How to Track Calls When Using a Vanity Phone Number

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Q. How do I track calls from online ads when I’m using a vanity phone number?

A. You can easily track calls with a vanity phone number for free on websites and landing pages.

The best way to track calls from a vanity phone number is to use the vanity phone number as a brand to attract callers and to substitute a tracking number for the vanity phone number without anyone knowing.

This is done with a simple HTML code (see below) to link any image or text on your website or landing page to a tracking number. The code allows you to link your vanity phone number to a tracking number.

Two Ways to Track Calls to a Vanity Phone Number

There are call tracking services for vanity phone numbers provided by the call routing company we use and other companies, but you don’t need them.
Tracking calls from Google Ads and landing pages with a vanity phone number is simple to do yourself for free by using a simple HTML code.

This article will show you how to use tracking phone numbers with a vanity phone number.

Why You Want to Use Both a Tracking Number and a Vanity Phone Number

The branding power of a vanity phone number is what gets people to call you or click on your Google Ads. We use the branding power of our vanity phone number 1-800-HURT-911® to get people to call us and click on our Google Ads. See how using a vanity phone number increases ROI from Google Ads.
Tracking numbers linked to a vanity phone number allow you to know which Google Ads and landing pages are performing well.

How a Tracking Number and a Vanity Phone Number Increased Our ROI

We’re personal injury lawyers in New York and advertise 1-800-HURT-911® on our website, Google Ads, and landing pages. We track all calls to our call center from our landing pages by linking a tracking number to our vanity phone number using the HTML code below. We haven’t begun tracking calls from our website yet but will soon.

Because we use 1-800-HURT-911® in the title of our Google Ads, our conversion rate has ranged from 71.70% to 96.55%.

What’s your conversion rate from Google Ads? On average, the conversion rate for lawyers is less than 10%. If you already have a vanity phone number for personal injury advertising, use it in your Google Ads title.

We have the advantage of using both a vanity phone number to increase our Google Quality Score and ROI and the analytics provided by call tracking phone numbers. You can also have the same advantage of increasing your Google Quality Score and ROI by licensing 1-800-HURT-911® or using your own vanity phone number.

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How to Link a Vanity Phone Number to a Tracking Number

The HTML code to link any vanity phone number, tracking number, or any other phone number to text or a graphic image is:

<a href="tel:123-456-7890">1-800-HURT-911®</a>

Just replace 123-456-7890 with the tracking phone number you want to use.

Everywhere you have 1-800-HURT-911 on your website or landing page or an image of the 1-800-HURT-911® logo, just link the text or image to the code.

This text is linked to a nonworking phone number so you can try it
1-800-HURT-911®
1-880-487-8911

This image is also linked to a phone number (nonworking)

Can I Use Multiple Tracking Numbers With a Vanity Phone Number?

Yes. Just change the HTML code for each tracking number.

How to Track Calls With a Vanity Phone Number From Smartphones

Most of the calls from our Google Ads for personal injury lawyers come from smartphones. With online advertising, people press a button on their smartphone to make a call rather than dial the phone number.

Wherever you have the vanity phone number 1-800-HURT-911® or the numeric version 1-800-487-8911 on a landing page or website, either in text, graphic image, or a call button, just link it to your call tracking phone number. That’s it!

That’s what we do. 1-800-HURT-911® is used as our brand to get people to call, but the calls go through several different tracking phone numbers. Callers don’t even know they called us via a tracking phone number. They think they called our vanity phone number, 1-800-HURT-911.

How to Reduce Spam Calls From Tracking Numbers

Be sure to use the right tracking numbers to reduce spam calls and people calling the wrong number.

Connect Tracking Numbers to Lead Management Software for Law Firms

Maximize ROI and stop wasting your advertising budget with lead management software for law firms to manage and track your leads from advertising.

Philip L. Franckel, Esq., is the author of this article.

Phil Franckel is the owner of 1-800-HURT-911® and over 1,100 domain names. He is a personal injury lawyer and a former Member of the Board of Directors of the NYS Trial Lawyers Association. He is an expert in branding, advertising, marketing, and SEO. He has been doing SEO since 1994.

Phil Franckel has written and produced TV commercials for lawyers and other industries and has been a consultant to businesses, including several using vanity phone numbers. Phil writes a blog about lawyer advertising at LawyerAdvertisingBlog.com.

