When setting up PPC advertising campaigns for your law firm, it is imperative that you know and follow best practices for PPC advertising, since the legal space is the most competitive — and the costliest — on Google.

Here are 10 tips that, if followed, will enable you to create PPC advertising campaigns for your law firm that will deliver clicks that convert :

1. Create a unique landing page for your Google ad.

You need to create a unique landing page for every Google ad you run, with content that pays off on the promise you made in the ad. Do not take people to the home page of your website. The compelling ad copy you wrote to entice them in your Google ad does not pay off, so you will fail to convert those clicks into actual leads.

2. Evaluate your ads every week.

Google ads operate in an ever-changing online marketplace, so the ad you posted last month may not work at all this month. Maybe the bid prices have increased. Maybe your content is not speaking to your prospects. PPC advertising is not a “set it and forget it” proposition. You must be constantly monitoring your ads for performance.

3. Use analytics to your advantage.

Good data leads to good decisions. Be sure you have Google analytics set up for your ad landing pages so you can see the actions people take once they are on your page. If they are abandoning it as quickly as they got on it, you have a problem that needs to be addressed.

4. Use the right keywords in your ad.

Your main keyword or key phrase needs to be incorporated in your PPC ads along with a relevant benefit and call-to-action. Don’t be afraid to experiment in order to discover what speaks loudest to your target market.

5. Align your messaging in your ads and landing pages.

We have all clicked on a Google ad that sends us to a page that had nothing to do with the ad that caught our attention and quickly bailed. Make sure this doesn’t happen to you by making sure your landing page pays off on the promise you made in your ad.

6. Maintain a high quality score.

You will pay more for ad clicks if you have a low quality score. Google measures several factors in ad scoring, including your ad’s CTR (click-through rate), the CTR on your landing page, relevance of keywords to ads, relevance of keyword and ad to search query, geographic factors, presence of a unique landing page, landing page load time, and more.  

7. Narrow your focus.

By creating ads using just one keyword or key phrase, you cut out a lot of wasted click spend on people who could be looking for something other than what you are offering if your match keyword or phrase is too broad.

8. Use negative keywords.

By adding negative keywords — words that tell Google not to show your ad for any search containing that word — you won’t waste money bidding on phrases that will never convert for you.

9. Name your landing page URL properly.

Having a landing page URL that reinforces your ad and keywords will help you with your quality score. Don’t use a generic landing page URL like /landing — instead, use a concise phrase that pays off your ad promise.

10. Make sure your expectations are realistic.

As you are undoubtedly aware if you’ve been doing PPC advertising for any period of time, competition is fierce in the legal space. If your CTR is over 5%, you are doing well. If your landing page converts just 10% of those CTRs, that is a good conversion rate. Narrowing your geographic region and your practice area as much as possible will help you avoid clicks that don’t convert.