No matter who your clients are, they’re probably on Google. It handles more than 87% of all search engine traffic in the United States, and 28% of this traffic comes from Google Ads alone.

Google Ads is a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising platform. You tell Google how much you’ll pay for your ad to run when someone searches for a particular keyword and then Google chooses which ads run based on Ad Rank, which considers your bid together with factors like ad quality and keyword popularity.

On Google Ads, you only pay for results. These usually entail phone calls, clicks to your website, or searches for directions to your office. It’s a great concept, but how useful is Google Ads for lawyers in particular?

Let’s take a look.

More Qualified Leads

On Google Ads, you bid according to the keywords you want to rank for. 

For example, if you represent personal injury plaintiffs in Milwaukee, your keywords might include personal injury lawyer Milwaukee or personal injury case Wisconsin

If people search for this term and then click on your ad, they are probably a good match for your practice. You can even set up your website so that these leads go directly to a page dedicated to their likely practice area, so potential clients get the information they care about right away.

Cost-Efficient Keyword Ranking

Some Google Ads for lawyers can be rather costly. 

In a list of the most expensive keywords on Google, 14 included the words “attorney,” “lawyer,” or “settlement.” This means Google Ads might be a large line item on your marketing budget. Even so, there’s a serious silver lining.

Google prices keywords according to how competitive they are. This means that if you choose to invest in PPC advertising for high-ticket legal keywords and Google accepts your bid, you can quickly shoot to the top of a very dense market.

Keep in mind that not all attorney-related keywords on Google are expensive. They depend largely on your practice area and region. In any case, you only pay for the ads that get results, so it’s cost-efficient.

Faster Results Compared to SEO 

Paid ads appear above organic search results, so you appear front-and-center as soon as Google picks your ad. 

By contrast, if you use a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy to improve your organic ranking, you might not see page one results for three to six months, if ever.

For firms that practice in competitive markets, this benefit alone can be worth the price of admission.

Hands-on Marketing

All law firm advertising requires some level of active monitoring, but Google Ads can be on the high side. Marketing groups typically recommend checking it three times a week. 

On the one hand, if you have a small firm and do your own marketing, this level of involvement can be a big ask. On the other, you might be able to borrow that time from what you’d normally spend screening less qualified leads.

Making the Decision

Google Ads will be a good investment for some lawyers, but not necessarily for others. If your business tends to come primarily from referrals, for example, targeting Google searchers may not be worth the expense.

If you’re not sure, consider consulting an expert. Martindale-Avvo knows law firm advertising and can advise you on the best ways to market your practice. Get in touch today and find out if Google Ads can make a difference for you.