Do Online Directories Still Matter for Law Firms?

Do Online Directories Still Matter for Law Firms?

Ready to stop leaving clients on the table? This eye-opening episode tackles the overlooked power of online directories for law firms in today's digital landscape. While many attorneys dismiss directories as outdated marketing tools, we reveal why they remain critical components of your visibility strategy—even in the age of AI.

Discover the "Local Trinity" of law firm SEO: your website, Google Business Profile, and directory presence. We break down how these three pillars work together to establish your digital authority and why directories continue to show up prominently in search results—often ranking above actual law firm websites.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Do Directories Still Matter?
• 1:16 The Local SEO Trinity Explained
• 2:53 Free vs. Paid Directories
• 4:44 Maximizing Directory Value
• 8:28 Final Takeaways & Next Episodes

Transcript

Speaker 0: 0:05

Do online directories still matter for law firms and are they worth it? Welcome to Legal Marketing 101. I'm Toby Rosen. Today, we are digging into online directories. They're those listings you probably set up five years ago. You haven't touched since, and we've talked about local SEO a lot. We are diving into the thing about local SEO that I think really matters the most. So do these listings still matter today? Are they worth the money? And yeah, obviously, the short answer is yes, but it's really only if you're strategic, especially when it comes to the paid stuff. If you have these profiles, though, that you haven't touched since 2018, you are probably bleeding SEO power somewhere and missing out on clients. So let's get this out of the way up front. I just said it, but, yes, online directories still matter. Even in the age of AI, they seem to still matter a lot, and no, this isn't the leftover advice from 2012. They are not dead, and they're not just for solo firms that are trying to scrape together some bottom level visibility. In fact, if you're ignoring directories today, there's a good chance you are leaving a lot of SEO value, and that means actual clients on the table.

Speaker 0: 1:16

Here's the big picture. When it comes to local SEO for law firms. There's a local trinity that Google pays attention to. We've talked about this before, but this is your website, your Google business profile and your legal directory presence. These three pillars work together to tell search engines who you are, what you do and where you do it, and directories play a really key role in reinforcing that information.

Speaker 0: 1:39

One reason is because of something called citations. We've talked about this before. I'm really just regurgitating information. You've already heard, but it seems like it hasn't sunk home, because I keep running audits and finding terrible situations and that's not the point. But these citations are not the legal kind. They're the SEO kind. These are the mentions of your business name, address and phone number across trusted sites. That's what we call the NAP information name, address and phone. When your NAP is consistent across Avvo, justia, finelaw, superlawyers and all of these other sites Yelp, foursquare there's a million of them it sends really strong signals to Google, both on the local and just on the search level, and this helps you show up higher in Google Maps and near me searches, but we're also seeing it work really well for AI. It's like putting your business card in all the right places and making sure that all of your business cards match, never having one version that has one phone number and one that has another.

Speaker 0: 2:33

But even beyond, seo directories show up in search a lot. You've probably seen it yourself. You Google divorce lawyer in Dallas and before you even get to an actual firm website, you're hit with listings from lawyerscom, avvo, thumbtack what is the other one, not Glassdoor, that's for offices Nextdoor and probably half a dozen others. That means if you're not optimizing those listings, your competition can and they're going to show up where your website isn't. And then let's not forget, there is the human side of all of this. Even if a potential client finds you through a referral, or Google or Facebook or whatever, there's a decent chance that they're still going to pop your name into a directory like Avvo or Justia just to check you out a little bit. And it's not always conscious. People are just wired to do a little bit of extra research before they fully commit to something that could be expensive. And when they land on a half-filled profile with no photos, no reviews, a default bio, well, that just doesn't scream trust. But on the flip side, a profile that's dialed in, complete with a sharp headshot, thoughtful bio, a few reviews, maybe, maybe even a peer endorsement. Some of those sites offer that. This reinforces your credibility. It tells the client this person is not only legitimate and that other people trust them, but that you can too.

Speaker 0: 3:53

The bottom line here is that directories are still a really critical part of your online footprint. Ignore them and you're invisible when people and search engines are actually looking for you. So let's talk money, because that's the only way I can really keep your attention, and the reality is not all directory listings are created equal and not all of them deserve your budget. So, first things first. You should always claim and fully optimize the major free listings that are available to you. This at the top of the list is Google Business Profile, avvo, justia, finelaw, superlawyers, lawyerscom, yelp, maybe the US News site, if that's still free a bunch of these options, and even your Facebook page for your firm. These are the baseline tools. There are yes, there are hundreds of other directories and the free ones are great to use. You can build up more links, you can build up more local SEO juice, and even if you're not a fan of Yelp or you feel like super lawyers feels more like a popularity contest.

