Bing Ads for Business Law Firms: A Second Search Engine for Consultation Requests
Bing Ads (Microsoft Advertising) is the other place owners search for a business lawyer, smaller than Google and quieter, but with a clientele of its own. We build, trim and watch Bing Ads campaigns for business law practices, and every ad goes to your attorney before it runs.
Where Bing Ads sits beside Google Ads for a business law practice
Most firms that run ads begin with Google, and they should. Bing Ads comes second, as a test, for a few reasons that have to do with who is sitting at the keyboard. Some office computers come set up with Microsoft's browser and search box as the defaults, which suits an owner or office manager researching counsel between meetings. Older owners, who may have run the same company for decades, are also a group some firms find on this platform in many markets.
The audience is smaller, so the clicks are fewer. That is not a flaw for a firm with a small calendar. A solo attorney or a three-person firm may find a modest campaign fills the same open hours without the competition of a crowded auction. The measure is the same as anywhere: how many consultations were booked for the matters the firm wants.
Our Google Ads page covers the larger platform, and paid ads shows how the three platforms fit together.
Google Ads and Bing Ads side by side, in the terms of an intake desk
| Question a firm asks | Google Ads | Bing Ads (Microsoft Advertising) |
|---|---|---|
| Who is likely searching | A wide range of owners, founders and managers | Often desktop users at work, including older owners |
| Where the matter shows up | The first search page for a contract or lease | A smaller set of searches, closer to a back office |
| How many inquiries to plan for | More inquiries, more spent on declined matters | Fewer inquiries, easier to answer one by one |
| How campaigns begin | Built from scratch by matter type | Imported from Google, then trimmed for the firm |
| What the attorney reviews | Each ad, landing page and location list | The same documents, once, for both platforms |
| Who suits a first test | Any firm with room on the calendar | A firm already running Google Ads with room to add |
A small Bing Ads test for a firm: import, trim, review, then watch
Import the Google campaigns the attorney has already approved
Microsoft Advertising can bring over existing campaigns. Starting from approved copy means the attorney reviews a delta, not a stack of new files.
Trim to the matters the firm wants
Drop broad terms, then set location to the counties and states where the attorneys practice. Bing needs its own negative keyword list, because jobs, forms and student searches follow along.
Set a budget the calendar can absorb
Small enough that a quiet week does not pile up unanswered inquiries, and easy to lower.
Send everything to the attorney for review
Ad text, landing pages, extensions and the final location list wait for approval, as they do on every platform.
Check the search terms every week for a month
Cut what is clearly another practice area, and note which matters booked a consultation.
What a managing partner should watch on a firm's Microsoft Advertising account
- Which matter types booked a consultation, and which only produced calls that went nowhere
- Whether location settings still match the counties where the attorneys practice
- Search terms that point to jobs, salary, forms, templates or a different practice area
- Whether the landing page matches the ad's matter, so a lease search does not land on a formation page
- Call tracking numbers that show up in the intake log with the matter noted
- The attorney's approvals, in writing, for every ad and extension that ran
- Spend beside booked consultations, with no borrowed benchmark from any other firm
A platform's rules for legal services ads change. Your counsel and the platform's current published text decide what an ad may say.
The same attorney-review care, on a platform with fewer eyes
A smaller platform still carries the firm's name, so the habits stay the same. Ad copy names the matter, the place and the way to request a consultation. It does not promise an outcome, a saving or protection, does not claim a specialty and does not compare the firm with another. The consultation request form asks for a name, an email address, a phone number and a short note, and nothing confidential.
Spend on Bing goes straight from the firm to Microsoft, and our fee for managing it sits separately on the pricing page. Month to month, with a short note to stop, means a test that does not work out costs the firm one more month and no more.
Three questions law firms ask before they try Bing Ads
Should a business law firm run Bing Ads if Google Ads is already producing consultations?
It can be worth a small test if the attorneys have room on the calendar. It is not a replacement and not a requirement. If Google Ads is enough to fill the open hours, a second platform may only add reports to read.
Can the platform show a firm's ad to someone in a state where the attorneys do not practice?
Only if the location settings allow it. We set them to the states and counties the attorneys confirm and then read the search-term report to catch strays, since a stray inquiry is a consultation the firm declines.
Does importing from Google mean the attorney has to review everything again?
The attorney reviews what changes. Copy already approved for Google can carry over, but extensions, landing pages and location lists still need a fresh look, because the platform and its rules are different.
Considering a modest test on Microsoft's platform for one matter type?
Tell us which matter and which counties, and we will reply with whether it makes sense beside what you already run. Fees are posted, and client details stay out of the note.
Which practice areas should the phone ring for?
Name the formation, contract, lease or dispute work your attorneys handle best and the places they practice. There is nothing to prepare. Keep client names and case facts out of the note, because this is a marketing inquiry and not a legal one.
Tell us which matters your firm wants more of.
Say which practice areas keep your calendar full, which ones you would like to take on more of, and where your attorneys practice. You get one monthly figure and a straight read on what fits. Leave client names and case details out of the note, since this is a marketing inquiry and not a place for confidential information.
The stack of pages being initialed is an illustration. It predicts nothing for any firm, client or matter.