Bankruptcy lawyers have to stand up to some healthy competition if they want to nab the best cases. One way to boost your lead generation and get more quality clients is by using pay-per-click (PPC) ads.
PPC ads get your law firm's name in front of your ideal clients when they search for relevant keywords online.
You pay each time someone clicks on the ad. Then the ad sends your potential client to a landing page on your website. All you need to do is convince them you're the right choice for their case, and your ad has paid off.
PPC advertising is a valuable lead generation mechanism for bankruptcy attorneys.
But succeeding with it means you need to know how it works and how to set up your campaigns. Here’s how to get the ball rolling with bankruptcy PPC ads.
How Does PPC Work for Bankruptcy Lawyers?
The way PPC ads work for bankruptcy lawyers is simple. Here’s a quick breakdown:
- You bid on relevant keywords for your practice areas (like
Austin bankruptcy attorney). - Your ads trigger on search engine results pages based on the terms you bid on and the keyword a searcher uses on Google.
- Your ad shows up above organic Google search engine results, increasing the likelihood that a potential client clicks on it.
- You pay each time a potential new client clicks your ad, and the ad sends them to a page on your site.
- You convince the visitor that you’re the right lawyer for them with your landing page and offer a call to action (usually a contact form submission).
That’s a basic rundown of how PPC advertising works on Google. But there’s a ton of nuance between each of those steps. Choosing PPC as a law firm marketing tactic depends on your overall legal marketing strategy and goals.
There are benefits for bankruptcy lawyers using PPC ads, but there are also costs to consider.
The first benefit is that a well-structured ad campaign starts bringing in qualified leads soon after starting them up. Google will show your ads to ideal clients so long as you set up the right targeting.
The second benefit is that these ads appear for people who are at the bottom of the marketing funnel.
The people who see your ads are the ones who know that they need a lawyer as soon as possible. These are people who are in the market right now looking for legal help.
The drawback is that reaching them requires you to pay each time someone clicks your ad.
PPC is pay-to-play. Every click costs you even if that lead doesn't become a client. It's easy to feel like you're putting dollars in to feed the machine to get new bankruptcy law firm cases.
That’s why most successful bankruptcy lawyers use PPC ads alongside other options, like content marketing through search engine optimization (SEO). Tactics like bankruptcy lawyer SEO or social media marketing allow you to capture the attention of people who are higher in the marketing funnel.
Mixing the tactics in your attorney marketing plan makes you less reliant on expensive ads. And options like SEO for lawyers provide consistent value while only paying once for each piece of content.
That doesn’t mean you should overlook PPC entirely. Lawyers who use this tactic the right way drive plenty of new cases to their firm every day. All it takes is knowing how to create a solid digital marketing campaign to get a return on your investment from Google Ads.
The tips below will show you how to get the most out of PPC ads.
Select Effective Keywords
Google PPC ads revolve around keywords. Finding the terms that your target audience searches for is the first step to having your ad appear for them.
The right keywords to bid on are the ones that indicate their readiness to hire someone now.
PPC ads are most effective when you choose keywords with a bottom-of-funnel search intent. These are terms like hire a bankruptcy lawyer or bankruptcy law firm near me. Top-of-funnel terms like when to file for bankruptcy are far better targets for SEO-driven content instead.
Selecting the right terms to bid on all comes down to keyword research.
This is one of the most complicated aspects of running a PPC campaign. You’ll need to dig through thousands of potential terms to bid on. Then you have to determine whether or not someone searching for that term is likely to convert on your ad and if you have the budget to add the term to your campaign.
