Ppc For Law Firms: What You Need To Know

Pay-per-click, PPC for law firms is a viable marketing strategy lawyers can implement to place their businesses in front of potential clients and get more cases. 

A Legal Trend Report indicates that 57% of people search for lawyers by themselves. They use search engines to find lawyers that can render legal help. 

As a law firm, it’s important that you take online marketing seriously. With PPC, you can improve your firm’s revenue-generating potential. 

Here, we’ll discuss what pay-per-click advertising is, how it can benefit your law firm, and things you need to know before launching your PPC campaign. Keep reading for more details. 

What Is Ppc For Law Firms?

PPC or pay-per-click is an online advertising strategy where advertisers pay search engines a certain amount whenever anyone clicks on their adverts.

It’s important to have someone who understands PPC to run your campaigns. Otherwise, you could lose a lot of money. Unlike SEO, PPC requires you to fund your ads account and pay for every click you receive. 

So, even if you hire someone to plan and run your PPC ads, you still have to fund your account. It is not free.

Do Law Firms Still Generate Leads From Google Ads?

Google has the largest market share of all search engines. So, with Google Ads, law firms can get quality clients. 

When you place your advertising campaign appropriately, you’ll find your website ranking above sites ranked using SEO. However, the word “Sponsored” on top of websites promoted via PPC. So it’s easier for prospects to differentiate between paid and organic search. 

You can run PPC campaigns on Google, Bing, LinkedIn, and other platforms. However, setting up a proper Google Advertising campaign can seem confusing and difficult. But, in reality, it isn’t that difficult to do.

Google has made several educational materials available to help beginners understand how advertising campaigns work on the platform. You can consume the content to learn how ads work and start creating advertising campaigns. 

Actionable Tip: PPC can bring instant results when done right. However, keep in mind that sometimes, your ad campaign might yield little or no results. 

It is important to test different strategies and track the performance of your advertising campaigns. That way, you’ll know which ads are yielding the best results and where to focus more attention. 

So start testing different adverts. With that, you’ll know what works and what doesn’t. In no time, you’ll gain valuable knowledge and become a pro at running Google Ads. 

Popular Ppc Terms Law Firms Need To Know

If you’re thinking about incorporating pay-per-click into your law firm’s digital marketing plan, here are important and popular SEM terms you must understand. 

• PPC. The full meaning is pay-per-click. The term is clear: you pay the platform you’re running your campaign on for every single click you get. It doesn’t matter whether the client goes on to hire you or not. It’s none of the campaign platform’s concern. However, Google and other platforms want clients to benefit from their ads. 
•  Click Through Rate (CTR). This refers to the number of clicks your advert receives. In other words, it involves the number of times users click on your ads. CTR is the number of clicks divided by impressions.  Clicks/Impressions = CTR. For example, let’s say you add 6 clicks, and 100 impressions. In this case, your CTR will be 6%. 
• Cost per click (CPC). Cost per click involves the amount advertisers pay for every single click. How is it determined? To get your CPC, multiply the bid price by the keyword’s CTR. For instance, let’s assume a keyword has a CTR of 10%, and you placed a keyword of $1. In this case, $10 is the amount you’ll pay for every 1000 clicks you receive. With this, you can plan how much you want to budget for PPC campaigns and other digital marketing strategies.   
• Cost per impression (CPI). The term “CPI” means the amount advertisers pay for each view. Here’s how to calculate CPI: multiply the cost per click X the number of views (impressions). Here is an example. Assuming your CPC is $5, and the views or impressions you got were 100,000.  In this case,  you have to pay $50 per 1000 views.  
• Cost per acquisition (CPA). The CPA takes into account the amount of money an advertiser spends to get new clients. Here is how to calculate CPA. CPA = Total amount spent/number of sales generated. Here is a good example. If your law firm spent $20,000 on ads and got ten conversions, then the CPA = $2000.  This, therefore, means that your CPA per client generated is $2000. 
• Conversion rate. The essence of running an advertising campaign is to generate new businesses. So, the conversion rate takes into account the number of visitors who converted into paying customers after clicking your ad. Assuming 2000 people clicked your ad, and only 20 of them became paying clients. In this scenario, your conversion rate is 0.2%.
• Call to action CTA. Website users use CTAs to instruct visitors to perform specific actions. An example of CTA is “Get Free Consultation Now.” However, remember to use a large and catchy button in your CTA. Use concise and catchy CTA, too.   

We have discussed the popular terms you need to know when running PPC advertising campaigns. However, the most common term you’ll encounter PPC experts discuss more often is CPC. Remember, CPC means cost per click. 

When planning to run an ad campaign, CPC is where advertisers focus more attention. When you have an idea of the CPC, you’ll have an idea of how much it will cost you to run a PPC campaign.   

