A single click on the phrase “best mesothelioma lawyer” will soon cost $1,000. Advertisers are now paying Google $935.71 for clicks on ads on the Google results page for that phrase.

Here’s the list of the Top 100 Most Expensive Keywords in the US.

Would I pay $1,000 for a click?

The answer comes down to math. Does the price paid for the click result in profitable business?

How to Do Click Math

Let’s say that I paid $1,000 per click and I bought three clicks. That’s $3,000. If one of the three clickers became a client and paid a fee of $24,000, I’d earn a profit in my business model. If I could repeat that over and over, I’d happily roll along paying $1,000 per click and managing a profitable business.

Unfortunately, in my practice, the math doesn’t work. I can’t pay $1,000 a click and make the numbers work. But I suspect some mesothelioma lawyers are able to justify the numbers.

I’m not that good at math, so I pay my Google AdWords guru to do it for me. He helps me with Google, Bing, Facebook, and the rest. We give him financial information, and he gives us profitable clients. It’s math with a little art mixed in. It’s a workable formula for keeping our lawyers busy with clients who need our help.

It’s important that someone in your organization be good at math. It’s easy to get lulled into paying too much for advertising in a world where the ads are sold at auction to the highest bidder. We get attached to ranking first on the page without regard to whether it’s cost effective. We bid prices up even when that behavior drives profits down.

Would I pay $1,000? Yep, if I could do it profitably. Sadly, that’s not something I can do right now.