Law Firm PPC Buyer’s Guide

Chapter 01

Decide whether PPC is ready for your firm

PPC can create more chances for the right prospective client to find your firm. It can also expose weak intake coverage, unclear matter criteria, slow attorney review, or a cash horizon that does not match the time required to collect a fee. An agency cannot resolve those operating questions by increasing the budget.

Answer these five questions in writing before you request proposals. “We do not know yet” is a valid answer if the first phase includes a realistic way to learn it. A perfect CRM is not a prerequisite. Someone does need to own the records you can maintain now and the next improvement. Our guide to tracking law firm website conversions covers calls, forms, and live chat.

Readiness looks different by firm. A new practice may need one tightly limited market and a budget ceiling because one person handles both legal work and intake. A personal injury firm may have the staff to answer every call but still need to distinguish signed matters by case type and likely collection horizon. A business-law firm may need to identify the decision-maker, referral source, matter type, and longer path from first inquiry to engagement. None of these situations produces a universal budget. Each one changes what the first phase must prove.

Capacity belongs in the buying brief. If the firm can accept only a few additional matters in a category, say so. If a stronger month would require another intake person or more attorney review time, include that cost and lead time in the decision. The goal is not the largest possible lead total. It is a supportable flow of work the firm wants and can serve well.

Chapter 02

Make every proposal describe the same work

Two proposals can show the same monthly total while buying very different systems. One may include landing pages, call tracking, and CRM outcome imports. Another may cover Google Search management only. A third may combine Search, Local Services Ads, and other paid channels without showing which team owns each task.

Send the same buying brief to every finalist, then rewrite each response into the worksheet below. Keep blank cells blank. Do not fill them with assumptions on the provider’s behalf.

Ask how media will be billed. Record whether the firm pays the platform directly, whether the provider passes charges through, whether a markup applies, and how invoices will be reconciled. Separate setup, minimum fees, management tiers, landing pages, creative, call tracking, software, integrations, taxes, and client work. “Included” should identify a deliverable and cadence, not merely a category name.

Keep Google Search and Local Services Ads responsibilities distinct

Google Search campaigns and Local Services Ads can both produce calls or messages, but their controls and operating work are not interchangeable. For Search, ask who will manage targeting, budgets, ads, landing pages, search-term review, conversion definitions, and bidding signals. For Local Services Ads, ask who will maintain the business profile and verification material, review and respond to leads, manage the budget, and reconcile billing.

Google’s current Local Services Ads access documentation describes separate email-only, billing-only, read-only, standard, and administrative access levels. Administrative access is required for budget and user management, while billing access is also controlled through the payments profile. Put the actual arrangement into the proposal rather than accepting “we manage Google” as a complete answer.

If the proposal includes SEO, social advertising, display, video, or another channel, give each one its own row. A broader program may be appropriate, but it should not hide the Search or LSA work you are trying to evaluate. For the coordination question, see how SEO and PPC work together.

Chapter 03

Ask the provider to walk one search to one business outcome

A useful provider should be able to explain how one plausible search becomes a client conversation the firm can evaluate. This is a reasoning test, not a demand for another client’s confidential account data.

Ask the finalist to choose an anonymized example relevant to your practice and walk through this chain:

1. What need does the search appear to express, and what ambiguity remains?
2. Why should the firm pay to appear for that search?
3. What would the ad say, and which landing page would continue that message?
4. Which contact action would be recorded?
5. Who would decide whether the inquiry was suitable?
6. How and when would that outcome return to the marketing team?
7. Which decision could the team make differently because of it?

The answer should connect the potential client’s situation with the firm’s accepted matters. A business-law query, for example, may come from an owner, an employee, a vendor, or someone seeking general information. A personal injury query may indicate urgency while saying little about jurisdiction, liability, injury severity, or case fit. The provider should explain how the ad, page, intake questions, and feedback process handle that uncertainty.

Then ask what the account will optimize. A form submission, a call over a chosen duration, a qualified inquiry, an attorney consultation, and a retained matter are different events. A duration threshold can help categorize calls; it cannot prove that a suitable matter exists. Google documents the technical ability to connect web leads with later CRM outcomes through enhanced conversions for leads. That capability does not prove a provider’s implementation is complete, accurate, or appropriate for the firm’s privacy obligations.