Actionable Tip: If you discover that your CPC is higher than expected, you can continue with an ad campaign, provided you have the financial capacity. Sometimes, highly competitive keywords have high CPC. 

The best action to take is to monitor your ad’s conversion rate. With a high CPC, it’s important to ensure visitors clicking on your ads are converting to paying clients. 

On the flip side, if the conversion rate is lower than expected, consider targeting a wide variety of keywords with much lower CPC. The point is simple: only target high CPC keywords if the conversion rate is high. 

5 Must-Know Tips About Click-Through Rate

Here are some important details about the CTR advertisers need to know when running an ad campaign.

• Every keyword, listing, or ad has its unique CTRs. You’ll find them in your account. 
• Having a high CTR is important. Why? It shows that users are feeling your ads. They find the ads and listing valuable and helpful. In other words, your ads are relevant to the people that matter. 
• CTR contributes massively to a keyword’s expected CTR, and as you know, this is a major component of Ad Rank. A good CTR is relative to the network you’re advertising on and what you’re advertising. 
• Advertisers can utilize CTR to understand the listings, keywords, or ads that are most successful. In the same vein, you can use CTR to identify ads that aren’t performing or need improvement. 
• It’s important to make your keywords, listings, and ads related to each other and your firm. Why? Users are more likely to click on your listing or ad when that’s the case. 

The Benefits Of Ppc For Law Firms

PPC ad campaigns can help your law firm become successful. You’ll be visible to potential clients looking for a lawyer in your practice area. 

The interesting thing about a PPC advertising campaign is that your law firm’s website will rank in the first position of the search engine result pages (SERPs). In other words, it will rank in position zero, a spot SEO strategies want to be in. 

However, ranking in position one with a sponsored ad isn’t a guarantee that you’ll get more visitors than a website ranking via SEO effort.

Your ad copy must be compelling enough to convince prospects to click on your link. However, the interesting thing about PPC is that advertisers can control their ad campaigns. You can decide the demographics and the people you want to target with your ads. 

Without much ado, let’s discuss the benefits of running a PPC campaign. 

1. Improve your law firm’s online popularity:

Do you know the benefits of being at the top of the search engine result pages (SERPs)? This means you’ll be the first or among the first potential clients of law firms to see whenever they use your targeted keyword to search online. 

With a robust PPC strategy, your law firm can rank in position zero on the SERPs; that is the first position. This means prospects looking for a law firm to hire will encounter your law firm before approaching any other firm. 

An increase in online popularity can make it easier for clients to find, hire, and even recommend you to others searching for legal help. 

2. Increase website visitors:

Ranking in the number one position of the search results via the PPC advertising campaign will benefit your law firm in many ways. You’ll get website visitors, which can translate to more patronage and higher revenue.

A high conversion rate means you’ll generate a better return on investment (ROI). And the more revenue you generate, the more well-placed your law firm will be to expand and recruit more personnel to deliver better services to your ever-growing client base. 

3. Reach targeted audience:

PPC campaigns will make it possible for your law firm to target the right audience. You can target potential clients based on demographics, location, and their search intent.

Granular targeting gives a good account of how PPC can help your law firm target the right audience and generate quality leads. The right people will engage with your ads and patronize your law firm. 

4. Measure campaign performance:

Nothing compares to having the ability to track the performance of your adverts. That’s the sort of control PPC offers advertisers. 

With advanced measurability tools built into the platform, you can measure performance and tweak your ad campaigns to get the best results. 

You’ll get detailed reports showing the performance of your PPC ad campaign. You’ll get reports on key metrics like conversion rates, cost per impression (CPI), and click-through rate (CTR). 

From the reports, you can identify performing and underperforming ads and take the best action to yield a better return on investment (ROI).

The Best Platforms To Run Ppc For Legal Firms

Numerous platforms lawyers can take advantage of to advertise their firms exist. Examples include the likes of Google, Bing, Facebook, LinkedIn, and others.  

Now, the question is, which is the best platform lawyers can leverage to reach the right audience? 

To answer this question, you first have to consider the people or potential clients you represent as a law firm. Do you represent individuals? If so, run your PPC campaign on Google or Bing. 

Why is this even important? The answer is simple. Many individuals seeking information about a legal topic turn to search engines. They believe they can get the right. 

So, where do platforms like LinkedIn stand? That’s a good question! 

As we initially said, your target audience determines the best platform to use. So, if your audience includes businesses, industries, or job titles, LinkedIn is a great platform to run your PPC campaign. 

So, what are the disadvantages of running PPC campaigns on a platform like LinkedIn? 

One of the disadvantages or reasons most advertisers may not want to use LinkedIn is the CPC. LinkedIn boasts a high CPC, which means you’ll have to splash more cash to run ads on the platform. 

However, the good thing about running ads on LinkedIn is that you’re targeting the right audience and will likely get higher clicks and conversion rates. 

