PPC for Lawyers: 10 Tips to Attract More Clients With a Successful PPC Campaign

Pay-per-click or PPC is a type of online advertising where, basically, you pay a fee each time your ads are clicked. With no long-term contracts, PPC can be a great marketing tool for lawyers.

Seventy-eight percent of prospective clients look for lawyers online. And over 75% of people doing online searches never get past the first page.

Let those numbers sink in.

If your practice doesn’t appear at or near the top of a search, you’re left at the mercy of people who occasionally refer business to you. And with small budgets and a lack of experience in marketing or advertising most solo and small law firms face significant challenges in reaching these potential new clients.

PPC for Lawyers: How Can You Compete?

It’s easy — and cheaper than you might think — with a high-performance pay-per-click (PPC) campaign. Unlike SEO, PPC can provide instant visibility at the top of search engine results as soon as your campaign launches. Through online advertising, PPC ads offer instant visibility for law firms by getting you to the top of search engine results pages (SERPs) and putting you in front of prospective clients almost immediately.

PPC for Law Firm: 10 Tips for Successful Ad Campaigns

While you might have heard horror stories or lost money with previous PPC campaigns, it’s important to know that specialized PPC services are a key part of legal marketing, helping law firms attract more clients through targeted online advertising. These 10 strategies will help you understand how to succeed and quickly get started:

1. Focus on the ROI, not the cost

Most law firm owners are primarily concerned with the costs of a PPC campaign rather than what it creates. A successful campaign should generate a return of $4-7 for every dollar invested. For example, a $10,000/month campaign should generate $40,000-70,000 in cases. The ultimate goal of these efforts is to acquire paying clients through effective PPC strategies. It may take some time as your team optimizes its performance, but happen it should. If it doesn’t, don’t give up on the method. Poor management can cause law firms to lose money on PPC campaigns. Replace the marketers.

2. Know it’s all about the WHERE and the WHEN

A successful PPC strategy starts with being WHERE your prospective clients are WHEN they are looking for your services. You read the statistics above. Most people who search for lawyers online use Google. PPC advertising allows you to target people who are actively searching for legal services based on their search intent. Be there when they are searching and be at the top of the search to attract those new clients.

3. Research and identity power keywords

Keywords are the foundation of any successful PPC campaign and, once determined, should be included not only in your ads but on your website, content, metadata, tags, and even URLs. You must select a set of keywords most relevant to your practice area. Effective keyword research is essential—using tools like Google Keyword Planner allows you to analyze search volume, identify long tail keywords, and forecast campaign performance. Including negative keywords, such as excluding terms like “free legal advice,” helps avoid irrelevant clicks and reduces wasted ad spend. Stay away from vague copy such as “multidisciplinary law firm since 1983” and drill down into niches like “car accident law firm,” “motorcycle accident lawyer,” “personal injury lawyer,” “criminal defense lawyer,” “divorce lawyer,” or “criminal defense attorney.” For lawyers, the more specific, the more effective a campaign will be. Taking the time to identify and prioritize power keywords provides many benefits, including increased clicks and traffic. Additionally, researching your competition’s targeted keywords can be beneficial, too. Don’t be afraid to mimic their strategies or introduce alternate keywords they may have overlooked.

4. Create compelling ads

Your ads should feature compelling ad copy that is clear, concise, and direct, incorporating the relevant keywords you identified. Ads must also include a call to action, like “schedule a consultation” or “get a free case evaluation.” This prompt is necessary for potential clients to feel compelled to take action and easily know the next steps, what you can do for them and how they can reach you. (Tip: Make sure your website’s content also includes these keywords and phrases.)

Using ad extensions, such as adding visible contact information like phone numbers, can increase click-through rates by making it easier for potential clients to contact your law firm quickly.

5. Budget correctly

As mentioned earlier, you must focus on the ROI, not the cost. And proper budgeting is the foundation for projecting ROI. If your average case value (ACV) is $10,000 and you want to increase your case flow by 10 per month, or 120 per year, your target is to increase revenue by $100,000 monthly. Considering that a target ROI is 4X to 7X on the PPC, you need to budget 15 to 25% of your target growth or $15 to $25k per month. Setting a realistic PPC budget and closely monitoring your ad spend is essential to optimize your PPC ad spend for maximum ROI. Many times, once I’ve explained the math, law firm partners instantly understand why they got poor results in the past.

Often, it just came down to needing an adequate budget.

6. Concentrate on the local

Google looks at the vast majority of law firms as local service providers. And potential clients, when beginning their search, are likely to seek out services close to them, such as “personal injury lawyers near me.” By creating copy for your city or region, you can show potential customers that you understand their local needs.

Not only do Google Local Service Ads (LSAs) allow you to pinpoint a specific area, but they also have another benefit — a huge one. LSAs appear at the very top of search results and often feature the Google Screened badge, which helps law firms build trust with local clients and stand out to those searching for legal services. You only pay when people contact you. If nothing sticks and no one clicks, you’re out no money.

7. Send prospects to custom landing pages

Make sure your ads link to landing pages that match their search — not your home page or a generic service page. This is very important: If the information on the page doesn’t directly connect with what they searched for, they will leave without taking any action, and you’ll end up losing opportunities you’ve paid to attract.

