PPC for Lawyers: 9 "Cheat" Codes to Get Clients on a Lower Spend

Struggling to get clients from your PPC (pay-per-click) campaign?

You don’t need a Ouija board. You don't even need a prayer circle. Just start using these 9 dead-simple PPC tricks to get clients from your $1,000+ PPC spend.

When someone types “lawyer near me,” your ad will pop up front and center, ready to save the day — and land a new client.

And guess what? Over 58% of traffic to legal websites comes from paid search!

In this guide, we'll walk you through what PPC for law firms is, and 9 tips to build PPC for lawyer campaigns that do ridiculously well.

What Is PPC for Lawyers?

Think of it like this...

With pay-per-click (PPC) for lawyers, you pay for VIP placement at the top of Google. If done right, your ad pops up first for popular keywords like "criminal defense lawyer" or “sue for whiplash”.  

Plus, you only pay if someone clicks on your ad on the search engine results page. Legal services enjoy an average PPC conversion rate of 9.27%, nearly double the 4.8% average across all industries!

Does PPC for Lawyers Work?

Yes — and not just in theory.

With the right strategy, PPC delivers fast, qualified leads. For example, Stracci Law Group saw a 547% increase in traffic, while Barr & Douds Attorneys saw a 651% spike in client inquiries after we optimized their campaigns.

PPC for law firms isn’t a gamble when you know how to play the game.

Benefits of PPC Advertising for Law Firms

At the end of the day, PPC for law firms is kind of like a superpower. You don’t have to wait months for it to kick in — you can show up at the top of Google today.

You control the budget, only pay when someone clicks, and target exactly who you want (by location, search intent, even time of day). And the best part? If something’s not working with your Google ads campaign, you can change it in minutes!

Up next — let’s talk about the different types of PPC ads, and where each one fits into your strategy.

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5 Types of Lawyer PPC Ads

Yes, there is more than one type of PPC ad! Not sure what your law firm needs? Let’s clear that up.

— Google Ads (Search + Video)

These are the bread and butter of lawyer PPC. Search ads show up right at the top of Google when someone types a keyword like “divorce lawyer near me” — and you only pay when they click.

Video ads run on YouTube and are great for building trust and visibility, especially for personal branding or complex services like estate planning or medical malpractice law.

— Display Ads

Think of display ads like digital billboards that follow people across the web. They're visual, memorable, and perfect for brand awareness or retargeting past site visitors who didn’t convert the first time.

— Local Services Ads (LSAs)

Want to show up at the very top of Google — even above regular ads?

LSAs do just that. You get a Google Screened badge, your headshot, reviews, and you only pay for actual leads (calls or messages).

This type of PPC marketing campaign is perfect for firms that serve specific local areas and want to build trust fast!

— Geofencing Ads

Geofencing is like digital targeting with a sniper scope.

You draw a virtual boundary (say, around a courthouse or hospital), and when someone enters that zone with their phone, they start seeing your ads.

Even better, you can keep serving them those ads after they leave.

Quick examples:

• Target hospital visitors with PI ads
• Target the courthouse for family or criminal law
• Use location-specific messaging (e.g., “Need a lawyer after your ER visit?”)

— Bing Ads

Bing isn’t dead — in fact, it’s quietly effective, especially with older, higher-income users.
Lower competition often means cheaper clicks in the legal industry. It’s a smart add-on to your Google strategy.

Next up: Let's talk about how to build a law firm PPC campaign that doesn’t blow your budget, and gets you real, paying clients.

How to Create and Manage a Legal PPC Campaign

So, you’ve decided to give PPC a shot. Lovely! But now what?

Setting up a successful PPC campaign isn’t just throwing keywords into Google and hoping leads magically appear. You want to target relevant keywords.

But unless you’re using a PPC law firm agency, it can get messy fast.

Let’s break it down — step one: know what the heck you’re trying to accomplish.

1. Get Your Objectives Clear

“Get more leads” is vague. Here are a few better PPC goals for law firms:

• Lead Generation: Generate 20–50 qualified calls or contact form submissions per week.
• Brand Awareness: Appear in front of your target audience 1,000+ times monthly across Google search, YouTube, and partner sites.
• Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO): Increase your landing page conversion rate from 5% to 10%+.
• Lower Cost Per Acquisition (CPA): Reduce your cost per lead by 20–40% while maintaining or improving lead quality.

