Martin
Founder, strategy and audits
Writes every audit and takes every first call. On your account from day one, running growth for SMEs since 2010.
SEM for Criminal Defense
Google Ads for Criminal Defense Lawyers
A person arrested on Friday night is comparing firms on Saturday morning. Google Ads puts your firm in front of them at the moment they search, and keeps your spend away from students, researchers and people applying for a public defender.
For small criminal defense firms in the United States that want paid search to bring defense inquiries now, with wrong-fit searches excluded from the start.
Why criminal defense ads waste money without intent splitting
Context from how your customers search, compare and book.
Criminal lawyer is one of the most contested search terms in legal, and a large share of the people typing it will never hire private counsel. A campaign built on the broad term pays for clicks from students, from people researching a friend's case and from people who will be assigned a public defender. The client searches are narrower and easier to qualify: DUI lawyer with a city attached, drug possession attorney with a county attached, domestic violence defense lawyer, federal criminal defense attorney.
The landing page matters as much as the keyword. An ad for DUI defense that lands on a homepage with attorney bios and a divorce link sends the person straight back to the results. Each campaign gets its own page that names the charge, explains what happens at the first appearance, explains how the firm bills in USD and ends with a short form that asks for the charge, the court date and the county.
We report cost per qualified defense inquiry, not cost per click. An inquiry counts when it names a charge, a court date and a county, and the owner can see which search and which ad produced it. We do not quote a cost per click for criminal defense or DUI keywords and we do not promise a number of clients.
Who this paid search suits
groups Customer segments
- person Firms with plain charge pages and no traffic that want inquiries within weeks rather than months
- person Firms whose current campaign is paying for public defender, salary and how to become clicks
- person Firms with a strong DUI or federal practice that want inquiries for that charge and nothing else
- person Firms opening a second office from Houston and Phoenix to Chicago, Atlanta and Miami that need demand before referrals arrive
psychology What drives their decision
- check_circle Defense campaigns with their own budgets by kind of charge and by county
- check_circle Exclusion lists for free, public defender, legal aid, pro bono, how to become, salary and jobs
- check_circle Landing pages that name the charge and explain how the firm bills in USD
- check_circle A report that shows cost per qualified defense inquiry by search and by ad
How we deliver SEM
A clear, repeatable process built around how criminal defense customers search and decide.
1
Account and search term audit
We read the existing search terms report line by line, mark every student, public defender and research search the campaign has paid for, check the conversion actions against real inquiries, and review every ad for a claim the firm cannot support.
2
Campaign structure by charge
Separate campaigns for DUI, drug, assault, theft and federal matters, each with its own budget in USD, its own county targeting and its own landing page, and a shared exclusion list that keeps wrong-fit searches out of all of them.
3
Ads the owner approves
Ads that name the charge and the county, say the firm answers after hours if it does, and promise nothing about a result. Every headline and description is approved by the owner before it runs, because the lawyer advertising rules of the firm's state apply to ads as much as to the website.
4
Landing pages and intake
One page per campaign with the person's question answered first, what happens at the first appearance, the way the firm bills in USD, the attorney who will take the call and a short form that asks for the charge, the court date and the county. Calls and forms are tracked to the search and the ad.
5
Weekly review and monthly report
Search terms are reviewed every week and new wrong-fit phrases are added to the exclusions. Budget moves toward the charges, counties and ads that produced qualified defense inquiries. The monthly report shows cost per qualified defense inquiry in USD by campaign, with no cost per click headline.
query_stats
What Criminal Defense SEM includes
Reach people who are ready to book on Google, without paying for clicks that never turn into customers
- check_circle Search term audit and exclusion list
- check_circle Defense campaigns by kind of charge and county
- check_circle Ads approved by the owner before they run
- check_circle Landing page and intake form per campaign
- check_circle Monthly report on cost per qualified defense inquiry
What you can expect
- verified Spend goes to people with a charge and a court date, not to students or public defender applicants
- verified Each kind of charge has its own campaign, budget, county targeting and page
- verified Every ad names the charge and promises no result
- verified Defense inquiries arrive tagged with the search and the ad behind them
- verified Cost per qualified defense inquiry is reported each month
Deliverables you receive
inventory_2 Search term audit with every wrong-fit search marked
inventory_2 Defense campaigns by kind of charge and county, each with its own budget in USD
inventory_2 A shared exclusion list for public defender, student and research searches, reviewed every week
inventory_2 Ads approved by the owner with no promised result
inventory_2 A landing page per campaign with a short defense intake form
inventory_2 Monthly report on cost per qualified defense inquiry by campaign
Technical approach
The mechanics behind SEM for criminal defense, explained plainly.
