30 September 2026 · 7 min read · Oscar Markham
Where a law firm's Google Ads budget disappears
Legal search terms are among the most expensive in any Irish account, and the keyword surface is unusually polluted: the same words are used by people looking for a solicitor, people looking for free advice, people studying law and people looking for a job in it. A default campaign pays the same for all of them.
Free advice and self-help
'Free legal advice', 'can I sue', 'what are my rights', 'citizens information', 'flac'. Very high volume, very high click rate, and these people are explicitly trying not to pay a solicitor.
Some proportion will eventually instruct somebody. Not enough to justify the click price, and they will consume a modest budget in days.
- free, free advice, citizens information, flac, legal aid, diy, template
- can i, am i entitled, what are my rights, how do i, myself
Study, jobs and the profession itself
'Law jobs', 'solicitor salary', 'FE1', 'Blackhall', 'law degree points', 'trainee solicitor'. Steady volume, zero value, and easy to miss because it looks professionally relevant.
The training and exam terms are the ones most often left running.
- jobs, vacancy, trainee, apprenticeship, salary, wage, career
- fe1, blackhall, law society exam, degree, points, cao, course, college
Forms, templates and documents
People looking for a template will not instruct a firm. 'Will template', 'tenancy agreement template', 'section 20 form', 'affidavit example'.
Worth blocking unless a document service is something you genuinely offer.
- template, form, sample, example, pdf, download, wording
The restricted category
Irish law limits how firms may advertise services relating to personal injuries. Whatever your view of that, it means those terms should be handled with advice rather than added to a campaign by default.
The practical consequence is that a firm's paid search should be built on conveyancing, probate, wills, family, employment and commercial work — which is where the volume is anyway.
What is worth paying for
A specific matter plus a place. 'Conveyancing solicitor [town]', 'probate solicitor [county]', 'employment solicitor [city]', 'family law solicitor [town]', 'make a will [town]'.
Set locations to presence rather than presence-or-interest. Then read the search terms report weekly for the first month — in this sector it is always worse than people expect, because of how much free-advice traffic finds its way in.
Written by Oscar Markham, founder of Dublin Growth Digital. We run lead generation for Irish estate agents and trades, reported every Friday in enquiries and booked work.