Phil Franckel began a mail order business in 8th grade, bought and sold coin-operated amusement games in 10th grade, and a used car business in 12th grade through college. After law school, he worked in the wholesale diamond business and part-time for a TV production company. Later, while a lawyer at a large personal injury law firm, he worked part-time for ABC Wide World of Sports and ABC Monday Night Baseball.

Phil Franckel then started a personal injury law practice and is a former member of the Board of Directors of the NYS Trial Lawyers Association.

In his spare time, Phil Franckel became an Aux. Police Cadet in 12th grade and is the Commanding Officer of the Communications Bureau, NCPD Aux. Police Section.

Have a question or comment about How to Track Calls With a Vanity Phone Number? Leave a comment below!

2 Tips How to Stop Spam Calls to Call Tracking Phone Numbers

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Personal injury lawyers love advertising with Google Ads and often use toll-free tracking numbers for analytics. You may have several call tracking phone numbers in your ads, on landing pages, and even on your website.

But you’re probably wondering how to stop spam calls to call tracking phone numbers because when your call tracking numbers receive a lot of spam calls and calls from people who dialed the wrong number, it’s costing you a lot of money.

Will Google Charge Me for Wrong Numbers and Spam Calls on My Google Ads?

You will NOT be charged by Google when someone calls your tracking number directly because the call never went through Google Ads.

Google will not charge you unless someone clicks on your Google Ad or Google Call Button. Wrong numbers and spam calls are dialed directly to your tracking number and not your Google Ads.

Spam Calls and Calls From People Who Dialed the Wrong Number Are Costly!

The real cost of spam calls and wrong numbers is the cost of your call center operators and the potentially valuable calls they miss.

Spam calls tie up call center operators or your staff, and because they were busy answering spam calls, they may miss calls from valuable personal injury clients. Spam calls and wrong numbers also create analytical problems.

Continue reading below this section

Attorney Rob Plevy

Change Your Future!
With 1-800-HURT-911®

Find out how Phil and Rob changed their lives and if your state is still available!

Call Phil Franckel, Esq. Now!
7 days / 8 am to 10 pm EST
>> 516-621-9399 ext. 5

Call Phil 7 days/nights

or send an email

How to Reduce Wrong Numbers and Spam Calls to Your Call Tracking Numbers

Use only non-toll-free tracking numbers with Google Ads. If you’re getting too many spam calls, ask your Google Ads campaign manager to change the tracking number. If you really want to use a toll-free tracking number, never use a tracking number with 800 or 888.

A lawyer advertising our personal injury vanity phone number 1-800-HURT-911® with an 800 tracking number complained that his call center was getting many calls unrelated to accidents and that the callers were dialing an 800 number that was not 1-800-HURT-911. The calls were tying up his call center and causing problems with analytics.

These people called 800 toll-free call tracking phone numbers used by the Google Ads campaign management company the lawyer was using.

What was happening? The unwanted calls which had nothing to do with personal injury or accidents were “misdials” (the caller called the wrong number) to the 800 tracking number. People saw a toll-free phone number somewhere with another toll-free exchange such as 888-XXX-XXXX and dialed 800 by mistake.

Why were there misdials? 800 has become a brand in itself. People see a phone number such as 888-XXX-XXXX or 866-XXX-XXXX, and they instinctively dial 800-XXX-XXXX.

The solution to stop unwanted calls to a tracking number is to use a non-toll-free tracking number or a toll-free exchange that’s not 800 or 888.

What If I Don’t Use a Toll-Free Tracking Number and Still Get Spam Calls?

If you’re using a non-toll-free tracking number and still receive wrong numbers, just ask your Google Ads campaign manager or the company providing the call tracking number to change the tracking number.

When we started using call tracking phone numbers, one of them received a lot of wrong numbers (misdials), and spam calls, just like I do on my home and cell phones. We simply changed the tracking number. Unfortunately, I can’t change my home and cell phone numbers.

Some of your call tracking phone numbers may be used for a long time without problems and suddenly start receiving wrong numbers or spam calls. Again, just change the tracking number, and the problem will go away.

Find out how to use tracking numbers with a vanity phone number for personal injury advertising.

Philip L. Franckel, Esq., is the author of this article.

Phil Franckel then started a personal injury law practice and is a former member of the Board of Directors of the NYS Trial Lawyers Association.