Conversion tracking
Calls, forms and booked consultations are tracked as separate conversion actions, with wrong-fit form submissions excluded from the defense goal. Where the practice management system records retainer signed, those results are imported so bidding learns from matters rather than clicks.
Location and schedule
Campaigns run in the counties and metros where the firm's attorneys are admitted and actually appear, with no spend in states where the firm cannot act. Ad schedules follow when people actually search after an arrest, including late nights and weekends, with budget held back for those hours.
Match types and exclusions
Phrase and exact match on charge terms, with broad match used only once the exclusion list has matured. Exclusions for free, public defender, legal aid, pro bono, how to become, salary, jobs and school names are reviewed every week against the search terms report.
Marketing from $500 USD a month
Month to month, no commitment. One fee covers the pages, the search and ad work and the tracking. Ad spend is separate and stays in your own accounts.
Starting at
$500 USD per month
Free to cancel with 1 month's notice. Tell us what you sell and where. We come back with what the first month would fix.
Get a Free AuditWhat $500 a month covers
Pages
IncludedPages built around the searches your buyers actually type.
Search and ads
IncludedSearch and ads aimed at people ready to inquire.
Tracking
IncludedCalls, forms and bookings tagged to the search, ad or page behind them.
What to expect from Google Ads
Paid search can bring defense inquiries within weeks of launch, usually from people who already have a court date. The first weeks are about cutting waste, and the following months are about moving budget toward the charges and counties that produce matters.
Days 1 to 14
We audit the account, build the charge campaigns and the exclusion list, write the ads for the owner to approve, and put a tracked landing page behind each campaign. Nothing runs until the owner has approved every ad.
Weeks 3 to 8
Campaigns run, search terms are reviewed every week and the first defense inquiries arrive tagged with their search and ad. We cut the searches that bring students and researchers and move budget toward the ones that bring people with a court date.
Months 3 to 6 and beyond
Budget settles on the charges and counties that produce qualified defense inquiries at a cost the owner accepts. We report monthly and we do not promise a number of clients, because people hire counsel on their own schedule.
Other Criminal Defense marketing services
Our team
The same people on the audit and on the work
Martin writes every audit and takes the first call. The same team stays on the account. 160+ businesses since 2010.
Yoana
Social and app development
Shapes social strategy and builds practical app experiences that turn attention into action.
Mike
SEO
Owns technical, local and content SEO so the right buyers find you when demand is highest.
Robert
Paid media
Plans and manages paid search and social campaigns around qualified leads.
Elmer
Analytics
Connects tracking, attribution and reporting so decisions are based on revenue-quality data.
Dino
Design
Creates clear brand and conversion-focused design across landing pages, campaigns and product experiences.
Certified and experienced
Certified where it matters. Accountable for the outcome.
Verified platform knowledge, 25+ years of hands-on experience, and an operating track record since 2010.
Google AdsCertified
✓Google AnalyticsCertified
✓Google Tag ManagerCertified
✓Operating since 2010Proven experience
✓Frequently Asked Questions
Can Google Ads bring defense inquiries quickly? expand_more
Usually within weeks of launch, because people with a court date are already searching. We do not promise a number of inquiries or clients, and we report what arrived rather than a forecast.
Why not bid on criminal lawyer on its own? expand_more
Because a large share of the people typing it will never hire private counsel. The broad term pays for clicks from students, researchers and public defender applicants. We bid on charge terms with a city, a county or the word attorney attached.
Do the lawyer advertising rules apply to ads? expand_more
Yes. The rules of professional conduct of the state where the firm is admitted apply to every ad, which is why the owner approves every headline and description before it runs and why no ad claims a result. HeyLead holds no law license and gives no legal advice.
What counts as a qualified defense inquiry? expand_more
A call or form that names a charge, a court date and a county. Student, researcher and public defender inquiries are recorded on their own line so the defense number stays honest.
Can you quote a cost per click? expand_more
No. We do not quote a cost per click for criminal defense or DUI keywords. We report cost per qualified defense inquiry in USD, set after the free audit from the charges you take and your capacity.
Ready to get more from Criminal Defense SEM?
Get a free audit and we will show you where you are losing inquiries today.
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