Detailed campaign construction belongs in a separate operating discussion. Use our guide to PPC operating decisions when you want to examine match types, search terms, negatives, bidding, and account structure in more depth. If the account is already running, use 10 Google Ads mistakes law firms make to inspect the evidence from the platform through intake and retention.

Require a landing-page and intake handoff

The click buys an opportunity to communicate. Ask for a proposed page or a relevant redacted example. The page should make the practice and geographic fit clear, support claims the firm can substantiate, work on a phone, and tell the prospective client what happens after contact.

Also ask who can correct the page, how quickly approvals are expected, and what happens when intake reports a mismatch. The campaign manager needs a defined feedback path. “The leads were bad” does not identify whether the problem was the search, the ad, the page, response coverage, qualification, duplicate handling, or the definition in the report.

Chapter 04

Check what the proof actually shows

An isolated screenshot can look impressive while omitting the market, time period, fees, definition, or changes that produced it. Ask for a relevant case discussion with enough context to decide what the example can and cannot support.

A result in another practice or city may show how a team reasons. It does not forecast what your firm will achieve. Ask for one test that did not meet expectations, too: what did the provider observe, which diagnosis did it make, what did it change, and when did it reduce or stop spending? Mixed results reveal the operating relationship more clearly than a perfect case study.

Google requires third-party partners to be transparent about their services, associated costs, and expected results, and prohibits false, misleading, or unrealistic claims in its third-party policies. For the firm’s own ads, ABA Model Rule 7.1 provides a baseline against false or misleading communications. The firm still needs to identify and follow the rules that apply in every relevant jurisdiction. Assign responsibility for claim review, approval, and version records before launch.

Chapter 05

Compare the full campaign cost per retained matter

A cost-per-lead promise cannot answer whether a campaign makes economic sense. First define every cost in the evaluation period. Then follow one mature group of inquiries through consistent stages.

Use these worksheet labels:

• S = media spend for the period.
• M = management fee for the period.
• A = one-time setup cost.
• N = number of evaluation periods across which setup is amortized.
• L = landing-page, creative, tracking, and tool costs attributable to the period.
• H = direct internal acquisition work added for the period, such as extra intake coverage or reporting and reconciliation time. Do not include ordinary service-delivery costs here if they are already reflected in contribution margin.
• C = S + M + (A ÷ N) + L + H = fully loaded campaign acquisition cost for the period, limited to those stated direct costs.
• I = attributed inquiries; q, c, and r = observed rates for qualification, consultation or attorney review, and retention within the same mature cohort.
• R = I × q × c × r = expected retained matters for that cohort.
• CAC = C ÷ R = fully loaded campaign acquisition cost per retained matter when R is greater than zero.

A fully worked hypothetical

Assume a firm spends $6,000 on media for one month and pays a $1,200 management fee. It amortizes a $1,200 setup fee over three months, adding $400 to the period. It attributes $400 of landing-page, tracking, and tool costs to the period and identifies $600 of direct additional intake and reporting time.

The same hypothetical cohort produces 80 attributed inquiries. If 50% are qualified, 60% of those reach a consultation or attorney review, and 25% of those become retained matters, the stage calculation is:

80 × 0.50 × 0.60 × 0.25 = 6 retained matters

The fully loaded campaign acquisition cost per retained matter is:

$8,600 ÷ 6 = $1,433.33

Now assume the expected collected fee is $7,000 per retained matter and the firm estimates a 60% contribution margin after service-delivery costs. Expected contribution before campaign acquisition cost is $4,200 per retained matter. Six matters imply $25,200 in expected contribution. After subtracting the $8,600 campaign acquisition cost, the hypothetical expected contribution is $16,600.

This is arithmetic, not a forecast, benchmark, or client result. A real decision still depends on whether the sample is large enough to be useful, whether retained matters will collect, how long collection or resolution will take, which other channels influenced the matter, and whether the firm can serve the work without lowering quality. Account for withdrawals, uncollectible work, duplicate records, taxes, fixed overhead, opportunity cost, and any expense counted twice.

For contingency work and other long-consideration matters, the newest inquiries may not have had enough time to reach retention or collection. Compare cohorts by inquiry date and state how long each had to mature. A monthly dashboard that mixes old retained matters with new inquiries can create a reassuring ratio that no real group of prospects experienced.

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Chapter 06

Verify account, billing, data, and asset control

Direct visibility matters during the engagement and when it ends. Before launch, create an inventory with the account or asset ID, the firm’s access level, the provider’s access level, the billing party, the export method, and any transfer dependency.

