Much of the available advice about creating and maintaining a law firm website focuses on issues such as which pages to include, choosing quality color schemes and fonts, and consistently placing memorable logos. While it is important to follow the principles for best law firm website design, doing so will not matter if the site itself does not deliver high value for current and potential clients.
First, people must be able to find your site. Then, website visitors must have reasons to remain, engage, and reach out to you to schedule a consultation. This is a way of saying that focusing on the quality and usefulness of the material you post to your website puts you on the path to having a successful site.
Once you understand that a successful website is one the attracts clients, you are ready to take the three essential steps toward sustained success.
Step 1. Make Your Website the Keystone of Your Marketing Strategy
Surveys done over the past decade show that nothing beats personal referrals from former clients when it comes to driving new law firm business. The next most-frequent reason people cite for hiring a lawyer is that they found the attorney on the internet. A fairly steady 30-40 of people say this. Percentages for first contacts following exposures to radio and television ads have fallen into the single digits.
Building your legal business now requires providing excellent client service — as it always has — and having a great law firm website. Elements to include range from practice descriptions and attorney bios to case result summaries and blog posts on specific issues related to the types of cases your lawyers handle.
Each piece of content should make proper use of high-value keywords to draw high rankings from search engines, and the content itself should be well-written or, for videos and images, engaging and relevant. Most of all, the content must address the questions and needs of the types of clients you serve. Once it exists, content can be promoted through social media.
Step 2. Update Your Website Regularly and Redesign It as Needed
Static websites disappear from search results. The search algorithms employed by Google, Bing, and Yahoo reward freshly created content. Adding a blog to a law firm website gives lawyers a reason to post new material on a regular schedule. Blogging also lets attorneys go into depth on specific issues, directly answer frequently asked questions, and respond quickly to significant changes in laws that directly affect their practice.
Blogging will not suffice to keep a law firm relevant and attractive to potential clients forever. The online experience evolves rapidly, and more people ditch their laptop or desktop computers each year. If your website does not make use of what coders and developers call responsive deign, it will not meet the needs of visitors who arrive via tablets or smartphones. It will also not permit the optimal integration of videos, interactive features like chatbots, and rapid updates by staff. Responsive design ensures webpages display and function optimally on every kind of device.
Scheduling an annual review of your site’s functionality with the company that does your web design will clarify whether a resign is in order. When the time comes, treat the redesign as an opportunity to rethink every aspect of you content. Archive the oldest material, rewrite main webpages, and look for ways to increase engagement with visitors to your site.
Step 3. Collect, Analyze, and Act on Data
You should not do anything to your website unless you have a reason and a plan. Develop both by gathering actionable data about your current clients, your preferred clients, and which keywords and types of content drive clicks, contacts, and conversions from web visitor to paying client.
Any feasible concept of “best law firm websites design” includes and rests upon the use of tools to track and report on, at a minimum, the following:
- Where a visitor came from
- The device a visitor used to view your site
- Which page a visitor landed on
- How long a visitor stayed on that page
- Whether a visitor clicked on a link to another page on your site
- Whether a visitor clicked into your contact page or filled out your online contact form
- The total time a visitor spent on your site
- The path a visitor took while clicking over to different pages on your site
Combining this information with surveys of and records for your clients will guide you in creating new pages, writing blog posts, and selecting keywords that improve search engine rankings.
The Split Reef team has identified these three steps by specializing in delivering web design for law firms for many years. To discuss putting us to work for your firm, take a moment to fill out this contact form. The initial consultation will cost you nothing.