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Law Firm Website Best Practices
This document discusses considerations for law firm websites. It covers topics like user experience, biographies, search, client acquisition, micro-sites, and mobile strategies. For mobile, it recommends adopting a mobile-first approach using responsive design to create one website that adapts to different screen sizes rather than separate mobile and desktop sites. Responsive design allows future-proofing a site for emerging technologies and devices.
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Law Firm Website Best Practices
- 1. A Digital SolutionsFirm delivering Marketing and Technology Solutions New York . Toronto . Phoenix . Los Angeles . London. Dubai . New Delhi WebsitesConsiderations forLawFirms NumberOneinaSeries
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- 3. 2 24% OUT A GLOBALSURVEY OF 500 BUSINESSES, 24 PERCENT OF THEIR ANNUAL ONLINE REVENUE WAS LOST DUE TO A BAD WEBSITE EXPERIENCE. eConsultancy, June 2011
- 4. 3 3% OUT 1,500 WEBSITESREVIEWED, ONLY 3 PERCENT (45) OF THE SITES EARNED A PASSING SCORE. Forrester, March 2012
- 5. 4 USER EXPERIENCE ISA BROAD RANGE OF DISCIPLINES WITH THE OBJECTIVE DELIVERING SATISFYING AND ENGAGING EXPERIENCES LAW FIRM WEBSITE USER EXPERIENCE (UX) User Experience • Branding • Usability • Information architecture • Design Satisfaction • Pleasure • Fun • Surprise • Achievement
- 6. 5 WHAT ARE THECULPRITS OF POOR UX? WHAT IS REGULARLY FOUND 1. Crowded page—lack of white space around elements 2. Misaligned site map—menus do not reflect the importance and relevance of information 3. Hierarchical menus—difficult to use multi-tier navigation 4. Deep site navigation—visitors click 3-4 levels to get to the information they seek 5. Search—overwhelming, irrelevant search results “PROBLEMS WITH TEXT LEGIBILITY, TASK FLOW, LINKS TO PRIVACY AND SECURITY POLICIES, AND USE OF SPACE HAVE DOMINATED THE TOP FAILURE LIST SINCE 2005.” FORRESTER, 2012
- 7. 6 SITE MAP ANDNAVIGATION SITEMAP 1. Does the order of the main menu reflect what is important to visitors? 2. Does information hierarchy align with expectations? NAVIGATION 1. How deep must visitors go to get to what they need? 2. Do menus support a “first glance” overview of navigation options?
- 8. 7 PAGE STRUCTURE ANDTYPOGRAPHY PAGE STRUCTURE 1. Is the information structured in order as is followed by peoples eyes? 2. Does it have sufficient white space to make the information stand out? TYPOGRAPHY FOR READABILITY 1. Is there an appropriate use of font size, type, color and line height to guide the eye?
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- 10. 9 45% 45 PERCENT OFCURRENT IN- HOUSE COUNSEL (CURRENT CLIENTS) REVIEW THEIR ATTORNEY’S BIOGRAPHY PERIODICALLY. BTI Study, 2011
- 11. 10 56% 56% OF WEBSITETRAFFIC GOES TO ATTORNEY BIOGRAPHIES. The Great Jakes Blog, 2010
- 12. 11 Buyers seek areferral from trusted colleagues or friends. They make a short list of three to six lawyers to review. They Google the lawyers' names to see what surfaces on page one or two of results. Then, these buyers visit the lawyers' websites and biographies. Buyers compare bios side- by-side on the conference room table, filtering the short list. The buyers may call one, or perhaps two or three of the short list lawyers to interview. They choose a lawyer over the others because the references were strong, the experience that the biography presented was current and relevant. The right lawyer gets hired BIOGRAPHIES AND LAWYER SELECTION
- 13. 12 GETTING FOUND SHOW UPON GOOGLE 1. Google typically pulls the first 150 characters in a lawyer's bio for the search results USE THE RIGHT WORDS 1. Be descriptive and differentiating—what makes you different DO NOT FORGET THE LINKS 1. In-bound and out-bound links determine relevancy 2. Link to pages within your sites, or external articles, accolades and news
- 14. 13 GETTING YOUR MESSAGEACROSS MERCHANDIZING ATTORNEYS 1. Make it personal—start with a great image that engages 2. Make it convenient—organize information from most commonly viewed to least 3. Make obvious—the most popular information, like contact details should be at the top
