Use These Seven Tips To Generate More Qualified Leads For Your Firm
Legal professionals know that they can’t do their jobs without clients. In the past, billboards and bus signs were the way to get their law firm’s name out there and attract the right people. But nowadays, potential clients often turn to a Google search to find the right lawyer for their unique needs.
In this digital age, lawyers and legal marketing professionals turn to digital marketing strategies like PPC ads and blogging to capture verified leads that are likely to convert into paying clientele.
Google Ads is a great way to attract customers because it allows your law firm to dominate the search engine results pages or SERPs.
It helps supplement the organic traffic you capture with search engine optimization on your firm’s website and offers a cost-effective way to boost their marketing strategy to get more clients in the door.
But how can you be sure your Google Adwords spend is money well spent? And how can you achieve excellent results with an improved Google Ad campaign strategy?
Let’s take a deeper look into what Google Ads is all about, how it will help you find potential clients, and eight tips to help your law firm get the most out of Google Ads.
What Are Google Ads?
Before understanding Google Ads, you need to know about Pay per click. Pay-per-click, or PPC, ads are a type of digital marketing in which you pay a fee each time someone clicks on your ad.
Google Ads uses the PPC model to help advertise your law firm. It puts ads in front of people who enter the queries into the search engine related to your firm’s practice area.
You pay a small fee whenever someone clicks on these ads. If you optimize your ads just right, these fees will be absorbed since you earn more on gaining a new client than you’ll pay for the ad. Besides, the only people who will click on your ads are those looking for services like yours.
Google Ads are great for certain legal practice areas that don’t tend to be referral based, such as:
- DUI/DWI Representation
- Personal Injury
- Bankruptcy
- Employment Issues
- Criminal Defense
But it’s not as easy as just setting it and forgetting it. To get a solid return on investment, you need to know how to work Google Ads to your law firm’s advantage.
You can utilize some of Google’s free educational resources or a PPC professional service to do all the work for you. Here’s how a solid Google Ads campaign can attract qualified leads and help the right people find your law firm.
How A Google Ads Campaign Can Help You Find Potential Clients
The legal market is driven by digital advertising because people turn to Google to find the best local law firm when searching for legal advice. This means that a potential client will enter questions and criteria into the search engine.
Since PPC ads appear at the very top of search results pages, they are the first thing prospective customers see as they look for answers to their problems.
And if you optimize your ads for SEO using words that relate to your specialty practice area, like personal injury, car accident, or family law, your ads will be the first thing they see.
The right Google Ads can have an incredibly positive impact on your law firm by:
- Building Credibility.
- Increasing Brand Awareness.
- Attracting The Right Clients.
- Capturing The Attention Of Searchers Early On.
Putting together a polished, relevant ad for your Google Ads campaign is important. A confusing ad will miss your target audience and prevent your law firm’s talents from shining through.
Ultimately, the right Google Ads will be worth the PPC costs because they will attract the right audience to your law firm.
Let’s look at eight things you can do to get the most for your money with Google Ads.
7 Tips To Get The Most Out Of Google Ads For Your Law Firm
Google Ads is a great way to get your law firm in front of potential clients searching for legal help. The key is to choose the right keywords to bid on, and to set a budget that you’re comfortable with.
Keep in mind that the more competitive the keyword is, the more you’ll need to spend to appear on the front page. However, if you’re strategic about your keyword choices and have a solid budget, Google Ads can be an effective way to attract new clients.
Since you’ll be paying for each click the ad receives, you want to ensure your ad aligns with your law firm’s goals to achieve optimal results.
Here are eight tips you can use today to get the most out of Google Ads for lawyers.
1. Separate Your Services By Ad Groups
If you try to cram all the keywords that apply to your law firm into one ad, everyone will see the same ad regardless of their search intent.
You can make your Google Ads work harder by separating ads into Ad Groups for different keyword themes. Since you want your Google Ad always to match the keywords that are being searched, this is a great way to optimize your strategy and get the right people to click.
Image source: https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2017/05/02/adwords-account-structure-guide
Why It’s Important:
Creating ad groups helps segment your ads for specific audiences, making it easier for campaigns to manage and optimize. Not only does this setup make it easier for you to manage your budget and maximize success, it also helps Google understand what you are trying to promote. As a result, you will have more control over what ads you run, and this can decrease your overall spend.
How To Do It:
Click “Ad groups” on the type set, then select “Add ad group.” Enter the name and one or two bids for that specific group.
2. Use Your Town/City In Ads & Keywords
The demographics you are targeting with your Google Ads are most likely located in your city or town. So using the names of the town or city you operate in, as well as names of local neighborhoods, will attract the right audience to click on your ad.
Why It’s Important:
When potential customers search for a lawyer, they want one close to home. Targeting local SEO in your Google Ads will ensure your law firm is the one they see as they research the best options in the geographic area nearby.
If you serve customers in a specific geographic location, adding keywords in your ads and keywords is a great way to ensure you only reach people in that area. Plus, adding geographic keywords in your ad copy will tell Google that your ads are relevant to people in that area, and this will increase the frequency that your ads show and decrease the cost that you have to pay each time someone clicks on that ad.
How To Do It:
Click on the Ad Group you want to add the search term to. This will open the search keywords page. Click the blue “+” to add your keyword.
