A Guide to Online Legal Directories for Lawyers
Marketing your law firm effectively requires a comprehensive approach involving multi-pronged strategies. Listing your firm in online legal directories is one of those essential solutions. Showing up in a directory is an excellent first step, but it won’t help your firm stand out from its competitors.
Many law firms mistakenly view legal directories as a form of online Yellow Pages. While they may have resembled those initially, this is no longer true. Here is what you need to know about today’s legal directories for lawyers and how you can leverage these tools to gain competitive advantages.
What Are Online Legal Directories?
Online legal directories provide potential law firm clients with extensive lists of attorneys and firms. They exist to help people make connections with the legal professionals in their area who can best satisfy their needs.
Most online law firm directories provide basic contact information, like a firm’s name, phone number, address, and practice area specialties. However, some of the more popular directories offer additional features, like reviews and resources, which can benefit both law firms and potential clients.
Advantages of Listing Your Law Firm in Lawyer Directories
Your firm can enjoy several benefits from a listing in the top online legal directories:
1. Improve Brand Awareness
Whether users click on your listing or not, they will still see your firm’s name in their search results. Each time a person encounters your brand, this increases overall brand awareness.
2. Strengthen Online Reputation
Your online profile on a legal directory is an excellent opportunity to showcase your achievements, experience, and reviews to help strengthen your online reputation.
3. Increase Lead Generation
Online directories allow users to narrow down their options according to service areas and geography so the leads you receive are high quality.
4. Boost Law Firm SEO
When you optimize your profile, you can add a link to your law firm’s website. This relevant backlink from a high-quality website can help your legal SEO strategy.
Getting the Most Out of Your Legal Directory Listing
Online legal directories are an effective legal marketing tool for law firms. Here’s how you can maximize the potential of this digital marketing strategy.
Activating Profiles
Even if you’ve never heard of a legal directory before, your firm might already be listed on one. Claiming and optimizing your profile is critical to getting the most benefits from this strategy.
If your firm’s name is already there, “claim” the listing so you can control the content. If it isn’t, you can create a new listing. Then, you can fill out basic information about your firm and add links to your website and social media profiles.
Adding Content
In its annual “Understanding the Legal Consumer” report, Martindale-Avvo found that 70% of legal consumers read online content before deciding to engage with an attorney. Having your firm’s basic information on a legal directory profile is vital, but it’s not enough.
You can add a variety of content to many online legal directory profiles, which can help tell the story of why your firm should be trusted with a client’s business. This includes information about your firm’s history, its legal practice areas, any awards and certifications, and even FAQs.
Leveraging Reputation Management
The same survey from Martindale-Avvo revealed that a firm’s online reputation was critical in attracting new business. Specifically, 54.1% of people will consider a law firm’s review score/star rating as part of their first impression of a firm. You can manage your online reputation by encouraging clients to post reviews to your legal directory profiles.
Choosing Basic vs. Premium Listings
A basic listing is completely free on many online legal directories. This type of listing will generally include your business name, address, phone number, practice areas, and a link to your website. However, each directory has its own guidelines.
Nearly all legal directories offer premium listings, which can be beneficial for several reasons. You’ll appear higher in the search results, can display your firm’s information without ads, and gain access to other valuable site benefits.
Final Thoughts
When your target audience can find you online, you have more opportunities to attract new clients and grow your business. Law firm directories can help.
These online resources are powerful tools to get your law firm seen by the people who need your firm’s services the most. Getting listed can also help your SEO strategy in several important ways.
There are many legal directories to choose from. Avvo is one of the most popular online legal marketplaces, allowing people to read reviews, ask questions, and get information about lawyers in their area who can provide qualified representation. A basic listing on Avvo is free, and this online exposure can help you start making quality connections with potential clients.
