The Canadian legal industry is experiencing major shifts in the way they do business. Marketing and business development strategies are more important now than ever, with people using search engines to solve all of their problems, including legal ones. Having an up-to-date Law Firm Website is a big plus.
Most attorneys are simply overwhelmed and unsure where to start with updating their operational and digital marketing strategies. Updating your law firm’s website is a crucial first step to increase your local law firm’s exposure and bring in new potential business. But what exactly should it look like? What type of content should you create? Why are some companies so much more expensive than others?
Law Firm Website Objectives
First, it’s important to understand the objectives of your law firm’s website. In most cases, you’ll want it to act as a vehicle to attract new clients. You will want to work with a local digital marketing agency on refining your vision, creating a compelling logo and designing a modern website that reflects your firm’s unique brand.
There are several elements that increase the likelihood that your firm’s website will stand out and compel users to pick up the phone and call you. These technical functionalities are often the difference between the costs of website designs and redesign.
What Makes a Visually Great Local Lawyer Website?
- Webpage Speed
Attention spans are short. If your law firm website does not load quickly, especially on mobile devices, users will leave and look elsewhere. Page load speed is also one factor that affects how well your website ranks in Google search results. In order to evaluate this, use Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool. Scores of 100 are a rarity, but you should strive for a “good” or better score on both desktop and mobile. The tool provides a list of every opportunity to improve your speed, and you’ll want to work with someone who understands the importance and can help you achieve fast page speeds. - Mobile-Friendliness
It’s likely that about half of your website visitors are using mobile devices. Being optimized for mobile is no longer a “nice to have.” It’s a requirement. Being mobile-friendly is extremely important to Google, and websites that provide a great mobile experience will be rewarded with higher rankings. To evaluate how your site fares, use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool. Your website should pass this test. - Local Relevance
You’re a local business. That means that potential clients are likely searching for keywords like “personal injury lawyer near me.” Law firm websites need to be locally relevant in order to perform well for these searches. For example, a car accident attorney may want to blog about dangerous intersections in their city and provide driver safety tips. Your content should be written with the local user in mind and provide valuable information relevant to your city or state. - Optimized For Conversions
The ultimate goal of your attorney website is to get potential clients to call you. That means that no matter where a user is on your website, it should be easy and convenient for them to do so. Even if you’re not available 24/7, the best law firm websites will appear to be. This can be done through a 24/7 live chat service. It’s also important to ensure that wherever your phone number is listed, it’s clickable on mobile devices. - Analytics Tracking
Your law firm website is not a one-time project. As user behaviours and preferences change, your website needs to change with it. In order to optimize your website experience, you need to have accurate and detailed data. It’s vital to include analytics tracking and receive regular monthly reporting on how your website is performing, what’s working well and what needs improving. For local law firms, Google Analytics provides all of the insights you need to understand where your traffic is coming from and where opportunities for improvement lie. - List of Services or Areas of Practice
With so many legal specialties, it’s necessary to list your areas of expertise. This allows visitors to immediately know if you’re the right type of lawyer who can help them with their case or if they need to keep looking. Once they know they’re in the right place, they’ll be more inclined to schedule their initial consultation. - Achievements and Publications
Listing your achievements and publications is a great way to showcase your expertise and knowledge, which can help build your credibility and convince potential clients that you can not only handle their case, but win it too. - Lawyer Profiles
If you’ve got several lawyers employed in your law firm, listing their profiles helps visitors understand which lawyer specializes in the area of the law relevant to their case and learn more about that lawyer’s achievements, skills, education, and ways to contact them. - Online Booking Form
You’ll also want an online booking form so potential clients can schedule their consultation without having to call you on the phone or email back and forth to agree on the perfect time and place. - Calls To Action (CTA)
Lastly, your website needs to have several calls-to-action that’ll encourage visitors to schedule the consultation or otherwise get in touch with you.
If you feel like all the things listed above are a tad bit too much to handle for yourself, contact Appfy.com now. After all, we understand how valuable your time is and we have exclusively designed website packages tailored for Law firms!
