Outcome promises
Anyone who talks about a certain number of cases, a first-place ad or a return by a deadline is selling, not planning. Ad platforms and bars both frown on outcome claims.
A buyer guide for firms
Legal Services PPC: How to Choose Who Runs Your Google Ads
A firm that handles family matters, wills, closings, small business work and the occasional injury or criminal file has a harder advertising problem than a single-practice shop. Each area has its own searchers, its own rules and its own value per matter. Legal services PPC is only as good as the person structuring it, so this page is written for the partner or office manager who has to pick that person. It lists what to ask, what a good answer sounds like and what should make you walk away.
Before you interview anyone
Why Mixed-Practice Firms Are Easy to Mismanage in Paid Search
The classic mistake with a general firm is a single campaign named "Law Firm" holding every practice at once. Searches for a divorce lawyer, a will, a landlord dispute and a business formation all trigger the same ads, share one budget and report as one blur. The practice with the most clickable searches eats the money, whether or not it is the work you want. PPC for legal services works when each practice has its own campaign, its own landing page, its own budget line and its own measure of what a signed engagement is worth.
The second problem is the rules. Lawyers are bound by their state bar's rules on advertising and solicitation, which vary by state, and Google applies its own legal requirements and policies to ads in the legal category on top of that. Anyone who manages ads for your firm must read both before writing a headline, and you must still approve every piece of copy, because the license and the obligation are yours, not the vendor's. Be wary of any manager who treats this as a footnote. No ad or page should promise outcomes, imply certification you do not hold or make comparisons your bar restricts.
The third problem is that legal buyers rarely decide on the first click. Some call at once; many read two or three firms, wait a day and then reach out. That means a report that counts only same-session form fills will undercount, and a manager who optimizes for the cheapest form fill may fill your inbox with people you cannot represent. The interview below is built to expose which kind of manager you are talking to.
It also helps to decide, before the first call, what a good month would look like in your own words. Perhaps it is three consultations booked for estate planning and two for family matters, with the phone answered inside a minute. A manager running pay per click for a law firm cannot set that target for you, but a good one will push you to write it down, then build the campaigns, the schedule and the reporting backward from it.
The interview
Questions to Ask a Google Ads Manager, and How to Read the Answers
Print this and take it to your calls. The right-hand column is not about catching anyone out; it is about finding a manager who works the way a careful firm needs, with your approval, your data and your account.
| Ask this | An answer that should reassure you | An answer that should worry you |
|---|---|---|
| How will you split our practice areas? | One campaign per practice, each with its own page, schedule and budget, and a reason for starting with two or three rather than all of them | A single account structure for everything, or a plan to "let Google figure out" which practice gets the money |
| What do you know about our bar rules? | They ask which state you are licensed in, request your bar guidance and say you or your counsel approve all copy | A confident promise that they "do legal all the time" with no questions about your jurisdiction |
| What will you count as a conversion? | Calls over a minimum length, scheduled consultations and, eventually, retained matters imported from your intake records | Page views, clicks or any form fill, with no distinction between a real inquiry and a vendor email |
| Who will build the landing pages? | Dedicated pages per practice with your attorneys' input, firm details, required disclaimers and a visible phone number | Every ad pointing at the home page, or a page template shared across clients |
| How do you handle search terms? | A scheduled review of actual queries, negatives added for jobs, students, forms and do-it-yourself seekers, and a note back to you about what changed | No mention of search terms, or a claim that broad automation handles it |
| How do you treat our ad spend? | It sits in your own account, you see every login and invoice, and you can take the account with you if you leave | Spend runs through the agency account, or you cannot see the raw account data |
| What can you promise? | Nothing about numbers. They describe a process, a start date and when you will first see data worth acting on | A number of leads, a rank for the ads or a return by a given month |
| What do you need from us? | Fast answers on what you want, access to intake outcomes and one person who can approve copy | Nothing, because the work is "fully automatic" |
Hiring questions
Answers to What Firms Usually Ask Before Signing Up
What does legal services Google Ads management actually include?
Setting up your account, building campaigns by practice area, writing ads, choosing and pruning keywords, building or advising on landing pages, setting up call and form tracking, reviewing search terms and reporting. Ad spend is paid separately to Google. A manager should also help you connect results to retained matters.
