How AdWords Can Benefit Your Law Firm

September 2017

Google AdWords is complex and confusing, with a steep learning curve and lots of room for error. With that said, it’s also a must-use marketing channel for law firms and lawyers. When used correctly, Google’s pay-per-click marketing system can win you substantial traffic from qualified leads. You might need a little help to get there, but the benefits are possible to attain if you do things right.

Related: Organic vs Paid Reach

On the one hand, it’s not difficult to see the perks of Google AdWords. AdWords essentially lets you buy a sponsored slot at or near the top of a Google search result page. Here are just a few of the reasons why doing so is beneficial to your firm and your overall bottom line:

 

• Speed: Organic SEO is a powerful and cost-effective way to draw traffic to your website, drive conversions, and build your client base. Unfortunately, it is also a notoriously slow method to accomplish all those things. A strong SEO campaign can take months to show results. Sometimes, you don’t have that amount of time. If you need results and you need them now, Google AdWords can get you to the top of a Google search result page right now.
• Targeting: When you use SEO, you are using keywords to target your site toward a specific audience. By using words associated with the services you offer, your location, and other factors, you can navigate toward your ideal client. With AdWords, you can use the dashboard tools Google gives you to target your audience more precisely. Google lets you target your ad toward a specific location, decide what times of day it will show up in search results, and more.
• Hierarchy: Even the best SEO can only get you to the top of Google’s organic results. Google’s paid search results always show up at the very top of the page, above the organic results. In other words, AdWords can probably make your brand more visible than even the finest SEO campaign.
• Measurability: Google AdWords tracks various analytics for your campaigns. Unlike SEO, which is difficult to track in any fashion, you can use AdWords measurements to assess the success of your campaign, see what’s working (and what isn’t), and adapt your strategy to encourage stronger results.
• Complimentary results: When you are building an online marketing campaign for your law firm, there shouldn’t be any “either/or” proposition between AdWords and SEO. On the contrary, these two strategies work better together than they do apart. Use AdWords for more urgent advertising needs and count on SEO for longer-term, “evergreen” promotional resources. Alternatively, use both tactics at the same time and get your firm to appear twice on the same Google results page. Either strategy will help your branding and funnel visitors toward your site.

Of course, on the other hand, Google AdWords can be tough to handle. It costs more in the long run than SEO does, and it’s not always easy to get the hang of all the targeting and analytics tools. Luckily, Inherent specializes in law firm SEO and PPC campaigns. We would be happy to help you learn the ropes of Google AdWords so that it can start delivering benefits for your firm soon.