I’ll start with an awkward admission for a post about Google Ads. Our strongest law firm result didn’t come from Google Ads at all.
Hillcrest Family Lawyers was turning over about $35,000 a year when we started, with about four leads a month coming in. Three years on, the firm gets four or more leads a day and turns over more than $200,000 a year. That came from SEO, a rebuilt website and a Google Business Profile that someone actually looks after, built up over time rather than switched on. The full story is in the Hillcrest Family Lawyers case study.
So why write about Google Ads for law firms? Because SEO takes months to build, and plenty of firms need the phone ringing next week, not next winter. Ads and SEO do different jobs, and the firms that grow usually run both, in the right order. If you want that comparison on its own, it’s in SEO vs Google Ads.
Here’s the short version of the ads side. Google Ads works for law firms in the practice areas where people search in a hurry: family law, criminal law, conveyancing. Clicks cost more than in most industries, around $9 for “family lawyer” and $19 for “personal injury lawyer”, so your intake has to be quick and your tracking has to be honest or you’ll never know whether it’s working.
Which practice areas suit Google Ads
The best fit is anywhere someone has a problem now and wants help now. Here’s what the main searches look like in Australia:
| Search | Searches a month | Average click |
|---|---|---|
| conveyancer | 12,100 | $7.27 |
| family lawyer | 4,400 | $9.36 |
| personal injury lawyer | 4,400 | $18.95 |
| divorce lawyer | 3,600 | $9.46 |
| family lawyer near me | 1,600 | $9.25 |
Figures from Semrush, checked 7 November 2026. In Sydney and Melbourne you’ll usually pay above these averages, sometimes well above.
Family law is a strong fit. People search when something has just happened, often late at night, and the value of a matter justifies the click price.
Criminal law is urgent by nature, which suits ads, as long as someone at your firm can answer the phone out of hours. If calls after 6pm go to voicemail, don’t bother.
Conveyancing gets plenty of searches, but a lot of them are price shoppers comparing quotes. It works if you’re priced to compete, or if you can show quickly why you’re worth more than the online conveyancer.
Wills and estates are less urgent. People plan these, so SEO and Facebook tend to do more of the work than search ads.
Personal injury has the most expensive clicks and the tightest rules. Advertising for personal injury work is restricted in some states, so check your state’s rules before you write a single ad.
How we’d set up a law firm account
A campaign per practice area. A family law enquiry and a conveyancing enquiry are worth very different amounts to you. They shouldn’t share a budget or an ad, and they definitely shouldn’t share a landing page.
A landing page per practice area. Someone who searched “family lawyer Ringwood” wants to see family law, Ringwood and a clear first step. Your homepage, with six practice areas and a paragraph about your values, makes them work too hard, and they won’t.
Keep the wrong searches out. Legal accounts attract a lot of clicks from people looking for free legal advice, legal aid, law courses and law jobs. Every one of those costs as much as a real client’s click. Check the search terms weekly and block them as they appear. It never fully stops.
Count calls, not just forms. People with a legal problem usually want to talk to a person. If your tracking only counts form submissions, Google is learning from a small slice of your enquiries and bidding on that.
Fix intake before you add budget. If calls go to voicemail or emails sit in a shared inbox until Monday, more ad spend just buys more missed matters. It’s easy to double a budget to fix what is really a reception problem.
The rules still apply online
Law firm advertising is covered by the Australian Consumer Law and your professional conduct rules, and Google Ads don’t get an exemption. In plain terms: nothing misleading, no guaranteed outcomes, and no claims you can’t back up. Personal injury advertising has extra limits in some states. You’re the lawyers, not us, so run the ads past whoever handles compliance at your firm before they go live.
What about Facebook and Instagram?
For urgent matters, Google usually wins, because nobody scrolls Facebook looking for a family lawyer. Facebook and Instagram are more useful for wills and estate planning, for following up people who visited your site and didn’t call, and for building a name in your local area over time. We go through the trade-offs in Google Ads vs Facebook ads.
Questions law firms ask me
Can law firms advertise on Google in Australia?
Yes. The ads have to follow the same rules as any other legal advertising, including any state limits on personal injury work. Google also has its own policies for legal services, but they’re not onerous for a normal firm.
How much should a law firm spend on Google Ads?
Work backwards from what a matter is worth and how many enquiries become clients. At $9 a click, if one in ten clicks enquires and one in three enquiries signs, a new client costs you about $270 in clicks. Your numbers will be different, so put your own in. We show the working in cost per lead vs cost per booked job.
Should we start with Google Ads or SEO?
If you need enquiries this month, ads. If you can wait six to twelve months and you’d rather have enquiries that don’t cost you per click, SEO. Most firms that grow end up doing both, and Hillcrest is the example I’d point to for the SEO side. Our SEO for lawyers guide covers that half.
Our current agency says the ads are working, but we’re not any busier. Why?
Nine times out of ten, tracking. Accounts often count page visits as leads, or count forms twice, so the report looks great and the diary doesn’t change. Our guide to auditing your own Google Ads account shows you what to check, and you can do it in an afternoon.
Want a straight answer for your firm?
Book a call with me. We’ll look at your practice areas, what people search for near you and what your intake can handle, and I’ll tell you whether I’d start with Google Ads, SEO or both, and in what order.
