How Much Does it Cost Law Firms to Run Google PPC Ads?

The legal industry is competitive, especially online where law firms fight for prime real estate on the first page of Google. To keep pace, law firms must incorporate internet marketing techniques such as SEO & PPC. PPC ads are a great way to complement your SEO strategy. Searchers are more likely to click on your law firm in the search results if you show up not only with a paid ad, but also right below in the organic results. In 2011, it was estimated that law firms spent a minimum of $52.6 million dollars on PPC ads. That is double what Apple supposedly spent ($20.75 million) on their PPC ads for the iPhone and iPad. So, just how much does it cost for a Raleigh law firm to run a successful PPC campaign?

PPC Cost For Law Firms

Unfortunately, there is no magic dollar amount guaranteed to get your law firm’s PPC ads published. It depends on a few factors – how much you’re bidding per click, your daily budget, what your ad looks like and what your overall PPC budget is. Let’s take a look at an example: The above screenshot shows the top PPC ads for a “Raleigh lawyer” search in Google. All 3 results use extensions, PPC add-ons to give customers more information about the law firm without having to click. Having add-ons, specifically like the ad shown in the middle search result, makes an ad more desirable, and more expensive per click. Now look at this example: These ads were taken from the same “Raleigh lawyer” Google search, however these ads are noticeably different. These are basic PPC ads; there aren’t any extensions giving the law firms phone number, address or service links. And without those extra customer friendly add-ons, the cost per click is significantly cheaper and at a higher risk of not being seen.

Estimating Traffic and Average Cost-Per-Click

To estimate how much your law firm needs to spend to be in the top spot for PPC, you’ll have to do a little research. Luckily, Google provides you with Keyword Planner, a tool that helps you understand the estimated traffic and cost-per-click of your main keywords. (And even better, our PPC experts can help do the research for you!) Once you plug-in your main keywords and your location, you’ll be able to see the average monthly searches related to each keyword entered, the competition, and the average cost-per-click. In the example below, we have entered the keywords “lawyer”, “attorney”, and “law firm”. As you can see, both “lawyer” and “attorney” are highly searched keywords, accounting for 60,500 searches and 40,500 searches, respectively. They are also highly competitive, meaning there are many lawyers, attorneys and law firms using that keyword, which drives up the cost-per-click. While the “law firm” keyword search doesn’t get as many monthly searches, it is still highly competitive and the most expensive, with an estimated $11.71 cost-per-click.

Competitive Legal Keywords

Competitive keywords can make it difficult to reach your target audience. Here is a list of some of the most competitive legal keywords for the Raleigh area:

• Raleigh Lawyer
• Raleigh Attorney
• Raleigh Personal Injury Lawyer
• Raleigh Divorce Law Firm
• Law Firms in Raleigh

Using Keyword Planner to research your intended keywords will give you an idea of how much your law firm will be spending on Google Ads. It will also give you additional variations of your keywords, some with low-medium competition that will enable you to reach your target audience at a much cheaper rate than the keywords above.

Benefits of PPC for Law Firms

Whether your law firm chooses to spend thousands or hundreds, the benefit of PPC is still noticeable – especially when paired with a successful SEO strategy. Searchers will notice your law firm showing up multiple times in the search results, increasing the likelihood that they will view your firm’s site and contact you for a legal consultation.

Tags: Legal Marketing • Paid Search Marketing