How should a law firm start with Google Ads?

Google lists five ways to track phone call conversions: calls from ads, calls to the number on your website, clicks on a number on your mobile site, clicks on call ads and assets, and calls imported from another system such as a CRM. The first two use Google forwarding numbers and a minimum call length you set. Google's website conversions cover actions people complete on your site after an ad click, such as sign-ups, which is where a contact form fits.

We make the conversion actions first, before keywords or ads, because everything after depends on them. Our guide to Google Ads call tracking explains which call type to count, and the guide to attribution covers how signed cases get back to the keyword.

Google says broad match can show ads on searches related to the keyword, and calls it "critical" to pair broad match with Smart Bidding. Smart Bidding learns from conversions, and a new account has none. Google describes exact match as giving "the most steering over who views your ad". In our accounts, phrase match has paid for searches of other lawyers' names. Our match types guide shows what each type catches.

Negatives work differently. Google says negative keywords don't match close variants, so plurals and synonyms have to be added by hand. One broad negative word blocks every search that contains it, so test each one against searches you want before adding it, and never block a town inside your own area. Our negative keywords guide has the themes to start with, and the search terms report shows what you actually paid for.

What Google restricts

Google's list of other restricted businesses says promoting bail bond services that act as surety for a defendant is not allowed. Lawyers aren't on that list. Its misrepresentation policy bars misleading statements about identity, affiliations or qualifications, and a business name that doesn't clearly represent the advertiser.

Local law

Google's legal requirements policy says you must comply with the local laws and regulations of any area your ads target, in addition to its own policies. For a law firm, that includes the bar's advertising rules. Our guide to what law firm ads can say goes phrase by phrase.

Responsive search ads

Google mixes your headlines and descriptions in any order, so each line has to work alone. Text that must appear in every ad, such as a disclaimer your state requires, gets pinned to headline 1, headline 2 or description 1, as Google's own page says.

Under review is not approved

An ad, asset or logo Google is still reviewing isn't ready. Check again once review ends, which in our accounts is usually within a day, before calling the build finished.

This is a plain summary for marketing planning, not legal advice. Check the current rule with your bar or law society.

1. 1

   Days 1 to 3: approvals and a test lead

   Check every ad and asset shows as approved, call the number on the landing page, and submit the form. Confirm each one shows up as a conversion and lands in the CRM.

2. 2

   Week 1: search terms, often

   Read the search terms report several times. Add negatives for what doesn't fit, after testing each against the searches you want.

3. 3

   Weeks 1 to 4: bid for clicks with a cap

   With no lead history, start on Maximize clicks with a cost per click cap at or above the low end of Keyword Planner's range for the main keyword. Move to Maximize conversions only after about 30 leads. Once leads are steady, give it a target cost per lead near the real one, or it can push prices up on its own.

4. 4

   Week 2 onward: fix the ad before the bid

   If Google rates expected click rate below average, the ad doesn't look like the answer. Put the search words and the place in headline 1, and add lines about the situation the right person is in.

5. 5

   Day 30: judge on good leads

   Look at cost per good lead, not cost per click, and don't judge a keyword's lead rate on fewer than about 40 clicks. Mark consultations and signed cases in the CRM so the next month's budget follows them.

When we build Google Ads for a firm, we research what people type when they need that kind of lawyer in that area and what those clicks cost, then pick a lean set of keywords aimed at people ready to hire. We build a landing page per case type, write the ads, block the waste with negatives, and track every call and form to its campaign and keyword in the firm's CRM. The firm answers leads fast and marks what signs.

A Toronto real estate solo with no online presence signed a first client within 24 hours of going live and generated $10,875 in the first week, from just over $300 in ad spend paid to Google. An LA tenant defense lawyer was over capacity within two months, and we switched the ads off so she could catch up.