Pay-per-click ads have been one of the best resources for law firms seeking new potential clients online. The ability to highly target the exact kinds of clients you want, combined with the ability to only pay when someone clicks on the ad, makes them highly appealing for the legal industry. That’s why so many lawyers use them, and it’s why PPC has become such a crowded and competitive field in recent years.
That’s why it’s ideal for any law firm looking to improve their PPC game to join a MasterMind program like the one Brain Trust Legal runs. Rather than operating solely on the limited information you have about PPC based on your own ads’ performance, you can gain access to insights and statistics from successful attorneys from all over the country. Learn what works, what doesn’t, and what’s new in the world of PPC. Continue reading to see just a small portion of the kind of insights and information you can gain as a member of the Brain Trust Legal MasterMind program.
Many attorneys ask a question similar to this in order to know where they should put their marketing budget. While answers may vary depending on the specifics of your location and practice area, there is a larger and more important answer that will help to refocus this conversation.
The current question describes PPC and SEO as two boxers punching at each other for superiority, and in the end there can only be one winner. The problem with that analogy is that it’s not the right one. SEO and PPC are both able to secure clients, and they do it by using different methods. For that reason, neither one should be considered the “superior option.” Consider this analogy instead:
Rather than two boxers punching each other, picture SEO and PPC as lions in the same pack. A single lion hunting a gazelle may get dinner or she may not; however, multiple lions on the hunt have a much better chance of catching that gazelle. The potential client is your gazelle, so you want to fill your pack with as many lions as possible to make sure that you, and not some other pack, catches that gazelle. When you look at SEO and PPC that way, it makes sense that you would want both working together instead of pitting them against each other.
The question of which place is better for pay-per-click ads between Facebook and Google has less to do with how well either of those companies do with their marketing and more to do with the reason that people are using their products to begin with. Pay-per-click is designed to catch people who need your services and point them to an ad or website that connects them to you. Which of those two services do you think is more likely to have your potential clients?
The truth is, potential clients can be on both social media and Google. However, only one of those places is designed with the intent of finding information by searching for it, and that’s Google. Sure, people may come across your ad on Facebook if your targeting is very good, but they were not actively looking for it. However, that’s the literal reason that someone goes to Google, to find an answer or solution to a problem. With that level of internal motivation from a potential client to solve their problem, they have a much higher probability of signing up with you.
One of the reasons it’s great to have a knowledgeable partner running your PPC ads for you is because they have spent time and money and run campaigns to find out what kinds of things are going to make a PPC ad perform well. If your PPC vendor doesn’t know about or isn’t doing these things, it may be worth looking for a new PPC vendor:
This is potentially the most important part of the process, and the one that can affect your ads the most negatively if done poorly or not done at all. Finding the ideal keywords and phrases to target for PPC ads is what gets you in front of potential clients. Choosing the wrong words will have you spending money to either get no leads, or to get leads that are not clearly in need of what you do. Choosing words that are broad and common can be an issue not only because they’re not clearly targeted, but also because it will mean there is a lot of competition for them and will cost you considerably more. Finding that delicate balance takes research and knowledge of the industry and the competition.
Remember, your ad isn’t the only one that will pop up when someone searches something in Google. There is always competition who is also paying for that improved placement, so your ads need to stand above the others. Is your text well-written and compelling? Does it get straight to the point? Does it appeal directly and specifically to the client, as opposed to being broad and nebulous? If a potential client doesn’t ‘see’ themselves in an ad, they simply won’t click on it. That’s why an ad has to target quickly and effectively to beat out the competition.
When a potential client clicks on your PPC ad, it brings them to a page on your website. How much attention have you given that page? Does it have an inviting message at the top that captures the specific kinds of cases you want? Are the form fills, phone numbers, and chat boxes on the page easy to find and clear in their purpose? Do you have some kind of social proof like Google reviews or video testimonials to provide the potential client with confidence that your firm is the right choice? Each of those elements can make the difference in whether someone decides to make the leap and contact you, or to navigate away from your website to go back to Google or off to another lawyer’s site.
There is no shortage of potential clients searching for an attorney on Google; along with that, there is also no shortage of attorneys trying to grab their attention. Constant competition means constant improvement in order to remain competitive yourself. That’s why the Brain Trust Legal MasterMind program is a perfect fit for law firms who are serious about solidifying their PPC performance.
The interaction, honesty, and advice from other successful attorneys, including BTL owners Rob Levine and Darryl Isaacs, is invaluable in gaining perspective on PPC success, in addition to dozens of other topics. To learn more about potential MasterMind program openings, you can call (855)743-1636 from anywhere across the United States to speak with a member of the BTL team.
