If you were part of the earliest generation of internet users, you might cringe when you see the term “banner ads.”
But the reality is, banner ads are a remarkably effective advertising strategy in the modern era – and they’ve come a long way from the obnoxious, flashing prototypes of yesteryear.
When you place banner ads, you can pay for them in any number of different ways. You might purchase banner ads with a pay per click (PPC) strategy where you only pay for the clicks you receive. But it’s more common to pay for impressions.
For example, if you have an ad with a $5 CPM rate, you’ll pay a meager $5 for each 1,000 views of the ad on a target website.
If you’re optimizing for brand awareness or the highest stages of your sales funnel, impressions might be enough. But for the rest of us, it’s important to optimize for clicks in this scenario. After all, if you’re not generating clicks, you’re probably not generating revenue. And if you’re not generating revenue, you’re not going to have a positive return on investment (ROI).
So what steps can you take to increase banner ad clicks?
Most of us remember the troubled history of banner ads.
Aggressive banner ads were on almost every website, flashing and shaking to get our attention while advertising some truly questionable products and services.
But modern banner ads are much more refined. These advertisements are highly targeted, they’re designed to be both relevant to a target audience and appropriate for the website on which they’re featured. And they must be as noninvasive as possible – or else, they’re going to be removed by the hosting website or the distribution network.
You also need to keep in mind that most web users remember or at least acknowledge a past in which banner ads were spammy and annoying. People, in general, don’t like obnoxious advertisements, so they’ll willfully ignore most of the overt banner ads they encounter in the wild. In other words, you have your work cut out for you.
If you’re going to keep your ads rotating and relevant in modern times, while simultaneously pleasing your target audience, you need to optimize those ads to be as relevant and attractive as possible.
Let’s look at the strategies that can help you get there.
Now for the meat of this article: how to increase banner ad clicks.
These are some of the best tactics for earning more clicks from your banner ads across your entire campaign:
Your first priority should be better understanding your target audience. Who are your target demographics and how are you going to appeal to them? Some advertisers make the mistake of appealing to the most general, universal audience, with the hope of reaching a greater number of people – but this is a mistake. It’s typically better to have very specific content that’s relevant to a defined niche, even if that niche is relatively small. Do the upfront work of conducting market research and thorough surveys so you can understand more about how your demographics think, how they make purchasing decisions, and how they might respond to different types of advertising. With this information, you’ll be able to craft ads and messages that are much more appealing and persuasive.
Google has some important rules and guidelines you’ll want to follow for your website banner ad campaigns. Even if you’re displaying these ads on a different network, these are good rules of thumb to follow.
Your banner ads can’t contain any flashing or shaking elements designed to hijack the attention of users; they also can’t masquerade as part of the website, tricking users into taking action through deception or false information. This type of display advertising should always follow ethical guidelines to ensure you don’t fall victim to banner blindness, where users instinctively ignore ads that feel intrusive or deceptive.
In general, if you treat your users with respect and commit to straightforward honesty, you should have no trouble getting through these filters.
Your banner ads will attract far more clicks if they’re placed on websites that are relevant to your users as well as what you’re selling. This is why ad placement is crucial. For example, let’s say you have a business that sells mountain biking gear. Do you think your website banner ad will attract more clicks on a forum for outdoorsmen or a website that brings together a crocheting community?
There’s probably some overlap between crocheters and mountain bikers, but we can safely assume that the outdoorsy website is going to yield better results. Fortunately, Google Ads and other digital advertising networks give you considerable control over what types of websites host your banner campaigns.
The design of your ad is arguably the most important variable to perfect, since it’s going to be responsible for forming first impressions and attracting the attention necessary for your words to have an impact.
It’s important that the aesthetic is specifically appealing to your target demographics and aligns with your brand identity. For example, younger audiences might prefer brighter colors and more exciting, dynamic content, while older audiences might appreciate more subtlety and minimalism.
Young parents might appreciate relevant images of children and families spending time together, while wealthy buyers of luxury products want to see images of a lavish lifestyle. A great example of effective display advertising is ensuring that visuals match the emotions and aspirations of your potential customers.
Banner campaigns come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but they generally occupy a minimal amount of space on a website. It’s tempting to cram as much information as possible into this relatively small canvas, but minimalism is a safer strategy.
If you make use of white space, and only include the designs and information that are truly valuable, you’ll make the most of the space you have while simultaneously avoiding the risk of overwhelming your audience. A well-balanced ad can boost traffic to your website and help increase brand awareness among new and returning users.
A clever tagline or hook is another way to capture user attention. Website banner ads don’t typically provide you with much space, so you need to reduce your message to its simplest possible form. Instead of giving your users a bulleted list of advantages granted by your product, or explaining to them why your services are useful in a full paragraph, you have to get your point across and motivate action in the span of one or two sentences.