3. Start Out With Exact Match Keywords First
Sure, you may want to target broad keywords words like “lawyer” first, but these tend to be the most competitive and expensive.
Exact match keywords target specific search intent. Phrases like “personal injury lawyer las vegas” will help your ad pop up when someone types in that exact phrase.
Why It’s Important:
Exact match keywords may give you fewer searches but give you the control to ensure the right people see your ad. This means you get a bigger bang for your buck with every click. While you may reach a wider audience with broader terms, you should focus on exact-match terms to help reduce the amount that you will need to spend on PPC marketing. Your law firm will likely already be around $15-40/click, and exact-match keywords can prevent you from generating unqualified clicks that will eat up your marketing budget.
How To Do It:
Put your keyword or phrase between two brackets when entering them into Google Ads. It should look like this: [personal injury lawyer las vegas].
4. Use Lots Of Negative Keywords
Negative keywords are a list of words you DON’T want your ad to be displayed for. This prevents paying for clicks that don’t lead to verified leads. If you notice people are searching for and clicking on your ads when using terms that indicate they are a bad lead, then you will want to add those search phrases as negative keywords to prevent excess spend.
Why It’s Important:
Since you can weed out searches that won’t give you qualified leads, you’ll save money in your overall PPC campaign by employing as many negative keywords as possible. There is no cost to add negative keywords to the account, so feel free to add as many as you would like while you optimize the account to prevent unqualified clicks that eat up your marketing budget.
How To Do It:
When entering your target negative keywords, place it in the Google Ad’s negative keywords column or place a minus sign (-) before the keyword you’d like to exclude. It should look something like this: -divorce.
5. Target Ads For Zip Codes
Even though you’ve already targeted PPC via the name of your city or town, targeting ads for specific zip codes is a great way to prevent potential customers from falling through the cracks. It can also help you hone in on the best areas for your practice.
This is a vital piece that many legal marketers miss, and not defining this aspect of your Google Ads account could lead to unnecessary ad spend and decreased performance. In short, every ad group and campaign should include zip codes unless you are trying to reach a nationwide audience.
Why It’s Important:
Some areas of a large city may be more lucrative, so targeting a specific zip code will allow your ads to rank highly for those locales. You can create different ad groups and campaigns for different zip codes to control ad spending in various locations, even if each ad group or campaign has the exact same keywords and ad copy (but make sure you update the city names as needed)!
How To Do It:
Enter your zip codes of choice into the search box under Settings > Location.
6. Write Ads That Evoke Emotion
Search ads need to persuade users to click them. Target their emotions by using strong language that triggers their feelings and communicates that you can help them in their time of need.
Google Ads is a great channel to reach people when they are looking to make a decision right then. You can imagine that your audience have recently been in an accident, just found out they are getting divorced, or have had a loved one pass away. People clicking on an Google Ad are looking for immediate solutions to problems that they are experiencing right now.
You can write your Google Ads to evoke emotion and make a connection with your audience to entice them to click on the ad and call your firm.
Why It’s Important:
Sure, you’re Google Ads need to be crafted to rank highly in the search engines. But at the end of the day, an actual human will be reading your ad and evaluating whether or not they want to click.
How To Do It:
Depending on your firm’s legal services, choose robust and emotional language that makes the reader feel you can easily handle their sensitive DUI or injury cases with compassion and expertise.
Include a call-to-action in your ad that directs the reader to contact your firm immediately for help with their issue.
Select the Campaign, and then select the Ad Group you want to write the ad for. Click “Ads & extensions” from the left task pane, then select the blue “+” to create a new ad.
7. Use Ad Extensions
For your ad spend to be worth it, you need to avoid having stagnant search ads that don’t get any attention. Or worse, it gets clicks that don’t lead to new customers.
Google ad extensions allow you to add additional features and text to your ads. They also add important information like a phone number, address, and even a sample of reviews from previous clients.
You can think of extensions as free space for you to push your competitors down on Google and make your ad stand out even more. Some types of extensions cost money if someone clicks on them, but other types of extensions are free for you to use.
Why It’s Important:
Ad extensions can increase your click-through rate by increasing the visibility of your ads. They allow your ad to take up more real estate on the search results page, so it’s more likely the right person will see your ad.
Extensions can also help your conversion rate by improving your law firm’s credibility and prompting phone calls from prospective clients.
I recommend you always include Callouts, Sitelinks, Location, and Call extensions in every ad that you publish. These will give people several ways to contact you, plus it will help push your competition down in Google so you will stand out more!
How To Do It:
After selecting a campaign or ad group, choose the “Ads & Extensions” tab to select and customize the type of extension you’re looking for.
Conclusion
Google Ads can be a lucrative and effective tool if done correctly. They help increase your law firm’s visibility and attract the right people to your firm’s website.
If you’ve optimized strategically, you can see results from your Google Ads campaigns in as little as a few days. But realistically, it will take about three months for your ad campaign to mature, with the best results in six to twelve months.
However, you’ll need to invest a lot of time and knowledge to make the most of Google Ads for your law firm.
If you’re looking for experienced professionals to help launch your Google Ads campaign or make your PPC ads more lucrative, contact our team of PPC professionals today.
About the Author: Chris
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