In his spare time, Phil Franckel became an Aux. Police Cadet in 12th grade and is the Commanding Officer of the Communications Bureau, NCPD Aux. Police Section.

Have a question or comment about How to Stop Spam Calls to Call Tracking Phone Numbers? Leave a comment below!

3 Tips Will Save a Fortune With Google Ads In 3 Minutes

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Advertising for Personal Injury Clients With Google Ads?

There are 3 quick easy ways to save money and run a more efficient Google Ads campaign. (Google Ads was formally known as Google AdWords.)

Not only will you get more clicks for your Google Ads dollar but you’ll get far fewer irrelevant calls from people who weren’t injured in an accident. When you pay Google for irrelevant calls it also uses up your office staff time speaking with those callers or costs you money at your call center.

With these three methods, we eliminated 100% of irrelevant searches/clicks and, although not all calls are viable personal injury cases, every call has been from someone injured in an accident.

Change Your Google Ads Keyword Bidding Type

Use broad match modifiers. We switched our keyword bidding from broad match to modified broad match and eliminated many irrelevant searches/clicks. The results were seen immediately and were astounding.

Don’t know what broad match modifiers are? It’s a less general method of targeting searches on Google. But maybe you don’t even want to know what it is. It doesn’t matter. Just tell your Google Ads manager you want to try using modified broad-match keywords. If you don’t like it, you can always switch back to broad-match. If you want to read about it, see Wordstream’s explanation of modified broad match keywords; See Google instructions on how to set up broad match modifiers.

Note: Using broad match modifiers will result in fewer clicks and therefore fewer good clicks and accident cases retained because it’s more targeted. But you’ll get a lot fewer bad clicks. Just spend the money you saved in other geographic areas if you want more cases.

For example, I might get 10 cases out of 100 clicks using broad match keywords costing $12,500 @$125 per click and $1,250 per case but get 8 cases out of 40 clicks using modified broad match keywords costing $625 per case.

You can keep your daily budget the same and Google will show your ads to more qualified leads. If you max out your budget for your targeted geographic area, add more areas.

Our Google Ads campaign manager cautioned against using broad match modified keywords because we would get far fewer clicks but for our Google Ads campaign, it transformed our results. It’s a no-brainer. We were advertising in only one county but did not max out the budget for that county so we are just getting better calls without affecting our retained case volume. We get fewer clicks and calls.

Use Practice-Specific Negative Keywords for Personal Injury Lawyers

Using negative keywords specifically for personal injury lawyers is the most important tip here to save you money when using Google Ads.

What are negative keywords? Negative keywords prevent your ads from being shown to people searching for those words.

Continue reading below this section

Change Your Future!
With 1-800-HURT-911®

Find out how Phil and Rob changed their lives and if your state is still available!

Call Phil Franckel, Esq. Now!
7 days / 8 am to 10 pm EST
>> 516-621-9399 ext. 5

Call Phil 7 days/nights

or send an email

Google defines Negative Keywords as: “A type of keyword that prevents your ad from being triggered by a certain word or phrase. Your ads aren’t shown to anyone who is searching for that phrase.”

We paid $145 for a click when someone called to ask us to review a document. The search he made was “lawyer to review document.” We added the words “contract” and “document” as negative keywords and Google will no longer show our ads to anyone using the word “contract” or “document.” Again, as with keywords, there are different types of matching for negative keywords.

I see Google Ads all the time for personal injury lawyers when doing searches that no personal injury lawyer would want their ads to be shown for. It has to be costing them a fortune and they don’t even know it.

This image shows the results of a search that Google Suggest shows people searching for, “auto accident lawyer no injury near me.” Two personal injury lawyers are advertising for that search and will pay for the clicks!

google search for "auto accident lawyer no injury"

Two lawyers advertising for a Google search “auto accident lawyer no injury near me”

Or how about these two Google Ads for personal injury lawyers advertising for the search phrase “eviction lawyer”? Would you want to pay for clicks when someone is searching for a lawyer to stop an eviction?

These personal injury lawyers are advertising for “eviction lawyer”!

We started our Google Ads campaign using a Google Ads campaign manager who uploaded several lists of a few thousand negative keywords. Most of those negative keywords have nothing to do with law but one of his lists was to eliminate searches for fields of law, such as divorce, which are unrelated to injuries and accidents.

