Directory of Law Firms
Directory of Law Firms
There are two main business models in legal practice. Some lawyers practice independently as solo legal professionals. They manage their own clients and staff. Traditionally, this is how most lawyers work around the world. Other mode of practice is through a forming a law firm. A number of lawyers may decide to work together as a law firm. Law firms are generally incorporated in form of partnership firms. Size of Law firms ranges from small local firms to huge multinational entities. A customer is likely to find a lot of service providers for any of his/her legal requirements. A law firm directory can make the lawyer search easier.
Structure of a law firm directory
A law firm directory may have various sub directories based on many criteria’s. Classification may be based on field of law like Family Law directory, Telecommunications law directory, Tax Law Directory etc. The classification might also be based on territory. You may be able to search lawyers based on locality, city, state or country. Some directories of law firms even publish rankings of law firms based on their performance. Basically it’s always going to be an interactive platform where various searchable variables will be present for you to conduct your research. A national law firm directory will have a team of specialized staff to help you out with your queries. New algorithm based directory of law firms have also come in vogue lately. These websites simplify your search by asking you certain basic questions. Then a computer program uses your inputs to find lawyers for you.
Relation between a Law firm and Law Firm Directory
Small to Medium sized law firms are more dependent on directory of law firms. Bigger law firms already having a large network of clients also like to maintain online presence. A national law firm directory will list all the law firms which operate in your area or which deal with the kind of legal issue you have. Some law firms might pay a law firm directory to highlight its listing. The law firm might try to maintain a five star profile on a law firm directory in order to attract more clients. It is advisable for a directory of law firms to segregate sponsored content from genuine data. Paid content heavily compromises with the trustworthiness of a law firm directory. Most of the national law firm directories follow the practice of marking any paid content as sponsored. It is important that customer is able to trust the advice provided to him and that is why such practices exist.
Developments in Field of Law firm Directories
Online directories have also come of age. New technologies are being implemented rapidly in this field. Use of cloud based networks has seen upward growth trajectory. Artificial Intelligence is being used to implement responsive online assistants to help out litigants at a minimal cost. Data crunching is being increasingly handed over to the computers. In future, you can also be provided with various possible results of your case based on your choice of lawyer. The legal search industry is seeing rapid development and new products are being introduced every day. Current focus is on providing accurate information to the customer at minimal cost and time. Personalized search and advanced analytics are available for customers who are ready to pay for advanced services. So you need not go out looking at advertisements. Just log in and begin your search anytime you want. It turns out online search is more effective than any other form of search available in the market today. Since you can browse through various profile free of cost.
Directory of law firms
Most people search for lawyers through the internet in 2017. However, the problem is that not many lawyers, particularly small firms or lawyers in solo practices, have websites.
Indeed, a lot of those firms, and actually most lawyers still rely on referrals to grow their businesses. They rely on law directories like JurisOffice. Even though they’d get more business, more credibility and more presence with a site, they still opt for these law firm directories because they are very effective in obtaining leads and creating new business.
Even though those firms do not have their own URL, they still have on online presence thanks to national law firm directories. Actually, quite a number of lawyers and small firms see the point of spending so much money, time and energy in creating and maintaining a site when quality law directories are still proving to be great marketing tools for them.
However, even a quality national law firm directory like JurisOffice recommends that every law firm that wants to make the most of their platform, have a fully functional website.
Here’s why.
Why You Should Build a Website
Even though being part of a quality directory of law firms could bring you a lot of business, it is still beneficial to have your own site, for various reasons.
Reason # 1: Having your own website is actually the best way for you to take control of your web presence.
Although law directories take up the top spots in Google search results for law firms and lawyers, if you have a website, it could show up on the first page of search results. That could possibly translate to actual money for you if you manage to convert those visitors on your site. Furthermore, a good law firm directory would only help you make more use of your website.
Reason # 2: A website enables you to provide additional information about your firm or practice to fully convince a potential client to hire you.
You can (and should) provide a lot of valuable information to potential clients – information that you may not have been able to add to national law firm directory sites. For example, if you upload a brochure to your website, a potential client could download it and even pass it on to someone they know who may be another potential client.
Reason #3: A website is necessary to showcase your specialty to clients and colleagues.
A website is particularly helpful if you are trying to develop a specialty law firm. Specialty practices or law firms do better in law directories as that is what customers who browse a directory of law firms look for: they want to hire firms that specialize in their problem area.
You can further show your knowledge and expertise in your specialty by starting a blog on your own website. It not only builds your credibility, but also strengthens your online presence in your field.
Don’t let the cost of building a website deter you. The truth is that you can get a website up and running for as little as $50. You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars building a functional site. Just research some cheap but effect solutions and start building your online presence.
Once you get your website up and running, you can link it to your professional profiles in lawyer directories like JurisOffice. Once you do so, you should see an increase in the number for potential clients that come your way.
Granted, success is influenced by the quality of your site and your lead generation system (the process you have set up on your site to convert traffic into leads to actual customers). It also depends on the quality of the law directories you link to.