Advertisements have long been crucial in promoting products and services, but when Google entered the scene, it changed the advertising game forever. Given the number of users using Google in a day, it makes sense for businesses to scramble to get a spot to advertise on the search engine giant.
The Impact of Google on Advertising
Jason Kint, CEO of Digital Content Next, reported that Google and Facebook captured all of the growth in digital advertising spending in the first half of last year, with everyone else’s share shrinking by three percent.
With Google earning the bulk of its 162 billion dollar revenue in 2019 from advertising, it’s apparent that the multinational technology will keep on providing ad spaces. Meanwhile, companies will undoubtedly keep investing in Google ads in the hopes of attracting more potential customers and driving sales.
When we say that every business invests in Google ads, we mean it literally! These organizations have leveraged the features of Google ads to promote their businesses effectively and achieve the results they desire. If your law firm still hasn’t invested in Google Local Services Ads (LSAs) and Google Ads, it’s time to start catching up with your competitors.
Law Firm Advertising in the Digital Era
Every business needs to get themselves out there to attract clients and sell, including law firms. As with any other company, law firms want to know how to spend their money best regarding advertising.
Flashy billboards advertising affordable law services used to be the best option for law firms back in the day, but this is no longer the case. Although traditional marketing still matters, it’s not the best option for law firms. In fact, billboards could even harm their image!
For example, advertising in the newspaper risks making a law firm less credible, especially to clients looking for a good lawyer. To these potential clients, if a law firm uses “old school” marketing methods, they must not be very good.
Why Law Firms Should Consider Google Ads
Internet marketing is crucial for your law firm to reach new clients in today’s increasingly digital world. The available technology allows us to be constantly connected and gives us access to a wealth of information at our fingertips—your law firm must take advantage of the emerging innovations to rise to the top!
When it comes to advertising, there are no hard and fast rules that apply to every single business out there—companies have different needs, strategies, and goals. Nonetheless, some law firms have found success with Google ads. As long as you understand the recent changes with Google ads to make informed decisions about your digital marketing strategies, your law firm can be one of them, too!
Understanding Google LSAs
Google Local Service Ads (LSAs) appear at the top of search engine result pages (SERPs). By offering essential information at a glance, they make local businesses more accessible to potential customers. While Google Local Service Ads (LSAs) can be found in print advertising like newspapers, online advertising like Google makes LSAs more effective.
When comparing Google LSAs to print, LSAs provide richer information to consumers, while print ads are often overlooked. LSAs are an important component of your digital marketing mix—they’re still obtainable by businesses like your law firm.
With LSAs, you get all the details that matter about your business, like hours of operation, address, phone number, and ratings for your law firm.
What Makes Google LSAs Valuable to Law Firms?
Google opened LSAs for law firms during the summer of 2020, just for areas of Civil, Criminal, and Family Law initially. Although Google LSAs are far from perfect, as the tech company continually updates them, we expect Google LSAs to come out with new features and refinements in the future.
Google is constantly tweaking their LSA strategy for local businesses, which means you’ll have more features to take advantage of in the months and years to come when planning your Google LSA strategy.
Here are some recent changes to Google ads you should know about when targeting local customers:
1. LSA Placement at the Top of SERPs
In the past, ads were placed just below the organic results section of the SERPs. LSAs have now been moved from the second column to the first column on Google SERPs. This is a prime spot for your law firm to rank in Google!
According to Google, the change was made to make LSAs more visible. In addition, LSAs are now being positioned on the right side of the SERPs instead of the left.
LSAs are also a great way to target local searchers with a local service ad. The LSA in the top spot is a strong indicator that a law firm is a trusted, local business. If you have a Google ad in the top place, you have more chances of being seen by a local customer.
2. Google-Screened Status
A law firm must pass a background check to run LSAs. Once a law firm passes business-level and business-owner background checks, they’ll be given the “Google Screened” status. The Google-Screened status is crucial to marketing your business, as it helps establish trust and credibility with potential clients.
To receive the Google-Screened status, your firm’s website should have at least one featured attorney on your profile; we suggest featuring a lawyer who is licensed to practice in the state you’re advertising in. Keep in mind to also feature the lawyer on the law firm’s LSA profile.
On the other hand, if your website is not professionally designed, skip the lawyer images and keep the profile photo as simple as possible.
3. Google Reviews Star Rating
Another feature of LSAs is showcasing the Google star rating of your law firm. This star rating is one of the elements that Google considers when it determines which ads are displayed for which searches.
LSA reviews are critical because these are reviews that come from actual clients who signed up for your services through your LSAs. Since the Google star reviews came from real people, they can help you connect with potential clients. As an added benefit, 90% of consumers tend to trust companies with good online reviews.
The more positive reviews you have on Google, the more likely your target audience will be interested in your legal services and eventually enlist your services!
4. Built-in Call Tracking
One of the best things about Google LSAs is that you can easily correspond with leads, track calls, and listen to recordings via the Leads dashboards. The recorded calls for legal verticals will be retained in the calls list for two months before getting destroyed, so you’ll have ample time to listen and analyze them.
There are also organizational tools to help you manage your leads—you can determine when a lead is booked, completed, or archived. Google also allows you to view several metrics within the LSAs in Google Ads, such as impressions and total daily budget.
5. Pay-Per-Lead
The way pay-per-lead works is you get charged only when someone calls your law firm after seeing your ad on Google. This is advantageous, considering that with pay-per-click ads, you are charged every time someone clicks on your ad, not when they book an appointment or fill out your contact form.
With LSAs, you pay per lead, unlike traditional pay-per-click campaigns. The pay-per-lead program seems beneficial for lead generation as part of a complete marketing strategy while allowing you to spend well below your budget and acquire quality leads at the same time.
Conclusion
Google ads are an effective way to showcase your law firm! With the recent updates, the LSA is more visible than ever to your target customers. As long as you work with a reputable Google ads agency, your firm will be able to take advantage of these advertising opportunities and promote your services to local customers.
Do you want to invest in google ads for your Toronto law firm but don’t know where to start? Then, leave it to our Google ads experts at New Digital Marketing Agency to help you. We will work with you to create high return campaigns that revolutionize your pay-per-click ROI and bring in high-quality leads. Connect with us today to learn more.