This can be a difficult task even for the best copywriters, so spend some extra time brainstorming and whittling down your list of possibilities. Try to motivate action without resorting to clichés; the more original and exciting your hook is, the better your average click-through rate will be.
Search ads may drive traffic to your site, but a well-designed website banner ad with a compelling hook can be just as effective in digital marketing. The right balance of visuals, copy, and strategic placement will help you get more clicks, drive conversions, and enhance your overall advertising success.
If you want people to click through, you need to give them a clear motivation, so try to include a clear call to action (CTA). Action words tend to be more effective than other types of language; for example, a phrase like “clean your kitchen faster than ever – shop now!” will probably generate more clicks than “wish your kitchen was cleaner, faster?” even though both phrases are topically similar.
People will be much more likely to click if you stimulate their curiosity. Instead of telling them or showing them everything up front, get them thinking about the possibilities. For example, a phrase like “ever wonder what a better dating app could look like?” will probably generate more clicks than a phrase like “the dating app you’ve always wanted” accompanied by still images that show off the best features of the app immediately.
I know this goes against most design fundamentals, and will probably irritate half of our audience, but the reality is, ugly ads can perform well. Why? Maybe some of us have a morbid curiosity. Maybe “beautiful” ads are so abundant that people long for something different. Or maybe especially ugly ads are simply better at generating initial attention. Whatever the case, we’ve found that deliberately ugly ads have the potential to generate clicks in a powerful way. It doesn’t always work, and you have to be careful not to damage your brand reputation, but it’s a worthwhile strategy to keep in your back pocket.
Just because the ad is displayed on a website doesn’t mean that people are going to see it, even if they’re counted as an impression. If you want to get more user attention, and therefore more clicks, you need to stand out with bolder visuals. The best visual elements are ones that provide strong contrast; ideally, you’ll break away from the style of the website hosting the ad while simultaneously presenting something visually stimulating, like complementary colors. Experiment with different placements to see how your ad might fit in the context of different types of websites. You might be surprised to find how much it blends in without a deliberate effort to help it stand out.
There’s no rule that says you can’t have any animation in your banner ads, though aggressive animations like flashing and shaking could get your ad removed. When used responsibly, animations can draw more attention to your banner ad, ultimately inviting more clicks and forming a better impression with your users. If you choose to do this, make sure your animation is eye-catching, yet subtle enough to avoid disrupting users unnecessarily. Slow pans or zooms could be exactly what you need.
Before we conclude this article, we need to stress an important truth: clicks aren’t everything.
In following this guide, and developing more banner ad campaigns, you’ll be tempted to optimize for clicks at the expense of every other metric. It’s true that clicks are a good thing for your campaign, but you can’t afford to neglect other performance indicators and important variables.
For example, you’ll still need to think about the engagement value and conversion rates of your landing pages. Even if you have the best banner ad in the world that generates an insane number of clicks, your strategy will fall apart if your landing page is unengaging or incapable of facilitating conversions.
Put simply, clicks are just one part of a “balanced diet” of banner ad metrics to track. Try not to lose sight of this in your pursuit of advertising greatness.
Hopefully, our strategies and tips have been helpful in reshaping your banner advertising strategy.
But there’s no such thing as a perfect approach to advertising; you can always make your ads more relevant and better at generating clicks.
If you want to continuously optimize your banner ad campaign, this is the process you’ll need to follow moving forward:
Banner ads are easy to display, but tough to master.
If you want your banner ads to stand out and get more clicks, or if you just need help fine-tuning your existing display ad strategy, we’ve got you covered. At PPC.co, we have a robust team of seasoned experts to help you accomplish all your digital advertising goals.
Contact our expert PPC agency today for more information!
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Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising isn’t an optional marketing accessory – it’s a serious tool for law firms that want measurable results fast. Whether your practice areas involve personal injury, criminal defense, family law, federal crimes, or estate planning, PPC gives you access to leads who need your services now. But throwing money at Google and Facebook without a plan will only drain your budget. If you’re tired of seeing competing law firms outrank you, this guide is for you.
Let’s explore the 10 key aspects of PPC campaigns that will bring you paying clients without wasting your ad spend.
PPC only works if you get the foundation right. That means finding keywords and phrases that your ideal clients type into search engines when they need help. If you choose the wrong keywords, you could end up wasting your ad spend fast. Law firm PPC is highly competitive and one of the most expensive PPC markets around. Small mistakes can cost a lot of money.
To get this done, use keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner, Google Autocomplete, and Semrush to get a list of 30-50 keywords related to your location and practice area.
