Technology has evolved considerably over the past few years. It plays a fundamental role in driving all types of businesses—law firms, in particular—towards success, offering both SMEs and international corporations a variety of tools to use to their advantage.

Smaller law firms used to struggle to gain recognition when they had to compete against large multinational corporations. To rise up in the ranks of web advertising, they began using one notable tool: Google AdWords.

The reason that Google AdWords has been regarded as the best investment for smaller firms is that it doesn’t require large amounts of capital to implement. Additionally, it can be set up in as little as five minutes and yield impressive results!

Why Google AdWords makes an even playing field

With millions of success stories in the legal industry, it should come as no surprise that Google AdWords has become a vital component for the success of small law firms. While the tool has definitely been proven to make a huge difference in the success of every small business, it’s important to understand that results may vary in competitive industries such as law. The best way to make the most out of an ongoing Google AdWords campaign—whether you’re in a highly-competitive industry or not—is to manage it well.

Now, you might be thinking: “how can I manage my ongoing AdWords campaigns for success?”

Well, the truth is that the most changes that bring about the best results aren’t nearly as extensive as you’d think. In fact, merely putting together an effective keyword list can make a world of difference in whether or not your firm thrives online.

4 Keyword Criteria to Use for Successful AdWords Results

Curious as to how you can successfully manage your ongoing AdWords campaign with a few simple tweaks? Here’s what you should be evaluating when it comes to your campaign’s keyword list:

CRITERIA #1: Keyword Relevance

Simply defined as the specific words and phrases that your competitors use in order to learn more about anything that you offer, keyword relevance has a huge impact on how well an AdWords campaign actually goes. The best way to amp up your keyword relevance is to target three to five that are highly related to your location, services, and any solution you’re trying to sell to the market. Targeting the right keywords will make your website or landing page relevant to the searches that run across your ad.

CRITERIA #2: Match Types

Another great way to ensure that your campaign is as effective as it can be is to set it up correctly. One thing that you will have to pay special attention to is Match Types. By using Match Types, you’ll be able to set up your campaign to follow several settings, such as Exact Match, Phrase Match, and Broad Match. The effectiveness of a match type depends on your intended purposes and the competition in your industry. Let’s take a look at the three Match Types and what you need to know about them.

• Exact Match: This setting only shows users ads or ad campaigns when they’ve typed the word-for-word phrases you’re using in your campaign. The Exact Match setting is an excellent strategy for industries with specific jargon that people commonly use to find information.
• Phrase Match: Similiar to Exact Match, a Phrase Match instructs Google that you intend to have your ads appear when users type your keyphrases in the exact order. Unlike Exact Match, however, users can add things before and after the phrase.
• Broad Match: The Broad Match setting is a lot like duct tape: it can get the job done right and can be molded and fitted to different purposes. Technically speaking, a Broad Match is a setting that allows your Google Ads and campaigns to be displayed even when there are slight differences (such as near variations and simple synonyms) in the search terms.

CRITERIA #3: Cost-Per-Click

Cost-per-click is considered to be one of the finer details and accuracy oriented options in an AdWords campaign. It is an excellent approach to use in order to achieve better conversion rates. Strangely enough, many people overlook their conversion rates and end up paying more than double the amount for a CPC on a keyword that converts at a lower rate. To avoid missing out on potential conversions, consider the rates prior to targeting a certain keyword.

CRITERIA #4: Negative Keywords

One of the greater perils of using AdWords is that it’s easy to accidentally target irrelevant traffic that incurs expenses without generating leads. Aside from using an Exact Match campaign, the best way to avoid irrelevant traffic is to use negative keywords to segment your potential reach and take out the client bases that you don’t need.

Conclusion

AdWords is a highly effective tool for your law firm when used right. If you don’t put time and effort into your campaign, however, it can also be a colossal waste of money. The four criteria above will help you clean up your campaign and ensure that you’re generating worthwhile leads.

Need more help with your law firm PPC efforts? We’re here to help! As PPC management experts in New York, in the digital marketing space, we’re dedicated to working with legal businesses – get in touch today!