Why Your Attorney Directory Profile Can Bolster Your Legal SEO

If you are looking for a lawyer, you will likely whip out your mobile device and check the internet. You simply type “lawyer near me”, or “real estate attorney” depending on your legal issue, and you have an abundance of suggestions in seconds. Alongside Google, you have online directories that will present you an endless number of options, include legal directories.

People are inclined to assume that most lawyers, specifically the legit ones, are listed on legal directories so that if they need somebody to represent them in court, they can just go over the online listings without the risk of dealing with an impostor. On the other hand, there are some legal practitioners who choose directory placement because they have their own website and they do not see the merit in a listing. Or maybe, they think these directories are out of fashion and everything can be just funneled through a search engine that will still lead to them. However, you could be missing a lot of business opportunities for your practice when you are not listed.

You see, the more ways people have to discover you, the better. Additionally, industry-specific listings like these attorney directories can help with lead generation and actually provide more exposure for your law firm’s website. Your Legal SEO, which these directories can help enhance, is important for the growth of any business with an online presence.

Overview on legal directories

Registering your services on legal directories does not take a lot of effort, yet you stand to reap a lot of benefits if you do. Legal directory listings are low-hanging fruits. There really should be no reason why you skip them, specially because they form part of the fundamentals of your attorney SEO.

Legal directories are primarily listings of offices or solo practitioners based on geographical area, specialization, and/ or legal issue. However, they have largely evolved from being the online yellow pages, and as an aggregator of calling cards of all lawyers and law offices. Nowadays, most of them offer a variety of features and services. These include full-blown advertising for law firms, legal forums, and lawyer blogs. Some of these platforms are free. Others that are paid versions allow you more detailed information, have high user activity, and a high domain authority.

Findlaw.com

Findlaw.com offers their listing services for free, but they provide more than the basic directory needs. It is perfect for those who are still on the fence about hiring counsel. Lawyers can publish their content through their Legal Blogs network, which has a strong following. Findlaw.com includes federal laws and statutes which the user may find helpful for their issue. They also have backlinks to others blogs and marketing resources.

Other attorney directories worth mentioning include Lawinfo.com, which offers a simpler and streamlined setup consisting of verified law practitioners. There is Abogado.com which caters to the Hispanic community, whose consumers continue to rise beyond 40 million, making it a key demographic for lawyers. Superlawyers.com is a curated approach to listings where they will only include top professionals in the field. While the aforementioned directories are widely used, you have to bear in mind that not all directories will matter for your attorney SEO. Several directories have been overused by aggressive SEO marketers, prompting search engines such as Google to devalue them. Before deciding on a paid directory service, check its domain authority first.

Benefits of legal directory listings for your attorney SEO

Enhanced visibility and brand awareness

Any lawyer who posts information online wants to be found. Adding a professional listing increases the chances of more customers reaching out to you. With the help of backlinks, they can easily connect to your website, which are factored in your legal SEO. For a solo practitioner, you are your own brand, which you get to promote as well. You should also consider the possibility of not just potential clients checking you out, but other law firms as well. They might want to pass on cases that they think your credentials are best suited for. Talk about being friendly with your competition!

Supplemental information for your profession

The more information there is about your practice or law firm, the more they matter to your SEO as that extra validation of your existence. As mentioned earlier, many legal directories go beyond contact information. They can also highlight your services and other credentials that make you attractive to your prospects, thereby serving as an extension of your own website.

Heightened credibility

There are legal directories who vet the lawyers submitting their listings. Therefore, you do not only rank high during search results, users will also immediately consider you a legit and credible counsel given your listing, which adds a layer of respectability and professionalism to your practice. And you can use the ratings section that many directories now offer to further corroborate your reputation and gain the immediate trust of those reading about you for the first time. Additionally, listing in a legal directory with a high domain authority can improve your own web traffic and its own domain authority as well.

The above benefits can be truly rewarding when you decide to include legal directories in your SEO arsenal. Make sure to optimize your listings in your chosen legal directories. You can go as far as paying for your spot in reputable directories. This way, it prevents ads from competing lawyers and law firms, which may deter your prospective client from seeing your information immediately. While providing your listing can be a set-it-and-forget-it task, you should also remember to update it whenever there are changes to your details.

Conclusion

Indeed, registering your practice in the top legal directories will prove vital not only to your attorney SEO, but more importantly your growth in your profession as a whole. While not all directories are the same, a listing on the highly-rated sites can contribute to your legal SEO. Before you even resort to tackling the more complex pillars of SEO, do not forget to count this tool to get your practice off the ground.