Remember that PPC keywords will differ from general keywords used to get traffic to your website. You’re paying for each click, so for PPC, you only want to target keywords that indicate the user is likely to become a paying client. High-intent keywords are the ideal target, like “DUI attorney” or “drug charge defense attorney.” These phrases indicate the user is facing charges and needs an attorney now.
Use long-tail keywords related to your practice areas. These are phrases like, “how to beat a DUI charge in [state],” “how much does a child support lawyer cost in [county]?,” and “what should I do after being arrested for [offense]?”
Long-tail keywords are less likely to be cannibalized by your other paid ads, AI-generated summaries, and featured snippets. They’re also more likely to send you hot leads who become clients.
When a user searches for the phrase “how to beat a DUI charge in California,” the algorithm will know the user’s zip code, and will serve them ads for local DUI law firms who have successfully optimized their ads for DUI-charge-related phrases.
Avoid generic keywords, like “lawyer in [city].” While there’s a possibility someone searching for a generic lawyer might need your services, there’s also a chance they’re looking for someone outside of your practice areas. It’s not worth wasting ad spend to find out.
Understand that optimizing your ads for certain searches doesn’t necessarily mean using those exact words in your copy. For example, to optimize for the search “DUI attorney near me,” you’d use the phrase “DUI attorney” and include locations by city name, county, or zip code. You don’t need to include the words “near me” because ad algorithms interpret those words as a command to return local results. Google is good at discerning intent from searches.
Your PPC ads should direct users to a specific landing page created just for that ad. Don’t send people to your home page because it will make conversions harder. Home pages are too generic and will break the user’s sense of continuity and flow.
Each landing page should be specifically relevant to the user’s search query. For example, if your ad talks about services related to divorce, clicking should send users to a web page that outlines your divorce-related services.
Most attorneys create one page for every practice area and send paid ad clicks to those pages. This strategy is good since it serves visitors regardless of their origin. However, in order to track PPC ad conversions, it helps to have landing pages that don’t show up in search results and only get shown via ads. All you need to do is make a copy of your practice area pages, give them friendly URLs, and use them for your ad destinations.
A good landing page will encourage the user to call your law firm right away. To accomplish this, you need the following elements:
Your landing pages serve one purpose: to get users to call your law firm. With that in mind, make sure your phone number is visible on every page above the fold, preferably in your header. To make it clickable use the following markup:
<a href="tel:1234567890">(123) 456-7890</a>
Use this markup for every instance of your phone number throughout your website so mobile users can click to call. This seemingly small convenience will get you more leads.
People need a reason to trust you, so include client testimonials, previous settlement wins, Google and Trustpilot reviews, and links to your Avvo or Martindale profile.
Your copy should aim to convert clicks into leads that either contact you via phone, a contact form, or chat bot. Don’t be wordy – mention your specialty, location, what makes you different, and instruct people to contact you now. For example, your drug charge landing page might state you have 20+ years of experience and that you offer free consultations. Copy doesn’t need to be long to be compelling. For law firms, shorter is better – people don’t have time to read an essay when they’re just trying to get help.
Your CTA should be visible above the fold and on every page throughout your website. It should be clear, short, and direct. For example, tell visitors to call you for a free case evaluation.
Paid ads only work when you’re willing to spend money. If your daily budget isn’t high enough, your ads won’t get served to many people. To increase your impression share and therefore increase ad visibility, you need a good ad Quality Score and a decent budget. Higher bids can push your ads into favorable positions, which can increase your click-through rate (CTR) and generate more conversions.
Legal keywords can cost more than $100 per click, so you need to invest in your ads. However, if you’re doing ads on your own, start with a conservative budget and ramp up once you identify the campaigns that are converting. If you’re working with a reputable PPC agency, you can go all-in from day one without worry.
Even though lawyers typically pay more per lead than other industries, PPC ads are still considered a low-cost, effective form of marketing. Compared to other options, paid ads are cost-effective and excellent for capturing relevant leads immediately. As long as your ads are running, you’ll get clicks to your website.
When you identify your high-performing ads, cut the fat and pause keywords or ads that are underperforming and reallocate that money to your winners. PPC ads need to be managed weekly to ensure optimal performance.
The time your ads run matters; not every hour in the day is equal. There’s no need to advertise 24/7 unless you’re going to answer calls at 3:00 a.m. People might call you, get your voicemail, hang up, and call someone else in the morning. Even if you have a contact form on your website, someone who is stressed out and facing serious criminal charges may not go back to your site to look for an alternate way to contact you. They’ll go to bed and search for someone else in the morning.
