Paid search case study
Launching paid search from zero in one of Edmonton's most competitive legal niches.
BV Law is an Edmonton criminal defence firm formed in 2023, built around a strong reputation but almost no owned lead generation. When Bowrand took over paid search, there was no existing Google Ads account to build from, a moderate budget, and strict advertising rules that ruled out the usual “we're the best” playbook. The account had to be economical, compliant and productive from day one.
The results
492
conversions on Search since launch$119
cost per lead on Search, against a $2,500/mo budget6×
return on total marketing investment across the full partnership with BowrandAt a glance
The engagement.
| Engagement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Industry | Criminal defence law |
| Market | Edmonton and Northern Alberta |
| Services | Google Search (paid ads) |
| Engagement | Ongoing since May 2024 |
The Bowrand Method
Building an owned channel in a referral-dependent business.
Before Bowrand, BV Law's leads came from Legal Match, referrals from other counsel and past clients, and the website, all sources the firm didn't fully control. There was no Google Ads account and no paid search history to work from. Bowrand built the paid search channel from scratch, inside a niche where messaging is constrained by legal advertising rules and where competition comes from other firms, not from expensive keywords.
Criminal defence
Core practice area, highest-intent searches.
Theft and fraud
Segmented ad group for sharper relevance.
Sexual assault and assault
High-value files, tightly controlled copy.
Where we started
Starting conditions.
| Factor | Detail |
|---|---|
| Niche and market | Criminal defence law, formed 2023 |
| Target geography | Edmonton, Sherwood Park, Fort Saskatchewan, St. Albert, Stony Plain, Leduc, Slave Lake, Grande Prairie, Red Deer, Peace River and Fort McMurray |
| Existing lead channels | Legal Match, referrals from other counsel and past clients, website |
| Existing paid search presence | None |
| Buyer behaviour | Predominantly by phone, often late at night or from a police station, rather than through online forms |
| Existing qualification rate | Roughly 25% of leads convert to clients. 60–70% of inbound calls get filtered out for being the wrong type of inquiry |
| Starting ad budget | $2,500/month |
| Regulatory constraints | Law Society of Alberta rules prohibit promising outcomes and making comparative claims like “the best” |
The challenge
Four constraints, no room for error.
A highly competitive niche
The local criminal defence market includes younger firms in a race to the bottom and large, high-powered firms with high ad spend, all competing for the same limited pool of high-intent searches.
A moderate budget with no room for waste
At $2,500/month, every keyword had to earn its place, even though this keyword category runs cheaper than most other legal niches. There was no room for broad, exploratory targeting.
Legal advertising restrictions
No promises about outcomes, and no comparative claims against other lawyers, meant ad copy had to build trust and urgency without the usual persuasive levers.
A brand-new account with no history
With no existing Google Ads account, there was no prior data, audience history or proven keyword list to build from.
The strategy
Built for a regulated, high-value niche.
-
Team: an ads lead backed by the full Bowrand team
Bowrand's Ads Team Lead ran the account, supported by the SEO and content teams to keep ad and landing page content high-quality and legally accurate, and by the design and development teams for ad creative and conversion-tracking implementation.
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Structure: campaigns built for a regulated, high-value niche
Bowrand built a single Google Search campaign around three ad groups matched to BV Law's highest-value practice areas (Criminal Defence, Theft and Fraud, and Sexual Assault and Assault). This follows Bowrand's standard approach of segmenting by service line for stronger ad relevance and Quality Score, adapted to a niche where every line of ad copy also has to clear Law Society advertising rules.
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Tracking: built around how clients reach out
Because BV Law's leads come almost entirely by phone, often late at night or in the middle of a police interaction rather than by filling out a form, Bowrand set up call tracking and optimized the website and conversion tracking around driving and measuring calls. Form fills were tracked as standard practice, but the site itself was built to push people toward the phone, the channel that matches how a person facing a criminal charge reaches out.
-
Targeting: the whole region the firm serves
Ads targeted Edmonton and the surrounding communities where BV Law takes files, from Sherwood Park, St. Albert and Leduc to Red Deer, Grande Prairie and Fort McMurray, so the budget went to searches the firm could actually serve.
Results
Results: Google Search.
A campaign built from a standing start, with no prior account history to lean on, has delivered steady, qualified demand since launch.
- 492 conversions since launch in May 2024, from 2.86K clicks and $58.7K in spend.
- Cost per lead of $119 since launch, on a campaign built from a standing start with no prior account history to lean on.
2.86K
clicks$58.7K
ad spend492
conversions$119
cost per conversionOverall marketing performance
Part of a bigger partnership.
Paid search is one piece of a broader marketing partnership between BV Law and Bowrand. Across that full partnership, BV Law has grown revenue by 167% and moved from 2 lawyers to 7. They now see a 6× return on their total marketing investment. The relationship has moved from a standard engagement to a revenue share arrangement where Bowrand only gets paid when BV Law does, a structure Bowrand was confident enough in this performance to offer.
167%
revenue growth6×
return on total marketing investment2 to 7
lawyers on the teamCase studies
More from the BV Law partnership
Numbers from real engagements. Client names shared with permission.
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