While the short answer is: It depends, we typically lean towards no.
There are hundreds of factors that determine a site’s ranking on Google or other search engines. Backlinks are still crucial, though. Links are still one of the most important signals for rankings that Google measures.
Link Building for Lawyers Is Still Important in 2021
Directory submissions are one of the most basic tactics used to build backlinks. Some you can submit to for free, others charge a fee. Agencies include legal directory submissions as part of their digital marketing services for law firms, but as an attorney you can also submit your firm to free directories yourself and let Google pick them up as backlinks. For attorneys, the logic is simple: submit your firm to relevant legal directories, pick up a link, and let Google do the math.
For attorneys, there are a plethora of opportunities to gain links. One of the most basic strategies when building links for law firms is to submit your firm’s information to various legal directories. Some directories are free, but many charge a fee.
Today we’re going to take a closer look at one directory in particular, Lawinfo.com.
The Value of a Legal Directory Link
How Much Does a Listing Cost?
The big question when building links? How much will I have to shell out to get my firm listed on your site? Is it an annual fee? Monthly? One-time payment (we can dream, right)?
Unfortunately LawInfo (which is owned by Thomson Reuters, ie. FindLaw) doesn’t clearly display pricing information on their site. Not surprisingly, they want you to leave contact information so that a sales rep can get in touch with you.
Don’t worry though – I did the work for you. OK, so actually I just did quick Google search and found the info:
$40 per month – $480 yearly
So for a listing on LawInfo.com you’re looking at close to $500 per year. That’s actually pretty expensive as far as legal directories go. Of course cost isn’t everything, so let’s do some more investigating.
What Is Link Quality
When evaluating directories, ahrefs.com is often one of my first stops. There’s a ton of information to be found here, but what I’m really after is the Domain Rating (DR).
62/100, not bad at all. I’m still questioning the $480 cost for a link with a 62 DR, though. Let’s get some more information.
Another fantastic link evaluation tool can be found over at Moz.com. The Open Site Explorer will give a site’s Domain Authority (DA) according to Moz. In addition, they’ll give you the authority of a specific page. Here are the stats for LawInfo’s homepage:
58/100 is a strong DA. The link LawInfo is providing does have value, but is it worth the cost?
Directory listings like LawInfo do contribute one thing: citation data. Google looks at citation signals, things like your consistent name, address, and phone number across the web, to validate your business for local search results. But that value lives in the data, not the link itself. Given that LawInfo’s links are nofollow and go through a 302 redirect, accurate citations are the only real SEO upside here. And you can get that same thing for free.
Comparing Directories
To really understand if LawInfo is worth the investment, we need to look at similarly rated directories and figure out how much they cost. I’ve selected a few of the more popular choices for our comparison: Mediate, HG.org, Lawyer.com, and LawGuru.
Let’s quickly check their cost, DR, and DA:
[one_fourth]
Mediate
Cost: $29 per month or $299 per year
DR: 64
DA: 63
[/one_fourth][one_fourth]
HG.org
Cost: $195 per year
DR: 63
DA: 65
[/one_fourth][one_fourth]
Lawyer.com
Cost: $119 per month
DR: 60
DA: 48
[/one_fourth][one_fourth_last]
LawGuru
Cost: Free
DR: 59
DA: 60
[/one_fourth_last]
Three out of the four directories we checked on provide a less expensive link with equivalent or better value. A few high-authority directories cost nothing and are worth prioritizing: Justia (which has one of the highest DRs in the legal space), the free tier on Avvo, and your Google Business Profile. All three give you better links than LawInfo. Your GBP in particular has a direct impact on local map rankings that no paid directory can match.
One, LawGuru, is a similarly rated site that gives directory listings for free. Only Lawyer.com charges more, and the site also functions as a local referral service. However, there is an issue with LawInfo’s listing that you wouldn’t find without careful research.
The Red Flags
When building links, you want to ensure you’re gaining “follow” links. If a link is noted as “no follow,” then you aren’t getting the valuable SEO juice you’re after. Essentially, the no follow command in front of the link is telling crawlers not to visit or count the link.
Let me be clear: these are two different problems. A nofollow attribute is an explicit instruction to Google to ignore the link for ranking purposes. A 302 redirect is a separate issue: it signals a temporary redirect, which Google treats inconsistently when it comes to passing ranking credit.
Another issue with LawInfo: Even if the links were followed, they are 302 redirects. In other words, instead of having your explicit web address, LawInfo uses a custom link that redirects to your site. Obviously, this hurts the SEO value of these links as well.
Google has said publicly that 302 redirects can pass PageRank, but the behavior is all over the place in practice. In my experience, 302s don’t perform nearly as well as direct 301s or clean followed links when it comes to actual rankings. The uncertainty alone is reason enough to want a direct link.
So what does this mean? LawInfo’s value is tied to the quality of leads they generate. Lead sites like this don’t have a great reputation for quality leads. Part of why that reputation sticks: LawInfo markets itself as a lead generation tool, not just a directory. But the leads aren’t exclusive. When a potential client fills out a contact form on LawInfo, that inquiry can go to multiple listed attorneys in the same practice area and city. You’re not buying a lead, you’re entering a competition for one.
Beyond that, there are more cost-effective avenues for getting strong leads. That said, one scenario where LawInfo might be worth a second look: if it actually ranks on page one of Google for attorney searches in your city and practice area. Before dismissing it outright, do a quick search for “[your city] [practice area] attorney” and see where LawInfo appears. If it’s in the top five organic results, there’s a case that the listing drives referral traffic regardless of its SEO link value. If it’s not ranking, the lead argument disappears entirely.
Is a Listing on LawInfo.com Worth the Money?
In this case, I must suggest seeking alternative directory listings before signing up with LawInfo. Better value can be found with other directories that include explicit, followed links in the profile.
Most lawyers and law firms have a set budget they’d like to spend on marketing and SEO. As a marketer, your job is to use that spend in the most effective way possible. If a directory listing cost the same as two with similar DRs and DAs and has no real SEO value, then the option must be to pass.
One nuance worth calling out: some practice areas do get more out of LawInfo than others. High-volume consumer practice areas like bankruptcy, family law, and immigration tend to attract more consumer searches on directories, which means even a nofollow listing might send you some referral traffic. If you’re in one of those areas and LawInfo ranks locally, it might actually be worth it. If you’re a B2B firm or in a niche practice area, it doesn’t.
