What Does it Mean to be “Google Screened”? Is That New?

Yes – Google Local Services Ads (LSAs) are now available for nearly every legal practice area nationwide. The law firm’s founder and the firm entity itself must go through an extensive background check and license check and your firm’s Google My Business & Reviews must have a 3.0 rating to be approved for the Google Screened badge. The Google Screened badge will help your firm build a trusted online reputation with potential clients.

Local Services Ads for Lawyers (Google Screened, Pay-Per-Lead)

CLIENT SUCCESS STORY

How Silva Injury Law Increased Caseload by 60% with Help from Juris Digital

See how we deployed Local Service Ads for Silva Injury Law to help them increase their caseload by 60% in just 6 months.

Let’s see it.

Want to ensure that your law firm shows up first when people in your market are searching? Google Local Services Ads (LSAs) might be the right solution.

Google Local Services Ads present an opportunity for your law firm to quickly and effectively increase lead volume, establish yourself as a Google Screened law firm, and most importantly, to sign more clients.

In fact, we published a study in April of this year which showed that LSAs gobble up 33%(!) of all clicks for lawyer-related keyword searches:

Lawyer-Searches-Google-SERP-Click-Distribution — View full study

FAQ: Google Local Services Ads for Lawyers

Jump To LSA Topics Covered Here show

What Are Local Services Ads (LSAs)?

LSAs are a new Google advertising option for lawyers and law firms. These ads help potential new clients find, learn about, connect with, and hire lawyers. This is what they look like in Google search (note the distinctive green “Screened” checkmark”:

What are the Advantages of a Local Services Ads for My Law Firm?

Unlike with traditional Google PPC ads, you’re charged only for relevant leads, instead of clicks.
Your Ad is displayed at the top of Google results, even before pay-per-click-ads.
To qualify to run local service ads, you’ll get a “Google Screened” badge, a powerful trust signal for potential new clients.
Local services ads for lawyers help clients find you easily and quickly for urgent matters.

What Does it Mean to be “Google Screened”?

Google Local Services Ads (LSAs) are available for nearly every legal practice area nationwide. To become Google Screened lawyers must provide their active law license information and proof of professional liability insurance. LSAs no longer perform a separate background check on Google Screened lawyers because each U.S. state requires lawyers to undergo a background check in order to receive a license to practice law. The Google Screened badge will help your firm build a trusted online reputation with potential clients.

How Juris Digital Can Help You Sign More Cases with Google Local Services Ads for Lawyers

Optimization of your LSA account profile
Lead dispute assistance (so you’re not charged for irrelevant leads)
Google Ads expert assigned to manage your account
Onboarding and Setup Assistance
Monthly reports reviewing the overall performance
Keep you current with your Google Screened status for yearly renewals

Talk to Us About Local Services Ads

What Types of Lawyers Qualify for Google Local Services Ads?

Bankruptcy Lawyer
Business Lawyer
Contract Lawyer
Criminal Lawyer
Disability Lawyer
DUI Lawyer
Estate Lawyer
Family Lawyer
Intellectual Property Lawyer
Immigration Lawyer
Labor Lawyer
Litigation Lawyer
Malpractice Lawyer
Personal Injury Lawyer
Real Estate Lawyer
Tax Lawyer
Traffic Lawyer

Can I Set Certain Keywords that Will Trigger My Local Service Ad?

Not really. Unlike with traditional PPC, you as the advertiser do not get to select specific keywords that your local service ads will show for. Rather, you choose the categories of law that you practice, Google determines which searches are most relevant to your chosen categories, and then displays your ad.

For example, if you choose the category “Personal Injury Lawyer” your ads will show for a variety of keyword searches that Google considers relevant to that area, eg:

car accident lawyer
injury lawyers
accident attorney
motorcycle accident lawyer
dog bite attorney
etc.

Will My Local Service Ad Show Up More if I Set a Higher Budget?

More or less. The way bidding works with Google Local Service Ads is that you set both a max cost per lead and a maximum weekly budget.

So, a high max bid per lead might ensure that you are highly visible for a certain period of time. However, if your weekly max budget is relatively low, you may run out of budget quickly with a high max bid per lead, in which case your ads wouldn’t show altogether after you hit your weekly max budget.

At Juris Digital we can help develop a bidding strategy that will balance these two interests, where your ad not only shows frequently and prominently, but also shows consistently over time.

How Much Should I Expect to Pay Per Lead with Google Local Service Ads?

Your average cost per lead will depend significantly on:

The competition of your target practice area(s), and;
The size of your target market

For personal injury law firms in competitive markets, we have seen a cost per lead in the ballpark of $100 to $300.

Alternatively, for family law and estate planning in much smaller markets, we have seen a cost per lead more in the ballpark of $50 to $150.

Will I Still Have to Pay for LSA Leads if They Are Not Relevant?

Google allows advertisers to dispute leads that they consider to be irrelevant.

If approved, you can be credited the cost back into your account. This is one of the major advantages of hiring a company like Juris Digital to manage your Google Local Service Ads: We can stay on top of vetting your leads for relevance, and disputing irrelevant leads with Google.

Google provides the following as reasons why a lead may be credited:

Job not served (not on your profile)
Location not served (zip code or city)
Wrong number or sales call (not a customer)
Spam or bot (not a human)
Duplicate lead (customer contacted you twice)
Incorrect business (lead does not belong to you)

That being said, the decision is ultimately Google’s as to whether or not to credit a disputed lead, and so we cannot make any guarantees as far as our ability to overturn disputed leads.

What is the Process for Getting Started with Local Service Ads for Lawyers?

1. Start Process of Getting “Google Screened”

We will gather your law firm information, license information for each licensed lawyer in your firm, practice areas, locations of service, and required documents to complete the application.

3. Adjust Budget

Once the application is complete, we will set up the budget and bidding mode for leads and correct law firm billing information.

4. Google My Business & Reviews

Local Services Ads utilize the Google reviews from your Google My Business profile. You must have a review score of 3.0 or higher in order to qualify.

3. Optimize Local Service Ad Profile

Local Services Ads utilize the Google reviews from your Google My Business profile. For personal injury law firms, you must have at least 5 reviews to qualify. All other types of law firms require at least 1 review.