A great law firm website should focus on your potential clients. In order to have a successful website, you should have a well-defined goal that will highlight the call to action. The website should appease search engine algorithms but be client focused and have a personality. There are also a number of elements that help make the website even better.
Responsive Web Design
More and more people are using smartphones and tablets to access the web. For some websites, about half of the traffic can come from a mobile user. Having a responsive web design can make sure that you have a tailored experience for all devices so you aren’t alienating your mobile visitors. Having a responsive web design means that your site scales to different resolutions and each size displays your content in an optimal way. Not only does this make it easier for clients to view your website on any device, but it’s also good for SEO. Not only does Google recommend a responsive design, but it also favors web sites that have a responsive design.
Attorney Search Based on Multiple Criteria
The main point of a website is to connect potential clients with the information they need. Visitors might be looking for a specific practice area or looking for articles on the information, but mostly they are looking for a lawyer. Having a firm directory of your lawyers can be helpful and it’s even better for potential clients to easily search and drill down results for lawyers based on criteria such as experience or location. This is especially helpful for larger law firms. Including links to tagged attorneys that appear on location and practice area pages can make sure that your pages are interactive and make it a seamless experience for the user. If a user isn’t able to find what they are looking for on your website then they are sure to leave.
Easy, Convenient Methods to Contact
There should be several different ways that potential clients can get in touch with the firm. Some firms hide this on their website by accident and not having a clear contact form doesn’t help start a client-attorney relationship. The immediacy of the need to contact can vary by area, but it’s important for a user to have options. You want to have a phone number in the header so it shows on every page, as well as a general inquiries contact form. It can also help to have email addresses for each attorney listed on their profile pages.
A Blog to Create Content
Content marketing is an important part of SEO. Creating and distributing relevant, consistent, and valuable content on your website is an important strategy for any law firm that wants to focus on online rankings. Lawyers are generally successful at content marketing since there is a lot of information that others need and writing content shows off the expertise. Content creation should be a priority and a blog can be a great way to show off this content.
Internal Links
Content creation and your blog won’t help much if you don’t have this content internally linked to practice areas. This content should do double duty on your website and link to the relevant practice area pages. Tagging your blog content on the practice area can help the pages stay fresh and allow you more ways to get content in front of fresh eyes.
Social Media
Not every law firm has been an early adopter of social media but social media usage for law firms is rising. Many attorneys typically have their own professional social media channels where they share information and connect with their clients. It’s recommended to have these social media links on each profile page. Including this information on the website can help give the website personality, which is important to give direct access to potential clients and build up the brand.
Testimonials
Much of a law firm’s success and gaining new clients depends on word of mouth and referrals. You can capitalize on this by having client testimonials on your website. Whether it’s written or video testimonials, including these adds credibility, trust, and personality to your brand. If you have a client that is pleased with your work, you can also ask them to include a review on your Google + page, which will help your local SEO rankings.
Photos but Not Stock Photos
It’s important to have photos on your website but you don’t want to have stock photos. It’s very easy to spot stock photos, even for those who aren’t too web-savvy. You can use photos to your advantage to show off the personality by including showing your own team, offices, and locations. You don’t necessarily need to hire a team of professional photographers, but any photos you include should be high-quality and high-resolution images.
It’s important to consider SEO when working on your law firm website. A website that isn’t favored by Google can struggle. Working with an award-winning website design team can help ensure that your law firm website has all the essential elements, as well as focuses on SEO to help improve your chances of high rankings on Google.
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