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 Defence
Google Ads for Criminal Defence Lawyers in Singapore
A person arrested on Friday night is comparing lawyers on Saturday morning. Google Ads puts your practice in front of them at the moment they search, and keeps your spend away from students, researchers and people applying for legal aid.
For small criminal defence practices in Singapore that want paid search to bring defence enquiries now, with wrong-fit searches excluded from the start.
Why criminal defence ads waste money without intent splitting
Context from how your customers search, compare and book.
Criminal lawyer is a contested search term in Singapore, and a share of the people typing it will never instruct 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 apply for legal aid. The client searches are narrower and easier to qualify: drink driving lawyer Singapore, drug offence lawyer, criminal defence lawyer State Courts, lawyer for police investigation.
The landing page matters as much as the keyword. An ad for drink driving defence that lands on a homepage with lawyer profiles and a divorce link sends the person straight back to the results. Each campaign gets its own page that names the offence, explains what happens at the first mention, explains how the practice charges in SGD and ends with a short form or a WhatsApp button that asks for the offence and the next court date.
We report cost per qualified defence enquiry, not cost per click. An enquiry counts when it names an offence and a court date or a police interview, and the owner can see which search and which ad produced it. We do not quote a cost per click for criminal defence keywords and we do not promise a number of clients. Every ad follows Part 5 of the Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules 2015, read on sso.agc.gov.sg as the current version at 8 October 2026: no success rate, no comparison with another practice and nothing that reads as touting.
Who this paid search suits
groups Customer segments
- person Practices with plain offence pages and no traffic that want enquiries within weeks rather than months
- person Practices whose current campaign is paying for legal aid, salary and how to become clicks
- person Practices with a strong drink driving or white collar practice that want enquiries for that offence and nothing else
- person Practices that have just set up on their own and need demand before referrals arrive
psychology What drives their decision
- check_circle Defence campaigns with their own budgets by kind of offence
- check_circle Exclusion lists for free, legal aid, pro bono, prosecutor, how to become, salary and jobs
- check_circle Landing pages that name the offence and explain how the practice charges in SGD
- check_circle A report that shows cost per qualified defence enquiry by search and by ad
How we deliver SEM
A clear, repeatable process built around how criminal defence customers search and decide.
1
Account and search term audit
We read the existing search terms report line by line, mark every student, legal aid and research search the campaign has paid for, check the conversion actions against real enquiries, and review every ad for a success rate, a comparison or a claim the practice cannot justify.
2
Campaign structure by offence
Separate campaigns for drink driving, drug, hurt, property and white collar matters, each with its own budget in SGD 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 offence, say the practice 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 publicity rules 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 mention, the way the practice charges in SGD, the lawyer who will take the call and a short form or WhatsApp button that asks for the offence and the next court date. Calls, messages 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 offences and ads that produced qualified defence enquiries. The monthly report shows cost per qualified defence enquiry in SGD by campaign, with no cost per click headline.
query_stats
What Criminal Defence SEM includes
Reach people who are ready to book on Google, without paying for clicks that never turn into customers in Singapore
- check_circle Search term audit and exclusion list
- check_circle Defence campaigns by kind of offence
- check_circle Ads approved by the owner before they run
- check_circle Landing page, intake form and WhatsApp button per campaign
- check_circle Monthly report on cost per qualified defence enquiry
What you can expect
- verified Spend goes to people with a charge and a court date, not to students or legal aid applicants
- verified Each kind of offence has its own campaign, budget and page
- verified Every ad names the offence and promises no result
- verified Defence enquiries arrive tagged with the search and the ad behind them
- verified Cost per qualified defence enquiry is reported each month
Deliverables you receive
inventory_2 Search term audit with every wrong-fit search marked
inventory_2 Defence campaigns by kind of offence, each with its own budget in SGD
inventory_2 A shared exclusion list for legal aid, student and research searches, reviewed every week
inventory_2 Ads approved by the owner with no success rate and no promised result
inventory_2 A landing page per campaign with a short defence intake form and WhatsApp button
inventory_2 Monthly report on cost per qualified defence enquiry by campaign
Technical approach
The mechanics behind SEM for criminal defence, explained plainly.
Conversion tracking
Calls, WhatsApp clicks, forms and booked consultations are tracked as separate conversion actions, with wrong-fit form submissions excluded from the defence goal. Where the practice management system records warrant to act signed, those results are imported so bidding learns from matters rather than clicks.
Location and schedule
Campaigns run in Singapore only, with placements outside Singapore excluded. Ad schedules follow when people actually search after arrest, including late nights and weekends, with budget held back for those hours.
Match types and exclusions
Phrase and exact match on offence terms, with broad match used only once the exclusion list has matured. Exclusions for free, legal aid, pro bono, prosecutor, how to become, salary, jobs and university 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 enquire.
Tracking
IncludedCalls, forms and bookings tagged to the search, ad or page behind them.
What to expect from Google Ads
Paid search can bring defence enquiries 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 offences that produce matters.
Days 1 to 14
We audit the account, build the offence 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 defence enquiries 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 offences that produce qualified defence enquiries at a cost the owner accepts. We report monthly and we do not promise a number of clients, because people instruct counsel on their own schedule.
Other Criminal Defence 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 defence enquiries quickly? expand_more
Usually within weeks of launch, because people with a court date are already searching. We do not promise a number of enquiries or clients, and we report what arrived rather than a forecast.
Why not bid on criminal lawyer on its own? expand_more
Because a share of the people typing it will never instruct private counsel. The broad term pays for clicks from students, researchers and legal aid applicants. We bid on offence terms with Singapore, State Courts or the word lawyer attached.
Do the publicity rules apply to ads? expand_more
Yes. Rule 42(1) of the Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules 2015, read on sso.agc.gov.sg as the current version at 8 October 2026, says a practitioner must ensure publicity complies with the Rules "whether that publicity is by the legal practitioner or by any other person on the legal practitioner's behalf", which includes an agency. That is why the owner approves every headline and description before it runs and why no ad claims a result or a success rate. HeyLead holds no practising certificate and gives no legal advice.
What counts as a qualified defence enquiry? expand_more
A call, message or form that names an offence and a court date or a police interview. Student, researcher and legal aid enquiries are recorded on their own line so the defence number stays honest.
Can you quote a cost per click? expand_more
No. We do not quote a cost per click for criminal defence keywords. We report cost per qualified defence enquiry in SGD, set after the free audit from the offences you take and your capacity.
Ready to get more from Criminal Defence SEM?
Get a free audit and we will show you where you are losing enquiries today.
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