3 Costly Mistakes Injury Lawyers Make On Google AdWords All The Time

Here are 3 common mistakes with pay per click marketing I’ve observed many injury lawyers making on Google AdWords.

1. Boring, bland ad copy. It’s not hard to find ads like this when doing an Internet search, "Car Accident Attorney. 40 Years Experience. Free Consult."

Many attorneys lead with ads like this or a variation. This ad does not pass the "so what" test. Meaning you can read the ad and "so what" is the reaction.

An easy predictable way to write ads that get a decent click through rate looks like this.

Keyword In Headline Benefit Call to Action

Besides a good ad, tight account organization will also help you achieve good click through rates which in turn get more people to your website and lower your click costs. In short, don’t make an adgroup with 150 keywords because 1 ad will not be relevant for all of them. 1 ad will be relevant for about 5-10 keywords and their match types.

There are more advanced things you can do with ad copy, but following the format above is a good start.

2. Poor tracking. You have to install Google’s conversion tracking code. Many attorneys I speak to think that they are doing enough by tracking what keywords result in clicks, but you want to go beyond this and track what keywords drive phone calls or requests for consultations. This way you can properly optimize based on what’s working and what is not. Google Analytics has something called "goals" which allow website owners to track important actions visitors take on their websites.

A goal might be when someone fills out a contact form requesting a legal consultation. Goals in Google Analytics will tell you which keywords free or paid result in that form being filled out, along with other data like what websites refer you traffic that result in the form being filled out.

3. Sending all traffic to the home page of your website. This is a bad idea for personal injury lawyers marketing online because your home page has too many options. Think about it like this. If you were selling shoes online, Nikes would go to your Nike page. Dress shoes would go there, and specific makes and models would take the searcher to those specific product pages.

Some one looking for information about a car accident attorney needs to see car accident related information – not your home page. Again, pretend you are in charge of , think about how ineffective it would be to take all the searches to the home page. People would get there and be disappointed, quickly hitting the "back button" gone for good – money wasted.

The same thing happens if you do similar things when marketing your law firm.