So, what are the best hours to run ads? Most law firms see the most conversions during business hours and early evenings, so that’s when your ads should run in local time. Schedule your ads to run during peak hours for mobile searches. This is easy with Google Ads. To avoid paying for junk clicks, turn off your campaigns on holidays, weekends, or hours you aren’t available unless you have someone ready to take calls.
Location targeting is how you’ll get better conversions. You only want people in your local service area to see your ads, but you need to tell the ad platforms where you want your ads to be served.
Target high-value zip codes based on income, need, and proximity. If you work on a contingency basis, you might want to target people regardless of income since you’ll get paid if and when you win their case. However, if you don’t work with contingency fees, you need to be specific about your targets.
It’s equally important to exclude irrelevant locations from your ads. If you notice you’re getting clicks from neighboring states or areas you don’t serve, set your negative geotargeting rules to block them.
To get more clicks from relevant leads, use location-specific copy in your ads. Mention your city or county in the ad headline to catch people’s attention.
Negative keywords are your secret weapon for reducing wasted ad spend on irrelevant clicks. Add negative keywords that would indicate a user is not searching for actual legal services. For example, standard words like “free,” “pro bono,” “advice,” “template,” “blog,” “forum,” or “DIY” are a good place to start. People searching for these words are unlikely to become paying clients.
Other negative keywords to include are phrases and words that:
· Indicate a person is just looking for information or resources, but they don’t need a lawyer
· Are related to legal areas outside of your practice areas
The back end of your PPC platform will track clicks, but you need to track leads. The easiest way to do this is by hiring a PPC agency to manage your entire campaign from top to bottom. However, if you’re running ads in-house, here are some tracking strategies:
· Use call tracking software. You need to know which ads are generating calls. Tools like CallRail and WhatConverts will show you exactly where your calls are coming from.
· Tie form submissions to campaigns. If you just collect general form data, you won’t know where people came from. Connect each form to the ad group or keyword so you can track clicks and conversions.
· Ignore vanity metrics. A high click-through rate doesn’t mean much if you’re not getting conversions. Focus on cost per lead and cost per signed case. If your CTR is exceptionally high compared to conversions, adjust your campaign until you get better results.
Remember that you can’t improve what you don’t track.
While some people will call right away, not everyone looking for legal help will convert immediately. People facing criminal charges are more likely to make immediate phone calls, but when the matter isn’t urgent, people tend to research their options for a bit. This is where remarketing comes into play.
Remarketing ads help you convert more leads by targeting individuals who have already interacted with your ad or website, keeping your law firm at the top of their mind. You can customize your ad based on the web pages they visited for an even more personalized experience. However, you should limit the frequency so your ad doesn’t follow them for weeks or months.
Google Ads Assets are one of the most under-utilized PPC features, but they’re packed with power that can help you generate more high-quality clicks that convert to leads. The most useful assets for law firms include:
· Lead form assets. If you want to advertise during non-business hours, lead form assets will allow users to fill out a form directly within the ad, skipping the landing page completely. This will allow you to gather leads after hours without disappointing users when you don’t answer the phone.
· Location assets. This will display your physical address, hours, phone number, and map with your ads, including on YouTube. You’ll need a Google Business profile to set this up.
· Call assets. This allows users to call you directly from an ad. It displays a click-to-call button for mobile users, and displays your phone number for desktop users. This only works on the Google Search Network.
If you want to enhance your Google Ads performance, Ads Assets are essential.
PPC isn’t something you want to wing, especially when each click can cost $100 or more. If you’re not getting leads, you need a better strategy. Managing legal PPC campaigns requires a lot of time, constant optimization, and a solid understanding of how to attract leads that will become clients. That’s where a PPC agency becomes your competitive advantage.
At PPC.co, we help law firms build high-performance PPC campaigns that convert clicks into paying clients. If you’re tired of wasting your money and want results you can see, contact us today for a free consultation. We won’t just bring you traffic – we’ll get you qualified leads who need your help now.
When this apartment complex client partnered with PPC.co, their goal was clear: generate more qualified leads through Google Ads. In just 60 days—from January to March 2025—we transformed their paid acquisition performance. Total conversions more than tripled, jumping from 10 to 32, while the overall conversion rate soared by over 300%. At the same time, we drove down the cost per conversion by 44%, delivering significantly more leads at a much lower cost.
By strategically combining Performance Max and high-intent Search campaigns, we not only increased lead volume but improved overall efficiency and ROI. This rapid and measurable improvement underscores the value of data-driven optimization and expert campaign management.
This case study is a testament to what can happen when a well-structured campaign meets expert strategy and continuous optimization. Whether you're launching a new property or looking to boost occupancy in a competitive market, PPC.co delivers real results—fast.
Ready to grow your leads and lower your cost per conversion?
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