Local Law Firm

Case Study: Cutting Cost-Per-Lead by 50% for a Local Law Firm Through Smart Google Ads Restructuring

Introduction:

For local law firms, digital advertising can be both a powerful growth lever and a significant expense if not managed correctly. One multi-practice law firm came to us after seeing inconsistent performance with Google Ads—they were spending thousands per month with few qualified leads to show for it. Their goal was simple: generate more high-quality case inquiries, without increasing budget.

We delivered on that—and more—by restructuring their account for local intent, eliminating wasted spend, and optimizing conversion paths.

The Challenge:

The firm operated in a competitive metro area, offering legal services in personal injury, family law, and criminal defense. They were relying on a mix of automated campaign types and outdated keyword targeting, resulting in:

• High cost-per-lead (CPL) and low conversion rates

• Wasted spend on irrelevant searches, especially broad match terms

• No geographic exclusions, leading to clicks outside their actual service area

• Landing pages not aligned to ad copy or service type

• One-size-fits-all campaigns, treating all practice areas the same

Despite a strong local reputation offline, their online lead flow was unreliable and expensive.

Our Collaborative Approach:

We started by running a full account audit, including search term reports, performance by device/geography, and landing page UX. We also spoke with their intake team to understand the quality of leads being generated and which cases were most profitable.

Our goal was to create a leaner, smarter Google Ads system—built to lower acquisition costs while preserving lead quality.

Crafting Tailored Strategies:

We rebuilt the account around three core principles: segmentation, intent, and control.

• Split campaigns by practice area, each with custom ad copy, landing pages, and bid strategies

• Added geo-fencing to target only within high-converting zip codes and exclude out-of-service regions

• Refined keyword match types, moving away from broad match to phrase/exact with tight negatives

• Introduced call tracking and form attribution to measure lead quality accurately

• Customized ad extensions by practice area to increase relevancy and drive direct calls

We also optimized landing pages for clarity and conversion, reducing friction and aligning content with search intent.

Precision Planning and Execution:

Rather than overhaul everything at once, we launched a controlled campaign rollout by practice area. This allowed us to preserve budget while testing what worked best for each vertical.

We ran A/B tests on headlines, call CTAs, and location-based copy, adjusting based on CPL and call conversion rate.

Weekly reporting kept the client informed—and allowed us to pivot quickly when needed.

The Outcome: Success

Within 60 days of the restructure:

• Cost-per-lead dropped by 50%

• Lead volume increased by 67%, with better consistency

• Intake team reported higher-qualified inquiries, with fewer irrelevant calls

• Landing page bounce rate dropped by 28%

• Click-to-call rate improved 2.3x for mobile searchers

Today, the firm is spending the same monthly budget—but generating more predictable, profitable leads in all three of their core practice areas.