How can my law firm create a client-focused website and help drive more enquiries?
A guest blog by Dan Hodges, Head of Account Management, Conscious Solutions
There are around 9 billion searches a day on Google alone, and some of these are going to be for legal services. It’s hopefully no surprise to you that having a strong online presence and digital marketing strategy is essential for firms who want to stand out from competitors. It doesn’t matter if you are a small family-run firm, a boutique firm or a large regional firm, digital marketing is something your firm should be investing in (or mostly likely, is already at some level).
Having a client-focused website is important in getting traffic to convert into those all-important enquiries.
There are many benefits in creating a client-focused website including:
- Giving clients satisfaction from the first impression
- Helping your potential clients navigate your website more easily to find the information they want and,
- Helping your firm to stand out from competitors.
But how can you create a client-focused website? In this article, I will discuss some of the top tips we give to our clients to improve client satisfaction and experience when creating websites.
1. Ensure your website is mobile-friendly
A fast, responsive, and mobile-friendly website is key to making your firm’s website client-focused. As of February 2023, 52.08% of the total web searches are currently via a mobile, compared to 47.92% coming from desktops. This means that if your firm’s website isn’t mobile-friendly, you are already losing a huge segment of potential clients. A mobile-friendly website increases the speed of your website, improves your firm’s search engine optimisation (SEO), and reduces unnecessary content and gimmicks ending up on your website.
2. Make it easy to contact your firm
Clients aren’t going to get in contact with your firm if it’s not clear and simple to get in touch. Having client-focused contact means is key to getting clients to make the next step. This includes clear calls to action, contact forms above the fold, live chat and contact details being easily accessible and clickable on every page.
3. Make your website easy to navigate
Nobody is going to stay on a website where they cannot find the information they are looking for, and it is difficult to use. Therefore, designing a website that is clear, functioning, and easy to navigate is key for converting clients. Your website should have a clear menu, follow a coherent structure and as mentioned above, have clear calls to action and contact details on every page.
4. Offer value to clients
Your website shouldn’t just focus on your firm. The About Us page is a great place for clients to learn more about how long your firm has been in business, the accreditations your firm has received and awards you have achieved. But the rest of your website should add clear value to clients. By this, we mean service pages that answer frequently asked questions, blog posts that offer helpful and beneficial information, legal guides, legal calculators and more. This helpful information is much more likely to stick in the minds of clients and stave off competition than your firm having 20 years of experience in family law matters.
5. Avoid legal jargon
A law firm website that includes countless acronyms and heaps of wordy language isn’t going to be a website that has been designed with the client in mind. However, tempting it might be to shove all of the knowledge your firm knows into blog posts and service pages to show your expertise, this could actually have the opposite effect on clients. By creating client-focused content that is readable and easy to digest will help your firm to convert more clients.
6. Use images, videos, and other visuals
Images, videos, and other visuals such as infographics help to break up the text, making a website easier to look at and navigate (one of the benefits mentioned above). These are great ways to showcase important information, statistics or process to help keep clients interested and offer that all important helpful information to them. That being said, don’t go overboard and ensure you are following the best practices so as not to slow your website down.
7. Use testimonials & case studies
Testimonials and case studies are another great way to break up the information on your website, while also showcasing the expertise and experience your firm has. This will help to build trust with clients as they will see that you have done ‘what they want’ before, and thus increase the likelihood of a user converting to a new enquiry.
How will this help your firm to gain new enquiries?
So how will a client focused website help your firm to secure new enquiries? Well, as previously mentioned, by offering a fast, responsive website that works on mobile and desktop, you are helping to provide clients with the information that they want.
By offering this clients, you’re providing an excellent first impression. Regardless of whether the client instructs your firm on their first visit to your website, which is unlikely as they might not be ready to purchase, your firm can be sure it’s offered all it can do to create a positive experience where the client will come back when they are ready to purchase.
Additionally, contact forms, useful content and avoiding legal jargon will make it easy for clients to contact you and understand the services you provide so they can identify whether you are the firm for them.
About Conscious Solutions
If you need support creating a client focused website, they have over 19 years of experience in building websites for law firms to help them become more successful online. Contact Conscious Solutions at sales@conscious.co.uk or 0117 325 0200.
Alternatively if you’re looking for richer insights from client or employee feedback have a look at their Law League service. Law League has client and staff feedback surveys which identify the true strengths and weaknesses of your firm whilst benchmarking your performance against others.
Dan Hodges is the Head of Account Management at Conscious Solutions who help law firms to become more successful online with their 19 years of experience of digital marketing in the legal sector. Dan has over 16 years of experience in the legal sector ranging from business development to practice management and strategic planning. Dan has worked with over 300 law firms helping them get a better understanding of how they can become more successful online.
