Copy for Originals · Google Ads for law firms
Short answers to the five Google Ads questions law firms ask us most: what a good conversion rate is, how many conversions Target CPA needs, whether to use broad match, which negative keywords to add, and whether to use Maximize conversions or Target CPA. Each answer is for lead gen Search campaigns. For costs, state bar rules on competitor names, recorded calls and intake, see the main guide: Google Ads for law firms.
Educational only, not legal advice. This page covers Google Ads settings. Your state bar’s advertising rules and your own counsel decide what your firm’s ads may say.
A good conversion rate for law firm Google Ads is one that hits the firm’s target cost per lead at its own cost per click. The rate needed is cost per click ÷ target cost per lead. A firm paying $100 a click that can afford $2,000 a lead needs 5% of clicks to call or submit a form.
That makes “good” a number you can calculate from your own account instead of a benchmark from someone else’s. If your rate is below what your target needs, fix the landing page and the keywords before raising the budget.
Google recommends judging Target CPA performance over periods with at least 30 conversions. Below that, run Maximize conversions without a target, then add a target CPA equal to your actual cost per lead once you have about 30 conversions.
Change the target by no more than about 15% at a time, so the bid strategy doesn’t restart learning.
Only with a target CPA or ROAS and at least 50 conversions a month, in our experience. Below that, broad match has too little data to tell a good search from a loose one, and law firm clicks are too expensive to spend on loose matches. Start with phrase and exact match.
Broad match doesn’t have to be bad. With a target and enough conversions, it can find good searches you didn’t think of. Check the search terms report weekly either way.
Start with words that signal someone who isn’t a potential client, then add negatives weekly from the search terms report.
| Searcher is looking for | Negative keywords |
|---|---|
| A job | jobs, job, salary, careers, hiring, internship, paralegal |
| An education | school, degree, course, exam, bar exam |
| Free help or forms | free, pro bono, template, form, sample, definition |
| A practice area you don’t handle | e.g. divorce, immigration, bankruptcy (add your own) |
Be careful with “free”: many injury firms offer a free consultation, and “free consultation” searches can be good leads. Add it as a negative only if those searches don’t convert for you.
The Negative Keyword Finder reads your search terms report and lists the terms that spent money without converting.
Start with Maximize conversions until the campaign has about 30 conversions, then add a target CPA equal to the actual cost per lead. Without a target, Maximize conversions tries to spend the whole daily budget whatever each lead costs, so watch cost per lead closely in the first weeks.
The Target CPA & ROAS Calculator works out the target from what a case is worth.