In a word, yes. Legal directories both put your firm before tens of thousands of prospective clients and improves your search engine ranking. The more websites linking to your website, the better your ranking, particularly if those external websites are popular ones. However, deciding which legal directory to use can be challenging. Here are some tips to finding the one that will genuinely help your practice. 

1.  How many visitors do the legal directories get? This is a key question to deciding whether it’s worth your while to use a legal directory- even free legal directories . If the answer is, “Not many,” then you you’re better off continuing your search. There’s no point in spending your time and money (if the directory includes a subscription fee) on a directory that isn’t used by consumers. If the directory doesn’t make their page views publicly available, you can get a sense as to its popularity by how quickly it comes up in a generic web search for legal directory or lawyer’s directory. Chances are, if it comes up in one of the first pages, it’s relatively popular.

2.  How many lawyers list their firms or practices in the directory? Knowing this information will give you a good idea as to how your fellow lawyers view its service. While “following the herd” isn’t always a great strategy, when it comes to directories, it works because the more attorneys that use the directory, the more valuable it is to the prospective client, who after all, will want options when looking for an attorney. And if it’s a good directory for prospective clients, then it’s a good directory for you.

3.  Are there any features that set the directory apart from the rest? “Gimmick” isn’t quite the right term, but legal directories that include genuinely useful (yet unusual) features tend to stand out from the crowd, making them more valuable to prospective clients and lawyers alike. One example is a lawyer video directory, which allows lawyers to post videos introducing themselves to prospective clients. This feature helps clients choose between attorneys, as they get a chance to see, hear, and basically get to know the attorney in the video, and it also helps lawyers by allowing them to literally put themselves in front of prospective clients.

4.  Does the directory link directly to your own website? If the answer is no, you should consider moving on, unless the directory is both popular and unusual. That link can be a big help in your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy, and will also give prospective clients who might be interested in you an easy way of getting more information about your firm.  

Whichever legal directory you use, remember to invest a significant amount of time during the creation of your profile, and be sure to update it continually. You want your listing to be up-to-date so that prospective clients have accurate information. If you choose well, your directory will generate additional clients and improve your SEO results at the same time.