Our Google Ads campaign manager developed his negative keyword list for personal injury by managing Google Ads for other personal injury lawyers and continually adding negative keywords to the list. That was good but the problem is that he didn’t see every keyword ever searched for a lawyer and since he’s not a personal injury lawyer, he doesn’t understand the subtle nuances in fields of law and what type of cases we want and don’t want.

Consequently, we were paying for clicks from searches unrelated to personal injury. So, I spent several days researching negative keywords for a personal injury lawyer advertising on Google and uploaded my own list (you can upload many lists).

Even I couldn’t think of every negative keyword or find everything from my research. for two months I looked at our Google Ads account overview page every day to see what keyword searches we paid for but didn’t want. Now, I check every few days. Over time, I added a few more negative keywords here and there.

How to Research Negative Keywords for Personal Injury Lawyers

First, for at least the first few months, look at your Google Ads account overview page to see what keyword searches you are paying for. Tell your Google campaign manager about every keyword search you don’t want to pay for so it can be added to negative keywords.

Second, write down a list of every negative keyword you can think of that would cause a personal injury lawyer to spend money on a wasted click. Negative keywords such as eviction, ticket, prosecution, lemon, and trademark will prevent useless searches that will cost you money.

Third, research on Google to find fields of law that you either hadn’t thought about or didn’t even know existed. I have a friend who does space law, yes there is a need for that more than ever and he’s been doing it for at least 30 years.

Fourth, start researching keywords people use for those areas of law you don’t want. Search on Google for “find keywords” and you will find keyword tools you can use.

Personal injury lawyers who license 1-800-HURT-911® can get a free list of negative keywords for personal injury lawyers from us.

Use a Google Ads Campaign Manager and Work With Him or Her

I have an extensive resume which includes studying aeronautical engineering, being one of the first computer hackers in 1971, starting and managing several businesses, and managing our advertising and websites, but I also have a personal injury law practice. If I don’t have the time or expertise to manage a Google Ads campaign, you don’t. That’s why we use a Google Ads campaign management company.

However, your Google Ads campaign manager needs and deserves a little help if you’re looking to stay competitive with Google Ads. While you’re not an expert on Google Ads, your campaign manager isn’t an expert on personal injury law. Help your campaign manager out by finding additional keywords that aren’t already on his or her list.

Bonus Tip #1 – Google Search Partners Network

Turn off advertising on the Google Search Partners Network.

Google Search Partners Network allows your Google Ads to appear on websites other than the Google search engine. That means your ads could appear on this website if we had advertising, another lawyer’s website, or on websites where you don’t want your ads to be seen.

Bonus Tip #2 – How to Get Your Google Ad Noticed and Clicked

Mixing numbers, letters, and symbols in your Google Ads title will increase conversions and ROI. If that mix is a brand, the increase is even more substantial.

If you have a vanity phone number use it in your Google Ads title on the left side of the title. If your vanity phone number is trademarked, use the registered trademark symbol ®. If it’s not registered, use ™.

Because ® and ™ are symbols, it attracts attention and increases conversions. Additionally, using a trademark symbol indicates a brand which also increases conversions.

See the astounding results achieved by using 1-800-HURT-911® in our Google Ads title.

Bonus Tip #3 – Enable Google Seller Ratings

If you have reviews on Google, enable Google seller ratings to add star ratings to your Google Ads making them stand out from your competition.

Read more about how advertising for personal injury lawyers with 1-800-HURT-911® will skyrocket your personal injury caseload.

Philip L. Franckel, Esq., is the author of this article.

Phil Franckel then started a personal injury law practice and is a former member of the Board of Directors of the NYS Trial Lawyers Association.

In his spare time, Phil Franckel became an Aux. Police Cadet in 12th grade and is the Commanding Officer of the Communications Bureau, NCPD Aux. Police Section.

Have a question or comment about 3 Tips Will Save a Fortune With Google Ads In 3 Minutes? Leave a comment below!

Avvo and FindLaw vs Google Ads Comparison

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Should Lawyers Advertise With Avvo, FindLaw, or Google Ads?

Our comparison of advertising with Avvo or FindLaw vs. Google Ads for lawyers shows no comparison. Google Ads is the clear winner and the only contender.

My personal injury law firm advertised extensively with Avvo for several years and still did at the time I wrote this article (we now only advertise with Google Ads).

