Law firms should buy Yahoo local listing
Yahoo Local is a no brainer include for law firms looking for greater exposure on the Internet. It’s dirt cheap and is only going to improve. Yahoo has always had a generic form to add or suggest a listing but the new local listing gives local businesses greater control of the listing through a new content inclusion program.
Chris Sherman, Associate Editor of SearchEngineWatch reports just two months after its official launch, Yahoo Local now offers more than 15 million listings for U.S. based business. Yahoo has compiled these listings using several different sources of information, including web crawls, feeds from information providers and other sources.
Paul Levine, General Manager, Yahoo Local told Sherman “It’s part of our ongoing effort to bring content into the product, both in terms of number of listings, but perhaps more importantly to expand the depth of content.”
Lawyers can choose from two types of listings, the basic or enhanced.
Basic listing
Basic listings are free.
A basic listing includes name, address, phone number, and other relevant information that Yahoo has pulled from the various sources. A business can opt to appear in up to five categories. Most importantly, Yahoo attempts to identify a link to the company’s web site, operating hours and descriptions of services provided or products sold.
Enhanced listing
Enhanced listings assures law firms the following:
- Up to 5 Categories
- Link to your Business Web Site
- Operating Information
- Services Provided/Products Sold
- Company Tagline
- Business Description
- Two Links to Promotional Offers on your Business Web Site
- Up to 10 Photos
- Performance Reports
Here’s a screen shot of how the enhanced listings display additional information beneath the basic listing.
Enhanced listings only cost $9.95 per month, with no cost-per-click fees. Despite the enhanced listing, the listing will not appear higher in the search results.
Ratings of lawyers?
Interestedly, the displayed results at Yahoo local provide ratings of the businesses displayed, whether you’ve bought an enhanced listing or not. Users are asked to rate the business by providing brief plusses and cons. Some day we may see people choose lawyers based on what past clients think, not fellow lawyers or judges. That would be a big plus for American consumers.