The perfect law firm website is one that brings in targeted traffic and turns leads into clients at a high rate. The most important part of your law firm website design is the conversion.
Design matters, but it only matters in terms of how well it converts qualified leads into phone calls.
Thankfully, it’s not hard to optimize your site for conversions, but to do that requires the following essential elements.
The vast majority of your leads will want to call you on the phone to discuss their case. Place your phone number at the top of every web page in the header for the best results. Make sure it’s big, bold, and unmistakable.
Use HTML to make your phone number clickable. When a user clicks, your number will be automatically entered into their dial pad and they can click one button to place the call.
If your number is buried, absent, or hard to see, you’ll lose many leads who just want to make a phone call.
Your leads will come to you looking for legal help for a specific situation, so it’s crucial that you display your practice areas clearly on your website. It can be as simple as a menu item labeled “practice areas” with a drop-down list of your services. Each item in the list should be a link that goes to a dedicated page for each practice area.
Use both legal terminology and common terminology to make sure your visitors know your practice areas apply to them. Give examples of cases you handle. For example, if you’re a family law attorney, include a list of cases and situations that fall under that term. It might be obvious to some people that divorce, child custody are part of family law, but they might not know certain financial issues and property division are also part of family law.
Simplified navigation is always nice, but for people who need legal help it’s essential. Consider that many people looking for an attorney will be in a negative emotional state and they’ll need simplicity. If your navigation is too complicated, they’ll just bounce and call the next attorney they can find.
Keep your text labels simple and understandable, like:
· Home
· Practice areas
· Our attorneys
· Reviews
· FAQ
· Contact
You don’t necessarily need to have a frequently asked question section, but it will give you the opportunity to write content for search engine optimization (SEO) and some visitors will appreciate finding fast answers to their questions.
Most people are likely to call you directly, but some people would rather fill out a web form and receive an email reply first. Make sure you give your visitors multiple ways to contact you. Also, remember to make your phone number clickable so nobody has to remember your number or write it down to call you from the same device they’re using to view your site.
By now, it’s safe to say that stock photography is basically dead. The stock photography model was developed to help photographers make some extra money, but because stock photos ended up being so cheap, everyone started using them. The problem is that they all look similar and since they’re generic, they will always look out of place.
Never use stock photography on a law firm website. Having photos of people who don’t work for you will make your services look cheap. Always hire a professional photographer to take photos of you and your team to use throughout your site.
An introduction video will help you capture attention by demonstrating your expertise to leads. Having a video on your homepage is an easy way to engage your potential clients quickly to help them decide if your services are right for them. If you do it right, it should increase the number of qualified leads you get. At the end of your video, add a call-to-action (CTA) asking the viewer to call you right now to discuss your case or get a free consultation.
Website accessibility is a big deal and it’s even a legal requirement, but many website owners ignore it and don’t bother to make their websites accessible to people with disabilities.
For a law firm, an inaccessible website will reduce the number of leads you get from disabled individuals. Not everyone knows someone they can ask to search for an attorney on their behalf. If someone who uses accessibility tools to access the internet can’t navigate your website, they’re going to go back to the search results and contact the first attorney with an accessible website. If they file a complaint about your site being inaccessible, you could get sued.
Having a page dedicated to your bio will help establish trust and authority. Tell your visitors and potential leads how long you’ve been practicing law, where you got your law degree, and exceptional judgments and case outcomes you’ve won for your clients. Your bio page is an opportunity to showcase your expertise and achievements.
Most websites today are mobile-friendly by default, but there are still theme creators who do not take this into account when they design for content management systems like WordPress, Drupal, or Magento. Always opt for responsive design, whether you’re hiring someone to make you a site from scratch or you’re using a pre-made design. Then test your website on all of your mobile devices to make sure it works.
If you’ve noticed attorney websites tend to look similar, it’s not just because they’re all blindly copying one another. In some industries, like law, there are certain designs and layouts that command respect and give the impression of expertise. For example, a header that displays a nice image of you or several attorneys from your firm is a great way to create a good first impression on your visitors. Sticking to a simple color scheme of black, white, and red is also good because it will prevent distractions and create a sense of calm and stability.
Don’t reinvent the wheel and try to come up with a fancy new layout to make your site stand out. Standing out is something that works in other industries. Your goal should be to present your firm as an expert legal team who can help clients get the best possible case outcome.
A call-to-action (CTA) is something that instructs a visitor to take a specific action, like calling you, watching a video, or filling out a web form. Take full advantage of placing CTAs wherever possible. Your leads will be looking for a reason to contact you, and you can influence them to take action with a simple CTA. Some examples include:
· Call now to schedule a free consultation
· Contact us now to discuss your case
· Call us now to see if you qualify for a settlement
· Any variation of the above that extends your specific offer
Every page should end with a CTA and there should be at least one CTA visible on your home page that doesn’t require much scrolling to see.
It’s basic marketing psychology that you should make your content client-focused. Your copy should talk about your clients’ problems and not be all about you. You’ll want to identify their struggles and pain points and share the benefits you will provide to ease their pain. This will vary depending on the practice area, so if you have multiple practice areas you’ll need to do this for each one.
Although you don’t want to talk about yourself, make an exception for showcasing your best case outcomes where you’ve been able to reduce someone’s charges, get cases dropped, or you’ve gotten a significant award for a client. These accomplishments might seem self-congratulatory, but they speak directly to your leads and can help you get more calls.
Law firm websites that convert the most always have plenty of social proof, like screenshots, reviews, testimonials, and video testimonials from former clients.
Around 82% of Americans ask their friends and family for recommendations regarding a purchase, but they also look for reviews from strangers to make decisions.
The average person today will read at least 10 online reviews before making a purchase, and that means people are shopping around but they’re looking for other people’s opinions first.
Social proof in the form of reviews and testimonials puts people at ease, helps them trust you before they’ve interacted with you, and can earn you leads who would have otherwise not contacted you.
Whenever possible, use native widgets from the companies that host your reviews. You can incorporate your best reviews into your website directly, but it will make you look more credible when those reviews are embedded from a trustworthy review website.
Thanks to the GDPR, you’ll need to include a privacy policy and other terms and conditions on your website no matter where you practice law. If someone from the EU fills out a contact form on your website for some reason, their data will be governed by the GDPR.
You probably already let people know that contacting you through your website does not establish a client relationship. However, to be legally compliant, you’ll need more than this disclaimer.
Self-made websites might work for some industries and individuals, but it won’t work for your law firm. At least, not if you want to generate a flood of qualified leads that convert. Anyone can manipulate a template, but it takes a professional developer to place all the elements correctly on the page and put together a site that converts.
If you’re thinking about making your own website, or if you already have, consider hiring a professional developer to bring your site to the next level. You’ll not only get access to better hosting and useful features like AI chat bots, but you’ll also be able to have custom solutions crafted for your business – something you can’t do on your own.
If you haven’t already realized it, experiences on the internet are a substitute for real-life interactions. At least that’s how they’re interpreted. How people experience you online is going to impact your conversions.
When you prioritize creating an easy online experience for your visitors, you’ll get more calls from qualified leads that will become paying clients. To sustain and even grow your law firm requires a steady flow of leads, but you also need to work some magic with conversions.
If you aren’t sure how to get more conversions on your own, we can help. Contact us right now – we’d love to build you a website that will get you all the conversions you deserve.
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