Law Firm PPC: Google Ads Strategy for Legal Services

Legal PPC requires granular campaign structure. Mixing practice areas in a single campaign leads to budget being consumed by the highest-CPC terms while lower-cost, high-value areas get nothing.

Recommended Campaign Structure

• Brand campaign — Firm name, partner names, branded terms
• Conveyancing campaign — Lower CPC, high volume, strong ROI
• Family law campaign — Moderate CPC, emotional journey, needs specific messaging
• Employment law campaign — Split employee-side vs employer-side
• Personal injury campaign — Highest CPCs, needs strict qualification
• Commercial/corporate campaign — High case values, lower volume

Why Granular Structure Matters

Each practice area has different CPCs, conversion rates, and case values. Separate campaigns allow independent budget control, bid strategies, and performance measurement.

Legal keyword costs vary enormously. Strategic keyword selection determines whether your budget generates 5 qualified leads or 500 worthless clicks.

High-Value Keywords (Exact Match)

• Practice area + location — [divorce solicitor birmingham], [conveyancing solicitor london]
• Specific need + location — [employment tribunal solicitor manchester]
• Action-oriented — [hire a solicitor], [get legal advice]

Cost-Effective Keywords (Phrase Match)

• Question queries — "How to find a good solicitor", "Do I need a lawyer for"
• Process queries — "Divorce process UK", "conveyancing steps"
• Long-tail specific — "Solicitor for boundary dispute [city]"

Essential Negative Keywords

Legal campaigns without extensive negative keyword lists waste 40-60% of budget:

• Jobs/careers — "Solicitor jobs", "paralegal vacancy", "law careers"
• DIY/free — "Free legal advice", "do I need a solicitor" (careful—some are valuable)
• Academic — "Law degree", "LPC", "SQE qualification"
• Irrelevant practice areas — Exclude areas you don't cover
• Claims management — "Compensation claim", "no win no fee" (unless applicable)

Legal ad copy must balance urgency, trust, and compliance. SRA rules require truthful, non-misleading advertising—which actually aligns with what converts.

Headline Strategies

• Practice area + credential — "Award-Winning Family Solicitors"
• Location + specialty — "Birmingham Employment Law Experts"
• Action + benefit — "Get Expert Legal Advice Today"
• Trust signal — "Law Society Accredited | 4.8★ Google"

Description Best Practices

• Free initial consultation — Most effective CTA for legal
• Specific outcomes — "Fixed-fee conveyancing from £699"
• Response time — "Same-day response", "Available evenings"
• Experience — "30+ years combined experience"

SRA Compliance in Ad Copy

• No guarantees — Can't promise specific outcomes
• Accurate claims — "Award-winning" only if verifiably true
• No comparisons — Avoid "Best solicitor" or comparative claims
• Pricing accuracy — Quoted fees must be genuine starting prices

Legal PPC landing pages must convert expensive clicks into qualified consultations. Every element should reduce anxiety and build trust.

Essential Landing Page Elements

• Clear headline — Match the ad: "Family Solicitors in [City]"
• Free consultation offer — Prominent, above the fold
• Phone number — Click-to-call, visible on every viewport
• Short form — Name, phone, brief description of matter
• Trust signals — SRA regulated, Law Society accredited, Google reviews
• Team photos — Named solicitors build confidence
• Testimonials — Client reviews (general, not case-specific)

Conversion Rate Optimisation

• Live chat — Legal enquiries often start with questions, not forms
• Callback request — Lower friction than a form for sensitive matters
• Out-of-hours messaging — "Leave a message, we'll call you tomorrow at 9am"
• Mobile optimisation — 60%+ of legal searches are mobile

Legal conversion cycles are long—clients may research for weeks before making contact. Attribution must account for this journey.

Conversion Tracking Setup

• Phone call tracking — Dynamic number insertion with call recording (with consent)
• Form submissions — Track by practice area for campaign-level reporting
• Live chat — Track chat initiations and qualified conversations
• Offline conversions — Import instruction data back to Google Ads

Lead Quality Measurement

• Qualify leads — Track which leads become instructions (not just enquiries)
• Case value tracking — Assign estimated value to each instruction
• Source attribution — Track which campaigns and keywords generate instructions
• Cost per instruction — The true ROI metric (not cost per click or enquiry)

Reporting Framework

• Weekly — Spend, clicks, enquiries by practice area
• Monthly — Cost per enquiry, instruction rate, cost per instruction
• Quarterly — Revenue from PPC-sourced clients, campaign strategy review

Our Paid media management are built around this exact framework, designed for businesses that need predictable growth.

See how we applied this approach in our client case studies.