC has a cost-effective structure that allows you to scale your campaign with a fixed budget.
- Popular platforms for this type of PPC include Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising. If you opt for paid ads on social media platforms, your posts will be marked “Sponsored.”
8 Best Law Firm PPC Tips
Ready to launch your new paid ad campaign for a law firm? Here are some tips that will help you optimize your PPC strategy:
- Perform keyword research
- Create compelling ad copy
- Focus on your geographic area
- Research the best time of day
- Optimize for mobile search
- Use Google Ads extensions
- Optimize your website
- Monitor and adjust your PPC campaign
1. Perform Keyword Research
Use the Google Ads Keyword Planner to find the right keywords for your law firm's PPC campaigns. The planner will help you find relevant keywords, see details like search volume per month, and prepare your PPC campaign budget.
For effective keyword research in law firm PPC campaigns:
- Focus on high-intent keywords: Terms like “hire a lawyer” or “legal help for [your law niche]” will attract users actively seeking your services.
- Use long-tail keywords: Capture specific searches like “best immigration lawyer for students.”
- Use negative keywords: Filter out irrelevant searches like “free legal advice” to prevent wasted clicks.
- Regularly update your keyword list: Analyze keyword performance and adjust your keyword strategy as industry trends and user behaviors change.
2. Create Compelling Ad Copy
Write value-driven ad copy that resonates with your potential clients. Explain precisely how you can solve their problems and why your legal services are better than those of other law firms. Prepare several versions of your ad and run them over different periods to check their performance. Then, allocate your budget to the one that performs best.
Include your keywords in the headline and the body of your ad. Focus on long-tail keywords to target more specific audiences and to reap the benefit of their affordability due to fewer firms bidding on them.
Connor O'Hanlon, Director of PPC at SmartSites, emphasizes the importance of staying within Google’s regulations: "Law firm marketing is unique, as it’s typically one of the most regulated, competitive and expensive on Google Ads. The regulations are more specific about what you can and cannot say in the ad copy, so standing out from your competition is a challenge. This makes great branding, aggressive bidding, and a well-performing landing page crucially important for any law firm to compete."
3. Focus on Your Geographic Area
Narrow the scope of your PPC campaigns to the geographic area where you practice. Most clients search for legal services close to home, so it’s best to set your ads to reach only the most relevant local audience.
Here are a few key tips to capture local clients with your law firm PPC ads:
- Set location targeting: Define specific cities, counties, or ZIP codes in Google Ads to reach local prospects.
- Use location-based keywords: Include terms like “labor lawyer in Бoston” to improve relevance for local searches.
- Adjust bid modifiers by location: Increase your bids in areas with higher client demand. This boosts visibility and brings more local prospects to your door.
- Write localized ad copy: Mention location-specific details in ad text to resonate with local audiences.
- Exclude irrelevant areas: Use geographic exclusions to prevent ads from appearing outside your target region.
4. Research the Best Time of Day
Research the time of the day your clients will most likely look up legal services and run your ads during these specific hours. Precise ad scheduling ensures your ads only run during high-conversion hours, preventing ad spend during low-activity times.
Experiment with various time frames to find optimal engagement hours for your firm’s target audience. Use Google Ads reports to continuously adjust and fine-tune your ad scheduling based on performance insights.
5. Optimize for Mobile Search
According to Statista, over 53% of all web traffic comes from mobile devices. Optimizing legal PPC for mobile searches ensures your ads appear effectively on smaller screens and creates a seamless experience for potential clients.
Key tips for mobile search include:
- Enable call extensions: Add click-to-call extensions on your ads so mobile users can tap a button to contact you directly from the ad.
- Test mobile bids: If Google Ads data shows that you get better conversion rates on mobile compared to desktop, set higher bids for mobile to capture broader audiences.
- Write mobile-optimized ad copy: Concise, compelling copy fits smaller screens and quickly conveys your message.
- Monitor mobile performance: Analyze mobile-specific data to improve ad relevance and increase mobile conversions.
6. Use Google Ads Extensions
Use Google Ad extensions to include location information, call buttons, or links to different sections of your website. Highlighting specific types of services like family law or immigration law will make your ad stand out when clients search for these legal services and increase your click-through rate.
You can also add location extensions, positive client reviews, or unique selling points (“over 20 years of experience”) to further encourage clicks.
7. Optimize Your Website
Your PPC campaign will bring substantial traffic to your website, so make sure each landing page will engage visitors and encourage them to explore your offerings or contact your firm. Use high-quality imagery and client-centered copy optimized for the same or similar keywords you have used in your PPC campaign.
Mauricio Luiz Siriguti, Marketing Director and Business Partner of Webegin, says website content is crucial for conversions: "All the content needs to be proofread and carefully reviewed. We always advise the client to check before launching. This is also the reason why landing pages are more complex for law firms, as we can't use some terminologies because even [synonyms] can bring problems."
