Attorneys are all too familiar with the difficulties of marketing their legal services. Keywords come with exorbitant price tags, attracting qualified traffic can feel like an impossible task, and aside from the final URL, almost every ad on the search engine results page appears indistinguishable from the next.

We’ve previously offered several law firm marketing suggestions to enhance lead generation:

• Analyze your competition
• Confirm proper geo-targeting setup
• Ensure ads align with searcher intent (are they ready to hire?)
• Prioritize calls above all else
• Utilize videos on PPC landing pages
• Implement an online chat system
• Cultivate a memorable brand
• Monitor every action

To demonstrate the potential impact of these strategies, we delved into the Google Ads account of Marc Whitehead & Associates, a Texas-based disability denial attorney and client of nexus-security’s marketing services.

Senior Strategist Griffin Nauss assumed control of the account and identified numerous areas for improvement. By implementing the techniques mentioned earlier, account performance was revitalized and continues to improve.

The most significant improvements are evident in:

• The substantial surge in lead volume (prior to Griffin’s involvement, the account exceeded 100 conversions only four times; since July 2016, Marc Whitehead & Associates consistently sees over 200 conversions monthly)
• Significantly enhanced conversion rates (from the mid-teens and even below 5% in some months to well over 25%)
• A reduced account-wide cost-per-acquisition (consistently under $52 for five months, a first in the account’s history).

This remarkable progress in crucial key performance indicators might suggest intricate changes were implemented, but Griffin would be the first to clarify that his modifications were all relatively simple to execute. No convoluted scripts or clandestine beta features - just practical account management.

Let’s explore five of our top law firm marketing strategies, drawing on real data from Marc Whitehead & Associates to illustrate their effectiveness.

Lawyer Marketing Tip #1: Research Your Competitors

As with any industry, competitor research is crucial for success. It reveals your competitors’ bidding strategies and, more importantly, their messaging.

Here are three practical ways to incorporate competitor research into a lawyer’s PPC account:

• Develop a clear and compelling call to action
• Utilize all available ad extensions
• Emphasize what sets you apart

Let’s examine how these tips translate to real-world account performance.

The Data…

By leveraging competitor analysis for the Marc Whitehead & Associates Google Ads account, Griffin observed substantial improvements in both click-through rate (CTR) and conversion rate.

Before the account overhaul, ads were lost in the sea of results. Ad copy lacked cohesion, presenting a jumble of disconnected value propositions, like this:

“Now,” explains Griffin, “every ad emphasizes our free policy or denial analysis offer or highlights the absence of fees if we don’t win the case. But we don’t cram everything in at once. Providing searchers with a single focal point seems effective, especially on mobile devices.”

Through a blend of dynamic search ads (as shown above) and call-only ads (more on those later), the Marc Whitehead & Associates account now excels at standing out by addressing specific searcher needs without appearing spammy or overwhelming.

This exemplifies the power of a focused approach.

The Verdict…

Regularly examining the search results page for your target keywords is essential. However, no amount of competitor analysis can replace original ad copy.

Speaking of ad copy, the enhanced Expanded Text Ads provide advertisers with more space to differentiate themselves. With three 30-character headlines, a second description line, and expanded descriptions up to 90 characters (previously just one 80-character description), ads can now be almost twice as large, accommodating up to 300 characters.

Ensuring consistency won’t take long, but optimizing this expanded space can be challenging.

Search for your primary keywords to understand your competitors’ messaging and identify how to position your services more compellingly. Avoid directly copying their approach; instead, strive for differentiation.

Lawyer Marketing Tip #2: Ensure Accurate Geo-targeting

It’s a simple truth: most clients won’t travel farther than necessary for legal services.

Given the high cost of keywords in the legal field, bidding outside your target client locations is often wasteful. While geo-targeting is a fundamental PPC practice, it’s not always essential for success in every industry. However, it’s crucial for legal marketing.

Geo-targeting not only enhances relevance and reduces wasted spend but also serves as an initial traffic qualification tool.

The Data…

Marc Whitehead & Associates has offices in Texas and Oklahoma. Before Griffin’s involvement, every active campaign’s location settings looked like this:

Griffin’s solution? He created separate campaigns for each target state…

He explains, “We have two primary regions, so I segmented campaigns by state for Texas and Oklahoma.” Here’s how this appears in the account:

But Griffin didn’t stop there. Since Marc Whitehead & Associates aims to expand its presence beyond its current operational states, “we’re strategically pursuing nationwide brand recognition.”

The key to a budget-friendly nationwide branding campaign? Income-based targeting.

By employing audiences segmented by household income, Griffin can adjust bids based on this factor. This allows him to prioritize searchers identified as having higher household incomes while reducing bids or excluding those with lower incomes. While not flawless, this method provides control over budget allocation in nationally-targeted campaigns.