Speaker 0: 4:48

Look, leaving these profiles half finished is a missed opportunity. Free real estate is free real estate. But when it comes to a paid directory listings, we need to get a little more tactical. This is not something I do every day, not being tactical, but paying for directory listings, paying for a profile, is really only worth it If the directory is actually going to do some of this heavy lifting for us. So a good rule of thumb if the listing ranks well for our main practice area and city combo in our Google searches, then it's interesting. So, for an example, if you're a personal injury attorney in Tampa and you're seeing lawyerscom showing up consistently spot three, spot four, always on page one for searches like Tampa PI lawyer, tampa personal injury lawyer, whatever it is, that's a sign that maybe it is worth the investment.

Speaker 0: 5:37

But it's also important to really track whether you're getting measurable traffic or leads from these paid listings, especially because we can put a dollar amount on those leads. And this is where tools like Google Search Console and GA4, yeah, they're helpful, but really you want to be sending stuff into your CRM. So if you can track it that way, that's the ideal scenario If your directory profile is sending you a steady stream of visitors to your site or, better yet, actually converting into phone calls form fills, then that's a green flag. Go ahead. But another thing to watch for, especially when it comes to the paid stuff, because some of these sites like to bundle a little bit in. Something to look out for is SEO perks. Some directories include do follow backlinks, which are really good for boosting your site's authority, and some offer bundled services like some kind of ads management, enhanced review features, or I've heard Avos tell you they'll put you at the top of every page. No matter what things like that, if the package includes a bunch of benefits that actually align with your marketing goals, then yeah, it could be justified, it might make sense. But here's the key Don't just throw cash at every directory that promises visibility, because that's what they do.

Speaker 0: 6:44

They promise visibility. Be a smart spender. Check the rankings, monitor your referral traffic. Make sure you're actually getting some value and not just a fancy badge on the website. I know those are fun, but as someone who has to install those on websites, it doesn't matter. Okay, so I'll back off a little.

Speaker 0: 7:01

Let's talk about how we actually deal with this. You've claimed your free profiles. You've figured out which paid ones are actually worth the money. Now what do we do? How do you squeeze every bit of value out of these directories? This is where a lot of firms fall kind of flat. They claim a listing, they fill out the basics and then they move on. But if you want real ROI, you have to treat these profiles like living, breathing marketing assets.

Speaker 0: 7:26

So first is the foundation. This is your NAP, your name, address and phone number. It must be 100% consistent across every directory, and I mean down to the suite number and the punctuation, because if Google sees suite S-U-I-T-E 200 on one site and S-T-E dot 200 on another, it can create a little bit of algorithmic confusion, which I wouldn't say. It dings your local SEO power. But it's not ideal. And yeah, is this boring? Yes, very, and it takes a lot of work. That's why we offer a service for it, but it is absolutely critical.

Speaker 0: 8:01

Next, make sure your profiles look sharp. Don't just settle for the text. Add some photos of the team, the office, the logo and, if the directory allows videos, upload a quick intro client testimonial clip. Think of each of these directory pages as mini landing pages for your firm, because they could be. The more visual and more engaging it is, the more likely people are to trust you and then to reach out, and here's a trick most firms skip.

Speaker 0: 8:26

Ask for reviews on the directories that actually perform best for you. Yeah, everyone focuses on Google and, yes, it's crucial. You have to do it, sure, but if Avvo is working well for you, or Lawyerscom or US News, whatever it is, ask people to leave reviews and make it a habit to send those happy clients a direct link to leave a review there too. Social proof works everywhere, not just on Google. Finally, keep your content fresh and targeted. This isn't something we're going to go into because it's a kind of long statement, but most directories allow you to write a little description or list your practice areas, and Google has like an updates or news section. You can rotate in new content on these and whenever you're trying to work on something new or bring in new clients in a specific arena, you can rotate in the types of cases that you want more of.

Speaker 0: 9:14

You want to build the mediation practice. Make sure mediation is front and center. First sentence If you want to bring in more high asset divorce clients, say so and be clear about it. This helps the directories match your profile to the right searches, and that's just. If it matches, it's good for all of us.

Speaker 0: 9:29

I don't know how many ways I can explain this, so the final takeaway from all of this is a couple of things, but the big one is that directories aren't a one and done deal.

Speaker 0: 9:39

With a little bit of effort, they're going to quietly deliver this steady stream of trust and visibility and, at the end of it, clients, but only if you keep them fresh and focused. There's really something that has to happen here to make sure that you're actually engaging with the system and not just letting it run, because directories are still relevant, but they only really help if you use them right. They are the basis of our web of trust, of our visibility and the core of a lot of our SEO power. But, as you know, seo isn't my favorite game and in some of our next episodes we're going to be talking about PPC, we're going to be talking about tracking and, of course, we are going to be talking about AI and how can you use it more effectively in your practice, not only to draft documents and, you know, create text but how can you start using it today to actually get things done? That's it for Legal Marketing 101. Check out RosenAdvertisingcom for more Thanks.