As discussed, Google has two types of search results: organic, and paid ads. The paid ads are presently the top 3 listings, and the listings that appear to the right. All of the other search results are organic, or free listings. Obviously, it is better to have someone click on your link through one of the organic results since you do not have to pay for each click.
However, there are advantages to paid ads. A properly set-up google ads account will make you money. One of the advantages to a pay per click (PPC) campaign is you can select specific keywords you want to search for. Maybe your practice focuses on medical malpractice cases, or Chapter 7 Bankruptcies. You can setup specific keywords in your campaign aimed at these things.
One other advantage is you can start getting visitors to your website right away, before your website gets the chance to rank as high as you want.
If you do not have a google AdWords campaign setup, we can help you put together a successful campaign and optimize it to get you a good ROI (return on investment). Note, however, some markets respond differently to different ads. Generally, it is an evolving process. What works for one attorney, will not necessarily be the best approach for you. We want to develop long lasting relationships with our clients and therefore will continue to work with you to develop the best possible results for you.
With Google AdWords you can target specific keywords, set limits on how much you want to spend daily, and per click, and most importantly set up negative keywords. Once your campaign is going, you can see what specific terms the visitor used when they clicked on your ad. Although AdWords can become expensive, we will work within your budget to create the campaign that works best for you. After a carefully tailored campaign for my personal website, I presently average $1000-$2000 each month on AdWords. Obviously, if it did not pay off I would not keep using it. Because you can see which key-phrase triggered the ad, you can often determine which new client found you through the AdWord.
One major thing that affects your cost and results will be your geographic location. The larger the city, the more clicks you will get. This is a good thing as it means more potential clients. One thing that can lead to a lower click thru ratio is how far your geographic area is. As I serve the entire state of New Hampshire, my geographic range is rather large. You can alter your ads to only show to people with 20 miles of your office location.
Setting up the actual ad is an important aspect of getting the results you want. Again, we will only run ads that fall within the rules of professional conduct. Namely, I will not help run an ad that is false or misleading. I have seen other lawyers put in their ad that they are the best lawyer. I believe that is an unethical statement, and will not do that. If you want to risk your bar license, just to get a few extra clients, our services are not right for you.
Google AdWords Express
Besides the basic Adwords, Google also offers AdWords Express. While I know some other legal marketing companies use AdWords Express, I believe this is a huge mistake. There are many problems with AdWords express. Namely, you can not pick which keywords you want, and more importantly which keywords you want to exclude.
I went through the process of setting up an AdWords express account just to see what was offered. When I then logged in to my standard AdWords account, I was able to see some details of which keywords were used. I was shocked to see the name of my business was one of the triggering keywords. If someone is typing the name of your law firm into Google, it ought to be the number 1 returned result. If it isn't, you are really doing something wrong. That person is already going to find your business. You should not pay google $10-$30 each time that person is clicking on your firm.
Presently, there is only one benefit to AdWords Express. You can have it show your star ranking in reviews. This isn't so much a benefit of AdWords as much as it is a limitation/flaw with the standard AdWords account. I expect in the future Google will fix this as it is a major leading complaint.