Should You Advertise On Law Firm Directories
Before you put your money on any form of advertising, it’s important to assess its pros and cons. Of course, not all forms of advertising will give you a good return on investment. One thing you may have considered as a lawyer or law firm is advertising yourself on popular directory sites online such as Lawyer.com and FindLaw. This is a popular concept which may seem to make sense in all cases but so many law firms are doing it wrong. Directory sites list so many lawyers and for yours to be seen by potential clients it may make sense to advertise. Let’s take a look at how law firm directories and SEO works hand in hand.
Create a basic listing
Before you spend any money on advertising, start by creating a basic listing on the popular directory websites for law firms. A basic listing can give you some form of awareness making it easy for people to find your law firm on the web. Most directories will offer basic listings for free so you don’t have to spend anything and then wait to see the returns. Once you’re done with this first step, you then need to decide if it makes sense advertising the listing.
There are law firms and lawyers that have spent hundreds of dollars advertising on these listings and gained a lot of traction. There are also other professionals in the legal field who have spent the same but haven’t seen any success. There are a few things you’ll probably need to do before you spend on advertising your legal services on popular directories.
Where do directories receive their traffic?
Perform a simple Google search using relevant keywords (the ones that you hope to rank for). For instance, if you offer personal injury services in Chicago, type the word “personal injury lawyer Chicago”. Do any of the directories that you wish to advertise your listing rank well? If you can’t see any of the directories on the first 2 spots for your target keywords then you should probably not advertise on them.
It makes sense to advertise on a directory that receives substantial traffic from Google search. The reality is that most people won’t visit a directory to search for lawyers. Therefore, if the directory doesn’t rank well on Google for your main keywords in a specific location, you shouldn't expect to get substantial returns on your investment.
Don’t just do a single search before you decide whether to advertise on a directory. Do a number of searches by using different relevant keywords so you can see if the directory consistently pops up. If it does, then it’s a good directory to put your money on.
You can’t find the perfect directory
When doing different searches, don’t expect to find a directory that will rank for all your different keywords. In fact, as you get more specific with your keywords, you may not find any directories on the first page of SERP. What you need to do is to identify the keywords that are important to you. Which directories rank highly for keywords that you consider critical for your business? If you haven’t done any keyword research to identify the most relevant terms for your law firm, start with this. It will give you an idea of the kind of traffic to expect from the paid directory listing. You don’t have to choose very generic keywords. Consider keywords with low competition and high search volumes because they are likely to give you substantial traffic. Targeting the right keywords will impact on your conversion rates so don’t take this step lightly. Narrow down your options to only those keywords if you want to get a good ROI after advertising on those directories.
Popular lawyer directories to consider
Finding a popular directory on the web that is ideal for lawyers can be a challenge. While popular directories like Yelp can be a great avenue to reach potential clients, a directory that is specifically targeting lawyers is the best option especially if you’re still new online. We’ll take a look at 4 main directories that are lawyer specific and you need to at least have a basic listing on each one of them.
Justia.com
This directory has extensive information about the legal industry. It’s popular among lawyers and clients who are looking for legal advice and experts in different fields of law.
Avvo.com
Avvo is one of the popular lawyer directories that has significantly grown over the years. Users find Avvo ideal in connecting them with the best legal experts. The site even has Q&A sessions which users can take advantage of to get expert advice and connect with the best lawyers in their region.
Lawyers.com
Arguably the most popular lawyer directory on the web, the site boasts of listing more than 1 million lawyers and law firms from all over the world. The site has informative content for users, covers popular legal topics and provides helpful advice through guest bloggers who are lawyers.
Findlaw.com
This is a reliable law firm directory where users can find free legal advice on the internet. It’s a popular site where lawyers pay to be listed.
Get help with your law firm marketing
We understand that making a decision on what type of platform to spend your marketing budget can be tough. If you need help identifying the best law firm directories and SEO we’re here to offer you a great service. We’ll show you how to get the most of your money by advertising on the right directories and using your listings to enhance your law firm website traffic and rankings.
Each case is different so we need to clearly understand your business and be able to make an informed decision based on your unique circumstance. There are so many questions we may not be able to answer here that’s why we encourage you to reach out today and get all the help you need.