Landing pages should include elements that establish credibility and trust in your services, including attorney biographies, testimonials, reviews and awards. Most importantly, they should have a simple call to action, such as scheduling an appointment. Always make the journey from ad to conversion as simple and straightforward as possible.

To optimize your landing pages, track your conversion rate and set up conversion tracking tools like Google Ads or Google Tag Manager to monitor actions such as free consultation bookings. This helps you measure the effectiveness of your campaigns and make data-driven improvements.

8. But don’t forget about your firm’s website

Outdated websites can turn off potential clients and push them toward your competitors. Before starting any campaign, ensure your website loads quickly and is user-friendly, with no broken links, redirects, missing pages, and other errors. Optimizing your law firm’s website is essential to support your law firm’s PPC campaigns and improve the effectiveness of law firm PPC ads.

9. Optimize everything for mobile

We live on our phones, and most people today use them to search for services, so make sure all facets of your PPC campaign — ad, landing page and your website — are optimized for mobile. This includes using templates that automatically adjust to fit a device’s screen size, with clear and concise copy and calls to action.

Digital advertising and targeted advertising strategies are important for reaching potential clients on their mobile devices, ensuring your law firm connects with the right audience wherever they are.

10. Measure PPC campaigns results continuously

Always track every marketing campaign’s impact, measuring key metrics such as click-through rates, click through rate, cost per click, conversion rates, and impression share. One of the most significant advantages of PPC for lawyers is that these statistics are available the minute a campaign goes live, allowing you to fine-tune and adjust almost immediately.

Use Google Analytics to track key metrics and monitor PPC campaign performance, ensuring you have the data needed to optimize your advertising strategy. Learn from successful campaigns to improve future results.

With PPC, It May Be Easier Than You Think to Outdo the Competition

According to the American Bar Association 2022 Technology Survey Report, only 57% of respondents said their firm had an annual marketing budget. None of the solo practitioners surveyed had a budget, and neither did 71% of small firms with 2-9 lawyers. For such a competitive industry, these numbers are quite surprising. It also means that by investing in pay-per-click ads, you’re already ahead of 43% your competition. In the legal industry, PPC marketing and PPC advertising are essential for law firms seeking immediate visibility and targeted client acquisition. Search ads and search campaigns help law firms reach clients actively searching for legal services. Using platforms like Google Ads, Bing Ads, and launching a Google Ads campaign as part of a comprehensive legal PPC campaign ensures your firm can leverage how Google Ads work to deliver measurable results. Good PPC management, compliance with legal advertising regulations, and understanding the legal marketing landscape are key for law firms to succeed with digital advertising.

With no long-term contracts, PPC is a great marketing tool for lawyers, especially those specializing in personal injury, criminal law, divorce, DWI/OWI, bankruptcy, wills and estates, and real estate. It’s flexible, highly targetable and measurable. To maximize ROI, it’s important to create campaigns with a proven track record, using well-crafted PPC ads to attract PPC clients and drive conversions. But most importantly, it can produce results within weeks, bringing your firm more traffic, more leads, and ultimately, more clients.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is PPC and how does it work for law firms? PPC, or pay-per-click, is an online advertising model where you pay a fee each time a user clicks on your ad. For law firms, this means your advertisements appear at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs) when potential clients search for legal services, giving you instant visibility and attracting targeted traffic to your website.

Is PPC more effective than SEO for lawyers? Both PPC and SEO (search engine optimization) are valuable marketing tools. However, they serve different purposes. PPC provides immediate visibility and results, allowing you to attract new clients as soon as your campaign launches. SEO is a long-term strategy that builds organic traffic and authority over time. A successful legal marketing strategy often includes both to maximize reach and client acquisition.

How much does a PPC campaign for a law firm cost? The cost of a PPC campaign for a law firm varies widely based on factors like practice area, location, and competition. A successful campaign’s budget should be viewed in terms of ROI (return on investment). The article suggests that a well-managed campaign should generate $4-7 in revenue for every $1 invested, making the cost a function of your target revenue growth.

What are the most important things to focus on for a successful legal PPC campaign? The most crucial elements for success are:

• Keyword research: Identify specific, high-intent keywords that your target clients are using.
• Compelling ad copy: Write clear, concise ads that include a strong call to action.
• Targeted landing pages: Send users to a custom landing page that directly relates to their search query.
• Budgeting for ROI: Focus on the return you expect to get, not just the cost, and allocate an adequate budget.
• Local targeting: Optimize your ads and campaigns to reach potential clients in your specific geographic area.

How quickly can a law firm see results from a PPC campaign? Unlike SEO, which can take months to show results, PPC campaigns can produce measurable results within weeks of launching. This immediate feedback allows for continuous optimization and adjustment to improve performance, bringing more traffic, leads, and clients to your firm in a short period.

More on How to Grow Your Law Firm

• Building a Valuable Law Firm: A Road Map to a $5 Million Business
• Key Success Factors for Law Firm Owners
• Law Firm Owners: Work Less, Make More
• How to Cultivate the Habits of Wildly Successful Law Firm Owners
• Fix Your Law Firm Sales Process and Maximize Your Income

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