When you meet a client face to face, do you literally roll out of bed and meet with them? Or do you make an effort with how you present yourself, prepare what you will talk about, and be up-to-date with the latest legislation? The same can be said for your digital presence - your 24/7 shop window. How does your website measure up to show your firm in the best light with prospects and current clients?

In our last blog post, ‘Why is the UK legal services sector lagging behind the US, Canada, and Australia? How can you level up?’ we discussed the UK legal services landscape and how British law firms are taking their next steps to stand out from the crowd. Competition is at an all-time high, especially with US firms taking more interest in the UK as part of their expansion plans.

Jacob Smith, a law marketing expert, explains:

“With a good website, a law firm can establish credibility, gain trust and increase the number of conversions from visitors.  The bottom line is that with a well-designed website you will be increasing your law firm’s revenue. A good website will definitely give a law firm the upper edge in a competitive field.”

Your website must-haves

We’ve compiled a list of our recommended must-haves to help you improve your website:

1. Professionally designed branding, including your logo, colour scheme, and visuals, set you apart and distinguishes you from your competitors

2. Your home page or landing page needs to have a headline that captures attention and resonates by addressing your visitors' pain points first, e.g. feel supported, not overwhelmed; solve conflict with expert legal support; conflict resolution: get the support you need; start building your property portfolio: legal support from our experts

3. Clearly state your value proposition - what makes you stand out from the competition, how will you help your visitors and convert them into clients? Make it clear what positive impact you will have

4. Include key areas like services and areas of practice you specialise in, testimonials/case studies, who you all are, about your business, FAQs, any published works, achievements, awards and ratings

5. Ensure your navigation is easy to use, your pages have fast loading times, and your website is mobile-friendly and accessible

6. Optimise your website for search engines like Google and Bing to improve your ranking and discoverability

7. Include enough information for people to action contact with you but not too much that they are overwhelmed - a great hint here is ‘a picture tells a thousand words’ and ‘white space sells’

8. Your tone of voice is key to resonating with your visitors - be inclusive, welcoming and helpful. Have a one-on-one conversation with your visitor rather than talking to them in the third person - show them you are client-centric. Avoid using too much legal jargon. Think about who your visitors are. If a layperson, use simpler, more concise language

9. Use channels like your social media and a blog to share helpful resources to offer more value and support to your visitors

10. Make use of your blog but ensure you are consistent with when you publish a post - search engines like consistency, and so do social media channels. Match your blog schedule with your internal resource capacity, and commit to what is actually achievable  - e.g. publish a blog post once a month on a Tuesday. Topic ideas include trending legal topics - especially in your expertise, thought leadership, and industry guest experts well placed to complement your offering

11. Always have a strong call to action - keep it clear and short so people can click through to a form, a chat box or your contact page - make it easy for them, but in a way you can measure the number of clicks etc., and your return on investment for your marketing activities

12. Really think about the visual imagery, and don’t forget to add alt text to all your images to improve accessibility - search engines like this too. Avoid the bulk standard stock photography - scales, cityscapes etc. Check out the video, which scans through many legal websites and shows how common images are used across the board - are they really standing out from the crowd?

If you can say yes to all of these points for your website, you’re on to a winner. 

Your visitors want easy-to-navigate, well-branded websites with helpful content - 47% of visitors expect your website to load in two seconds. Does yours? By specialising with small to medium law firms that want to grow their presence, we have a unique understanding of how to help you level up and compete with larger firms. We build design-rich, super-fast JamStack websites integrated with the leading content marketing platform for professional services, Passle. 

Why JamStack? JamStack websites easily integrate with third-party services, meaning that you can add, update, and change features without having to rebuild the back end. This is why Amazon, Nike, Tesla, Louis Vuitton, and Peloton are just some of the big international brands that have moved to JamStack. Create a unique user experience and stand out from the crowd. We offer small and mid-sized law firms the best-in-class digital technologies so you can demonstrate to both clients and talent why you should be their first choice.

Talk with us. We offer a free "digital discovery session" to evaluate your current digital footprint, identify your needs, and give you expert advice on how to improve your online presence. 

hello@indieridge.com  |  legalwebsites.indieridge.com 

Sources:

• https://insights.indieridge.com/post/102i1dg/what-exactly-is-a-jamstack-website-and-why-is-it-better 

• https://insights.indieridge.com/post/102i3iv/why-is-the-uk-legal-services-sector-lagging-behind-the-us-canada-and-australia 

• https://www.internationalbunch.com/post/create-an-authentic-connection-with-your-target-audience 

• https://attorneyatlawmagazine.com/legal-marketing/website-design/why-great-website-design-is-important-for-law-firms