Pro Tips:

• Make your goals SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound.
• Decide how you’ll track the success of your online advertising (e.g., cost per lead, conversion rate).
• Don’t try to do everything at once in your marketing strategy — pick one goal, crush it, then scale.
• Revisit your goals regularly and adjust if they’re not hitting.

PPC management — good PPC management — starts with a few simple measures beforehand.

2. Nail Down Your Keyword Research

...because you do NOT want to show up for something like "free legal advice".

Figure out exactly what your ideal clients are typing into Google — stuff like “first DUI consequences,” “sue for whiplash after car accident,” or “how to get full custody of my kid.”

Tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMRush, and Ahrefs will help you find the gold:

• High-intent phrases — “hire criminal defense attorney”
• Long-tail keywords — “do I need a lawyer after a minor car accident in Texas?”
• Common misspellings — yes, people Google “lawyer near me.”

Don’t just go after the obvious terms either. Some folks are looking to hire now, while others are still Googling “do I need a lawyer if…” — both are worth targeting.

And hey, remember to exclude negative keywords to avoid wasted ad spend.

For example, if you're a personal injury lawyer, you might want to exclude terms like “free legal advice” or “law school” — because those clicks won’t turn into prospective clients.

Not sure where to start? Here’s a great starter guide on relevant keyword research for lawyers.

3. Create Action-Worthy Ad Copy

You’ve got about two seconds to make someone think, “Man, this lawyer gets me.” Your law firm PPC ads need to hit hard and fast.

Here’s how to write great lawyer ad copy:

• Mirror their mindset: If someone searches “fired for no reason”, your ad should say “Wrongfully terminated? Know your rights.”
• Use numbers: Stats build credibility fast. Try things like “1,127+ cases won” or “Over $5M recovered for injury victims.”
• Play to emotions: Fear, anger, hope, relief — law is emotional. Use it. (“Facing jail time? Don’t go it alone.”)
• Tap into self-interest: People care about what they get. Lead with benefits, not legal jargon.
• Front-load your best line: On mobile, space is tight. Make your headline count right away.
• Make your display URL look legit: Try something like: yourfirm.com/car-accident-help
• Write better CTAs: Skip “Contact us.” Say “Get a free case review today,” or “Talk to a real attorney now.”
• Always A/B test: Headlines, CTAs, tone — test everything and keep what converts.
• Use local keywords: Add the city or neighborhood to improve relevance and clicks.

Need help writing killer PPC ads? Talk to our team. We use your ad dollars to give you actual clients.

4. Design Eye-Catching Visuals

Visuals are pretty powerful... but ditch the blurry imagery and stock photos.

Facebook ads with good visuals see 2.3x more engagement, and visual content increases click-through rates by up to 42% across platforms.

Here's our visual cheatsheet:

• Use real, high-quality images: Photos of your team, office, or happy clients build trust fast.
• Match visuals to your practice area: Family law? Show real families. Car accidents? Think local landmarks + urgency (hospital signs, damaged vehicles).
• Keep it brand-consistent: Your visuals should feel like your firm, not a generic Canva template.
• Incorporate motion: Short videos showcasing client results are great to stop the scroll.
• Skip the fluff: Vague “justice scales” or gavel shots won’t cut it. Show why you’re the one to call.

5. Optimize Your Landing Pages

So your ad got the click — now what?

If your landing page is slow, sloppy, or confusing, potential clients will run straight into a competitor's arms.

Here’s how to make your law firm PPC strategy more robust:

• Match your ad: If your ad says “Injured in a car accident?”, the landing page better keep that same energy. Don’t bait-and-switch.
• Use strong, clear headlines: Grab attention and instantly confirm they’re in the right place.
• Guide the next step: Make your call-to-action obvious: “Book a free case review” is better than “Submit.”
• Keep it mobile-friendly: Over 60% of legal searches happen on mobile — don’t make users pinch and zoom.
• Make it fast: A page that takes longer than 3 seconds to load? Say goodbye to 53% of visitors.
• Stick to one goal: Don’t overwhelm with 7 services, 3 forms, and a newsletter opt-in. One page = one goal.