- 15. 14 LOOKING GOOD THE CARDBOARDCUT-OUT? 1. Formality is opening up to personality—let your people shine through 2. Reflect the culture of the firm, while letting the person be the focus 3. Consider stance, dress, color and overall tone 4. Do not sacrifice on quality or size—this may be the attorney’s first impression
- 16. 15 ARE RATINGS ANDREVIEWS NEXT? THE AMAZON ATTORNEY 1. Firms are considering if and how reviews and ratings make sense 2. As with all user generated content (UGC) associated with a firm, it must be moderated THE SOCIAL NETWORK 1. Consider LinkedIn, Twitter and even Martindale-Hubble Connected as biography components—provide another perspective for a client
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- 18. 17 90% 90 PERCENT OFCOMPANIES REPORT THAT SEARCH IS THE NO.1 MEANS OF NAVIGATION ON THEIR SITE. Search Technology: Resurrecting the Web’s Workhorse, Jupiter Media Metrix
- 19. 18 82% 82 PERCENT OFVISITORS USE SITE SEARCH TO FIND THE INFORMATION THEY NEED. Specialize Your Site’s Search, Forrester Research
- 20. 19 SEARCH IS YOURWELCOME MAT MAKE IT OBVIOUS 1. Put it where people expect 2. Make it look like a search box MAKE IT LARGE 1. Make it large enough hold the longest attorney name or practice MAKE IT CONSISTENT 1. Same place on every page 2. Same behavior on every page
- 21. 20 DIFFERENT SEARCH FORDIFFERENT CONTENT HIERARCHICAL CONTENT 1. Practices and services 2. General information FLAT CONTENT 1. Biographies 2. Publications 3. News 4. Events 20% 80%
- 22. 21 SEARCHING FLAT CONTENT NEEDTO FILTER A LARGE AMOUNT QUICKLY? USE FACETED SEARCH FLAT CONTENT 1. Often a large volume: Thousands (or tens of thousands) of items 2. Typically attribute rich: Filtering by attributes can narrow the search quickly 3. Generally a consistent structure: Makes it easier to show specific details in the search result
- 23. 22 49% 49 PERCENT OFVISITORS DO NOT BOTHER TO REFORMULATE THEIR SEARCH QUERIES AFTER THE FIRST FAILED RESULTS. Jakob Nielsen, 2011
- 24. 23 SEARCH SUCCESS Eachsuccessive required search query will lose more visitors Getting a first-time satisfactory search results in greater engagement GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME First query 51% Second query 32% Third query 18%
- 25. 24 KEY CAPABILITIES TOGET RIGHT AUTO-SUGGEST 1. Recommend content that does exist in your website 2. Provides convenience SYNONYMS 1. Make smart substitutions AUTO-CORRECT 1. Fix misspellings on-the-fly 2. Avoid “No Results” PHRASE-BASED SEARCHES 1. Deliver relevant results around multi-word searches
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- 27. 26 80% 80 PERCENT OFEXECUTIVES AGED 50 OR BELOW WILL USE THE INTERNET DAILY TO SEEK BUSINESS INFORMATION (THAT FIGURE IS STILL OVER 60% FOR THOSE AGED OVER 50). Forbes, 2010
- 28. 27 2M 2 MILLION REGULARREADERS OF THE MCKINSEY QUARTERLY, OVER 40,000 FACEBOOK FANS, AND AROUND 40,000 FOLLOWERS ON TWITTER. SRC Associates, 2010
- 29. 28 YOUR WEBSITE ISTHE IDEAL VEHICLE FOR THOUGHT LEADERSHIP MARKETING (TLM) TO DRIVE CLIENT ACQUISITION THROUGH ENGAGEMENT CLIENT ACQUISITION WEBSITE WHITE PAPERS WEBINARS EVENTS BLOGS FORUMS
- 30. 29 THOUGHT LEADERSHIP MARKETING(TLM) THE PRINCIPLE OF TLM IS SIMPLE ENOUGH: YOU GIVE AWAY A LITTLE VALUABLE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY TO ESTABLISH YOUR POTENTIAL USEFULNESS TO THE CLIENT, IN THE EXPECTATION THAT THE CLIENT WILL USE YOUR EXPERTISE AND SERVICES ROLF JESTER, VP, GARTNER, 2010 SHOW THEM WHAT YOU KNOW
- 31. 30 MAKING TLM MATTERTO CLIENTS PROSPECTS WANT YOUR PERSPECTIVE, NOT YOUR SERVICE: THEY WANT TO “BUY INTO” YOUR APPROACH AND PERSPECTIVE TO SOLVING THEIR PROBLEMS Take a Stand: Develop a POV on a subject Tell Me Something I Don't Already Know: Make yourself valuable to your audience Be Vertically Famous: Be known for depth in a specialty What Does Your Competition Miss? Fill the gaps in their offerings and messages Develop Your "Voice": Consciously create a style and approach to your communication Tell a Story: Make it a long-term, engaging relationship—they want to come back