We also signed a one-year advertising agreement with Martindale Hubbell, but to be fair, I didn’t spend enough time setting up our profiles.

We have been advertising with Google Ads for a couple of years since giving up on Avvo. See our results with Google Ads for personal injury lawyers. We have a distinct advantage with Google Ads, but even without that advantage, Google Ads is the clear winner.

The reason that Google Ads is the winner is that Google owns the search engine and built in a substantial advantage for itself.

Our Experience With Avvo

We monopolized motorcycle ads on Avvo within a large geographic area approximately 150 miles across. We were at the top of a three-pack of ads in most of the areas and kept taking more areas as they were given up.

It seemed like a great deal because motorcycle ads on Avvo were very cheap, and motorcycle accident cases are worth more than most other personal injury cases.

Avvo yielded very few results but was still worthwhile because of the value of motorcycle accident cases and the low cost of Avvo ads.

We retained 3 cases worth $50,000 in legal fees from Avvo in the first two years, which made the advertising worthwhile because of the very low cost of motorcycle ads which was approximately $3,700 in two years. We also got some leads that weren’t viable cases, but at least they were legitimate leads.

After four years of advertising with Avvo, we stopped because, in the last two years, we didn’t retain any cases or get any legitimate leads. Avvo just stopped working. See below what happened and why Avvo just stopped working.

When Avvo was working, it was nowhere near as effective as Google Ads or our law firm’s website. Since we weren’t getting any leads anymore, we decided to cancel and spend the money on Google Ads, which will yield two cases for that amount.

I also paid for a “Pro” profile listing on Avvo with a 10 rating, and my profile indicates that my law practice is 50% personal injury and 50% motorcycle accident cases. I paid for the Pro profile because the Pro designation logo made the listing stand out from other listings, and paying for it removed competitor ads from my profile.

Note: At some point after discontinuing our advertising with Avvo, I noticed that the Pro designation logo was gone and was told that Avvo no longer uses it. They were probably forced to drop it.

Avvo now only removes competitor ads from the profile when paying. Without the Pro designation, I decided to stop paying for the Avvo Pro membership since two years of that money will yield one case on Google Ads.

Our Avvo rep was surprised we gave up our ads because he said we get so many calls and emails. But after we stopped getting some legitimate leads from Avvo, all the calls and emails were from salespeople or potential personal injury clients who had no case and already called every personal injury lawyer they could.

The screen capture below shows an example of the emails we get.

Why Aren’t Avvo and FindLaw Still Effective?

The simple reason is that potential clients who are looking to hire a personal injury lawyer no longer see Avvo, FindLaw, and other attorney directories when they look for a lawyer on Google. Why?

Continue reading below this section

Change Your Future!
With 1-800-HURT-911®

Find out how Phil and Rob changed their lives and if your state is still available!

Call Phil Franckel, Esq. Now!
7 days / 8 am to 10 pm EST
>> 516-621-9399 ext. 5

Call Phil 7 days/nights

or send an email

Google knows when someone is looking for a lawyer, plumber, pizza shop, or is just looking for information.

Google changes the results page depending on the search intent. If the searcher is looking for a lawyer, Google morphs into the Google yellow pages, and the organic search results where Avvo and FindLaw might appear are below the fold, which is so far down the page that no one bothers to look there.

Avvo, FindLaw, and other attorney directories are simply no longer immediately visible when someone searches for a personal injury lawyer. Sometimes they are difficult to find, and with voice search, they can’t be found at all. But Google Ads can always be found at the top.

Avvo and FindLaw used to have a chance in the organic search results when there were three Google Ads above the natural search results. But Google added the local map above the natural search results, and now the local map has ads.

Today, Google Ads simply crowded out its competition. FindLaw Is well aware of the problem. My FindLaw rep admitted this to me. Furthermore, recognizing this, FindLaw now recommends and offers Google Ad campaign management.

Desktop Computers

On a desktop computer, the organic search results are now below the fold, so someone looking for a personal injury lawyer won’t see the top organic search results without scrolling down below the ads. On my computer, I had to scroll down below the fold to see Avvo.

The screenshot below of my desktop computer shows that only the ads were seen on the screen. On some monitors, someone may also see the map but will have to scroll down to see the natural search results.

Mobile Search

The problem also exists on mobile. Most people search for a personal injury lawyer on their smartphones. Our results with Google Ads revealed that 92.3% of clicks came from smartphones, 5.1% from desktops, and 2.6% from tablets.

