Website Best Practices
At this point, we presume your law firm has a website. If you don't, well, consider this your call to action. It's much easier these days with very easy-to-use platforms from Squarespace and Wix, among others. These options are not only simple to learn and use, but have built-in professional templates and graphics options. Wherever you have your website developed, to maximize the investment it's critical to ensure there is a reason for everything on your site and that it's all focused on your client.
Easy To Find
Clearly, to maximize the benefit of having a website is making it easy for potential clients to find you. It's also maybe one of the hardest to achieve. The key is to put yourself in the shoes of your potential client.
Referrals continue to be a strong source of business with 59% of individuals asking friends or family for information. As such, you need to make it easy for past clients to keep you top of mind, without being pushy, of course. Consider sending past clients a quarterly newsletter. Include information about your area of law, something in your city or region, and include news on the law firm itself. Celebrate milestones like law firm growth, anniversaries, or other content that humanizes the law firm. Every potential client wants to know that you are approachable, understanding, and professional. It's all about balance.
For those who search for attorneys online, it's key to be clear about the type of law you practice. People who search online tend to use terms like 'wills attorney near me' or 'divorce lawyer' or something like that. So when you create your website, make sure it's clear what type of law you practice. Include that on your homepage and make it very clear. Sure, you can pepper the text you add on your website with the type of law but ultimately, that will backfire. Search engines, particularly Google, want to help the user find the best resource for their search. Just focus on answering your potential client's questions and you will clear that hurdle.
Mobile View
More and more, people are accessing information on their phones. In fact, 61% of searches are done on a phone in 2021. Make sure your website is created with a responsive design that automatically adjusts the layout for the device. So if individuals are finding your site on their computer, tablet, or phone, your website is shown in the right dimensions. If you aren't sure if your website has a responsive design, just open it on a computer and your phone. If the phone version looks like a squeezed version of your computer view, well, you have work to do. If you are using an out-of-the-box option like the ones noted above, be sure to pick a responsive design option. If your current site isn't responsive, it simply isn't worth the time or investment to make it a responsive design. You are better off creating the site using a template that automatically adjusts.
Easy To Connect
Be sure your website visitor can easily find the contact information for your firm. It may be an email, a phone number, a webchat feature, or maybe all of the above. It doesn't need to be the biggest item on your homepage, but it needs to be there. Be sure to give visitors options on how to connect, too. Some people prefer sending an email. Some prefer to make a call. You get the idea.
Having multiple communication channels can be a challenge to monitor and manage. Our recommendation is to only offer as many options are you can monitor on a daily basis. If you are also on social media, remember to check those communication methods too. The number one complaint we hear from clients who connect via SimpleLaw is that attorneys don't respond. Don't be that guy.
Answer Their Questions
It can feel pretty empowering when creating your law firm website. Your firm has a lot to offer and making that clear to visitors is great. But if you find yourself writing all about yourself, you are doing it wrong.
Remember, the person who comes to your website has questions. Everything from who you are, what you do, how your work, what a timeline looks like, and of course, fees. So be sure to answer those questions. You absolutely need to let visitors know who are you and describe your practice. But once you establish that, and not too in-depth of course, start answering questions. Consider your homepage. The top portion must let visitors know you are a law firm and practice specific areas of law. It's great to let visitors know the level of experience you have. Offering client testimonials is always good, too.
But after that, start moving to answer questions. The easiest way is to simply show the information as a Q & A. Start with the basics: 'How do I find out if I need to hire an attorney?', 'What does the process look like for a case?', 'How do I communicate with my lawyer?'. You get the idea. Make it approachable and of course, remind the reader these are guidelines and that every case is unique.
Keep It Fresh
Put yourself in your potential client's shoes. If you found a website that looks like it was designed by an amateur, would you trust that site? Probably not. So keep the layout, design, and images fresh. Again, online tools like the ones referenced above make it super simple to keep your website looking and feeling modern. You may not need to update your website every year, but probably every 2nd or 3rd year, depending on how old the current site is.
Content is king for potential clients. So keep your content fresh too. As your firm grows, either in staff or number of cases, keep it updated. If you have time to write a blog or offer visitors any other content, make sure it's fresh. Weekly is optimal but for most law firms, that's just too much work, unless you have a dedicated resource. If changes to your area of law occur, make sure to add that information to your website.
We could go over more details on search engine optimization (SEO), keywords, paid ads, and more. But suffice it to say, getting these 5 basic best practices will get you pretty far. For Website 2.0 learning, subscribe to our blog.