- 32. 31 TLM TO ENTICEAND ENGAGE TLM CONSIDERATIONS 1. Findability (SEO)—prospects use Google search to find solutions to problems Use industry vernacular that people would use to describe their problem Use tools like Google Insight and Trends to confirm your key word relevance to a market 2. Gate the content—require registration before access— they give to get 3. Follow-up with email to create a closed-loop marketing cycle—create nurturing relationship
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- 34. 33 93% 93 PERCENT OFBUYING CYCLES START WITH ONLINE SEARCH (PERHAPS NOT QUITE WHAT YOUR FIRM EXPERIENCES—BUT THERE IS MOVEMENT THAT DIRECTION). Marketo, 2011
- 35. 34 SMALL BUT EFFECTIVE MICROS-SITES 1.Small task and message- focused websites 2. Landing pages (1-2 pages) support lead capture, typically from email or PPC campaigns 3. Larger micro-sites support branding and SEO campaigns with targeted messaging 4. Typically are stand-alone with their own URL
- 36. 35 HOW CAN ATTORNEYSUSE THEM? THE ATTORNEY MICROSITE 1. Complements the main website biography 2. Provide greater detail about themselves personally, their matters and documents 3. Becomes blogging platform to communicate and interact with the public 4. Each attorney can personalize the experience
- 37. 36 HOW CAN APRACTICE USE THEM? THE PRACTICE MICROSITE 1. Deliver industry or problem- specific messages to a targeted audience 2. Build a following around the thought leadership first, firm brand second 3. Host a moderated forum to support the overall targeted discussion to establish credibility and trust 4. Develop deep SEO to drive acquisition in the target market
- 38. 37 CREATE UNIQUE CONTENT Content duplication (copying) between the main website and the microsites will lower page rankings within Google for all sites Inventory obsolete microsites to understand their content when compared to the main site—these forgotten sites can damage rankings KEEP IT FOCUSED, KEEP IT SIMPLE Targeted content results in targeted visitors—maintain tight, guided editorial control to reach the right audience through search Drive people to take action—register for an event, download a white paper or to call you to discuss their concerns KEY CONSIDERATIONS
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- 40. 39 100M THE NUMBER OFSMARTPHONE USERS EXCEEDS 100 MILLION WITHIN THE FIRST THREE MONTHS OF 2012. comScore, Inc. 2012
- 41. 40 24% WITH NEARLY ONEIN FOUR SMARTPHONE OWNERS (OR 24%) ALSO USING TABLETS DURING THE FIRST THREE MONTHS IN 2012. comScore, Inc. 2012
- 42. 41 MOBILE APPS FORYOUR FIRM? DO LAW FIRMS “NEED AN APP FOR THAT”? 1. Apps are expensive: Must be written for iPhone, Droid, Blackberry 2. Apps are task-centric: Ideally suited for repetitive tasks people need to perform while mobile 3. Apps are hard to find: Apps must are only found in a market 4. Apps are cool: They position your firm as future facing
- 43. 42 IS BEING MOBILE-OPTIMIZEDENOUGH? FIRST, WHAT DO VISITORS REALLY WANT TO DO ON THEIR MOBILE DEVICE? 1. Address and map 2. Phone number 3. Partner name
- 44. 43 ADOPTING A MOBILE-FIRSTSTRATEGY A MOBILE-FIRST STRATEGY Think about your website as MOBILE site first—start with mobile as the premise for your site WHY MOBILE-FIRST? 1. Opportunity: A growing use of tablets and smartphones 2. Constraints: Screen size, Network speed, Modes of use 3. Capabilities: Location (GPS), Visual input, Gesturing “WE REALLY NEED TO SHIFT NOW TO START THINKING ABOUT BUILDING MOBILE FIRST. THIS IS AN EVEN BIGGER SHIFT THAN THE PC REVOLUTION.” Kevin Lynch, CTO Adobe “WE'RE JUST NOW STARTING TO THINK ABOUT MOBILE FIRST AND DESKTOP SECOND FOR A LOT OF OUR PRODUCTS.” Kate Aronowitz, Design Director Facebook
- 45. 44 GETTING TO AMOBILE-FIRST STRATEGY RESPONSIVE DESIGN 1. One website: Not a separate mobile and desktop site 2. HTML5 & CSS3: New technologies to create sites that respond to screen sizes and orientation 3. Future proofing: Do you know what is next?
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- 48. 48 19% WITH NEARLY ONEIN FIVE OF THE 2011 AMLAW LIST (OR 19%) HAVE MOBILE WEBSITES. AmLaw, 2011
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