Percent of searches on smartphone vs desktop

92.3% of Google Ad clicks from people searching for a personal injury lawyer came from smartphones (red). 5.1% Desktop searches (blue); 2.6% tablets (orange).

On a smartphone, Google Ads take up the entire screen. Below the Ads are the map, local listings, questions, and then organic search results.

I had to swipe my screen 3 times to get to the natural search results with LegalMatch at the bottom of the screen, 4 times to see FindLaw, and 5 times to see Justia and Avvo.

Mobile Voice Search

But the problem gets worse on mobile with Google voice search, where Avvo, Findlaw, Justia, and LegalMatch can’t be found.

The number of people using voice search to find local businesses is skyrocketing because it works really well, and it’s so easy. According to dialogtech.com, “65% of 25-49 year-olds speak to their voice-enabled devices at least once per day.”

Below is a screenshot of what Google shows when I asked Google to “find a personal injury lawyer near me.” Google showed its local business listings, and it’s not even possible to scroll down the screen to find natural search results. Google didn’t even show Google Ads, but they are now selling Google Ads in the local business listings.

If you’re not in Google local business listings, you won’t be found when someone does a voice search for a personal injury lawyer.

Screenshot showing result when asking Google for "personal injury lawyer near me"

This is the screen shown on my phone after a Google voice search for “find a personal injury lawyer near me.” Users cannot scroll down to see any other results.

Avvo and Findlaw vs Google Ads

Nothing can compete with Google Ads for personal injury lawyers because, well, Google owns the ad space.

While Avvo returned more than it cost in the first two years, it was no match against Google Ads even when Avvo was working, and it no longer works. Google Ads are consistent. We know exactly what we will get with Google Ads.

When people search on Google for a personal injury lawyer, they can click on your Google Ad or call button and reach you directly.

When people reach you through Avvo, FindLaw, Justia, or LegalMatch, they have to:

Search on Google for a personal injury lawyer;
Scroll down the Google results page past the ads, map, and local listings;
Click on a link to Avvo, FindLaw, or one of the other lawyer directories;
After clicking on one of the lawyer directories, they have to search for a lawyer all over again.

This is the Avvo search page someone will find after clicking on the link to Avvo. From here, hopefully, someone will search in your city and find your ad on Avvo.

After searching in Google and clicking on Avvo, someone will have to search a second time on Avvo, where maybe they will find your ad on Avvo.

Advantages of Google Ads

People find you directly on Google
People don’t have to search twice
Your ad gets seen when organic search results usually don’t
Works immediately – you will get cases within days
Consistency. We know exactly what we will get with Google Ads
Get as many or as few cases as you want
Pause your advertising when you want

Disadvantages of Google Ads

Requires a larger advertising budget than Avvo or FindLaw
Requires account management

Advantages of Avvo, FindLaw & Other Lawyer Directories

Inexpensive
Gives you added exposure

Disadvantages of Avvo, FindLaw & Other Lawyer Directories

You can’t get as many cases as you want
It’s difficult for people to find you

Comparison of Avvo, Lawyers.com, FindLaw, Super Lawyers, Justia & Yelp

Interested to know which of these lawyer directories have higher rankings in the Google organic search results? Everest Legal Marketing compares the top legal directories annually in Google search results.

Improve Your Results from Google Ads, Avvo, FindLaw, Justia, or LegalMatch

Whether you’re advertising with Google Ads, Avvo, FindLaw, Justia, or LegalMatch, you can improve results by using a vanity phone number in your online ads.

Improve Your Results from Google Ads

If you’re advertising with Google Ads or plan to, read 3 Tips Will Save a Fortune With Google Ads In 3 Minutes

What Are Some Other Ways to Get Personal Injury Clients?

See some other ways of advertising and how to get personal injury clients with smarter advertising and inexpensive advertising for lawyers.

What’s Your Experience With Avvo, FindLaw, Justia, LegalMatch, Google Ads, or Others? Leave a comment below!

If you have had a good or bad experience with Avvo, FindLaw, Justia, LegalMatch, or any other legal directory, or if you have any other information you can provide to compare Avvo and FindLaw vs. Google Ads, please post a comment about it below.

Philip L. Franckel, Esq., is the author of this article.