Seo Vs. Ppc For Legal Firms

Most law firms are only focusing on PPC, while some focus on SEO. However, some firms use both strategies. 

The truth of the matter is that combining both strategies is a wise move. It will improve your law firm’s chance of ranking high in search engines and getting more website visitors. 

We all know what SEO is, as we have discussed it several times on this blog. But let’s talk about it a little. SEO involves a combination of online marketing strategies implemented to help a law firm rank high in search engines. 

Now, let’s discuss the advantages and disadvantages of SEO and PPC. 

Advantages Of Seo And Ppc For Law Firm 

• SEO can give your law firm long-term and sustainable traffic. 
• SEO is also cheaper in the long run. Initially, SEO may seem expensive, depending on the agency managing your project. But, as time goes on, you’ll discover that it’s more budget-friendly.
• You don’t pay search engines to rank high in the SERPs. Either run your campaign by yourself or find a competent SEO agency to run your campaign for you. 

Now, here are the advantages of PPC for attorney law firms. 

• With PPC, you can rank high in search engine result pages (SERPs) overnight. It delivers fast results. 
• You can rank in the first position of the SERPs with PPC. 
• With PPC, you can target your audience based on demographics, location, and search intent. 

Disadvantages Of Seo And Ppc For Law Firm 

• With search engine optimization (SEO), you won’t see results overnight. In other words, your website will only rank high after a while. 
• Search engine optimization is more time-consuming and complex to understand and implement. It involves diverse strategies one must understand and adhere to SEO best practices. 

Now, let’s discuss the disadvantages of PPC. 

• Depending on the CPC, PPC advertising campaigns are more expensive to run and maintain. 
• Once the money in your ads account finishes, your website will disappear from the search result page. 

How To Implement Ppc For Law Firms To Generate More Leads

With an effective PPC strategy, your law firm can generate more leads. However, the steps you take matter a great deal. That’s why we’re here to break it down for you.

Here, we discussed steps you need to take to implement a PPC campaign that will yield the best results for your law firm.

1. Have a clear plan:

Advertisers need to have a clear and simple plan before even running a PPC campaign. Have a clear goal, capturing everything you want to achieve. 

When you have a plan, you can evaluate the success of your PPC campaigns from time to time. With a consistent and thorough evaluation, you’ll know if you’re making progress or not. 

Your plan can include:

• The conversion rate you want to hit per month or yearly.
• The number of clients you want to get per month or annual. 

You can set your plan to monthly. In other words, you can evaluate your PPC campaign’s performance against your plans every month. 

2. Identify your targeted audience:

Who are your audience? Where do they spend most of their time? The bottom line is that knowing your audience can help you create ads that will bring the best results. 

You can learn about your target audience using factors like location, demographics, search intent, and the platform they spend the most time. 

Your ad copy and image also matter a great deal. You must ensure both are persuasive and speak directly to your audience. 

3. Have a clear budget:

PPC won’t be the only marketing strategy you’ll implement for your law firm. However, because it involves money, having a clear plan can help you spend wisely and spread your resources to other marketing strategies. 

It’s important to have a working budget. Know how much you want to spend on ads, and create the plan in advance. 

Additionally, it’s vital to understand that the amount it will cost to run a CPC ad might vary. It often depends on the competition in the niche and location. 

For instance, the personal injury law firm PPC has a high CPC. So, it will cost more to run PPC ad campaigns for a personal injury law firm. Another thing that can influence the price of PPC ads is location. 

If you reside in a place where many of your competitors are running ads, the cost of running ads may likely increase.  

4. Decide the ideal advertising platform to use:

Another important point to consider when kick-starting your PPC ad campaign is the advertising platform to use. There are several platforms. You can take advantage of this to advertise your legal services. 

The platforms include Google, Bing, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Most law firms also run PPC campaigns on YouTube and Twitter (now called X). 

You can try your hands on different platforms and evaluate the results. Platforms you never thought would give a better return on investment might perform better. 

5. Conduct keyword research:

Keyword research is important, particularly if you’re running ads on Google. Keyword research offers you the opportunity to place bids for the key phrases you want to target and know what prospects are searching for online. 

Here are a few tips to consider when conducting keyword research for your PPC ad campaign. The first is to target long-tail keywords, while the second is to use the navigation keyword. This will help ensure your website doesn’t appear in phrases you don’t want, such as “free legal consultation.”

Conclusion

PPC for law firms is an important strategy that can help your law firm to generate quality leads. With an effective ad campaign, your law firm will rank high on the search engine result page, making it easier for prospects to find you. 

There are important tips advertisers must understand before running PPC ad campaigns. We also discussed the advantages and disadvantages of SEO and PPC. 

However, you can combine SEO and PPC to yield the best results. And if you want high-converting ads, you can contact a PPC ads specialist to manage your campaign.