If you are a fellow blog reader, you will know that we have previously covered Google Local Services Ads (LSAs) for law firms. If not, we strongly recommend you read our essential guide to LSAs first. 

There are several benefits to using LSAs for your law firm, especially if you want to serve your local community. From building trust to saving costs by only paying for leads related to your services, LSAs can be very effective marketing tools. 

But it’s not all a bed of roses. There have been several reports of spam flooding the platform since September 2020. In fact, this is not its only problem: Fake business names, fake reviews, and spammy locations are only some of the issues businesses face when using this service. 

This only leaves us with one question: How efficient are LSAs for law firms in 2022?

What are Google Local Service Ads?

While this blog post is not meant to introduce you to LSAs, we will give you a brief explanation of what this service can do for you. 

Google’s LSAs is an ad format that your business can use to advertise locally and receive leads in the form of phone calls and messages directly from potential customers to your Local Services ad. 

In short, this means connecting with people who search for the services you offer on Google. The coolest thing? You only pay if a customer contacts you directly through the ad. 

To advertise to your local community, Google will ask you for your address and zip code. Using LSAs guarantees you Google’s seal of approval, and as long as you keep up with potential customers’ messages in a timely manner, you can leverage your law firm’s online reputation. 

The catch is that customers can rate your business depending on how responsive and useful they find your services. Now, if the user doesn’t find your business a good fit for their needs, you won’t be charged for the ad. 
We discuss more why LSAs are a good investment for your law firm’s digital marketing strategy in another blog post.

Are LSAs efficient in 2022?

Reports of spam and fake business profiles can potentially ruin the reputation and credibility of Google’s LSAs as a digital marketing tool. Further, it can ruin any efforts from real business profiles of advertising locally in the clutter of the internet. 

Despite efforts to legitimize registered businesses by asking for pertinent information such as the business’ location, services, and clientele, the way LSAs are set up makes room for spammy content and fake information.

One of the shortcomings of LSAs is their ad ranking system. The businesses with more positive reviews are the ones that rank the best. The problem? Spammers know the business potential and charge between $15-$25 per fake LSA review. 

This and the aforementioned problems with LSAs are opportunities for improvement that can significantly impact your law firm’s LSA efficiency. Most importantly, implementing a method for reporting spam will be crucial if Google wants LSAs to stay relevant. 

How to effectively use Google LSAs?

Despite some issues with spam, there are still ways to effectively use LSAs for your law firm. Here are some valuable tips to use LSAs in 2022:

  1. Pay close attention to your law firm’s reputation management: Clients’ reviews are what boosts your ad performance, so make sure you’re taking proper care of the leads you get.
  2. The more availability, the better!: If you set up your business as available 24/7, your chances of attracting potential leads will skyrocket. Just make sure that you’re ACTUALLY responding back to people. 
  3. Use it as a complementary advertising tool: Our best advice for you on how to use LSAs is to use the service as a complement to your advertising strategy. If you rely solely on LSAs to reach potential clients, you will not take full advantage of the “digital oyster” that is the Internet.

What are some important considerations?

Before you venture into the world of LSAs, there are a few things you should consider. These aspects might help you decide if this services is worth your time and money: 

  1. No assurance of Spanish-speaking lawyers: Despite Google showing LSAs when searching in Spanish, they provide no feature to assure the potential customer they will talk to a Spanish-speaking attorney. Hispanics represent the fastest-growing demographic in the U.S., so this is flaw that Google must address ASAP. 
  2. User reviews don’t benefit new law firms: Because LSAs are powered by user reviews, new law firms can’t compete with more established law firms with lots of years of experience and clients to back them up. 
  3. Limited analytics: Since Google manages your ad campaigns, there really is no way to get insightful data to understand how your LSAs are performing (Other than hiring veteran marketers to do it for you, of course). Other than a “Reports Page” to track ad success, you don’t get specific information from potential customers. 

If you want to get a full review of LSAs, check out a blog post with the full insight.

Our takeaways

We hopefully clarified some of the concerns you may have with using Google LSAs. It is definitely a useful ads service with some flaws that Google needs to address soon. 

As a general rule of thumb, try LSAs out for yourself and make an informed decision starting from your own experience. While Google LSAs work for a particular law practice area, it does not mean that it will work well for you. 

You can also do your part to improve Google LSAs: Don’t partake in malicious activities such as buying fake reviews or creating fake business profiles. Let the algorithm work its magic, and you will receive potential leads in no time! 

If you’re still unsure whether LSAs is a good fit for your law firm, let us marketing experts handle it! Book your first session with us to maximize your digital marketing strategy.