Lawyers must keep their law firm websites up to date, otherwise it may hurt their chances of acquiring new clients. When searching for a lawyer, people want to make sure that the law firm comes across as current and informative. If the website doesn’t have these elements, a potential client may move on to another law firm’s site. That is why it is vital to have not only a strong online presence, but a modern one that speaks to the level of service and expertise that your law firm can provide. Don’t just say you are capable, show your potential clients you are.
I was discussing this with my designer just this past week. We were reviewing a white collar criminal lawyer’s website for an upgraded law firm design. The lawyer specialized in high-profile white-collar crimes. We were discussing what we would do differently and he asked me what I thought about the site and I felt that the color scheme was very bright (purple and lime green) but the issue for me was that it was disjointed. Each layer or section of the home page was not in balance, there might be a good photo in one spot but then it was all text that was unnecessary and was not really needed for SEO. We compared it another attorney’s website in Boston, that we did a couple of years back, who has a very high profile and it was not as tight. My feeling is that a great law firm website needs to balance both a very professional and modern look, combined with the right amount of text and links to internal content but it shouldn’t be SEO heavy.
There are common elements that should be in a modern website. For instance, on your law firm website, do you incorporate the most current elements? You should have professional photos, YouTube videos or videos of key members of the firm, and just the right balance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
However, another aspect is to make your website mobile friendly. Nowadays most people use their smartphones to search, and websites that are not mobile friendly will not receive top-page results in the rankings. Does your site respond to each device? In April of this year, Google rolled out an algorithm that highly affects a website’s search engine ranking in regard to whether it’s mobile friendly or not. The good news? A website isn’t graded on a scale of mobile friendliness; it is either mobile friendly or it isn’t. That is why it’s crucial that your website be mobile friendly if it’s not already.
Your website must have a map to show the location of your office. According to HG.org: “Mobile users expect immediate gratification. They want simple ‘click-to-call’ and ‘click-to-map’ functionality when they are looking for a business or service.” Mobile users use the map function for GPS purposes, as well as to see if you’re located in the area. You can also submit your business listing to Google or Bing to show up higher in the searching engine rankings.
But most important is to ensure your law firm website has Search Engine Optimization (SEO), so it can be visible on the web, among the competitors in your area and field. In fact Forbes.com reports: “If your firm has no time or inclination to get SEO and keyword strategy right, then outsource it. But get it done.” It’s imperative to have the correct keywords and content to be visible in searches. If you don’t incorporate SEO, you are losing potential clients.
Don’t be fooled when trying to out-think the algorithm the best approach is to just produce relevant and useful content that answers your potential client’s questions and leads them to the website. Just think about it this way, if one of your competing sites has more useful information than your law firm’s then they’ll show up first. But if you produce that content at a greater frequency volume then you will get those visitors.
At Qlegal.com, we’d love to help you with SEO and online marketing, and the best part is, we’ll do it for you all with a great looking cutting-edge modern Law Firm website.
We’ve had years of expertise in SEO, social media, content creation, and management of websites, especially in regard to top search results in Google. If you’d like to improve your or your law firm’s visibility, please contact us at 617-816-2969 or use our contact form.