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Marketing With the Yahoo Profile Directory: 8 Tips

Marketing With the Yahoo Profile Directory: 8 Tips

Using the Yahoo profiles directory as part of your law firm marketing strategy has some distinct advantages.  The main Yahoo profiles and member directory is one of the few online human edited directories that still costs money to submit to.  In fact, the Yahoo profile directory was actually the first part of the Yahoo empire that went live online, and it's still one of the ways you can use Yahoo for your business even though its search is no longer commonly used.  Keep reading to learn some important tips for when you start working on your Yahoo profiles directory entry.

#1: Be Thorough When Working On Your Profile

Especially if you're paying for your Yahoo profile directory listing, you should make sure you're being very thorough about your profile.  The Yahoo profiles and member directory is free to join, but the principle holds true just the same.  No matter which Yahoo profiles directory you're part of, you need to include all relevant information in your entry.

This means that you'll want to have your law firm's phone number and address correct and up to date. You'll also want to make sure your Yahoo profiles and member directory profile includes any niche marketing information about your law firm.

#2: Use Your SEO Knowledge to Write Your Profile

If you've been using search engine optimization on the rest of your website, there's no reason your Yahoo profile directory entry can't also use many of the same techniques.  The Yahoo profiles directory is searchable, so you can use some of your SEO knowledge to create your entries with keywords that will be likely to draw people into your website.

Inbound links that come from the Yahoo profile directory are often worth a substantial amount in search rankings.  Creating good inbound links through the Yahoo profiles directory is one of the main reasons that many businesses will purchase a link in the main directory.  Even if you only have an entry in the free Yahoo profiles and member directory, you will get some link juice from the inbound links coming from your profile.

#3: Maintain Accurate Information on the Yahoo Profile Directory

If your law firm has changes in partners, focus areas, or location, you need to update your entry on the Yahoo profiles directory right away.  People search on the Yahoo profiles and member directory in order to make same day decisions, and if you've got inaccurate information for even days or weeks, you'll risk losing out on business that might have otherwise been easy to secure.

#4: Create a Profile in the Local Yahoo Profile Directory

One of the newer features of the Yahoo profiles and member directory is a local feature, created to compete with Google's local directory features.  If you create a profile in this part of the Yahoo profiles directory, you'll be able to include information about your business that is relevant to local consumers, including having your business plotted on a map.

Local searches have become one of the biggest ways that people search—especially when looking for representation by a qualified attorney.  The Yahoo profiles and member directory is not as frequently looked at as Google+ Local for this type of search.  However, because it takes very little time to set up your Yahoo profile directory entry, it's a very low risk and high reward proposition.

#5: Ask For Reviews on the Yahoo Profile Directory

Since the Yahoo profiles directory may not be the first place that your clients think of when it comes to reviewing you, you may need to actually talk to past and current clients about getting reviews added to the Yahoo profile directory.  Sending an email or putting out a public call on your social networking accounts containing a direct link to your spot in the Yahoo profiles and member directory can make it easier for your clients to click through to the right place (and therefore easier for them to give you a positive review).

#6: Watch What Your Competitors Are Doing

It's important to keep track of your competitors on any website, and the Yahoo profile directory is no exception.  Make sure that you're occasionally searching to see if and when your competition gets a profile on the Yahoo profiles directory, so that you can analyze what they're doing and whether they may actually have a better profile.  If their profile seems more engaging, you should consider changing some of your content in the Yahoo profiles and member directory to better engage your readers.

However, this doesn't mean that you should give up your own individuality.  Remember that your branding efforts should carry over to your Yahoo profile directory entry.  If your Yahoo profiles directory entry appears to be insincere or doesn't seem to really have much of a brand at all, it will just seem generic and unmemorable to viewers.

#7: Never Astroturf on the Yahoo Profile Directory

It can be tempting for some businesses to take matters into their own hands in the Yahoo profiles and member directory.  Some unethical companies—even law firms—have chosen to place false reviews in the Yahoo profiles directory.  In fact, in some ways it can be easier to do this with the Yahoo profiles and member directory than some others, because the traffic level is lower (this makes the subject of the false reviews less likely to find and report them).  No matter what, you should never create this kind of review—either a positive one for yourself or a negative one for someone else.  Doing so makes you look bad, and if you're caught, your state bar may actually sanction you for ethics violations.

#8: Make Sure Your Website Looks Great

Sometimes, webmasters can get so caught up in creating entries on websites like the Yahoo profiles directory that they forget to make sure their website is running at its best first.  You should always make sure before creating new inbound links that your website is ready to handle the traffic and looks exactly the way you want it to look when prospective clients see it.
 

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