Understanding Pay-Per-Clicks for Lawyers

Pay-per-click ads, also known as PPCs or paid search ads, can be a powerful tool in digital marketing for lawyers to generate leads and sign-up new clients.

Traditionally, legal marketing relied on building a website, creating content, and optimizing your page to generate organic traffic through Google or other search platforms.

For smaller practices that are competing for organic clicks against some of the biggest law firms in the country, organic SEO can be a difficult, uphill battle.

PPCs supercharge the competition for search engine real estate, allowing any law firm to place their page at the top of search engine rankings or target specific audiences on other platforms.

However, without an experienced legal marketing agency to run your firm’s PPC campaigns, you could end up wasting thousands of dollars on ads with little to show for your campaign spending.

What is the difference between different PPC platforms?

Depending on the type of law your firm practices and the specific docket in which you want to run paid search ads, different PPC platforms offer different advantages and disadvantages.

Google Ads

PPCs on Google operate on an auction format: different businesses bid on particular search phrases or keywords; the highest bidder ends up at the top of search results, with other bidders ranked below them on the first page or subsequent pages.

Because law firms that run PPC ads on Google can select the keyword phrases they wish to target in their campaigns, Google PPC results tend to have a high level of intentionality. Firms can have more confidence that leads from Google paid search ads are qualified leads who are actively shopping for a lawyer to help them with their case.

However, without careful campaign management, PPCs on Google can be extremely expensive. The cost per click for certain dockets, such as mesothelioma or pending pharmaceutical litigation, can exceed $100 per click.

Facebook (Meta) Ads

Paid search ads on Facebook operate by targeting specific audiences instead of keyword phrases. Law firms that run ads on Facebook can select from various audience demographics, job titles or employers, and membership groups to target with their ads.

Facebook ads tend to be less expensive on a per-click basis that Google, but because these campaigns do not involve targeted keyword phrases, Facebook campaign results tend to have a lower level of intentionality than Google ads.

For dockets that involve customers who purchased a certain product, worked for a certain company, or share other common characteristics, Facebook PPCs with Meta Ads can be an extremely effective method for generating new leads for your firm.

Bing Ads

PPC ads on Bing function on an auction-style system that is extremely similar to Google: firms bid on select keyword phrases and the highest bidder appears at the top of Bing search results.

While Bing receives less search engine traffic than Google, because Bing’s audience skews older and because Bing is installed as the default search engine on many Microsoft and Windows-equipped devices, in some cases it may be advantageous, depending on the docket, to run PPC campaigns in Bing.

Other PPC Platforms

Law firms can also run PPC on several other platforms, including:

  • Twitter (X)
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • TikTok
  • Snapchat

In general, these platforms tend to be less effective platforms for PPC campaigns for lawyers, but can be effective in generating leads for certain dockets.

Contact The Abbery for Help With PPCs

If your law firm or practice is considering launching a PPC campaign in Google, Facebook, Bing, or other platforms, contact The Abbery to learn how our agency can help your firm optimize your paid search ads and generate new leads and new clients for your practice.

Our agency has been managing PPC campaigns for lawyers for more than 15 years. Our digital marketing clients keep coming back to us for help with PPCs because of our proven track record of creating campaigns that deliver results.

For more information about what type of paid search ads will deliver the best results for your firm, or to receive a free quote on PPCs or other digital marketing services for lawyers, contact The Abbery by sending us an email at info@theabbery.com, or by filling out the contact form located at the top of this page.