Online legal directories have been around for a long time. Some can be effective, others a complete waste.
The effectiveness of an online directory can also vary significantly by practice area and location.
For example, a personal injury lawyer in New York may have a completely different result from a criminal defense lawyer in Detroit in the same directory. In addition to practice area and location, the effectiveness of a law firm directory will greatly depend on your visibility within the directory. If you have prime placement, you are likely to have much better exposure.
If, on the other hand, you are buried deep within a directory of a million lawyers, it is very unlikely that the directory listing will generate many results.
When considering paying for a directory listing, I recommend considering the following:
-The directory listing’s visibility for terms relevant to your firm.
-The visibility of listings within the directory.
-The length of the commitment to the directory.
-Whether or not you get links back to your website.
Generally speaking, we recommend limiting your initial investment in any online directory to 3-6 months. In that time, you should get a pretty good idea of the kind of results the listing will produce. As always, it is critical to measure the results produced by the listing. Therefore, you should implement a web analytics solution, as well as, a dedicated tracking number and landing page. Measure visits from the listing, phone calls, and of course, new clients.
Check out the rest of the posts in the series:
Law Firm Internet Marketing Series Part 1 of 7: Websites & Blogs
Law Firm Internet Marketing Series Part 2 of 7: Search Engine Optimization
Law Firm Internet Marketing Series Part 3 of 7: Content Production
Law Firm Internet Marketing Series Part 4 of 7: Paid Search Advertising
Law Firm Internet Marketing Series Part 6 of 7: Pay-Per-Lead Marketing & Content Distribution
Law Firm Internet Marketing Series Part 7 of 7: Social Media Marketing
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