How much should we expect to pay for management?
Our paid ads management is $895 per month for one platform, $1,595 for two and $2,295 for three, with no setup fee and no contract. Your ad budget is separate and paid to the platform. Set it by working back from what an average engagement is worth to you and how many consultations you need to book one.
Should we hire an agency that only does lawyers?
Legal experience helps, but ask what it consists of. A specialist who knows bar rules and intake can be valuable, though a template approach copied across firms is a drawback. Judge them by their questions about your practice mix, not by the logo list. Any firm can say it is a specialist.
Who approves the ads?
You do. The attorney responsible for advertising at your firm should see every ad, extension and page before it runs, and again after changes. A manager can propose copy, but cannot take on your professional responsibility. Ask how approvals are tracked so nothing goes live unreviewed.
Can we see our results without waiting for a monthly meeting?
You should have read access to your own Google Ads account at any time, plus a regular written summary that explains changes. Dashboards help, but a plain note on what was found in the search terms and what changed is more useful than a screen of charts.
What if some of our practice areas are restricted or sensitive?
Some topics get extra review. Read the current Google Ads policies on legal requirements and personalized advertising, and ask your manager how they handle disapprovals. Family, immigration, criminal and injury matters can each involve stricter wording. Use plain descriptions of what you do, not promises.
Do Local Services Ads work for general firms?
Where Google offers Local Services Ads for lawyers in your area, they run on a different model with license verification and pay-per-lead billing. Practice areas supported vary by location. Check your Local Services dashboard for current rules and discuss with your manager whether it complements search campaigns.
How soon will we know it is working?
Campaigns can launch within days of approval, though legal ads may be reviewed more slowly. Plan on several weeks of data before judging, and longer for practices where clients take time to decide. No honest manager gives a date for a set number of retained matters.
What should we do about the leads that are not a fit?
Tag them during intake by reason, such as wrong area, outside your practice or no case, and feed that back into negative keywords and ad wording. Done monthly, that tagging does more to improve quality than any new bidding setting. Refer people out only as your bar rules allow.
Red flags
Signs the Person Pitching You Does Not Understand Legal Marketing
Plenty of vendors sell legal services PPC with the same slides, and the differences only show up in how they answer awkward questions. These are the patterns we would treat as reasons to keep looking, whatever the price quoted.
One landing page for everything
A general home page fails the family law searcher, the estate planning searcher and the landlord all at once.
Agency-owned account
If you cannot see the account or take it with you, you are renting your own history.
No interest in intake
If they never ask who answers the phone, how fast and with what script, the paid ads will be spending money to reach a voicemail.
Reports that stop at clicks
Click and impression charts show activity. Ask for calls, consultations and retained matters.
Copy that ignores the rules
Superlatives, comparisons and claimed specialties are the quickest path to a disapproved ad or a bar complaint.
Buying leads in disguise
Some vendors resell contact details from a pool. That is a different product from managing your own search ads, and bars have rules on paying for referrals.
A sensible start
How the First Ninety Days Work With the Right Manager
Week one: choose a starting practice
Pick one or two areas where intake is ready and matters are worth the effort, rather than launching every practice at once.
Weeks one to two: rules, pages and tracking
Confirm bar guidance, build or edit the landing pages, install call and form measures, and test your intake line from outside the office.
Weeks two to four: launch and read
Start the Google Ads campaigns with controlled budgets, read the actual search terms and cut the phrases that attract people you cannot help.
Weeks four to eight: connect outcomes
Match calls and forms to consultations and signed engagements so Google Ads reports track what the firm values.
Weeks eight to twelve: widen carefully
Add a second practice, extra counties or another platform for paid ads only when the first is stable and your staff can handle more volume.
Keep exploring
Google Ads for Related Businesses
Want the organic side or the lead side too? See getting more leads, buying leads, lead generation programs, SEO, internet marketing, and best keywords for legal services.
Get in Touch
Interview Us the Way You Would Any Vendor
Bring your questions and your current account if you have one. Call 610-825-4363 or email hello@getphound.com. We are a marketing company, not a law firm, we do not sell referrals, and nothing here is legal advice.