Legal keywords like 'personal injury lawyer' cost $8.58 per click—and you're competing with firms that spend $50,000+ monthly. Without proper campaign structure, you're paying for 'lawyer jokes', 'law school rankings', and people researching how to sue someone themselves.
5 min
Audit time
6
Areas analyzed
Read-only
Account access
We've audited hundreds of law firm accounts. Here are the most common budget leaks we find:
Running one campaign for 'personal injury', 'family law', and 'criminal defense' destroys your Quality Score. A searcher for 'divorce attorney' seeing a generic 'experienced lawyers' ad has no reason to click. Competitors with specific ads and landing pages pay 30% less per click for the same positions.
Legal services are jurisdiction-specific—a California personal injury lawyer can't help someone injured in Texas. Yet many firms target broad regions or don't use location bid modifiers. At $131.63 cost per lead, every out-of-jurisdiction consultation request is pure waste.
Legal topics attract massive informational search volume. 'How to file for divorce', 'personal injury settlement calculator', and 'do I need a lawyer' are all research queries, not hiring queries. Without negative keywords, you're paying for people who want free information, not legal representation.
Not all keywords are created equal. Here's which ones to target and which to avoid for law firm Google Ads.
Combines specific practice area with local intent. 'Near me' signals urgency and hiring intent, not research.
'Best' modifier indicates quality-conscious client willing to pay premium rates. Higher value cases.
Consultation request signals ready to take action. These convert at 2x rate of generic lawyer searches.
Lower CPC, filters for people actively seeking representation. Free consultation is standard so not a price-shopper signal.
Explicit hiring intent keyword. These searchers have moved past research phase and are ready to engage.
Career researchers and law students, not potential clients.
Aspiring lawyers researching education, zero client intent.
Looking for free information, not willing to pay for representation.
Entertainment searches, no commercial intent whatsoever.
Students researching education, not people needing legal help.
Timing matters. Here's when law firm demand peaks and how to allocate your budget throughout the year.
January, September, October
Increase budget 40-50% during peak demand
June, July, August, December
Reduce spend or focus on maintenance services
Business hours (9am-5pm) for corporate/business law, evenings (6-9pm) for personal matters like divorce and injury
Personal injury spikes after weather events (ice storms, flooding) and holiday weekends (car accidents). Family law peaks in January ('divorce month' after holidays).
Budget recommendations based on real WordStream 2025 data and typical law firm ROI.
Minimum Monthly Budget
$3,000
~23 leads/month
Recommended Range
$4,000-$10,000/month
Best ROI for most law firm businesses
Cost Per Customer
$659
At 20% close rate
At $131.63 CPL and 20% close rate, each client costs $658 to acquire. A single personal injury case might settle for $50,000+ (with 33% contingency = $16,500 fee). Even with 1-2 cases per month from ads, ROI is strong. For hourly billing practices (family, corporate), calculate based on average case value vs. acquisition cost.
Our AI audit checks every aspect of your Google Ads account against law firm-specific best practices.
We check if you're separating practice areas (personal injury, family law, criminal defense) into distinct campaigns with specific ads and landing pages for each.
We identify if you're bidding on research queries like 'lawyer salary' or 'how to file for divorce yourself' that attract non-clients.
We verify your 'personal injury' ads mention specific case types you handle (car accidents, slip and fall) rather than generic 'experienced attorney' messaging.
We check if both phone consultations AND form submissions are tracked. Many law firms miss 40% of conversions by only tracking one channel.
We audit if your targeting matches your practice jurisdiction. Paying for leads in states you can't serve is wasted budget.
We score pages for legal trust signals: bar admissions, case results, client testimonials, credentials, and clear consultation CTAs.
Understanding your competition helps you find your edge. Here's what law firm advertisers are up against.
Competition Level
very high
200,000+ monthly searches for '[practice area] lawyer near me' variations in the US
Main competitors: National firms (Morgan & Morgan), regional powerhouses, aggressive local practices, LSA-focused attorneys
How to Win
Your Differentiator
Win with niche specialization (only DUI, only truck accidents), client outcome focus (won $X million for clients), speed (free consultation within 24 hours), or technology (virtual consultations, online case status).
"We were wasting $1,500/month on 'lawyer' broad match pulling in law student searches. The audit showed exactly where to add negative keywords. Our cost per qualified consultation dropped 42% in three weeks."
— Personal Injury Attorney
Pay per audit. Use when you need it.
“$19.99 to find $1,400/mo in waste? Best ROI I've ever gotten.” — Elite Electric, San Diego CA
$19.99 per audit
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— J.M., Plumber
$17.00 per audit
“Perfect for my 3 locations”
— T.K., Dentist
$15.00 per audit
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$10.00 per audit
“Run it for all my clients now”
— M.L., Agency
Common questions about Google Ads for law firm businesses
Law firm Google Ads budgets vary dramatically by practice area and market. Personal injury firms in competitive markets often invest $10,000-$50,000+ monthly because a single case can generate $50,000+ in fees. Family law and criminal defense practices typically spend $3,000-$8,000/month. Estate planning and business law may range $2,000-$5,000/month. The key is calculating your case acquisition cost versus average case value. At $131.63 average cost per lead and typical 20% conversion to retained clients, you're spending roughly $658 to acquire each client. If your average case generates $3,000+ in fees, the math works well. If your average is below that, focus on improving conversion rates before increasing spend. Start with $3,000/month minimum to generate enough data for optimization.