c/edmonton-legal-marketing

My cousin in Calgary said paying for Google Ads was a waste for a small law firm.

He runs a plumbing business and said his ads never got calls, so I held off for a year. After finally trying a small $500 test last month focused on 'Edmonton car accident lawyer', I got three solid leads in two weeks. Has anyone else found local search ads work better for legal stuff than other services?

My Google My Business listing got suspended right before a big case

I was at my office on Jasper Avenue when I got the email. It was a Friday afternoon, and the suspension was for a supposed address issue I couldn't figure out. I had to submit a reinstatement request and wait three days, which felt like forever. Anyone else had their GMB profile go down and how did you fix it fast?

Paid a local guy $500 for a 'guaranteed' Google My Business boost and got nothing

He said he'd get my law firm to the top of the map pack in two weeks, but after a month my listing looks exactly the same. I mean, I feel like an idiot for not checking his past work first. Has anyone in Edmonton actually found a service that does this right?

My Google Ads for a DUI defense practice got flagged and paused for no clear reason

It happened last Tuesday afternoon, right after I increased the daily budget to 75 dollars. The ads were running fine for weeks, then suddenly got hit with a 'policy violation' notice that didn't give any specifics. I had to spend two hours on the phone with support, and they finally said it was a mistake in their system. Has anyone else in Edmonton had their legal ads wrongly flagged like this recently?

Shoutout to the new city permit portal, it actually saved my last campaign

I used to think posting about local cases on social media was a bad look, like it was too salesy. For two years, I stuck to general legal tips. Then last month, I saw a firm in St. Albert get a ton of local engagement by talking about a specific zoning bylaw change they helped with, using the new city website for data. I tried it, posting a short breakdown of a recent Edmonton land use appeal we handled, and it got 3x more calls than my usual posts. The key was linking to the actual public case file. Has anyone else found success using specific local government resources in their content?

A client told me my firm's website looked like a 'generic template' and it made me rethink our whole local SEO strategy.

My uncle, a retired lawyer, told me to stick with the Yellow Pages for my new firm back in 2010

He said a listing there was the only thing people in Edmonton would ever use to find a lawyer. I listened for about a year and got maybe two calls. Finally switched to a basic Google Ads campaign focused on 'Edmonton family lawyer' and my phone started ringing the next week. Anyone else have family give them marketing advice that was stuck in a different decade?

A few years back, my firm's website was just a basic info page with our address.

We thought a simple site was enough for Edmonton clients. Around 2021, I saw our calls drop and noticed people were finding other lawyers online. We changed our approach and started adding real local content, like blog posts about Alberta traffic laws and guides for Edmonton small businesses. Now, we get more calls from people who read those posts first. Has anyone else seen better results after focusing on local topics instead of just listing services?

Why does nobody talk about the local radio ad that flopped for a friend's firm?

I was having coffee with a lawyer friend who runs a small practice near Whyte Ave, and he said his $1500 radio spot on a popular station got zero calls... not one. He figured out the ad talked about 'legal excellence' but never said he helps with Edmonton real estate deals, which is what people here search for. Has anyone else found that being too general just kills your ad money?

Appreciation post: I thought networking events were a waste of time until the one at the Matrix Hotel

I went to that legal marketing mixer last month thinking I'd just grab a free drink and leave. But I ended up talking to a family law firm owner for an hour, and she showed me her Google Ads dashboard on her phone. Seeing her real numbers, like a $12 cost per lead, made me rethink my whole approach to paid search. Anyone else have a simple tip that changed how you run ads for local firms?

Hot take: I thought local radio ads were a waste until I heard one at the Edmonton airport.

I was waiting for a flight last month and heard a clear, simple ad for a personal injury firm that just said their name and the phrase 'Edmonton's tough cases'. It wasn't fancy, but it stuck because it was the only local voice in a sea of national brands. What's a small, specific place you've heard a legal ad that actually worked?

Question about marketing at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival

I was handing out branded pens at the Folk Fest last summer, and a lawyer asked if my firm did any online ads. I said no, and he just laughed and said, 'You're at a festival but not on Google?' It made me switch our whole budget to local search ads. Has anyone else had a client find them in a weird place?

I was spending $500 a month on Google Ads for my Edmonton law firm with no calls

My web guy in St. Albert finally showed me the search terms report and I was showing up for things like 'free legal advice Edmonton'... I had been targeting broad keywords the whole time. Do you think exact match keywords are still the best way to go for a small practice here, or is there a better fix?

Looking back at my first $5k ad spend in Edmonton and cringing a bit

It took a client asking 'why are you targeting people in Red Deer?' for me to see I had my geo settings all wrong for years... anyone else have a facepalm moment with basic platform settings?