We’ve put together a list of the top 50 bankruptcy lawyer PPC keywords for you to build off of:
|
bankruptcy attorney
|
72000
|
$10.00
|
|
chapter 7 bankruptcy
|
42000
|
$4.50
|
|
chapter 11 bankruptcy
|
33000
|
$2.50
|
|
bankruptcy chapter 7
|
26000
|
$4.50
|
|
chapter 13 bankruptcy
|
22000
|
$4.50
|
|
bankruptcy chapter 13
|
18000
|
$4.50
|
|
bankruptcy lawyers near me
|
15000
|
$9.00
|
|
bankruptcy attorneys
|
13000
|
$10.00
|
|
bankruptcy attorney near me
|
13000
|
$8.00
|
|
filing for bankruptcy
|
6000
|
$9.00
|
|
bankruptcy law
|
5500
|
$9.00
|
|
bankruptcy lawyer near me
|
5200
|
$9.00
|
|
file bankruptcy chapter 7
|
4900
|
$8.00
|
|
file bankruptcy
|
4100
|
$9.00
|
|
filing bankruptcy chapter 7
|
4100
|
$8.00
|
|
file for bankruptcy
|
3700
|
$9.00
|
|
what is chapter 13 bankruptcy
|
3700
|
$2.00
|
|
what is chapter 7 bankruptcy
|
3400
|
$1.40
|
|
emergency bankruptcy attorney
|
2600
|
$16.00
|
|
file for bankruptcy chapter 7
|
2600
|
$9.00
|
|
filing for bankruptcy chapter 7
|
2600
|
$9.00
|
|
emergency bankruptcy lawyer
|
2600
|
$6.00
|
|
bankruptcy chapter 11
|
2400
|
$2.50
|
|
bankruptcy attorneys near me
|
2300
|
$8.00
|
|
filing bankruptcy chapter 13
|
2200
|
$8.00
|
|
file bankruptcy chapter 13
|
1900
|
$8.00
|
|
file for bankruptcy chapter 13
|
1700
|
$8.00
|
|
chapter 7 bankruptcy attorney
|
1600
|
$7.00
|
|
bankruptcy chapter 7 attorney
|
1500
|
$7.00
|
|
bankruptcy lawyer
|
1400
|
$9.00
|
|
chapter 7 bankruptcy lawyer
|
1300
|
$8.00
|
|
bankruptcy chapter 7 near me
|
1200
|
$8.00
|
|
bankruptcy lawyers
|
1100
|
$9.00
|
|
bankruptcy chapter 7 lawyer
|
1100
|
$8.00
|
|
chapter 13 bankruptcy attorney
|
1100
|
$8.00
|
|
bankruptcy attorneys chapter 7
|
1000
|
$7.00
|
|
chapter 13 bankruptcy lawyer
|
900
|
$8.00
|
|
chapter 7 bankruptcy attorney near me
|
800
|
$7.00
|
|
filing chapter 7 bankruptcy
|
700
|
$9.00
|
|
bankruptcy law firm
|
700
|
$9.00
|
|
chapter 7 bankruptcy cost
|
700
|
$3.00
|
|
file chapter 7 bankruptcy
|
600
|
$9.00
|
|
bankruptcy law firms
|
600
|
$9.00
|
|
chapter 13 bankruptcy lawyers near me
|
600
|
$8.00
|
|
chapter 7 bankruptcy lawyer near me
|
600
|
$7.00
|
|
business bankruptcy lawyer
|
600
|
$7.00
|
|
chapter 7 bankruptcy lawyers near me
|
600
|
$7.00
|
|
cheap bankruptcy lawyers
|
600
|
$6.00
|
|
chapter 13 bankruptcy lawyer near me
|
500
|
$8.00
|
|
chapter 7 bankruptcy [state]
|
Varies by State
|
Varies by State
|
|
chapter 7 bankruptcy [city]
|
Varies by City
|
Varies by City
|
|
bankruptcy lawyer in [city]
|
Varies by City
|
Varies by City
|
The volume column in our list shows how many people search for each term every month. The cost per click column shows an estimated average amount to expect to bid for each term. There are thousands of other terms that are worth bidding on, but these are some of the most impactful.
But picking the keywords you want is only half the battle.
You also need to keep track of the keywords you don’t want your ads to show up for. Successful campaigns need a negative keywords list. This list tells Google not to show your ads for certain terms that don't match your prospective clients, their legal needs, or the legal services you provide.
Craft Impactful Ads
Your ads need to compel people to click on them if you want more bankruptcy cases.
There are three big takeaways for any bankruptcy lawyer who wants to get an ROI from PPC ads:
- You need a good headline that strikes a chord with your reader
- You must write compelling descriptions that show the value of clicking your ad
- You need to create a minimum of three ads for every ad group you run
The first two pieces of advice don’t need much explanation. Your headlines and descriptions should use copywriting principles to show your value to potential clients who read your ad copy. Here’s an example of an ad that does just that:
This ad features a clear headline that shows the viewer what they will get (“Kentucky Bankruptcy Attorney”). The headline also has a clear value proposition (“No Office Visit, No Money Down”). And the description doubles down on that value proposition.
