How do you get ranked in the Legal 500?
A Legal 500 ranking is a listing published by a legal directory. It is not a position in Google, and the two move independently. We hold no record of the directory's submission process, so this page does not describe one. legal500.com was among 40 sites we read in full on 3 August 2026.
Last updated: 5 August 2026
Why does this page not explain the submission process?
Because we have never measured it, and a plausible account would be worse than none.
Everything the programme publishes comes from something we ran or read on a stated date. What we read on 3 August 2026 was the front-facing content of 40 legal-marketing and legal-publishing sites, checking one thing: whether a price was on the page. legal500.com was one of them and published no price. That is the whole of our record.
Deadlines, submission templates, referee lists and editorial criteria are not in it. Writing them from memory would put unverifiable process claims in front of readers whose profession is finding the weak point in an argument, and the directory is the only reliable source for its own requirements.
We also cannot get a firm ranked, and would not say otherwise. We do not prepare directory submissions, hold no relationship with any directory, and have no means of influencing an editorial decision made by a publisher. If a supplier tells you they can, ask them to explain the mechanism.
How does a directory ranking differ from search visibility?
They are decided by different people, arrive on different timescales, and fail in different ways.
| Directory ranking | Search visibility | |
|---|---|---|
| Who decides | The publisher, editorially | A ranking system nobody outside Google operates |
| What you submit | Whatever that publisher asks for | Nothing — pages are crawled as published |
| What it produces | Presence where shortlists are compiled, and a link | Appearances for the questions asked before instruction |
| Who encounters it | People who already use that directory | Anybody typing the question |
| How it is lost | An editorial decision, at renewal | A core update, or a competitor's better page |
| What a marketing supplier can do | Nothing we would claim | Build and write the pages |
The row that matters most is the last one. A firm can be told to buy both, and only one of them is work a supplier actually performs.
What is a directory listing worth?
Something real, and narrower than it is usually sold as.
A listing does three things. It puts the firm where a certain kind of buyer — often an in-house counsel or a referrer rather than a consumer — assembles a shortlist. It gives a name to check after a recommendation. And it is a link from an established site.
What it does not do is create demand. The demand is on the search engines, and it is measurable. In London, 2,600 people a month search for a conveyancing solicitor at a cost per click of £20.13, measured 3 August 2026. None of those people are in a directory at the moment they type. They are in a search box.
There is also a complication that directory marketing rarely mentions. A directory page can outrank the firm's own page for the firm's own practice-area search. Being listed and being visible are not merely different, they occasionally compete: the reader finds the category page, sees eleven firms, and the listing you paid attention to becomes a shortlist you did not choose.
Which should a firm work on first?
Decide by where your work actually comes from, then check the site either way.
- If most instructions arrive by referral or panel, a directory presence is doing a verification job and is worth the effort it takes. So is the website, because the referred client looks the firm up before ringing.
- If most instructions arrive from search, the directory is a secondary asset and the firm's own pages are the product.
- If you do not know which it is, find that out first. Asking the last twenty clients how they found you costs nothing.
Underneath both routes sits the same page. 15 of the 62 questions buyers ask on these searches are price questions, measured 3 August 2026, and only 12 of the 40 sites we read published a price at all. A directory entry does not answer that question. A fee page does.
Does the publication rule change the calculation in England and Wales?
It moves the work onto the firm's own site, where the firm controls it.
The SRA Transparency Rules have been in force since 6 December 2018 and require price and service information for specified work types — the basis of charges, likely disbursements, indicative timescales, the qualifications and experience of those doing the work, and complaints information. Those pages are published on the firm's own domain, not in a directory, and they are the pages that answer the most-asked question in this market.
Whether a given service falls in scope is a matter for the firm and its COLP. We build the pages; we do not assess anyone's obligations, and no supplier can make a firm compliant on its behalf.
Where should I read next?
For what search visibility actually consists of: SEO services for a law firm and legal SEO services.
If the question behind this one is reputation rather than rankings: branding a law firm.
For map and area visibility, which is a third system again: local SEO for a law firm. For the wider channel picture: lawyer internet marketing.
The short answer is above. If you want the numbers behind it — demand in your town, what your site is missing, and what 40 suppliers charge — the report is free and takes about two minutes to request: /legal/uk/
Frequently asked questions
How do you get ranked in Legal 500?
We hold no record of the directory's submission process and will not describe one from memory. The directory itself is the only reliable source for its own requirements, and everything on this page is limited to what we read on 3 August 2026.
Can a marketing agency get a firm ranked in a legal directory?
Not in any way we would claim. Placement is an editorial decision made by the publisher, and we hold no relationship with any directory and no means of influencing one. A supplier who says otherwise should be asked to explain the mechanism.
Is a directory ranking the same as ranking on Google?
No. A directory ranking is published by that directory; a search position is produced by a system nobody outside Google operates. They are decided by different people and lost in different ways.
What is a directory listing actually worth?
Presence where certain buyers assemble shortlists, a name to check after a recommendation, and a link from an established site. It does not create demand, and the demand is measurable elsewhere.
Can a directory compete with my own website?
Yes. A directory category page can outrank a firm's own page for that firm's practice area, which puts the firm inside a shortlist it did not choose alongside its competitors.
Did Legal 500 publish a price when you checked?
No. legal500.com was one of 40 sites we read in full on 3 August 2026, of which 12 published a price at all. We record only whether a price was present, never what it was.
Should a UK firm prioritise directories or its own pages?
It depends where instructions come from, and most firms have not asked. Underneath both routes the publication rule points at the firm's own domain, since those pages are published there rather than in a directory.