Get More Clients by Getting the Essentials Right in Your Legal Directory Listing
Far too many attorneys under-leverage their presence on legal directories by including only simple contact information. To maximize your listing, work hard to highlight information that gets clients to notice your firm – and even more important, to hire you. Here are some ways to do just that.
Accurate Contact Information
This might sound painfully obvious, but you would be surprised how many firms don’t carefully proofread their directory information for typos. So sweat the details. A misspelling in the copy can make you less than authoritative. And an incorrect phone number will result in lost opportunities. It’s highly unlikely, after all, that a potential client will take the time to look up your “real” phone number elsewhere. More likely, he or she will contact another firm in the directory. There’s another advantage of making sure your contact data is spotlessly correct. Accurate information contributes to your broader online footprint, making you easier to find when consumers go searching online. Accurate information – like a phone number – also helps connect you to mobile web users, who are accustomed to a click-to-call experience on their smartphones. In other words, good information boosts your firm’s ranking in search results. But you gain those SEO benefits only when your information is consistent across the entire web. To a search engine like Google, John J. Prufrock is not the same man as John Prufrock, Esq. So pick a name (and title, address, phone number and so on) and keep it consistent wherever you hang a shingle online. The same considerations apply when we are talking about office locations and phone numbers. While it’s not unusual to work out of multiple offices with different numbers, be consistent when identifying your primary and branch office addresses, as well as contact numbers.Business Descriptions and Categories
When listing yourself online, think about your target audience and how they may search or browse for a lawyer. Placing yourself in a higher-level category like Family Law will appeal to a broad population, but if you have a more specific practice area that your firm typically handles, don’t overlook more niche terms like Divorce or Adoption. One key advantage online legal directories offer over traditional ad media is their superior ability to target potential clients based on both geography and type of legal issue. Taking advantage of this when choosing your listings can help drive the most relevant contacts to your firm.Attorney and Law Firm Profiles
Alongside the important decisions you make with regard to the listings, you should also pay particular attention to the profile linked from your listing. Firm and attorney profiles can be an excellent way to entice clients to contact you, though only if it shows how you can help them. Including your degrees and honors are helpful, certainly. But what really attracts clients is a biography that demonstrates that you understand them. You know that they’re most likely worried and that they need legal representation they can trust. You can address these concerns by clearly and succinctly answering questions like:- Why should I hire you?
- What will you do for me?
- What is it like to work with you?
