How to calculate your Google LSA return on investment
Your Local Services Ads dashboard tells you what you spent and how many leads you paid for. It doesn't tell you how many of those leads hired you. You need four numbers from last month:
- Cost per lead = what you spent ÷ leads
- Hire rate = clients signed ÷ leads
- Cost per new client = what you spent ÷ clients signed
- Return on every $1 = (clients signed × average fee) ÷ what you spent
Cost per lead is the number most firms watch. Cost per signed client is the number that pays the bills. Two firms paying $75 a lead can pay $400 or $2,000 for each new client, depending on what happens after the phone rings.
Why more LSA spend isn't always the answer
When revenue is flat, the natural move is to raise the LSA budget. But every lead your team doesn't reach, every consultation that doesn't get booked, and every no-show is money you already paid for.
Signing one more client from the leads you already have usually beats buying more leads. Faster callbacks, more booked consultations and fewer no-shows all raise your hire rate without raising your ad bill.
How Scoreboardz does this for you, every day
This calculator needs you to dig up four numbers once a month. Scoreboardz pulls them in for you and keeps the math running all month long.
- What you spent: connect your Google LSA and Google Ads accounts once. Your spend syncs automatically.
- Leads and clients who hired you: they come from your GoHighLevel pipeline as they move from new lead to booked to signed. No CRM? Your team can log them with one click, or we can set up a sales pipeline for you with the Scoreboardz + CRM plan.
- What you collected: connect Stripe and payments show up as revenue on their own.
- Your score: cost per lead, cost per new client and return on ad spend update on their own. They sit on a toolbar on your screen, green, yellow or red against your goals.
So instead of finding out on the 1st that last month's leads didn't turn into clients, you see it on the 8th, while there's still time to call people back, fill the calendar and sign them.
I built it for my own firm first. I still use it every day to watch LSA spend next to booked consultations and signed clients.
LSA ROI questions
What is a good cost per lead for Google Local Services Ads for lawyers?
It varies widely by practice area and city, so compare against your own history rather than a national average. Cost per lead matters less than cost per signed client: a cheaper lead that never signs costs more than an expensive one that does.
How do I find my cost per lead for Google LSA?
Divide what you spent on Local Services Ads last month by the number of leads you were charged for. Both numbers are on your LSA dashboard. Enter them in the calculator on this page and it does the math.
How do I calculate cost per signed case from LSA?
Divide what you spent on LSA last month by the number of clients who hired you from those leads. The calculator on this page does it for you.
What return should a law firm expect from LSA?
It depends on your fees, your market and, above all, your intake. Two firms paying the same per lead can see very different returns because of how fast they respond, how many consultations they book and how many sign.
Can I dispute bad LSA leads?
Google lets advertisers dispute some leads that don't match their service, and may credit them. Keep notes on why a lead didn't qualify so you can track how many of your paid leads were never real opportunities.
Does Scoreboardz connect to Google Local Services Ads?
Yes. Scoreboardz syncs your Google LSA and Google Ads spend automatically and puts it next to your pipeline from GoHighLevel and revenue from Stripe, so your cost per signed client updates as the month goes.