As a lawyer, you know the importance of having a solid argument. It is what deconstructs opposing logic and persuades judges and juries to pass favorable verdicts.
What makes a case for your law firm when potential clients search for legal services?
In fairness, an excellent success rate will speak for itself and attract clients. However, if you rely on word of mouth and other traditional forms of marketing, you will need more clients to sustain your firm.
In today’s digital age, potential clients often research a lawyer or law firm online before contacting them. As a result, your website is the first impression potential clients will have of your firm.
For this reason, your website must be not only well-designed and user-friendly but also informative, keyword-rich, and persuasive.
Read on to learn more about how to make your law firm’s website work for you.
Why Website Performance Matters
Did you know that 75% of people judge a company’s credibility based on its website design? And that is just one of many elements that influence the effectiveness of your website.
Think of it this way. There are nearly two billion websites worldwide competing for a limited audience. In addition, social media platforms such as Facebook attract much of users’ attention.
As a result, consumers are split in choice. So, if your website takes too long to load, is difficult to navigate, or needs more relevant information, potential clients will click away and find another law firm that meets their needs.
On the other hand, if your website is fast, informative, and easy to use, you’ll keep potential clients on your site for longer and be more likely to convert them into actual clients.
Benefits of a Powerful Website for Law Firms
Now that you understand why website performance matters, look at some benefits of a powerful website for your law firm.
1. Generate More Leads
The first step in increasing the number of clients you have is generating more leads. Getting more leads into your funnel is one of the first benefits you’ll enjoy with a well-designed website.
Some of the crucial features of a robust website are functionality and authoritativeness—all of which Google uses to rank websites.
Therefore, if your website is appropriately designed and provides relevant information, it’s more likely to appear higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Since people are more likely to click on websites that appear on the first page of SERPs, this increased visibility will result in more traffic to your site and, in turn, more leads for your firm.
2. Builds Credibility and Trust
As mentioned earlier, consumers today have many choices when finding a lawyer or law firm. You must do everything possible to stand out from the competition.
A great way to do this is by building credibility and trust with potential clients. One of the best ways to do that is with an authoritative website.
A website with authority will be full of high-quality, relevant content that answers users’ questions. It’s also well-designed and user-friendly, making it easy for visitors to find what they’re looking for.
In addition, an authoritative website will usually have testimonials from past clients and industry awards and accreditations.
All these factors will help build trust with potential clients and persuade them to choose your law firm over the competition.
3. Improve Client Communication
Part of keeping clients happy is communicating with them effectively. For instance, clients may feel frustrated if they are in the dark about their case, causing them to look for another lawyer.
A great way to improve communication with clients is by using your website as a platform to keep them updated. You can create a dedicated client login area where clients can access updates on their cases 24/7.
You can also use your website to communicate with clients via live chat or by providing a forum where they can ask questions and get answers from you and other team members.
By improving communication with clients, you will build a better relationship with them and increase their chances of recommending your law firm to others.
4. It Saves Time and Money
According to the Rain Marketing Institute, lawyers have an average utilization rate of 29%; this means that for an 8-hour workday, you only bill 2.3 hours. A key reason for this is that attorneys spend large parts of their day on administrative tasks rather than billable work.
A website can help reduce the amount of time you spend on administrative tasks by automating some processes. For example, you can use online forms to gather client information, to then store in a secure client portal.
You can also use your website to update clients on how their cases progress. For example, if you have a client login area on your site, all you need to do is input key details of the case. A client portal for updates will reduce your time on calls with clients relaying such information.
5. Target and Attract the Right Clients
Ideally, you want to generate as many leads as possible. However, even if you do so, your conversion rates will be low if you are not attracting the right people to your website.
When it comes to high-quality leads, a robust website is an invaluable tool. It allows you to tailor your offering to appeal to ideal clients. Being able to tailor your website is not just about the nature of the service but the messaging, personality, voice, images, and copywriting techniques.
Higher conversion rates will accompany the rise in leads by making your website appealing to your ideal clients.
6. It Showcases Your Professionalism
When clients face the risk of jail time or a hefty lawsuit, they cannot afford to take any chances. As such, they’ll look for the best lawyer possible.
However, you need to understand that the criteria you may use to classify yourself as the best differs from what the client will use. Before they see details about your success rate or read reviews from previous clients, they will have an opinion about your quality.
New data shows consumers form an opinion about a brand within 0.05 seconds. Therefore, they’ll leave when it doesn’t meet their expectations. You’ll come across as professional and reliable if you have a powerful, well-designed website. In turn, they’ll hire you for legal services.
