At some point everyone needs a good attorney. You know this to be true.
What you might not know is how to make sure that the people who need an attorney find and select your firm.
There are a variety of marketing methods you can try, and one of the most successful for lawyers is to incorporate a PPC (pay per click) strategy into your marketing plan.
PPC advertising is a model of internet marketing in which advertisers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked. It can help create and maintain a steady pipeline of potential clients and increase brand recognition. These ads can be displayed in several places, including at the top of the search engine results page (search ads) as well as on partnering websites (display ads aka “banner ads”).
But here’s the challenge: Law-related keywords are notorious for being expensive, competitive, and finding qualified searchers is often difficult. So, here are a few ways you can get the most out of your law firm PPC marketing.
1. Research and select the right keywords
Always start by scoping out your competition. Start by searching ads in your local area and see what shows up. The best way to ensure you’re getting the most out of the high cost for PPC clicks is to be extremely specific, including hyper-targeted keywords specific to your practice – “back injury lawyer in Las Vegas, Nevada” or “mesothelioma lawyer in San Diego area.” In order to stand out from your competitors create an actionable and relevant call-to-action and highlight what makes you better than your competitors.
Also, make sure to enable ad extensions. Ad extensions are bits of additional information people might find helpful. These include reviews, quick links to specific landing pages, phone number and address, and even special snippets with special offers and more.
2. Check your geography and intent
Find the area where the people you want to reach are living and working in. If you have multiple areas, separate each area into their own campaigns so it is easier to target accurately. To set up location targeting in Google Ads, navigate to the “Settings” tab, then “Locations,” then select city, region or postal code, or get more granular by clicking “Advanced Search,” and target by radius.
Remember, while setting up the ads, relevancy is key. Structure your account to ensure your keywords, ads, and landing pages match what a searcher’s intent is. If they need more nurturing, nurture them with quality, educational content so they develop trust, and when the time is right, they’re much more likely to choose you over other lawyers in your area.
3. Make calls your priority
With more mobile searches on Google occurring than desktop searches, every law firm needs a system in place to capture local phone leads through desktop landing pages or call-only mobile ads. You can create a call-only campaign which replace the headline directing to a landing page with a phone number. This takes the step of visiting a landing page and gets the visitor right to a real, live person ready to begin the intake process.
In order, for these ads to work effectively and capture all phone calls 24/7, hire a virtual receptionist service that offers an after-hours phone answering service for lawyers. Virtual receptionists can help your business with answering every important call, building customer relationships, nurturing leads, and sending data to your CRM.
4. Make your brand memorable – and use display ads
With so much competition in the legal field, memorable branding is essential in standing out from your competition. Only 5% of legal spend is allocated to the display network, even though the average cost-per-click is as low as $.65. Yet, 95% of spend is on search. Spending on search makes sense, but when clicks are cheap, display shouldn’t be overlooked from a brand standpoint. This is where Display Ads come in.
Google partners with popular websites in order to form a network called the Google Display Network (GDN)—where Google can display ads. This network spans over two million websites that reach over 90 percent of people on the Internet. To target the most relevant searchers, utilize remarketing to show your ads to people that have already visited your site, and therefore are much more likely to need a lawyer.
5. Track everything and set measurable goals
In order to best market to people in need of attorneys or law firms, you need tracking and optimizing to see what’s working and what isn’t. Measuring success of ads just by the fact people are clicking on the ad won’t be enough when considering if the customer is a qualified lead or not. The ad might be getting clicked a lot, you might be spending a lot, but on the backside that visitor might be bouncing and the keywords you’re bidding on should be eliminated to improve your ROI.
Run A/B tests, measure what’s working and what’s not working, and try new strategies in order to see what resonates with your target audience. Determine a reasonable CPA (cost per acquisition) per client and see how close you are to that now and how far you must go.
Every legal business owner should understand PPC at a high level in order to understand where the value is for their firm. Many firms will hire marketing agencies to assist with paid search advertising. Our recommendation is to make sure you hire an agency with legal experience, local area market experience, or both. Knowing a bit about PPC advertising will help you engage the right agency and ensure a successful advertising partnership.
To learn more about growing your law firm and meet some legal PPC experts, join us at Entrepreneurial Attorneys Summit 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 1-2, 2019. Register now for the conference and build a new scalable growth path for your business.
