How Lawyers and Attorneys Can Win at PPC Advertising
Many agencies and fellow PPC professionals are eager to help businesses and entrepreneurs across all industries succeed at SEO. When it comes to PPC advertising for lawyers and attorneys, that task can be a bit more challenging.
According to Wordstream, “attorney” and “lawyer” paid searches rank #4 in the most expensive list of keywords on Google, averaging a staggering $54 per click. The keywords have also shown an inflationary trend, up from $47 (also ranked #4) a few years ago, and the demand to get ads in front of these queries hasn’t diminished. How can advertisers succeed while paying over $50 for someone to visit their website? Even with a moderately healthy 10% conversion rate, lawyers will pay $400-500 per lead!
But there is a path to success. And where other advertisers and agencies have failed, Clicks and Clients has developed a proven method to deliver quality lead prospects to our PPC lawyer and attorney clients at a reasonable and sustainable cost.
How to win with lawyer PPC keywords
The most effective way to lower cost per lead (CPL) for any client, and specifically law firms, is to increase lead conversion rate. We are able to exceed a 20%+ threshold required to start seeing return for a number of our lawyer clients. To accomplish this, we have to throw everything at our clicks as soon as they reach the site, and sometimes even before they click on the ad.
Here’s how we do it:
- Chat Services
An automated chat service is a must to make sure your visitors are engaged. The key is to auto-prompt the chat within a few seconds of hitting the landing page. The chat service should also be monitored by a real person. Services like Ngage Live and ApexChat charge per correspondence. Another option is to have an in-house agent reach out through the chat prompt during business hours.
Note that some incremental cost is required. A personal injury lawyer client of ours didn’t want to stomach the per-chat costs from his service. After removing that chat for a few weeks, leads dropped off 66%, and the chat feature was promptly re-instated.
- Mobile Click-to-Call
Mobile “call-only” campaigns are also incredibly valuable. Having the ability to call directly from a Google Ad on a mobile device removes one step in the conversion process, thus making it more likely for potential clients to get in contact.
We have seen some “noise” utilizing Google’s click-to-call feature, where callers are confused as to whom they’re reaching. But the volume of quality leads generated from mobile ads far outweighs the nuisance of having to respond to a few mixed-up callers.
- On-Page Call Tracking
This is a no-brainer, but the landing page should have a clear call-to-action to pick up the phone and call for fastest service. We recommend tracking all calls, using services such as CallRail or Dialogtech. To go one step further, we record all calls and review to make sure we are generating enough high-quality prospects and reaching the target audience.
Testing other forms of lead generation
Google is periodically rolling out new ways to connect, so make sure you are taking advantage and testing these. One example is Message Extensions, which allow users to send SMS messages through mobile ads (similar to click-to-call extensions). Preliminary results have shown that message extensions positively impact conversion numbers.
Find a PPC partner who will challenge you
Success from AdWords can be challenging for those in the law industry, but through extensive testing and perseverance, you can architect a formula for success. Our client successes across many industries is a testament to our tenacious ability to research and uncover sometimes unconventional methods to achieve our goals.
Looking for a paid search advertising partner to get your law firm real results? Contact us today!
