The emergence of the internet has changed the way people look for details and resources. Day by day consumers are looking for everything on the internet and the legal service domain doesn’t miss out on that list.

A study conducted by The Research Intelligence Group revealed about 110 million consumers in the U.S require legal services at least once in their lives. 75% of this consumer population looks for resources online. And here, I am only talking about the U.S.

The legal industry is pretty competitive and lawyers understand this very well. And when discussing online presence competition, with my experience as a digital marketer, I understand that very well. Having an attractive online presence increases the chances of law firms in getting hired as legal support.

So, in this blog, I am going to share key points that are crucial in creating a successful law firm website. Also, shall discuss how to stand out with the perfect marketing strategy.

Law Firm Web Design: Tips & Best Practices 

Before I start, let me tell you what you can ‘gain’ from a well-designed website with a professional touch:

• A trustable firm-client relationship;
• A reputable foundation;
• Increased traffic and hand-in-hand increased conversion rates.

All of these are achievable with the right website structure designed by a professional web developer. It gives you that extra edge against your competitors. Now let’s have a look into how to build a website for a law firm –

1. The Design Planning

Legal websites are completely different from the regular site setups. Not because of the clients, but also because of the area of expertise. An ultimate law firm website design is simple, responsive and ‘aesthetically’ structured that highlights the firm’s expertise. Remember, I just highlighted the term aesthetic, because –

“Legal clients prefer to work with personalities, not with companies” – Olga Shevchenko

You must consider these key points for that aesthetic website that reflects the personality:

• Spontaneous Navigation with proper branding that is accessible in desktops and mobiles equally. Your website should be able to provide all the information your clients must be looking for. About your firm, the services you provide, your best lawyers, successfully completed cases, contact information and most importantly why the client should hire you.

Extra tip: Always keep your competitors’ sites on a check to analyze how they are interacting with their clients.

• Avoid information overload and always leave enough white space. Putting too much information for the visitors to grasp can be overwhelming and bring forth the loss of interest. Adding empty spaces in the website help visitors focus on only what’s important. I’m not asking you to forcefully add blank spaces rather a visual focal point.

Extra tip: A good web designer knows how to balance that white space to give that aesthetic look. It would be a win-win deal.

• The information you display to your audiences is your content and it must be persuasive and compelling to promote conversion. Your content must be unique and have an appropriate quantity of words, not too short, nor too lengthy. Remember, you are writing for your clients, so keep the style in check and always keep SEO in mind.

Extra tip: Whether you are writing the content yourself or hiring a writer, make sure to avoid unintelligible legal terms. It just appears gibberish to common people and is less appealing.  

• Include service pages with a list of everything you offer and specialize in. It is very disappointing to browse through several pages only to know your firm doesn’t offer what they require. Having a clear display of the field of expertise is way more professional and adds authenticity.

Extra tip: Your clients are here to look for services. And according to Google’s research, it takes 2.6 seconds for a user to find the right keywords. When they fail, they leave.

• Maintain CTAs. Call-to-action buttons make it easier for interested customers to get in touch with you. This is the first step to conversion, so make these buttons stand out visually. Don’t place it too early, give your customers time to comprehend how helpful your services are to them. Put it in the right place where they understand its value. Make it a popping presence and do not let it ruin the aesthetic value of your page.

Extra Tip: Do not ever make your CTAs forceful. Several websites place CTAs forcefully and that has a very negative impact.

• Employ high-quality visuals to spice up the design. 8 out of 10 people claim videos help in better decision making and builds trust. Also, videos keep visitors glued longer than only text and pictures. I’m not asking you must, but it does help grab attention.

Extra Tip: Picture or video, make sure they are of superior quality and do not impact page loading speed.

Law Firm SEO & Digital Marketing: Tips & Best Practices 

• The Marketing Strategy

When you’re done with top-notch design, your next goal shall be reaching potential customers. That’s where marketing comes, and if rightly done, attracts huge organic traffic.

• Become a part of Google My Business and make sure you can be found locally. Business listing is free, and it allows anyone around finds you quickly when they look for lawyers.

• Making use of social media for marketing is in hype these days. Though lawyers previously were not much accustomed to this social life, now they are.Having a social media channel, preferably in LinkedIn, makes it easier to get in touch with clients. Also, if your firm uses social media make sure they are linked to the website.

• Improve SEO for better organic traffic engagement. SEO, though just a term, involves a lot of things working together. Start with identifying Google’s legal queries and grab a couple of local keywords based on search intent. Right keyword mapping is essential to achieve a higher ranking in the SERPs.

Implementing the right on-page SEO makes the site crawl-able and easy to index.

• The Added Features

There are those minute features, often understated but play a huge part. Here are a few:

• Never underestimate the power of FAQs. It attracts the answer hungry crowd and caters to the queries of probable clients. Think from a visitor’s viewpoint and develop FAQs with proper keywords. This increases customer satisfaction and improves SEO.

• Blogging is another SEO tactic and 70% digital marketers agree to its importance. Successful websites are consistent in blogging to boost SEO ranking. Again, make use of the targeted keywords.

• Display past client testimonials and reviews to build trust. This helps your new customers to see the successful cases and adds value to your reputation. Testimonials are a valuable form of content marketing.
  Testimonials and reviews also show up in your Google My Business listings and promote brand image.

This was pretty much everything you need to know when planning to build a website for your law firm. But how can I help?

While the legal market is your area of expertise, building an effective online presence is mine.

As a freelance web developer and digital marketer, I understand the value of first impression a website has on your client.

For best results, a client must take professional legal help for right assistance. Then why compromise in the matters of website design?

Till then, I hope this blog helps in your journey of making a digital presence. For further assistance feel free to contact me.