6. Set a Realistic Budget

Got a profit goal? Great! Now let's reverse-engineer your PPC budget.

Say you want $5K in profit this month. If your average case brings in $450 and your gross margin is 55%, you’ll need around $7,375 in PPC ad spend to make that happen.

Your budget depends on a couple of things:

• Keyword costs for your niche
• Client lifetime value
• What it takes to land a conversion

Tools like Google Ads Keyword Planner can help estimate cost-per-click for your chosen terms.

Running a two-month PPC marketing campaign? Project your impressions, clicks, and costs first, then decide what’s workable. You can also use a PPC budget calculator to ballpark a realistic spend.

Quick tip: Google uses average daily budgets, so don’t panic if you overspend one day — it evens out across the month (typically 30.4 days).

7. Monitor and Analyze Campaign Performance

Okay, now that your PPC ad campaign is live, you can relax...

Just kidding.

It’s time to watch it like a hawk. Regular monitoring helps you spot issues, optimize your PPC campaign performance, and double down on what’s working.

Tools like Google Ads dashboards or AI-powered platforms can save you time while tracking key metrics like:

• Impressions: How often your ad is shown
• Clicks: How many people actually click
• CTR (Click-through rate): Clicks ÷ impressions — this tells you how compelling your ad is
• CPC (Cost per click): What you’re paying per click
• Conversions: Calls, form submissions, bookings
• Conversion rate: Conversions ÷ clicks — this shows how well your landing page is closing the deal

Conversion tracking is a must in your Google analytics. Set it up using Google Ads, Bing Ads, or Google Tag Manager. This lets you trace actions like free consultation bookings or signed retainers back to specific ads.

Pro Tip: Believe in second chances? So do we! Try retargeted ads.

These ads "follow" people who visited your site but didn’t reach out. They show up wherever they go online, like on Google, YouTube, Facebook, or news sites.

8. A/B Test Ad Variants

Think your ad copy is good? Let's find out!

A/B testing (aka split testing) means running two versions of an ad — with one key difference — to see which performs better.

You might change the headline or CTA. The trick? Only test one thing at a time so you know what’s actually moving the needle.

Example: Try “Injured in a crash?” vs. “Hurt in a car accident?” — then let the data decide.

Make sure both versions run at the same time and get enough impressions (thousands, ideally). A few days won’t cut it — aim for a week or two to get real results.

Google Ads has built-in tools for this. Even third-party platforms like Unbounce, Hotjar, or Google Optimize let you experiment with different elements to boost performance.

9. Stay Updated with PPC Trends and Best Practices

PPC isn’t a crockpot — you can’t just set it and walk away.

And sadly, what worked six months ago might tank today.

Keep your skills sharp by following industry blogs, newsletters, and PPC pros on LinkedIn or X (Twitter). A little reading each week goes a long way.

A major trend to watch? AI and automation. Tools like Smart Bidding and Performance Max are reshaping how campaigns work, letting Google optimize in real time to drive more conversions with less manual effort on your end.

And remember, follow legal advertising regulations to a tee. You do not want to land in hot water with your PPC ads.

Finally, do NOT ignore your analytics. Regularly review your metrics to spot what’s working and where to experiment next.

Bottom line: Never assume your pay-per-click advertising campaign is “done.”

Why Choose Grow Law for Your Lawyer PPC Campaign

We specialize in one thing: helping law firms get more clients.

With 15+ years in legal marketing, Grow Law knows what works — and we don’t waste your budget figuring it out.

Our team delivers ROI-first paid ads and handles everything from start to finish: setup, tracking, testing, and ongoing optimization to boost your ROI.

Every campaign is customized to your practice area, your goals, and your ideal clients!

Your Revenue’s Leaking — Every. Single. Day.

Grow Law plugs your leaks and 2Xs your revenue in record time.

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Why DIY Your PPC? That's Risky.

Work with a lawyer PPC expert!

At Grow Law, our legal marketing experts manage your law firm's SEO (search engine optimization) and PPC services to unleash a flood of new leads. 100+ happy legal clients have witnessed:

• Up to 1,018% more qualified leads
• 4X to 8X ROI on your marketing spend
• Over 80+ years of combined marketing experience to optimize your returns further
• 100% transparency into every dollar spent
• The full backing of our senior strategists, along with unlimited hours on your PPC

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