Most criminal law firms that attempt paid ads end up disappointed. Not because paid ads don’t work. But because the ads attract the wrong people.

• Students researching assignments.
• Job seekers.
• People looking for free advice who will never retain counsel.

The phone may ring, but qualified leads remain elusive.

The problem is not paid advertising.
The problem is how it’s built.

Intent Is Everything

Criminal defence is not comparison shopping.
Someone facing charges is not browsing. They are trying to solve an urgent problem.

Often late at night.
Often under stress.
Sometimes from a police station parking lot.

Paid ads work when they reach that person at that moment.
They fail when they chase traffic instead of intent.

The difference looks like this:

Low-intent searches (high volume, low conversion):

• “criminal law”

• “legal advice”

• “criminal justice help”

High-intent searches (lower volume, real clients):

• “DUI lawyer in [city]”

• “assault charge lawyer”

• “drug possession lawyer consultation”

More clicks do not help if the wrong people are clicking.

Where the Money Gets Wasted

Google Search Ads are the foundation. They reach people actively looking for a lawyer right now. When structured properly, they produce higher-quality calls and better conversion rates.

Performance Max can support strong campaigns. But without clean data and clear controls, it often spends budget on placements that don’t convert.

Meta Ads are not primary lead drivers for criminal law. They work best for retargeting and brand reinforcement. Firms that rely on them alone usually receive low-quality inquiries.

The biggest waste happens before anyone clicks.

Broad keyword targeting.
No negative keyword lists.
Ads triggering on immigration searches, employment disputes, legal careers, and “free consultation” hunters.

Every irrelevant click costs money and produces nothing.

A Pattern We See Often

A firm runs Google Ads for six months but never sets the account up properly. They get calls, but too many are irrelevant.

When we audit the account, we find 40 percent of the budget going to searches like:

• “criminal lawyer salary”

• “how to become a criminal lawyer”

• “criminal law internships”

No negative keywords.
No filtering.

The clicks and impressions look good, so the firm assumes it’s working.

It isn’t.

They are getting tire-kickers because that is exactly who the ads are targeting.

This is why criminal law marketing requires specialization. Generic PPC management does not account for the difference between someone who has been charged and someone researching a career or writing a paper.

Landing Pages Make or Break Campaigns

Sending paid traffic to a generic homepage is one of the fastest ways to kill a campaign.

High-performing ads need dedicated landing pages built around specific charges. The page must match the search, address real consequences, focus on starting a conversation, and remove everything else.

That alignment, from keyword to ad to page, is one of the biggest drivers of lead quality.

Tracking That Actually Matters

Clicks and impressions are vanity metrics.

What matters:

• Phone calls

• Call duration

• Form submissions

• Conversion quality

• Cost per qualified lead

If you cannot tell which campaigns produce retained clients and which produce noise, you are optimizing in the dark.

Why This Requires Specialization

Criminal law advertising is not like marketing other services.

There are ethical constraints, platform rules, and search behaviours that general agencies often misunderstand.

Many agencies can generate traffic.
Very few understand the difference between someone searching “what happens if I get charged with assault” and someone searching “assault lawyer Toronto tonight.”

That difference is everything.

Final Thought

Paid ads can be one of the most effective ways for criminal law firms to attract new clients and stay competitive. But only when they are built with precision.

The goal is not more clicks.
The goal is more conversations with people who genuinely need a criminal lawyer and are ready to retain one.

If your campaigns are not producing that, the problem is fixable.

Rainmark builds PPC strategies exclusively for criminal defence firms. If you want clear answers about your account and better-qualified leads faster, contact us for a PPC audit.