When someone is unsure of where to find legal information or assistance, typically the first place they’ll look is online. Since lawyers have a variety of specialties and services, it can be hard for individuals to find the right legal assistance they’re looking for. When a lawyer or legal firm adds themselves to top legal directories, both sides benefit from it. Clients are able to find the legal help they need. Law firms are able to be recognized by the customers that are looking for them.
In this article, we will discuss what lawyer directories are, why they’re important, effective strategies that come from utilizing legal directories, and the top legal directories your law firm should be included in. Let’s get started!
What are Lawyer Directories?
First, it’s important to define what an online directory is. An online directory is a website that populates, ranks and categorizes different businesses to help individuals discover and learn more about different businesses’ information. Typically a business listing includes NAP (name, address, phone number) information along with business hours and imagery. Adding your business to multiple directories helps build your online presence and helps it reach out to a variety of individuals.
Lawyer directories are a specific type of online directory. They tend to only include business listings on individual lawyers or law firms. Every legal directory is different, but legal directories are great tools to help people narrow down their search on what they’re looking for. Categories such as location, specialties, or legal focus can help people find what they’re looking for in an easier way.
Why are Legal Directories Important for Law Firms?
Besides helping your law firm get more recognized online, there are more important reasons why including your law firm in legal directories is a vital thing to do:
- Build Online Authority: Just like a law firm builds trust with its clients, it’s important to do this as well with search engines such as Google. Adding your law firm to legal directories is one of the best ways to build that trust. Building your trust online through building your authority, helps search engines come to see you as trustworthy.
- Local SEO: Clients tend to look at what’s easiest for them by first looking at what’s closest to them. Local SEO shows people what options are available to them based on the keywords they search. By adding local legal listings, your law firm is able to populate online areas where people are searching for legal services. If you don’t list, you’re missing an opportunity to be found.
- Backlinking: Including your business information in trusted legal directories and databases helps bring more positive expertise back to your law firm. When you do this, you also create more backlinks that have the same benefit. It also lets Google know that you’re linking to reliable sources of information.
Top Legal Directory Strategies
There are multiple strategies and considerations that your law firm should keep in mind when adding yourself to legal directories:
- Have Consistent Information: It’s important to take the time to make sure your law firm’s information is the same on all profiles. Legal directories and search engines both find your business to be more credible when your information is the same on every profile. Your NAP (name, address, and phone number) information should always be the same. If one of these were to change, it’s important to update listings ASAP to help keep everything consistent.
- Check Online Reviews: Online review management is extremely important nowadays. It can sometimes be the deciding factor on whether or not someone chooses your law firm over another. Having positive client experience reviews help build your reputation and help current clients come back and future clients choose your law firm.
- Choose the Right Legal Directories: There are lots of legal directories out there and it can be hard to know which ones are the right ones to be listed in. Look in finding legal directories that are trustworthy and already have high traffic, offer features that attract clients, and let you add content to your profile. These features help build value and authority back to your legal website over time.
12 Free Legal Directories To Be Listed In
Here is a list of some of the top legal directories your law firm should look to be included in.
1. Avvo
This is an online legal directory that has access to a variety of legal information around the nation. Avvo claims to have 97% of all lawyers in the US listed in their directory. With client reviews, peer endorsements, disciplinary actions, and lawyer-submitted legal guides, Avvo helps your law firm stand out from other law firms.
2. Lawyers.com
Lawyers.com is a legal database that provides a variety of important legal information for individuals. This includes over 1 million lawyer and law firm profiles, free legal information, blog articles about common legal issues, and a question box for you to submit questions to an experienced lawyer who’s ready to answer your question.
3. Lawyer.com
While this URL name seems to be the same as the one above, it is indeed a different website. Lawyer.com serves legal markets worldwide and offers ways to connect lawyers directly with individuals. They have their online directory, free legal content, a legal plan, and a free question & answer section for individuals to use to their advantage.
4. Nolo
For 50 years, Nolo has been known to be a legal encyclopedia to help consumers and small businesses find answers to their everyday legal and business questions. By offering helpful tools such as DIY products, articles, and a legal directory, they all connect customers with legal professionals to help get them the right legal advice and information.
5. FindLaw
FindLaw is one of the original online legal directories to provide online legal information and online marketing services for law firms. Besides the legal directory, FindLaw offers online legal question & answer forums and free legal guides, and they are also known to have credible legal blog articles to help build your online legal business.
6. US News (Lawyers)
With a domain rating of 93 (out of 100), US News for Lawyers offers a lawyer directory for individuals to find the best lawyer for them. Powered by Best Lawyers, this directory looks at factors such as the legal issue, location, and the lawyer’s name. Adding your law firm to this directory can help improve your website’s authority and credibility over time.
7. LegalZoom
LegalZoom has a mission to help connect the best attorneys and lawyers to the customers who need them. It also helps customers create legal documents without having to hire a lawyer. While their directory isn’t free, they have a Legal Plan Attorney Network, that gives customers direct access to lawyers that you can pay for.
8. Justia
Justia is one of the largest online databases of legal cases. They have multiple legal guides on specific fields of law such as:
- Injury law
- Family law
- Criminal Law
- Home Ownership
- Business Law
- And more!
Justia’s legal directory helps find your legal needs by finding the right area of law for your needs.
9. Martindale-Hubbell
Martindale-Hubbell is an online legal directory that has one of the richest databases of legal professionals. You can search by legal name, practice area, school, articles, or by location. Having an online profile in this directory gives your law firm exposure to over 15 million visitors monthly through the website’s vast network.
10. Local Legal Authorities
Local Legal Authorities is an online exclusive directory that pairs you with the best local attorneys. You can search by where attorneys practice, a specific state, or by featured attorneys. They also provide blog articles from local legal authorities directly!
11. greatinflux
For more than 20 years, greatinflux has championed the small business by not only helping customers find them, but by helping businesses better connect with their customers. Our online business management has always been a successful tool to help law firms connect with their customers. We also have an extensive Ultimate Guide for SEO for Lawyers to help law firms rank organically over time.
12. Google Business Profile
Having a Google Business Profile (GBP) is an essential business listing your law firm needs to be a part of. All businesses should create a profile and it can be one of the first places your law firm can appear. When you choose not to create a GBP, you’re choosing to miss reaching out to potential clients.
Listing Your Law Firm with greatinflux
Lawyer directories are one of the best tools to connect with potential clients who are looking for your legal services. They are powerful tools to help boost your online presence as well as improve your SEO rankings. Learn more about greatinflux’s local listing management services today to get listed in the best directories for your law firm. Also, visit our Ultimate Guide to SEO for Lawyers to learn more about the benefits of SEO for your law firm today!
