Pay-Per-Click advertising is a cost-effective way for family lawyers to generate clients when executed properly. The technical sophistication Google Ads has to offer requires knowledge, marketing expertise and time in order to give the best return.
By Martha Chan, Family Lawyer Marketing Expert, and Atif Nadeem, Digital Marketing Specialist
Pay-Per-Click advertising (or PPC advertising) allows family law firms to connect, in real-time, with prospective clients who are looking for their services. Advertisers only pay when someone clicks on their ad, which can generate a call to the law firm or a visit to their website or landing page that encourages the visitor to set up a consultation.
PPC advertising gives advertisers a lot of control over how much, where, and how they want to spend their advertising budget. In addition to this, PPC ad campaigns can be highly cost-effective, fully targeted, measurable, and customizable. For those who know how to use its features effectively, PPC is likely to provide a good return on investment.
Although there are many different platforms offering PPC advertising, we are going to focus on how to use Google’s PPC advertising on their search result pages. Google is the most-used search engine and is also the most dominant advertising platform – and most family law firms do not have a big enough budget to spread effectively across multiple platforms.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising is a cost-effective way for family lawyers to generate leads.
It is increasingly clear that PPC advertising is an important part of a family law firm’s marketing plan even if they have Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in place. Even AVVO.com and Justia. com, who rank high on Google, have PPC ads.
From our experience in managing ad campaigns for family law clients, PPC ads have proven to be a cost-effective way for family lawyers to generate leads, drive traffic to their websites, and create brand awareness. Our PPC clients often have prospective clients contact them the same day their Google ads appear. That being said, PPC ad campaigns have to be executed properly in order to reap the maximum benefits – and where there is competition, the cost will be higher.
Types of Google Search Ads
There are many different kinds of pay-per-click advertising formats available. We use the following three types of ads most often for our clients.
1. Text Ads: These ads appear on desktop computers as well as mobile devices. They typically have a title followed by text. Searchers can either click and land on your web page, or click to call you if they are on a smartphone.
2. Dynamic Ads: Dynamic ads also show up on desktops and mobile devices. The titles on these ads change depending on the search term used. For example, if someone Googles the term “child custody lawyer in Chicago” the ad will include this term as part of the heading, which will read “Child custody lawyer in Chicago.” This encourages the person to click on the ad.
3. Call-Only Ads: These ads are for smartphones only. When a prospective client clicks on the ad, they will be given the opportunity to call your law firm. A second click will ring through to your firm.
Our experience shows that more divorcing people call than submit a form online. This is likely because they feel a sense of urgency to speak to a family lawyer, particularly when they have a smartphone in hand. Despite the fact that Call-Only Ads are highly effective, most family law firms are neither aware of nor use this option.
Where Technology Meets Marketing Expertise
Google has developed a highly sophisticated, targeted, and efficient advertising system that family lawyers can use to help generate the type of business they desire. You can select specific geographic locations (down to cities or counties), language, devices used, and keywords your prospective clients search with. Such sophistication offers both benefits and challenges when setting up a PPC ad campaign properly. For one thing, we need to research the search volume of various keywords to help us determine which keywords we should include – and which to exclude.
All Google ads have limits as to how many words can be used, which requires the skill to write succinct and powerful ads that represent who you are, what you do, showcase the benefits you provide, and offer a great call to action to entice the right prospective clients to contact you.
Test Your Way to Success: Ongoing Adjustments to Your PPC Ad Campaign
As part of the technological sophistication Google Ads offers, we have access to an abundance of statistics that can help fine-tune your ad campaign. We need to invest considerable time to create, test, and refine a PPC campaign in order to attain your business objectives. We can measure the effectiveness of your PPC campaign in real-time – but first, we need to decide what parameters to turn on and measure. We can measure the following:
1. Cost: How much you paid Google to run your ads.
2. Impressions: The number of times Google showed your ads.
3. Clicks: How many times a prospect clicked on your ads.
4. Clickthrough Rate The number of clicks divided by impressions.
5. Cost Per Click: How much each click cost you.
6. Number of Leads: The number of phone calls and submission forms you received.
7. Cost Per Lead: How much each phone call and submission form cost you.
We have seen family law firms that only receive reports showing items 1 to 5. If your goal is to generate leads, it is crucial to measure items 6 and 7. The ultimate measure is how much your family law firm is spending compared with how much revenue your firm is generating using these ads. Since only your office knows who became clients and what your billing is, you will have to do that comparison yourself.
One of the keys to success is to set up tests, compare the results, and invest in the winning ads. This allows you to have a more effective ad campaign that produces a higher ROI than if you invested in PPC ads without testing.
Do-It-Yourself vs. Outsourcing to a Pay-Per-Click Advertising Expert
Anyone can attempt to create a PPC ad campaign, but such an endeavor will likely result in the loss of time and money with no new clients to show for it – particularly if the competition has hired a PPC expert to run their ad campaign.
Google Ads is a sophisticated system that allows those who know how to use it to make informed decisions towards generating desirable leads for less than you would think. But in order to do this, you must have the expertise, the inclination, and the time to make full use of all the available features. It would be a shame to conclude that PPC does not work without giving it a fair chance.
When it comes to PPC, what you don’t know can hurt you. We strongly recommend that family lawyers hire a marketing firm with expertise in managing successful PPC ad campaigns so you can maximize your ROI and focus on delivering exceptional legal service to your clients.
Martha Chan is a marketing expert for family lawyers. She is the co-owner and VP of Marketing of Divorce Marketing Group – a one-stop marketing agency dedicated to promoting family lawyers and divorce professionals. Atif Nadeem is the Digital Marketing Lead at Divorce Marketing Group. He is a Google Ads and Analytics Certified Specialist who oversees PPC campaigns and SEO for websites the company builds for its clients. www.DivorceMarketingGroup.com
