Case Study: Personal Injury Law Firm in Chicago
This law firm specializes in vehicle accidents and personal injury cases in the competitive Chicago market. While they had established a successful local reputation, their online presence was underperforming. They faced challenges with ineffective tracking and poorly performing PPC campaigns. Their goal was to capture a larger market share in one of the most competitive legal markets in the country, where keywords can be costly, averaging between $20 and $60 per click.
Strategy
Goal: 372% Increase in Average Monthly Leads
Recognizing that a direct bidding war for competitive keywords would be prohibitively expensive, we opted for a broad approach, leveraging multiple search engines and focusing on long-tail keywords. We generated over 2,000 variations of Chicago-specific legal keywords, ensuring the client was visible in every relevant online space. This involved capturing less common 3- to 4-word keyword phrases. While this approach might seem tedious, we understood that every conversion opportunity was vital for the client.
Google Ads often assigns low-quality scores to competitive keywords due to their "low historical performance." By using tailored long-tail keywords that matched relevant ad copy, we significantly improved the quality scores across the board. We also revamped the client's ad copy to highlight their impressive professional track record, enhancing both click-through and conversion rates.
Following our initial success, we implemented advanced tracking methods, notably using Calltrax Plus to evaluate the performance of various PPC channels. The client expressed interest in a Superpages.com campaign, which had previously provided affordable traffic. However, our CallTrax analysis revealed that the expenditures on this campaign were largely ineffective, resulting in savings of several hundred dollars per month.
Those savings were reinvested into more effective search engines. We discovered a cost-effective niche in Search Alliance, generating valuable calls with minimal investment. This adaptability was essential for the client, whose monthly budget fluctuated between $10,000 and $5,000. By selectively adjusting traffic based on AdWords data and Analytics insights, we fine-tuned their budget to optimize performance beyond their expectations.
Challenges
The challenges were ineffective tracking and poorly performing PPC campaigns. Their goal was to capture a larger market share in one of the most competitive legal markets in the country, where keywords can be costly, averaging between $20 and $60 per click.
Results
Our efforts yielded remarkable results. Compared to their previous performance, pages per visit increased by 100%, time on site rose by 106%, and bounce rates decreased by 28.54 percentage points. Initially, we saw increased traffic, a 27% reduction in costs, and a doubling of leads, averaging 9 compared to the previous 4.3. Our consistent success has translated to 12-20 conversions weekly from both online and phone inquiries. As the client noted, “You have done a great job aligning our numbers with the budget. Thanks again. The campaign is thriving.”
Our focus on better targeting—not merely increasing traffic—has resulted in improved lead quality. As illustrated in the accompanying graph, online conversions (green line) increased despite fewer clicks (blue line) due to budget constraints. Notably, we secured the third-largest settlement in the firm’s history, a multimillion-dollar case, thanks to our PPC strategies. This case exemplifies how detailed tracking and persistence can lead to significant success for our clients