What isn’t so straightforward to many lawyers is the reasoning behind making at least three variations of each ad.
Having more than one version of your ad lets you pit them against each other. You’ll see which ads have language that converts the best and which ones underperform. That allows you to cut the low-performing ads and replace them with ones that connect with your ideal clients.
Where you send people after they click on your ads is just as important, too.
Your landing pages need to follow through on the promises you made in your ad. These pages need to make your value proposition and service offering clear to anyone who makes it there. Include things like testimonials and case studies to show visitors that your bankruptcy services will help them.
And every landing page needs to make it obvious to the visitor what their next action should be.
Include contact forms, office phone numbers, and even live chat on your landing pages. This gives your potential clients options to reach out to you on their terms. Make it easy for people to convert, and you’ll see an influx of high-quality leads.
Set a Reasonable Budget for Your PPC Campaign
Knowing what a reasonable advertising budget looks like for your firm is another one of the most difficult parts of these campaigns.
That’s because the price of ads varies from location to location based on the behavior of the competition. Variations in the cost of legal advertising are so dramatic that some firms can get away with a $5K per month budget while others pay almost $100K per month.
The good news is that most bankruptcy law firms exist in areas where the pricing is on the lower end of that spectrum.
The bad news is that price variations mean that you won’t be able to rely on asking your peers in other areas what they spend. You have to do detailed budgeting research to know what kind of spending is right for your firm.
Budgeting is an area where working with a PPC management expert is the best option.
An outside expert will help you know what your marketing budget should be before you jump into advertising with both feet. They’ll also be able to help you develop a plan for advertising in areas where the competition has pushed up the bidding prices.
Target Your Ideal Clients
The next step to making sure the right people see your ads is by setting your targeting.
The Google ads platform has a variety of targeting options for bankruptcy lawyers. You can target people based on things like their age, gender, or interests. But the most important method of targeting for your practice will be by location.
Choose the right geographic area to target to get the clients that you want to serve.
Bankruptcy lawyers serve clients across numerous age and gender categories. Setting your location to your service area alone is the correct choice. The only time it makes sense to dabble in demographics is if you want to target a specific audience (older male business owners, for example).
Google Ads allows you to set your geotargeting at a granular level.
Some lawyers choose to advertise only to certain ZIP codes. Others will expand out to an entire city, state, or regional service area.
A big pro tip when it comes to targeting is that you need to set the locations where you don’t want your ads to show. An ad that shows up in an area that you don’t serve is a waste of your money the second someone clicks on it. Limiting the areas where your ads appear will save you from the costs of errant clicks.
Track and Measure Success to Improve
You need a way to monitor your ads as soon as they've launched. Tracking performance is critical for understanding what kind of ROI you’re getting from your efforts. It also helps you see what is and isn't working so you can improve your campaign as needed.
There are several important KPIs to track with your campaign, including:
- Click-through rates: The percentage of people who see your ad and click on it
- Conversion rates: The percentage of people who click on your ad and take the action you want on your site
- Cost per acquisition: The amount you pay to acquire a new customer through your ads
- Cost per mille: the cost for every 1,000 people who see your ad
Getting these numbers requires you to use a combination of your Google Ads account, Google Analytics, and a CRM.
Your ads account shows your total ad spend. Google Analytics confirms how many people actually visited your site and what pages they visited. And your CRM acts as a system for capturing leads that convert on your ads and tracking them all the way through becoming a client.
Having all of this data at your fingertips gives you insights into more than just the money spent and returned, though.
You’ll also have a clearer picture of how your ads perform. You’ll see what kinds of ads don’t work well, allowing you to cut them in favor of winners. And you’ll see how changes to landing pages translate into an increase or decrease in conversions.
All of that data allows you to iterate through advertising ideas, making your ad campaigns stronger the more data you collect.
Bring In More Bankruptcy Clients with PPC
Running law firm PPC campaigns is a good way to get new clients quickly. It also works as a long-term component of your bankruptcy lawyer marketing efforts when combined with other marketing tactics.
Getting things right with PPC takes time and effort.
That’s why most bankruptcy lawyers put their trust in a legal marketing expert to drive new business to the firm. Rankings.io has years of experience providing marketing services to lawyers of all types. We understand how your firm works and how to get more cases coming your way.
Contact us today to learn more about how we will help your bankruptcy law firm grow.