For Google Ads, record the customer ID and keep a business-controlled user with administrative access as a continuity control. Google’s account access documentation distinguishes administrative, standard, read-only, billing, and email-only access. Billing information and payments-profile users require separate attention: Google Ads users may have billing capabilities without being able to add, remove, or change payments-profile users directly.

An agency will often work through a manager account. Google says an owner manager can have broad administrative and data privileges, but this platform label does not take data ownership or administrative rights away from the client account. An existing linked manager is not an owner by default, and a client administrator can unlink a manager. Google recommends granting manager-owner status only when those privileges are needed. Review the exact setup in Google’s manager-account ownership documentation.

The platform’s word “owner” does not decide who owns creative files, landing-page code, phone numbers, CRM data, contract rights, or intellectual property. The written agreement and applicable law govern those questions. Ask the firm’s counsel to review the actual terms.

Plan the exit before anything is unlinked. Google’s unlinking guidance says the individual account keeps its own campaign history, but shared remarketing lists can stop populating or become unavailable, cross-account conversion tracking can stop recording later clicks, and ads can stop serving when a manager that pays through monthly invoicing is removed without a replacement billing setup. Inventory those dependencies and agree on a handoff sequence first.

Chapter 07

Read the operating agreement before launch

The proposal explains the intended work. The agreement determines what each party must do when the work changes, data is sensitive, payment is disputed, or the relationship ends.

Ask the agreement to state:

• scope, cadence, deliverables, exclusions, and the change-order process;
• the firm’s inputs, approval deadlines, and named decision-makers;
• media billing, fee calculations, tool charges, invoice reconciliation, and renewal terms;
• reporting definitions, data sources, correction procedures, and access;
• treatment of confidential information, personal data, call records, and consent responsibilities;
• ownership or licensing of accounts, pages, creative, tracking numbers, data, and other assets;
• termination notice, transition work, export formats, delivery dates, and access during handoff; and
• the provider’s competitor-client, conflict, exclusivity, and information-segregation policy.

Ask every agency whether it serves another firm in the same market and practice area. Shared market work is not automatically disqualifying. The provider should explain what information is separated, who can access it, whether any category or geographic exclusivity applies, and how potential conflicts are handled. The firm then decides whether that policy fits its risk tolerance and professional obligations.

This guide identifies commercial and operating questions. It does not interpret a contract or provide legal advice about IP, privacy, professional responsibility, termination, or conflicts. Have the firm’s counsel review the actual agreement and the rules that apply to the proposed advertising.

Chapter 08

Apply pass/fail controls before you score finalists

A weighted score can make a polished presentation look stronger than an unresolved control problem. Mark each applicable item pass, fail, or unresolved first. A failure is a question to resolve, not proof of bad faith.

Do not let a high total score offset an unresolved critical issue with access, billing visibility, proof, guarantees, or exit. Resolve it in writing or remove the provider from consideration.

Chapter 09

Score finalists and define the first phase

The weights below are an editable starting point, not a validated industry benchmark or a formula for choosing an agency. Score each dimension from 0 to 5 after the applicable controls have passed or been resolved. Calculate the weighted score as (rating ÷ 5) × weight. Record the evidence and uncertainty next to every rating.

The score helps expose differences. It does not replace judgment. A one-point rating difference based on weak evidence should not decide a large contract.

Write the decision rules before spending starts

Turn the selected proposal into a bounded first-phase memo. Include the launch window, total budget ceiling, named deliverables, baseline, measurement definitions, data owner, review cadence, and the date on which the first useful cohort can be assessed. State which facts may still be immature on that date.

Use four actions with conditions tailored to the firm:

A first phase should be long enough for the stated outcome to mature and small enough that the firm can absorb an unproductive test. Those conditions depend on the practice, market, intake process, and collection cycle. A provider should explain that uncertainty rather than offer one standard trial length.

Chapter 10

Use the same standard for Juris Digital

Juris Digital offers PPC services for law firms, and we would like to be considered. That commercial interest is exactly why the same diligence matters. Ask us to define the matter mix, normalize the full cost, walk a search through the intake feedback loop, substantiate any proof, document access, disclose competitor-client policies, and agree on first-phase decision rules.

Complete the readiness gate and proposal worksheet before you choose any partner. Bring those answers to each finalist. The most useful sales conversation will then start with the work your firm wants, the people available to handle it, and the evidence needed for the next spending decision.

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