8. Monitor and Adjust Your PPC Campaign
Audit and analyze your PPC campaign results to make sure you stay within the budget and your campaign meets the set goals. Use the relevant PPC metrics (click-through rate, conversion rate, quality score, cost per conversion, and wasted spend) to adjust campaigns that underperform and maximize your budget.
5 Types of PPC Ads for Lawyers
Understanding the different types of PPC ads can help you choose the best approach to connect with potential clients and boost conversions.
- Search ads: Located at the top and bottom of SERPs, these ads are very effective because they answer search intent with your brand and services.
- Dynamic search ads: These ads use Google’s algorithms to match your services with relevant user searches. This is particularly beneficial for firms with diverse practice areas, as it pushes ads to potential clients without extensive keyword research.
- Display ads: Display ads appear on ad networks like YouTube and Gmail or legal networks like the FindLaw Lawyer Directory. They are great for building brand awareness for your law firm.
- Video ads: You can use these ads on YouTube and other video platforms to reach relevant, high-intent viewers. Consider including customer testimonials to explain how your firm has helped clients resolve difficult situations.
- Social media ads: Leverage LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram’s precise targeting features to connect with users who may need legal services. Through engaging visuals and compelling ad copy, you can reinforce your expertise and encourage users to take action.
7 Benefits of PPC Ads for Lawyers
With PPC, law firms can instantly appear at the top of search results. Other benefits of PPC for lawyers include:
- Build your brand
- Benefit from niche keywords
- Reach relevant audiences
- Track your performance
- Control your advertising budget
- Direct your budget to Popular devices
- Improve exposure at reduced costs
1. Build Your Brand
Secure your brand name using Google Ads keywords. Investing in branded searches is the ultimate way to ensure that anyone searching for you finds precisely what they're looking for.
These types of searches are highly affordable. And because they indicate high buyer intent from individuals already interested in what you have to offer, it's even more important to capture these potential clients.
2. Benefit From Niche Keywords
To maximize your spending and gain high-quality traffic, focus on specific keyword phrases related to your niche. For example, if you are an injury lawyer specializing in dog bites or attacks, you should target phrases like "dog bite lawyer New Jersey" instead of general terms like “injury lawyer.” This way, you can get quality, high-intent leads at a much lower cost per click (CPC).
3. Reach Relevant Audiences
PPC platforms allow you to target audiences who are actively searching for legal services, so your ads are shown to potential clients with immediate needs. Keyword targeting, geographic filters, and demographic segmentation will help you connect with people who require your specific legal expertise.
4. Track Your Performance
Knowing how your advertising budget is allocated, who's engaging with your ads, and which keywords are performing well will give you the insight necessary to optimize campaigns for maximum return on investment (ROI). PPC for lawyers is not a one-time activity — you need to monitor campaign performance to minimize wasted spend.
5. Control Your Advertising Budget
Through strategic planning and monitoring, Google Ads offers unparalleled control over your budget, allowing you to customize a plan tailored for achieving the most important goals. Whether it's increasing local traffic or targeting paying clients, fine-tuned customization of PPC strategies helps maximize returns on every dollar spent.
6. Direct Your Budget to Popular Devices
If data shows higher conversion rates from mobile users, you can allocate more of your ad spend to specific devices. Targeting smartphones for users on-the-go and desktops for users focused on detailed research sessions is a great idea. With this level of control, you can optimize spending and enhance visibility on preferred devices.
7. Improve Exposure at Reduced Costs
Creating relevant ads for high-performing keywords and landing pages will help you achieve a higher Quality Score, which can unlock multiple benefits. It increases the chance of appearing in high-ranking positions on search results and lowers CPC, allowing for more clicks at an economical rate. It's all about creating engaging experiences for searchers, so they get exactly what they need when clicking on your ad.
Why Hire a PPC Agency for Your Law Firm
Though it’s not impossible to create, launch, and maintain an effective PPC campaign on your own, partnering with expert PPC agencies that have a proven track record can lead to many benefits. Professionals taking on local PPC management have the right tools to research your competitors and market landscape. They can quickly compile the best keywords that will form the basis of your PPC campaign.
PPC agencies can also create a value-driven copy that generates interest, measure its performance, and tweak your campaigns so they can capture as many clients as possible. With their insights into industry trends and best practices, you can take your PPC campaigns to the next level.
Law Firm PPC Tips Takeaways
Effective PPC advertising can be a powerful tool for law firms. By driving targeted traffic, generating high-quality leads, and establishing a strong online presence, you can quickly grow your client base in a competitive landscape.
An experienced PPC agency can refine keyword strategies, optimize ad spend, monitor performance, and adjust campaigns in real time to maximize ROI. Reach out to the top PPC agencies on our list today.
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