PPC guides in general can be quite useful, but in order to have a maximum impact, they need to be specific to your law industry and specialties.
A few decades ago, all you needed to do was posting in your local or national yellow pages-today, of course, with the spread of online marketing and adverts, thinks have significantly changed. And if you want to be successful, you’ll have to play the online marketing game right!
The process can sometimes be challenging and law firms will face some obstacles along the way such as:
- Expensive keywords. Many law firms that consider starting a PPC campaign will face enormous PPC rates. In search engines like Bing and Google, PPC rates for “lawyer” and “attorney” keywords can cost whopping $100 per click. Imagine how this could turn out–if you had 500 clicks per month for example, that would be 50.000 out of your pocket on a monthly basis. If you think you can get a return of investment more than that, your PPC campaign is viable–otherwise you will be literally flushing money down the toilet with little to no tangible results (aka leads and conversions).
- Harsh competition. Not only we have a set of ridiculously costly PPC keywords, you’ll have to face and beat some tough competition to increase your exposure. Since some keywords are widely used, imagine how many law firms like yours bid on them.
- Receiving qualified searches is a bit complicated. By qualified searches we mean here the searches that are looking for something specific and are more likely to take action than just anyone. The key here is a specific keyword term that will yield the maximum return of investment e.g. serious injuries that could raise lawsuits that are $100.000 or more, if you manage to make a conversion from that ad.
Here are also some additional tips for optimising your PPC campaign to drive more clients in:
- Keep an eye on the competition and find ways to stand out from competitors in your area. That means choosing targeted keywords, optimising your contact details with appropriate extensions, and including a call to action, in your meta-tag description. This is of course done after you search for competitor’s acts.
- Set up your geo location properly. Since, most people are looking for lawyers in their area specifically, it would be wise to include your exact geo-location so people can find you. If you are serving a more general area or have multiple offices in a district or across the country, set these locations as well. You can simply set these through your Adwords account by choosing “Settings”-”Locations” and then clicking on the right spot in the map.
- Make Sure your Ads are relevant and relatable to people who are searching for a specific legal service. If,for example, the user enters the query “how can I file a lawsuit for a serious injury” and your ad appear spammy and irrelevant, people will start looking elsewhere. If you answer that query in brief by posting relevant keywords like in this case, “we can help bring compensations for all serious personal injuries” rather than the generic “we got you covered”, you will increase your chances of getting targeted and qualified traffic.
- Focus on your calling system. Since many users browse the net from their mobiles, it would be wise to include call extensions so people can directly reach you through the phone. Google offers in this case “call now” buttons (appearing on the search) and the possibility of presenting your full contact details in an ad. Just make sure in this case to track every call and employ a 24/7 automated response service so people will know the appropriate office hours to reach you.
- Use videos and interactive media in your PPC landing pages. Videos are generally considered by experts to be more impactful and engaging than just static content. Videos presenting yourself directly with relevant Questions and Answers or customer testimonials that are not too salescy- are a great way to build trust around your name.
- Use an Online Chat System. Some people feel more comfortable using an anonymous online chat service rather than dialling a number. And since their questions might be not covered by your FAQS, if you can answer them real time in chat that will build points of engagement. Not only this, but the chances of making a conversion will be significantly higher since most people find real time chats helpful.
- Use Display ads. While Display ads reach over 90% of people browsing online, sadly the vast majority of law firms do not utilize any Display ads (from Google and other major search engines). Google display ads are basically ads that look like printed and T.V commercials with pictures and graphics but are clickable online. These will help build a more interest around your brand and catch the attention of the person that has already searched for something specific. Additionally, these are as cheap as $0.65 per click and they offer a great potential for ROI.
- Keep an eye on PPC performance. Although you have probably heard this before, you should always remember to track PPC performance, at least once a month. This will give you glimpse on the good points and loopholes of your strategy so you can make the necessary improvements. If you have no time for that, you can simply hire somebody else to do it. In most cases, it won’t cost you too much and you’ll save vast amounts of time that way.
In any case, if you need any help with your pay per click campaign optimisation, we can help. Simply contact us with your concerns and queries.
