Local Services Ads for Lawyers

Way back in 2019, The Modern Firm first wrote about a “new and compelling Google advertising option” that had been popping up in select markets around the country. Our clients in those markets were intrigued, and so were we. 

At the time, we naturally began including LSAs in our clients law firm marketing strategies to generate new business leads. Years later, local services ads are available everywhere, and in a lot more practice areas than they were back then. So, we’re poking around under the hood to provide guidance on how you can best implement Local Services Ads for your law firm.

What are Local Services Ads, Exactly?

Local Services Ads are designed to connect prospective clients in a certain geographic area with service providers in the same locality. These paid ads have premium placement on a Google search engine results page (SERP). 

Located right at the top of the page, they appear even above regular Google pay-per-click ads (PPC), Google map listings (local pack), and other organic listings. If Google search results were a town, the first page would be the most desirable neighborhood in that town, and LSA placement would be the best lots in the neighborhood.  

How are Local Services Ads Different from Pay-Per-Click?

Visual Snapshot Building Trust Through Reputation

The visual snapshot in Google’s Local Services Ads plays a pivotal role in building trust through reputation by providing potential customers with a concise, visually rich summary of a law firm’s credibility. These elements are strategically designed to offer instant reassurance, helping users quickly assess the quality and reliability of legal services provided by the firm.

• Google Guaranteed badge
• Attorney headshot
• Years in business
• Average star rating
• Number of reviews
• Business hours
• Simple call or message button

Click-to-Contact Client Experience

Local Services Ads also tend to generate leads that are more likely to hire an attorney for services. Users who click on LSAs are directly dialing or messaging the firm, in comparison to those who click on pay-per-click advertisements that land on a website and explore their options before contacting. 

With this “click-to-contact” method LSAs will deliver fewer website visitors, but the individuals tend to be much more highly motivated and more likely to convert into clients. This has been especially true for practice areas like estate planning and family law, where searchers tend not to make contact unless they are fairly certain they need an attorney.

Pay-Per-Lead Billing Model 

When it comes to online advertising there are various billing models that exist, from cost-per-view with YouTube advertisements to cost-per-click with traditional Google Ads. With Local Services, this billing model is considered cost-per-lead, where advertisers will be charged when the potential client actually connects with your firm through a phone call from your ad or a message or contact form submission. 

What Do Local Services Ads for Law Firms Cost?

When it comes to Law firm local services ads, the cost can vary per lead depending on multiple factors:

• Legal practice area: leads for some types of cases, like criminal defense, cost more than others, like bankruptcy
• Location: Large cities and urban markets tend to have higher lead costs than smaller towns
• Competition: The more lawyers who are advertising in your practice area and location, the higher your cost per lead will likely be
• Demand: Just like snow shovels cost more when there’s a blizzard in the forecast, seasonal demand and search volume can affect cost per lead
• Budget: While the weekly budget cap your firm has set won’t affect your cost per lead, it may affect how often your ad shows up

In general, depending on these factors, you might end up paying as little as $50 per lead, or as much as $400 or more. That may sound like a lot, but remember what your firm will earn if that lead becomes a client. 

Calculating ROI from Local Services Ads

You can then engage in some basic business math to calculate your marketing return on investment (ROI). Gather the following information:

• Sign-up rate: What percentage of new client calls result in paying clients? If you don’t know exactly, take a conservative guess over the last month. If you aren’t tracking your incoming calls, learn how to easily track calls here. This will give you an exact number that we can use to measure your sign-up rate.
• Average case worth: In law, this number can be harder to obtain because cases and matters vary so widely. To get a general sense, take your revenue from last year and divide it by the total cases/matters you handled.

Take your cost per lead and multiply it by your signup rate to calculate what it costs to bring a paying client in the door. 

Make sure that this number is significantly lower than your average case worth in order to ensure positive ROI. The exact percentage will vary among law firms. In addition to the cost of bringing that client in you have to consider rent, your and your employees’ pay, and additional business costs. 

How to Improve Local Services Ads Results

LSAs can position smaller law firms for greater success, and there are things—beyond increasing your ad spend—that you can do to ensure your ad spends plenty of time on that coveted perch at the top of the SERP. Pay attention to the new “four Rs:” reputation, relevance, responsiveness, and retainer.

Reputation

Getting more Google reviews from clients (and, of course, better ones) is one of the most important ways that you can improve your LSA ranking. Ideally, you want a minimum of ten reviews with at least a 4.5 star average rating. Reviews tied to your LSA profile carry more weight with Google, so encourage clients to provide reviews via your FSA link if possible. Responding promptly and professionally to reviews is also helpful.

Google will display your Google Guarantee badge that shows that your firm has passed Google’s background, license, and insurance checks, which increases trust in your practice. However, having a professional headshot on your ad also enhances your credibility and improves click-through rates.

Relevance

Relevance has to do with how closely your profile matches with what someone is searching for. Google rewards proximity to the searcher, so the potential clients closest to you are more likely to see your LSA. Similarly, displaying accurate service areas for your law firm means that you are reaching the right neighborhoods. Optimizing your Google Business Profile is absolutely essential for successful LSAs.

Google only shows your ad when your listed business hours indicate that you’re open, so expanding those hours slightly, or having a 24/7 answering service, can be helpful. And, of course, your profile content helps Google connect clients who need the services you actually offer with your law firm.

Responsiveness

Since you are paying for each lead that comes in, you will want to have 100% confidence that your phones will be answered by a person (promptly!). The person answering the phone should be empowered and educated to qualify the lead, schedule consultations, and discuss what the intake process is going to be like for the client. 

It can take a lot of effort and money to ensure that someone calls you — making sure you give them the best attention will be the key to making this program successful for you. Since so many people will be vying for the same spots, Google is going to take the quality of customers' interactions with your firm into high consideration when deciding how many leads you get. 

Law Firm Local Services Ads Management

The Modern Firm’s marketing team can not only help you launch law firm local services ads, but position you to get the best possible return from this advertising tool. Francisco Machado,  TMF paid advertising specialist, notes, “My top priority is to make sure that our efforts are cost-effective and achieve our clients’ goals.” To make sure they do, we track results, and can use that data to adjust course as needed.

To learn more about Google Local Services Ads for law firms, or to get help putting this tool into your advertising arsenal, just reach out. We’re happy to show you how LSAs fit in with your overall marketing plan.