Once a law firm website has been built, the questions becomes how do I get clients to my law firm website or otherwise generate calls and emails from prospective clients. There are many good online legal directories, which can be the most affordable way to start increasing your new law firm website’s traffic and exposure. The problem is that many law firm legal directories look similar so it can be difficult to tell which ones will actually generate results and which attorney legal directories are a waste of a law firm’s marketing resources. Below are the top considerations when choosing between Internet legal directories:
Optimization of Directory: The optimization of an online legal directory basically refers to how the site generates traffic to its site. A law firm website should come up high in relevant searches. However, this can be tricky because there are literally thousands of relevant search terms that an online legal directory may use to generate traffic to its website. The best way to determine whether the law firm website is well optimized is to ask about the number of potential leads that similarly situation attorneys in the program are receiving. While the legal marketing program will not typically give you data on specific clients, the legal marketing company can give you data on attorneys with similar programs in comparable markets. As a general rule, organic placement is much more effective at generating a higher volume of inquires as well as better qualified inquiries than a legal directory that relies on sponsored links or pay per click advertising.
Tenure of the Company/Directory: Directories that have been around for many years are typically a better choice than newer directories. Web-based attorney directories that have been around for many years will often be more prominent in search results because of better optimization and will have withstood the test of time. Legal marketing programs that are successful endure whereas those that do not work well tend to disappear.
Data Based Directories vs. Content Based Programs: Some online legal directories offer no real substantive legal information or no partnership with sites that contain actual legal information. Legal directories that also provide legal information to consumers will tend to be more effective. Most consumers look to answer basic questions and get a feel for their situation before searching for an attorney online. Legal directories that have the ability to provide basic legal information will tend to capture this traffic more effectively. Online lawyer legal directories that also have substantive content or are part of a legal information website will also tend to be better optimized because Google and other search engines tend to prefer websites with more pages of legal information over strict attorney legal directories.
Quality of Biographical Profile: Because an online legal directory is a way to promote your law firm, the amount of information and level of detail that the legal directory allows you to provide to consumers is important. Some attorney legal directories provide virtually no information about the law firm and are simply a way to list the name, contact information and website for the law firm. An online legal directory that permits developing detailed information about the firm including contributing articles, pictures and video tend to generate more traffic and to convert into actual client contacts to the law firm at a much higher rate.
Limitations on Competition: Some online legal directories may be well known but generate very little because they are inundated with too many attorneys fighting for a sparse number of prospective client leads. You should carefully consider the number of attorneys you will be participating against as well as any rules the online legal directory has which limit the competition that might be added. If the online legal directory has only a few listing on a single page, you will typically have far better results than an online legal directory with multiple pages of attorneys where the positions rotate.
Policy for Determining Position on the Page: Because the online legal directory you are considering should already have participating attorneys in your market and practice areas, it is important to know whether the position on the web page is determined by seniority, rotation or level of participation (i.e. spending more money). If the program determines position by seniority, than you should avoid the program if you are competing against a substantial number of attorneys. Internet consumers do not typically choose results that are substantially far down on a page let alone on a second or third page. If the directory uses level of participation or amount spent to determine position, you must consider whether the cost for the premium position merits the premium you will have to pay. Generally, the best option is to pick a legal directory that uses a rotation. This means that you will get a fair chance to be at or near the top of the page without paying a premium for this exposure.
A law firm that considers all of these factors when determining whether to participate in an online legal directory has a much higher chance of being happy with its choice. These considerations are key in determining the probability that the law firm will see a reasonable return on investment with the Internet legal directory a law firm chooses. Although the number of attorney legal directories may make it difficult to choose one, you can narrow your choices considerably by evaluating how each directory stacks up when compared in the context of these key issues.
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