Google Ads for solicitors
PPC for law firms, measured by instructed matters
Google Ads for solicitors built by practice area, with tight negative keywords, SRA-checked ad copy and call tracking, so your budget goes on people who can actually instruct you.
- Ad spend paid direct to Google
- Campaigns split by practice area
- Calls tracked and recorded
Quick answer
ProntX is a London-based law firm PPC agency running Google Ads for UK solicitors in family, employment, conveyancing, immigration and personal injury. We structure campaigns by practice area, check ads against SRA rules and report cost per instructed matter. Management starts at £450 a month, with ad spend paid directly to Google.
PPC for law firms puts your practice at the top of Google the moment someone searches for urgent legal help, from “divorce solicitor” to “police interview lawyer”. It is also one of the most expensive ad categories in the UK, which is why ProntX manages law firm PPC around one number: what it costs you to win an instructed matter, not a click.
The problem with most legal ad accounts
We regularly see solicitor accounts running one campaign for every practice area, broad match keywords paying for “free legal advice” and “solicitor jobs”, and ads sending everyone to the homepage. Clicks in competitive areas such as personal injury, family and conveyancing can cost tens of pounds each, so that waste adds up quickly. Agency guides in this space agree that poor management, not the channel itself, is why many firms decide paid search does not pay.
Who our law firm PPC is for
Firms that want enquiries this month rather than in six: family and divorce teams, employment lawyers acting for employees or employers, conveyancing departments, immigration specialists, personal injury and clinical negligence firms, and commercial practices targeting business owners. It also suits new branches and new practice areas that have no organic visibility yet.
What is included
What does law firm PPC management include?
Account build or rebuild, practice-area campaign structure, compliant ad copy, landing page advice, call tracking and weekly optimisation, all inside an ad account the firm owns.
- Separate campaigns per practice area, each with its own budget and goal
- Keyword research by matter type, urgency and location
- Negative keyword lists covering jobs, training, legal aid and DIY searches
- Ad copy checked against SRA publicity rules before launch
- Call tracking with recordings so you can hear enquiry quality
- Form and call conversion tracking set up in Google Ads and analytics
- Ad scheduling around when your intake team can answer
- Location targeting matched to where you can genuinely act
- Landing page recommendations per practice area
- Competitor and auction insight monitoring
- Weekly search term reviews and bid changes
- Monthly report on cost per enquiry and cost per instructed matter
How we run it
How do you make PPC for lawyers profitable?
By paying only for searches from people who can instruct you, answering every call, and judging campaigns on signed matters. These are the specific levers we use for legal accounts.
1
Budget by matter value
A conveyancing file and a contested financial remedy case are worth very different amounts to your firm. We set budgets and target costs per practice area from your average fee and conversion rate, so cheap low-value enquiries do not crowd out the work you actually want.
2
Ruthless negative keywords
Legal searches attract students, job hunters, people wanting free advice and people looking for legal aid you may not offer. Weekly search term reviews remove them. This is often the fastest way to cut cost per enquiry in an inherited account.
3
Intake is part of PPC
A paid call that rings out is the most expensive call you will ever miss. We schedule ads around staffed hours, review call recordings with your permission and flag patterns such as calls arriving at lunchtime when nobody answers. Faster intake often improves results more than any bid change.
4
Local Services Ads in London
Google has offered Local Services Ads to legal firms in the London area, charging per lead and showing a “Google Screened” badge once a firm passes checks. Where you are eligible, we assess whether pay-per-lead sits well alongside your search campaigns and manage both.
Compliance
What must solicitors’ Google Ads say, and not say?
Ads are publicity, so the SRA Code of Conduct applies in full: they must be accurate and not misleading, including on fees. Your compliance lead approves every ad and landing page before launch.
- Prices in ads match your published price information and say what they include
- “Fixed fee” only where the fee really is fixed, with VAT and disbursements explained on the page
- “No win, no fee” explained accurately on the landing page, including any deductions
- No guaranteed outcomes or unqualified success rates
- Bidding on a competitor’s trade mark in ad text
- Claims of being “the best” or “number one” without evidence
- Ads for services the firm is not authorised to deliver
- Landing pages that hide who regulates you or how to complain
Where you offer services covered by the SRA Transparency Rules, the ad’s landing page is a natural home for the required price and service information, which also tends to improve conversion because people can see the cost before they call.
Why ProntX
Why choose ProntX as your law firm PPC agency?
Because the account is yours, the fee is published, and you can leave any month.
Ownership
Your ad account
Campaigns run in a Google Ads account the firm owns, and ad spend is paid straight to Google on your card. ProntX never marks up media.
Visibility
Search terms in plain sight
You can see every search that triggered an ad. We explain in each report which terms we added, blocked and why.
Joined up
Ads that feed SEO
Search term data tells our SEO team which matters convert, so the content plan targets proven demand. See law firm SEO.