7. It’s a Long-Term Asset.
Investing in a robust website and SEO can offer significant short and medium-term benefits. A great website and a solid SEO strategy can provide considerable benefits, especially with paid advertising.
However, that’s a simplistic view of the value of a website. You should look at it as something other than a quick-fix solution but as a means to achieving law firm longevity.
Think of your website as digital real estate. The more you invest in building and improving it, the more valuable it will become. You’ll need a complete content and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy to increase its value. As you do this, you’ll build an extensive resource center for potential clients.
By consistently adding insightful and helpful content, Google and your audience will recognize your brand as an industry authority. If you do this correctly, your challenge will not be getting clients but scaling the size of your firm fast enough to handle your ever-growing caseload.
Best Practices for Building a Powerful Website for Legal Marketing
As you prepare to set your law firm apart with a robust website, you must know what to do. Here are some of the best practices to enhance marketing for lawyers.
1. Go for a Mobile-First Website Design
An essential part of marketing is understanding your target audience and consumer behavior in general. Internet usage statistics indicate that 54% of all browsing activity occurs through mobile devices.
Knowing where your users view your website is critical, as the devices in use affect user experience. Consequently, over half of the market will overlook you. Visitors may need help navigating if your website also needs to be optimized for mobile use.
Therefore, during web design, ensure that you take a mobile-first approach. Being mobile-friendly does not mean that you will be sacrificing leads using computers. It will enhance their experience as well.
2. Highlight Your Area of Specialization
There are numerous legal fields, and you will fall under one umbrella as an attorney or law firm. Similarly, clients want to hire a specialized and experienced lawyer in the niche relevant to their problem.
If it is difficult for visitors to discern what legal services you offer, they are less likely to book a consultation. To address this, you should highlight your specialization at every opportunity. Incorporate it in your domain name and branding.
Suppose you offer criminal defense services. If your law firm is named Kent and Durn Attorneys at law, it needs to provide clients with sufficient information about your area of focus. However, if you adjust the name to Kent and Durn Criminal Defense Attorney, they will immediately know your practice.
3. Don’t be Shy with a Call to Action.
It is essential to build your site as an authoritative platform. However, the ultimate goal is to inform your audience and secure your ideal clients’ trust and business.
Refrain from assuming that your audience will automatically hire you. You will need to encourage your visitors to take action. And this is where a Call To Action (CTA) comes into play.
4. Showcase Your Results
Garnering positive outcomes for clients requires a lot of hard work. Considering clients want attorneys with a proven track record, such results should be prominent on your website.
The best way to highlight your track record is to have a dedicated page for results. Try to offer an overall success rate accompanied by several specific case results. You will quickly earn trust and credibility by providing past results, resulting in more consultation bookings.
Use cases highly relevant to the claims you handle most often for maximum effect. Once clients see you have successfully dealt with a similar matter, they’ll have confidence in you.
In addition to the reliable results page, try incorporating your performance into other pages.
5. Post Reviews and Testimonials
According to a Global News Wire report, 95% of consumers read online reviews before making a purchase. So, while you offer the best legal services, potential clients may have doubts if you do not have positive reviews.
Therefore, have a section on your website highlighting the reviews you get. These can come from sources other than your website. You can check for reviews on your social media pages and review sites and then copy-paste them.
To add more credibility to the reviews, you should also add some testimonials. Identify the clients impressed by your services and ask them to do a testimonial. The good thing about testimonials is that they are more personal.
Since potential clients can see and hear, they will pick up on the emotions and gratitude better. Being able to connect to someone that was in a similar situation is why testimonials are more compelling.
Set up Your Law Firm for Long-Term Success
A powerful website is a minimum for legal marketing in this increasingly competitive digital ecosystem. It needs to have a captivating design and be functional and value-rich. With this, you can constantly attract and retain visitors.
While a website can bring tremendous value to your law firm, it requires a lot of work. You will need to monitor its performance and regularly update the features. Moreover, you’ll require a robust content strategy to improve and maintain your high ranking.
As a practicing attorney, you may need more time to commit enough time to such activities. Plus, you need to have the necessary design and digital marketing expertise.
Designing a top-notch legal website is where The Legal Marketing Company comes into play. We are a digital marketing company helping law firms thrive in the digital ecosystem. Our services range from web design solutions to paid search and SEO.
So, contact us today to take your law firm to the next level with powerful website and legal marketing solutions.
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