7 Tips for Creating Paid Ads for Your Law Firm

When it comes to legal marketing, law firms need to utilize all the available digital marketing strategies to stand out amongst competitors. Naturally, some will get more priority than others. But, one of the best ways for an attorney to quickly get their name in front of searchers is to use paid ads or pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.

Since most people are searching for legal answers on Google, it makes sense to focus on Google Ads. But your firm may wish to explore things like Bing ads or paid social media ads at some point. That said, here is what you need to know about using paid ads for law firms and the top tips for getting the most out of this legal marketing strategy.

Why Paid Ads Are Challenging for Lawyers

If your law firm has ever dabbled in PPC ads, one of the first things you probably noticed is that they can be expensive! In fact, the search terms “lawyer” and “attorney” are two of the most expensive keywords for law firms to bid on. When you’re averaging $100 or more per click, it can be challenging to get a positive return on your investment. There are two reasons why this is so tough:

1. The Competition is Fierce

There is only so much space for paid ads at the top of page one. When a lot of law firms are bidding on the same keywords, this is going to drive up the price per click of those search terms.

2. Capturing Qualified Leads is Challenging

If the ads aren’t targeted correctly, they may not be pulling in qualified leads. This can significantly eat into your ROI.

7 Tips for Creating Successful Paid Ads for Your Law Firm

Now that you understand some of the challenges with paid ads, here are seven marketing tips to help your law firm get the most return out of its paid strategy. Hint: Whether you choose to use Google Ads or some other paid platform, these tips will help optimize your results on any paid platform.

1. Research the Competition and Differentiate Yourself

Remember, we just pointed out how fierce the competition is with some paid ad search terms. Because of this, you need to find a way to make yourself stand out. Start by researching your competition. Find out what firms, in your practice area, are already using paid ads. Armed with this information, highlight what makes your firm a better choice, whether it is your experience, track record, commitment to customer service, or something else.

2. Make Sure You Are Using Geotargeting for Ads

If your law firm is located in Dallas, Texas, and serves clients throughout the Metroplex, you’ll want to avoid displaying ads to people located in Europe or even a few states away. When it comes to targeting the right audience and keeping your costs in check, geography is vital with a paid ad strategy. Figure out the proper geographic radius that makes sense for your advertising. In Google Ads, navigate to “Locations” and choose regions, cities, postal codes, or a radius for the best geotargeting. When using Facebook advertising, you can select a focus point and then cover a radius around that focus point in order to target your ads.

3. Ensure Your Ads Speak to the Searcher’s Intent

Plenty of people search for answers to legal questions on Google. But not all of them are ready to hire a lawyer. If you’re going to pay for ads, you will ideally want to target an audience that is far enough into their journey that they are thinking about taking some action. For example, a person who enters “hire a DUI lawyer” is likely much more ready to retain an attorney than a person entering the term “what is a living trust?” That said, your ads should always speak to a searcher’s intent. Structure the title, text, and landing pages for your ads so that they match what the searcher is looking for.

4. Set Up Call-Only Ads

Having your paid ads set up so that a potential client calls instead of clicks through to your website is preferable. More mobile searches are taking place on Google than ever, and potential clients who are further down in the sales funnel are more likely ready to speak to a lawyer on the phone. Google allows you to set up call-only campaigns, where a searcher can push a button on their mobile device to place a call to a live person. Your website address is still visible, so the searcher still has the option to visit your site if they want to continue their research.

5. Optimize Your Law Firm’s Website

Your paid ads can be incredibly effective at bringing traffic to your law firm’s website. But if your site doesn’t provide the answers a prospect is looking for, you’ve wasted money on that click and won’t convert your visitor. So make sure you optimize your website or landing page:

• Have an immediate answer to the inquiry with clear and engaging copy.
• Use the same or similar keywords from your paid ad in your content.
• Include consistent branding throughout your content.
• Have a clear call to action to get a prospect to the next step.
• Consider using an online chat system for greater accessibility.

6. Build a Strong Brand With Display Ads

Branding is something that many law firms overlook. But it can be a valuable part of your digital marketing strategy if you use the Google display network to do it. The Google display network is much more affordable than search engine paid ads, but only about 5% of legal spend is allocated to it. When your graphics show up on other websites, potential clients will begin to recognize your name and turn to you or recommend you to others when a need arises.

7. Track Every Action and Make Adjustments

Even when you follow all of these tips, paid advertising will continue to be challenging. As with everything else in digital marketing, it’s vital that you track every action so that you can analyze it and improve your results. Running A/B tests is also a valuable way to optimize your ads and try new strategies. Running two ad programs (Program A and Program B), each unique, allows you to compare the results of each to determine which campaign is more effective.

Paid Ads Are Not a DIY Thing

As you can see, paid ads are highly competitive, and there’s little room for error in this space. If you try a “set it and forget it” approach to PPC, your experience is likely to be costly and ineffective. This is where a legal marketing professional can be invaluable.

At Too Darn Loud Legal Marketing, our paid ad specialists can add tremendous value to your law firm’s online marketing strategy. If you’re ready to see results from both your organic and paid campaigns, contact us today to schedule a free consultation. We can be reached at (800) 649-1764.