Most legal enquiries from paid search happen on a phone, often in the evening after the person has finished work and finally has time to deal with the problem. We build ads with call assets, mobile-friendly landing pages and short enquiry forms that ask only what your intake team needs to triage a matter, so an anxious client can reach you in two taps.
Our wider Google Ads management service covers the platform detail. If you already run ads in-house and want a second opinion first, our PPC audit reviews structure, wasted spend and tracking.
Pricing
How much does PPC for law firms cost?
ProntX law firm PPC management starts at £450 a month. Ad spend is separate and goes directly to Google, so you control it.
| Account size | Typical management fee | Typical scope |
|---|---|---|
| Focused | From £450 a month | One or two practice areas, one office, search campaigns |
| Multi-practice | Typically £650 to £950 a month | Several practice areas or branches, call tracking, landing page testing |
| High spend | Typically £1,000 and above | Personal injury, immigration or national campaigns with larger budgets |
Final fees depend on scope and are confirmed after a free review of your account or market. On ad spend, there is no universal answer: a local wills campaign can run on a modest budget, while personal injury needs far more to compete. We model expected clicks and enquiries from real keyword costs before you commit, and you can see full pricing for all services.
PPC and Google Ads
from £450/month
Management fee. Ad spend is paid direct to Google
What is includedSEO and AI search
from £595/month
Local and small business SEO, GEO and AEO included
What is includedPractice areas
Which legal services suit Google Ads best?
Urgent, high-value matters with clear search terms tend to work best. Slow, relationship-led work usually suits SEO and referrals better.
| Practice area | Why PPC fits | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Family and divorce | Urgent, emotional searches with high case values | Free advice and legal aid queries |
| Employment | Time limits push people to act quickly | Employee versus employer intent mixed together |
| Conveyancing | Price-led searches that convert from quotes | Low fees and comparison sites bidding |
| Criminal defence | Immediate need, often out of hours | Referral fee ban for criminal matters |
| Personal injury | High value per case | Very high click costs and claims firms |
Send us read access to your account, or just your practice areas and towns, and our free audit video will show where spend is leaking and what a sensible starting budget looks like.
How it works
What happens after you get in touch
- 01Free audit
We review your site, search visibility, ads and competitors, then send a short video walkthrough with the quickest wins.
Request audit - 02Plan and price
A one-page plan with goals, channels, timeline and a fixed monthly price. No surprises later.
See prices - 03Launch in weeks
Tracking first, then quick wins, then the bigger builds. You see progress in the first month.
See our work - 04Report and grow
Monthly report in plain English: leads, sales, cost per result and what we do next.
Talk to us
Same industry
More for law firms
How much does a click cost for solicitors on Google Ads?
It varies widely by practice area and location. Personal injury and some family and conveyancing terms can cost tens of pounds per click, while niche or local searches are far cheaper. Published figures from agencies differ a lot, so we pull current estimates for your exact keywords and towns before setting a budget, then refine them from real auction data in the first weeks.
Is PPC worth it for a small law firm?
It can be, if you focus. A small firm should pick one or two practice areas with good fee value, target only the towns it serves, schedule ads for staffed hours and block irrelevant searches. Spreading a small budget across every service and the whole country is how firms conclude that Google Ads does not work.
What is a good cost per lead for a law firm?
There is no single benchmark worth trusting. The right figure depends on your average fee and how many enquiries become instructions. A family firm earning several thousand pounds per matter can afford a much higher cost per enquiry than a conveyancer charging a fixed fee. We work backwards from your numbers to set a target per practice area.
Can we bid on other law firms' names?
Bidding on a competitor's name as a keyword is allowed by Google in the UK, but using their trade mark in your ad text can be restricted and may prompt a complaint or legal letter. It can also look poor to clients. We generally advise against it and focus spend on service and location searches instead.
Do Google Ads for solicitors need SRA approval?
The SRA does not pre-approve adverts, but your ads must comply with its Code of Conduct, which requires publicity to be accurate and not misleading, including information about charges. We write ads with that in mind and your compliance officer approves them before launch. Landing pages must also show regulatory and complaints information.
How quickly will we get enquiries from PPC?
Most well-built campaigns produce enquiries within the first week or two of going live. The first month is a learning period while we gather search term and conversion data, so costs usually fall in months two and three as waste is removed and bids settle around the practice areas that convert best.
Should we run Google Ads or SEO?
Ideally both, used for different jobs. PPC brings enquiries immediately and tests which matters convert. SEO builds visibility you do not pay per click for, but takes months. Many firms start with ads, then reduce spend on searches they later rank for organically through law firm SEO.
Do you lock us into a contract?
No. ProntX works on rolling monthly contracts. The Google Ads account belongs to your firm and ad spend is billed to you directly by Google, so if you leave, the campaigns, history and data stay with you. Nothing has to be rebuilt by your next agency or in-house team.
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