Complete Guide to Lead Generation for Attorneys & Lawyers

Paid search is one of the fastest ways for law firms to generate high-intent leads. When someone searches “car accident lawyer near me” or “DUI attorney Chicago,” they are actively looking to hire an attorney.

That said, paid search is also one of the easiest ways for law firms to waste money if campaigns are structured poorly or tracked incorrectly. Below are the top 10 paid media channels and tips law firms should follow to generate real cases. 

Top Paid Media Channels for Legal Services

Below are the top 10 media channels ranked by best ROI in our experience at Pattern 6 legal marketing.

1. Google Search Ads: Highest-intent channel. Captures demand from users actively searching to hire or buy. This is the best channel for direct lead generation in our experience.
2. Google Local Services Ads (LSAs): LSAs are pay-per-lead ads that sit above search results. These are strong trust signals and excellent for local, service-based businesses. However, these require a background check, license verification, and insurance proof. 
3. Microsoft Ads (Bing): Bing has lower competition, but that’s because there’s less volume. However, it’s cheaper CPCs than Google and performs well for older and professional audiences.
4. YouTube Ads: We view YouTube as a mid-funnel channel, which builds credibility and reinforces search and social campaigns through video. It’s good for retargeting and educating prospects along their discovery process.
5. Programmatic Display: These are the banner ads you see on the side of CNN or YouTube that you might accidentally click on. They are good for broad reach, brand building, and retargeting across the web, but not the best for high-intent searches. 
6. Meta Ads (Facebook & Instagram): Meta sometimes can be a fruitful channel, but we don’t recommend it and find prospects go to this channel searching for a solution. It can be good for awareness, retargeting, and lead nurturing. 
7. LinkedIn Ads: LinkedIn is a good channel for B2B targeting by job title and company, but not the best for legal searches targeting people. LinkedIn ads are expensive, too. 
8. TikTok Ads: Don’t sleep on Tik Tok. It’s where Gen Z is searching for solutions, but not where we advise our clients to focus their efforts. 

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Tip #1: Focus on High-Intent Keywords Only

Not all legal keywords are worth bidding on. High-intent keywords include search terms that clearly indicate someone is looking to hire an attorney right now.

Prioritize keywords that include:

• Practice area (e.g., “personal injury lawyer”)
  
  
• Location modifiers (“near me,” city names)
  
  
• Urgent intent (“free consultation,” “hire a divorce lawyers”)
  
  

Avoid informational searches that attract clicks but rarely convert.

Tip #2: Separate Campaigns by Practice Area

Each practice area behaves differently in paid search. Personal injury, criminal defense, and family law all have different costs, conversion rates, and intake processes.

Create one campaign per practice area so budgets, bidding, and messaging stay aligned with the intent of each searcher. Furthermore, it will inform which has the best ROI.

Tip #3: Use Location Targeting Aggressively

Legal searches are hyper-local, meaning prospects are looking for "Chicago personal injury lawyers” as an example. Broad geographic targeting leads to wasted spend and poor lead quality.

Focus on:

• Cities or counties you actively serve
• Radius targeting around your office
• Location-specific ad copy that reinforces relevance
  
  

The tighter the geography, the better the performance.

Tip #4: Write Ad Copy That Matches Search Intent

Generic ad copy blends in and gets ignored. Strong law firm ads mirror exactly what the searcher is looking for. Example: “Lawyer for car accident”

Effective ad copy includes:

• Specific practice area
• Location references
• Clear next step (call, consultation, case review)
  
  

Clarity beats cleverness every time in legal PPC.

Tip #5: Send Traffic to Dedicated Landing Pages

Never send traffic to your homepage unless it matches the search intent. Example: “Miami personal injury lawyer.” The page’s header should have those words in it. Think if you saw a candy store and then realized it wasn’t candy when you went inside. That’s the equivalent of not having a good landing page. 

A dedicated landing page should:

• Match the keyword and practice area
• Reinforce the user’s problem
• Focus on a single call to action

This alone can dramatically improve conversion rates.

Tip #6: Track Phone Calls and Form Submissions Correctly

We recommend using a CRM like Hubspot to track where leads come from. There are many lite-CRM options, but that’s the only true way to know. 

Law firms should track:

• Phone calls from ads
• Calls from landing pages
• Form submissions tied to specific campaigns
  
  

Without proper tracking, optimization becomes guesswork.

Tip #7: Measure Cost per Signed Case, Not Cost per Lead

Cost per lead and impressions are vanity metrics. The real metric that matters is cost per signed case, which accounts for:

• Lead quality
• Intake performance
• Conversion to retained clients

Paid search success depends as much on intake as it does on ads.

Tip #8: Use Negative Keywords to Control Costs

Negative keywords are those you don’t want your ad to show for in a search. Great example - identify “jobs” as a negative keyword. You want to mitigate showing your ad to individuals wanting a job. This is one of the fastest ways to reduce wasted spend

Common negatives include:

• “Free advice”
• “Jobs”
• “School”
• “Definition”

More negative keywords can be identified when you start your campaign and learn what’s being shown. It does require continuous monitoring. 

Tip #9: Don’t Ignore Google Local Services Ads

Local Services Ads (LSAs) often outperform traditional paid search for law firms, especially in competitive markets.

LSAs:

• Operate on a pay-per-lead model, meaning only when they call or text you
• Appear above standard search ads
• Emphasize trust through reviews and verification
  
  

Many firms see the best results by running LSAs alongside paid search. They also require verification with Google, which requires extra effort but thus an opportunity for most who go through it.

Tip #10: Combine Paid Search with SEO for Long-Term Growth

I recommend to my clients that paid search gets you off to the races. But, to have a sustainable marketing strategy, you will need SEO. SEO is everlasting with minimal maintenance. And, SEO compounds over time and lowers dependency on ads.

The most successful law firms:

• Paid search: Use paid search for immediate leads
• SEO: Use SEO to build long-term authority