Phil Franckel then started a personal injury law practice and is a former member of the Board of Directors of the NYS Trial Lawyers Association.

In his spare time, Phil Franckel became an Aux. Police Cadet in 12th grade and is the Commanding Officer of the Communications Bureau, NCPD Aux. Police Section.

Who Should Manage Your Google Ads Campaign?

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Quick answer: Find a PPC advertising agency experienced with Google Ads for personal injury lawyers. Don’t do it yourself, don’t use Google to manage your ads, and don’t use a social media marketer or marketing person unless it’s a company that has a Google Ads manager.

Managing a Google Ad Campaign Requires a Lot of Time, Knowledge & Experience

Managing a Google Ad Words (now called Google Ads) campaign is a time-consuming and difficult task requiring much knowledge and experience. I know this because I am overseeing our Google Ads campaign manager. (I am not a Google Ads or PPC campaign manager).

I am already an expert in branding, advertising, and search engine optimization, which is a big help. To prepare for our online campaign, I spent several days reading many articles and tutorials about Google Ads.

Continue reading below this section

Change Your Future!
With 1-800-HURT-911®

Find out how Phil and Rob changed their lives and if your state is still available!

Call Phil Franckel, Esq. Now!
7 days / 8 am to 10 pm EST
>> 516-621-9399 ext. 5

Call Phil 7 days/nights

or send an email

I found that the knowledge necessary to become proficient at managing a Google Ads campaign will take a few months of studying and experience. Then, you must stay on top of it because Google constantly changes things.

It’s a good idea to have a rudimentary knowledge of how Google Ads works so you can at least understand what your campaign manager is doing and recognize when your manager is doing a good job or not.

Should You Use a Google Ad Manager Who Represents Other Personal Injury Lawyers?

Yes, definitely. We retained a Google Ad agency specifically because they represent other personal injury lawyers.

We retained a new personal injury client on the first day of advertising with Google Ads, but there were a large number of clicks and calls completely unrelated to accidents.

Before we started, our campaign manager uploaded several large lists of negative keywords to prevent unwanted clicks. He used a very good negative keyword list developed from his experience with advertising for other personal injury lawyers.

Negative keywords prevent ads from showing to people you don’t want to hear from. For instance, a personal injury lawyer would use “bankruptcy” as a negative keyword. There are several different methods of using negative keywords, which require knowledge because the wrong way can cause problems.

After a week, I created and uploaded my own list of negative keywords, which eliminated all of the unrelated clicks but also substantially reduced impressions. My experience with search engine optimization, especially being a personal injury lawyer, was helpful in finding additional negative keywords.

A good negative keyword list is imperative to prevent blowing your ad budget in five minutes. A Google Ad manager who represents other personal injury lawyers will have the experience to develop a good negative keyword list.

What Happens When You Don’t Use a Knowledgeable Google Ad Manager?

In a Site Pro News article (the article was taken down) about how a Google Ad campaign was ruined when the daily ad budget was used up in the first 20 minutes, the author, a social media marketer who was tasked with running the Google Ad campaign, knew nothing about Google Ads.

She relied on Google’s rep to set up and manage the campaign without knowing how that should be done. She blamed Google for screwing up and blamed her client when the fault was her own. This is a real-world example of why you need a real Google Ad Manager, not someone who will farm it out to Google.

While our campaign has been going on, I spoke with several people on different levels at Google. While they have been very helpful, I found they don’t always know what they are talking about and are often wrong.

My Google Ad rep has at least been very honest and tells me when he doesn’t know the answer because he has learned not to steer people wrong. A higher-level Google Tech who called me, however, was flat-out wrong on several points and didn’t know what to say when I proved he was wrong.

My Google Ad rep was convinced that his team could set up a better keyword campaign, but after his team looked at what our manager set up, he said our manager did a great job.

Even though I now have substantial knowledge about Google Ads, keywords, and negative keywords, I still don’t have the knowledge necessary to manage the campaign, and I certainly don’t have the time. Fortunately, we use a Google Ad Manager who knows what he’s doing.

Philip L. Franckel, Esq., is the author of this article.

Phil Franckel then started a personal injury law practice and is a former member of the Board of Directors of the NYS Trial Lawyers Association.

In his spare time, Phil Franckel became an Aux. Police Cadet in 12th grade and is the Commanding Officer of the Communications Bureau, NCPD Aux. Police Section.

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