Imagine if your law firm’s ads appear at the top of the search engine results. You can make it possible with Google Local Service Ads for law firms. It will guarantee an increase in your reach.

Local Service Ads (LSAs) direct potential clients to firms in different areas of expertise to learn more about their services and connect with them. In turn, they help firms generate more leads and clients. Sadly, many legal practitioners don’t know this service exists or how to create an effective campaign.

If you have yet to use Local Service Ads, this is the perfect time. In this article, we’ll give you some tips to succeed in using them so that you can attract more potential clients to your firm.

How Do Local Google Ads for Lawyers Work?

When a user searches for a service in a particular location, Google service ads appear at the top of search results pages.

For example, try typing in “personal injury lawyer new jersey.” The first thing Google will show you are three sponsored LSA listings. They’re placed even higher than Google pay-per-click (PPC) ads.

After the ads, Google will show you organic Google Business Profile (GBP) listings and then the organic search results.

Google Ads vs. Local Service Ads for Law Firms

Aside from their positions on the search engine results page (SERP), LSAs and Google ads have more differences.

First, LSAs are pay-per-lead ads, so you are only charged for each lead you generate instead of each click on your ads.

Furthermore, proximity affects LSA rankings more than the budget you used in the campaign. When a user searches for a service and your firm is close, it ranks higher in the search.

Pro tip: For best results, use LSAs in combination with Google PPC ads and organic search engine optimization, especially if you’re competing against big law firms.

5 Effective Tips to Generate Quality Leads from Local Service Ads for Lawyers

Every dollar in your budget counts, so how do you make your LSA campaign successful? Here are some tips you can follow.

Check for Eligibility

It’s easy to get started with local service ads; you don’t even need to spend thousands of dollars to run a local service ad. But first, you need to check your eligibility.

On the eligibility page, enter your business details. If you practice law in the United States, you are eligible as long as your law firm’s central area is one of the following:

Once you’ve checked this box, you can proceed to set up your service ad campaign.

Become Google Screened

The Google Screened badge is only available for services performed by licensed professionals, such as law. Google-screened lawyers give users the confidence that Google has vetted the practitioner. Getting Google screened is a crucial step because it gives your business an extra layer of credibility.

To get the badge, your law firm’s founder must go through the verification process. Your GBP profile must also be rated three stars or higher.

Set a Budget for Lead Generation

After setting up your LSA profile, Google will use the information you provided and give a suggested budget to run your ads. You can customize your budget and set the minimum or maximum leads you want to get per campaign.

Your budget will differ depending on your location, area of expertise, and how many leads you can handle. Remember that LSAs are pay-per-lead, so you can be sure that you only spend when the campaign generates a lead. You’re also free to change your budget at any time.

Fight for a Spot in the Top 3

As mentioned, when potential clients search for legal services, three law firm ads show up at the top of the page. Many competing law firms will try to fight for the top 3 spots to ensure they get the leads. So how do you get there?

Google uses these factors to determine how you will rank.

• Search keywords
• GBP rating
• Proximity to the searcher
• Business hours

Aside from these, your firm also needs to have a good track record. The following indicates that you deliver stellar service:

• Positive reviews
• Few complaints
• Prompt response to leads

Attract Positive Reviews

Law firms, like every business, need good reviews to give customers the confidence that you have quality service. And as we’ve just mentioned, Google’s algorithm rewards positive reviews as well.

Google considers a review score of 3+ excellent. However, a numerical rating won’t be enough to earn a Google Screened badge—gathering reviews should also be a priority for a legal firm. If you have a Google Business Profile, link them to your local service ads account so that the same reviews appear for both.

Benefits of Local Service Ads for Legal Businesses

Other firms stop at pay-per-click ads for their advertising. Although it will still give you a wider audience online, remember that you also have multiple and more prominent competitors. If there’s an opportunity to get ahead of them, take it.

Here are some benefits of running a local service ad campaign for your business.

More Clicks and Increased Visibility

When you have a Google PPC campaign in place, your legal website has a chance of appearing higher than organic search results. But as mentioned earlier, Google lists local service ads even higher than PPC ads. With LSA, you’re at the top of the list, which can mean more visibility and clicks.

According to research, services with an LSA profile receive up to 14% of clicks from daily searches. Furthermore, LSA is relatively new, so some competitors may not have it yet. Capitalizing on it will significantly increase your leads over time.

More Control over Your Budget

Unlike a PPC ad campaign, you are charged whenever someone clicks on your ads, regardless if they become a qualified lead. This means you’re spending hundreds of dollars without guaranteed conversions.

However, LSA only charges you when the campaign generates leads. Whether you spend a few hundred to a thousand dollars in LSA, you can be sure that 100% of your budget is used to get leads.

Precise Targeting

Google LSA campaigns have a specific targeting option to display your ads when and where you want to show them.

You can choose the exact cities and ZIP codes where you provide your service so that your ads will only show up for users within those locations. You can also choose to advertise only a part of your business. If you have multiple practice areas and one is slow, you can opt it out of your campaign. You can also pause your entire campaign anytime so that the influx of leads won’t overwhelm you.

Professional Digital Marketing Solutions for Law Firms

If you want to increase your leads and revenue, investing in the latest digital marketing strategies will benefit you. Local Business Marketing Solutions offers law firms different online marketing services to help generate viable leads and grow their business.

Here are some of the services we offer:

• PPC Google ads for law firms. We do keyword research and targeting to help your business get to the top of the SERP.
• Local search engine optimization. We get you listed on Google Business Profile and other Internet directories to increase your visibility.
• Facebook advertising. Social media is an excellent platform for advertising. We create Facebook ads and optimize them to help you reach the right audience.
• Website design. We create custom websites for law firms that reflect their brand and showcase their credibility.

Local service ads are just one stepping stone to success on the Internet. We hope these tips will help you create an effective local service ad campaign.

For expert digital marketing help, request a strategy session with us today!