Pay-per-click, or PPC advertising, is a savvy way to gain some serious traction online.
This highly targeted form of paid search Internet advertising can pinpoint prospective clients to drive targeted traffic directly to your legal site. Attorneys only pay when someone “clicks through.” PPC works as a complement to TV advertising and even as a stand-alone Internet marketing investment for lawyers with smaller or stretched budgets.
There are three key reasons why PPC for lawyers is worth considering:
It’s fast and flexible.
It’s targeted and tangible.
It’s driven by results and ROI.
Let’s dive into these benefits so you can see how pay-per-click really pays off.
It’s fast and flexible.
By fast, we mean if your PPC ad posts today and you could see pay off immediately through increased traffic to your website. With PPC for lawyers, attorneys can competitively bid so more people see their ad near the top of a search-results page. Statistics consistently prove that the higher up ads appear, the better click-through rate (people who see your ad and actually click on it) they earn. As you dial in this scientific method further with your legal marketing partner, the more your ads will appear. Likewise, because of the speed and impermanence of the Web, law firms can change ad text at any time, testing and adjusting around the keywords that are resonating (encouraging click-through) best for different audiences. This flexibility is nearly unmatched in traditional advertising.
It’s targeted and tangible.
As your law firm continues to articulate its ideal client, paid search campaigns can target with remarkable precision this person through keyword development (the words and phrases people type in a search engine when looking for a specific type of attorney, for example) and exclusive PPC landing pages designed to drive people to your firm’s website. To attract the most qualified client, you can hone PPC strategy further by location, time, language, gender and other analytics tied to consumer behavior on the Internet. What’s even better is lawyers can see tangible results straightaway. Through specialized PPC management tools for lawyers, you can now see how people click on your optimized ads, follow through to your website and, ideally, take the next step to convert to a case.
Bonus: PPC ads can also generate calls for free! By placing a phone number in the ad, people are able to call without actually clicking on it. However, make sure to use a unique number – or track line – so you can trace the lead back to your PPC campaign!
It’s all about results and ROI.
Lawyers, not unlike other service professionals, like it when advertising results are directly tied to investment; a measure that’s trickier in traditional advertising. In PPC for attorneys, ad- and traffic-tracking tools like Google Analytics actually measure minute-by-minute what’s working in an online campaign and what’s not. The way to realize true ROI in PPC advertising is to do a quick calculation based on click-through rate and conversion. Good CTR for a PPC ad campaign starts at about 1% and up. A solid conversation rate (website visitors who “convert” by taking action to contact your firm, for example, to request a free consultation) starts closer to 2%. Some quick math using the most conservative rates shows that about 5,000 people need to see your ad to generate a qualified lead.
Ready to learn more about how PPC can work for your law firm? We’re here to answer all your questions about pay-per-click. Just click here or call us today (888) 461-1016.