Is your law firm website helping to bring you business? If not, this video is for you.
During this time of stay at home orders, with canceled events, limited or no ability to network or meet clients, prospects or referral sources in person, you my have started to recognize that your website isn’t performing as well as you would like it to. That is not likely to change even as businesses open up – now that people are used to working virtually, a lot more of your business and your networking is likely to be done online. And that makes your law firm website more important than ever.
When I talk to lawyers about their websites, especially solo and small to mid-sized firm lawyers, they often tell me that clients don’t find them on the web – that their business comes from word of mouth. But whether that is true or not – and I’d argue that it’s less true than most lawyers think it is – you can bet that a potential client or referral source is going to do an online search for you, and they will probably be checking out your website.
Three Basic Mistakes Your Law Firm Website Home Page is Making
What they find there can either actively work to help convince them that you’re the lawyer or law firm they’re looking for and get them to contact you, or not.
While not all web visitors will come to your website through the Home page, let’s start there. Here are three big, very basic mistakes lawyers make on their website home pages:
1. Doesn’t adequately orient the visitor
Studies have shown that you have only 8 seconds when a visitor first arrives on your home page to provide crucial information that orients the visitor to whether they’re in the right place. That means you need to put the most important information “above the fold” on a laptop, tablet, or desktop screen so the web visitor doesn’t have to scroll or search around to find it.
When a visitor arrives on your site, they should be able to tell in 8 seconds:
- who you are
- what you do – not just that you’re a lawyer, but what are your practice areas?
- how you are different from other lawyers and why you’re the right solution for them
- how to find the information they are looking for
2. Firm information not easily available
I’m amazed at how many times I go to a solo or small firm lawyer’s website and can’t easily find contact information. This should also be easy to locate within the first eight seconds. In the industry, this is called NAP – name, address, phone number. Don’t make me search for your phone number! If you serve a local area, as most solo and small firm attorneys do, make sure it is easy to find your address – clients and referral sources want to know if you actually practice in their local area. If you don’t want to include your address above the fold, make sure it is easily found in the footer on every page of the site.
3. What should I do next?
Your website Home page should include a clear call to action to let web visitors know what to do next. Do you want them to download an article, contact you for a free consultation, fill out a contact form? The call to action should be clear, concise, and prominent on your Home page.
If you want to learn more about how I can help you improve your law firm’s website, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