My worst week in Edmonton legal marketing started with a client who wanted to sue a goose

Last Tuesday, a new client called our firm, totally serious, because a Canada goose at Hawrelak Park had stolen his sandwich and he wanted to explore a 'property damage' claim. I spent 45 minutes on the phone trying to gently explain wildlife law while he kept asking about filing fees. The whole thing threw my content calendar off because I was supposed to write a blog post on actual personal injury limits, but my brain was just stuck on geese. It got me thinking, how do you even write an ad that filters for... that? Has anyone else in Edmonton gotten a call so wild it messed up your whole marketing vibe for a day?

I finally got a call from a local news station about a case I worked on

Last Tuesday, CTV Edmonton reached out to me for a comment on a traffic law story, and my quote ended up in their evening segment. It wasn't a huge case, just a common speeding ticket dispute, but having that clip on my website's 'In The News' page gave it a real boost. Has anyone else in town seen good results from getting a bit of local media coverage, or is it more trouble than it's worth?

Why does nobody talk about the cost of local radio ads for Edmonton law firms?

Last month, a firm downtown spent about $8,000 on a six-week radio spot on a popular station. They told me they got maybe two calls from it. But three years ago, another practice in Oliver said the same kind of ad filled their intake for a whole quarter. It seems like a total gamble now with everyone streaming music. Is radio still a solid play for getting clients here, or is that money better spent on Google Ads? What's your take?

Can we talk about paying for those sponsored 'top lawyer' articles in the Edmonton Journal?

I mean, I dropped about $1500 last fall to get my firm featured in one of those pieces, and idk, maybe it's just me but it felt like a total waste. We got maybe two website visits tracked from it, and both were just people looking for the free info, not real clients. Has anyone else tried this and actually seen it work, or is it just a fancy ad that nobody reads?

Burned $800 on a 'guaranteed' Edmonton law firm directory listing that sent zero calls.

Paid for a local news story and it brought in a call I didn't expect

I put about $500 into a small story in one of those community papers here in Edmonton, the one that covers the west end. It was a piece on a recent change in family law that I thought local people should know about. Honestly, I figured it was a long shot and the money was basically gone. But a guy called my office last week because he saw it. He said he was just reading the paper over coffee and the story made him realize he needed to sort out his own situation. It wasn't a huge case, but it was a direct result from that ad spend. I'm not sure I'd do it again for that price, but it did work once. Has anyone else tried advertising in those smaller neighborhood papers and had it pay off?

I started tracking where my Edmonton law firm's calls really come from

For months, I assumed our Google Ads were our main lead source. I spent a lot there. But I started asking every new caller, 'Just out of curiosity, how did you hear about us?' I wrote it down for 60 days. Turns out, over half were from a local Facebook group for parents, where I had answered a legal question months ago. The ads were only bringing in about 20%. It completely changed where I put my effort and money. Has anyone else found a big gap between what they think is working and what actually brings in clients?

Pro tip: I heard a lawyer at a coffee shop say something about local news that clicked for me

I was grabbing a coffee downtown last week and overheard two lawyers talking about their marketing. One said, 'We got a new client from that small piece in the Edmonton Journal about the new condo rules.' It made me think about how local news is still a big deal for trust. For law firms here, getting quoted as an expert on Edmonton-specific issues, like zoning changes or local court backlogs, seems way better than just generic ads. It shows you know the city's problems. Has anyone here actually tried to pitch a story to a local news outlet like CTV Edmonton or Global News? How did you start?

Showerthought: I used to ignore Google My Business for my firm's marketing.

I was talking to a client at the Remedy Cafe last week about how they found their last lawyer. They said they just searched 'family lawyer Edmonton' on their phone and called the first one with a bunch of good recent reviews. It hit me that I've been focusing on fancy website stuff while ignoring the simple local search. I haven't updated my GMB profile in maybe six months. How often do you guys actually check and update your business listing?

Update: I used to think all legal marketing was just ads and billboards.

A lawyer at the Edmonton Law Courts coffee shop told me his best cases come from people who read his blog about traffic ticket disputes. Has anyone else seen good results from just writing about local legal issues?

Warning: I saw a lawyer's billboard on the Yellowhead with a huge mistake

I was driving east on the Yellowhead near 97th Street last week and saw a big billboard for a local personal injury firm. The main phone number on it was missing a digit, it only had nine numbers instead of ten. That's a basic error that could cost them a lot of calls. I know billboards are a big part of legal marketing here, but this seems like a major oversight. How often do you guys check your own ads for simple mistakes like that? Has anyone else seen marketing fails around Edmonton that made you cringe?