Additionally, branded keywords benefit from higher Quality Scores (and consequently, lower CPCs). Since June 1st, the branded campaign has generated 66 conversions (both phone calls and form submissions) at a CPA of only $8.82.

The Verdict…

Geo-targeting, alongside a well-structured bidding strategy, is among the simplest and most effective ways to optimize budget allocation.

Don’t hesitate to narrowly target states, cities, or even specific neighborhoods, depending on your firm’s reach. While this reduces potential impressions, it ensures greater relevance and qualification compared to targeting the entire globe.

Lawyer Marketing Tip #3: Align Messaging with Searcher Intent

Relevance is paramount across all sectors, but it’s especially crucial in legal marketing. Failing to align your message with the customer’s stage in the buying journey will quickly drain your budget.

Hiring a lawyer can involve extensive research for some, while others require immediate assistance. For instance, consider someone preparing to file a lawsuit.

They’re unlikely to immediately hire the first firm they find on Google. They’ll likely research, compare prices, assess lawyer backgrounds, and so on. It’s not worthwhile if legal fees exceed the potential settlement. Conversely, someone seeking a divorce lawyer might be ready to hire immediately.

This second scenario applies to Marc Whitehead & Associates. Most leads are seeking a free evaluation to determine the viability of appealing a wrongful disability income denial. They’re at the top of the funnel, exploring their options.

The Data…

Griffin explains, “Our ads emphasize the 180-day appeal window. This creates urgency and pre-qualifies leads within that timeframe.”

To further enhance conversion potential, Griffin utilizes ad extensions to establish his client as a trustworthy authority capable of handling any case.

Beyond the obvious (call extensions enabling desktop users to convert via phone), the account leverages callout extensions:

And sitelink extensions:

The Verdict…

While geo-targeting and call-only ads are already performing well for Marc Whitehead & Associates, the next step in targeting searcher intent is developing remarketing lists. This allows Griffin to utilize Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA) adjustments to optimize bids based on traffic quality.

RELATED: Explore the latest legal search advertising benchmarks.

Lawyer Marketing Tip #4: Prioritize Calls

Simply put, call-only ads are the gold standard for lawyer marketing on Google Ads.

While all the lawyer-specific marketing tips are valuable and can improve account performance, in today’s mobile-first world, nothing surpasses call-only ads.

The Data…

When asked about call-only ads in the Marc Whitehead & Associates account, Griffin, in his thick Boston accent, simply stated, “They’re the pièce de résistance.” This loses some impact in writing, but imagine it delivered with a Wahlberg-esque swagger.

Before Griffin’s involvement, the account relied solely on call extensions for phone conversions. By implementing call-only ads…

and adding call tracking to the website, Griffin established two additional (and, crucially, trackable) avenues for prospects to call the office.

Why are calls so valuable?

In essence, they allow clients to bypass form submissions, which can be tedious and deter some website visitors. Inevitably, even with a 4% CTR, some traffic will abandon the landing page upon encountering a form. In an industry with high CPCs, this wasted spend can significantly impact performance.

Now, observe the average CPC column above. These clicks represent phone calls. As a law firm, would you prefer paying $12-$15 for a website click or $19 for a direct phone call?

Case closed.

The Verdict…

To summarize:

Lawyers, take note: Call-only ads are key to growth. More calls, more clients.

Lawyer Marketing Tip #5: Track Everything

Paid search marketing in the legal field is undeniably challenging. Tracking and optimizing your efforts are crucial to identifying what works and what doesn’t.

Of course, when your account heavily relies on call-only ads, extensive landing page optimization might seem unnecessary. After all, traffic directed to landing pages isn’t benefiting your cost-effective, lead-generating mobile ads.

The Data…

Advice well taken!

As you can see, despite the focus on mobile for Marc Whitehead & Associates, substantial desktop traffic (impressions and clicks over the past three months) cannot be served call-only ads.

Therefore, Griffin also tracks:

Landing Page Calls

These utilize dedicated phone numbers, allowing Griffin to monitor calls from users who clicked an ad on a computer but then opted for a phone call.

eBook Downloads

Less frequently utilized but ideal for top-of-funnel prospects conducting research.

Video Completions

Griffin finds the landing page video an effective way for prospects to learn about the client. “People seem more receptive to watching the video than reading the page. Ideally, they’ll watch the video and then use one of the dynamically generated phone numbers at the top.”

The Verdict…

Incorporating a landing page video and a longer form has proven valuable for both informing and qualifying prospects. While this might slightly reduce conversion rates for desktop traffic, those who do convert are further down the funnel and more likely to become clients.

By employing the techniques outlined in our PPC legal marketing guide, Griffin Nauss has achieved a consistently lower CPA while boosting both lead volume and conversion rate for Marc Whitehead & Associates.