April 28, 2025
Are Legal Directories a Smart Investment or Wasted Spend?
Does your firm buy premium profiles and listings on some, or all, of the top legal directories? If so, why’d you do it? What purpose…
Read More →I’ve lost count of the amount of firms I’ve spoken with who’ve gotten burnt by agencies promising the world when it comes to investing in Google Ads.
Yes, paid search is a direct response channel that tends to drive results “quicker” when compared to other longer-term channels (SEO) and initiatives (brand building), but that doesn’t mean it will for you and your firm.
So, here’s the ridiculously oversimplified way I’d try to help set and manage expectations appropriately if you’re considering jumping into the paid search deep end for the first time.
First, think in terms of your daily budget instead of your total monthly spend. It’s just easier to break things down this way. Assume you only run Ads Mon-Fri. That’s ~20 business days/mo.
For this example, we’ll simplify the math and base it on a $10,000/mo spend, which leaves you with a $500 daily budget. Let’s also assume that the average CPC for a non-branded click is $100. Note: There are too many factors to list here, but your average cost-per-click (CPC) will vary greatly based on practice area, location, competitive landscape, landing page quality, Ads Quality Score, etc.
Back to the hypothetical. You’re spending $10,000/mo, running your ads for 20 business days in that month, with a $500 daily budget and an average CPC of $100. That’ll get you…
-5 clicks/day
-25 clicks/week
-100 clicks/month
If 25% of those clicks convert…meaning the prospect took action (calls, form fills, chats, or text), then you’ve got 25 total ‘actions.’ That’s $400 per action (aka your CPA).
Note: I didn’t include the fee you’re paying whoever manages these efforts on your behalf in this example calculation – but you should. The industry average hovers around 30% of monthly spend, but I’ve seen higher, and lower.
Here’s where things get a bit tricky. Much like your average CPC, each firm’s action-to-consult ratio will also vary. How many of those 25 actions can you convert to a consult? If you’re like 99% of the firms I speak to, I’m told, ‘If you get them on the phone, I close ’em!’.
I’m sorry, but I’ve never seen it. Not once. Ever. But, I have seen up to half of these actions result in a consultation. Okay, back to the math…
25 actions, 50% convert to consult, 12.5 consultations. Time to close. I’ll be generous since I know some rockstar lawyers. Let’s say you close half of those consultations into clients…
-That’s 6.25 retainers or sign-ups
-Each retainer or sign-up costs you $1,600 (aka CAC; client acquisition cost)
-Multiply 6.25 by your average case value (ACV) to get a rough return on ad spend (ROAS)
Here’s the thing, there are still other costs to consider like landing page design and development, call tracking software, etc. But more importantly, you can’t forget the time it will take to start generating results like this.
If you’ve never run ads before, you’re not going to come flying out of the gate like this in your first 30 or even 60 days. Yes, you could get lucky and land a monster in this initial period. Even if you did, I wouldn’t set that expectation—maybe others will, not me.
Why? Because Google is in the business of maximizing its revenue per impression. They’re incentivized to show the Ads that generate the most clicks, since…that’s how they make lots, and lots, and lots of money. Once you prove that you can put more money in their pocket (i.e. people click your ad)? Game on. But investing in Ads with the hope you’ll start generating immediate cash flow before then is a receipt for disaster. You should prepare to invest for a minimum of 6-9 months before evaluating whether or not the juice is worth the squeeze. And there you have it. You can hate it, but that’s the game.
