Updating or designing a law firm website can be a daunting task. However, your firm’s website is one of the most important investments you can make into the long-term growth and success of your firm.
It’s where any and every new potential client comes to find out if you’re the right choice for them.
Our approach to law firm web design at Growth Lab: to help your firm stand out in a crowded marketplace by creating a unique brand identity that can effectively and immediately help your potential clients answer the question “Why Choose You?”
What makes for good law firm website design?
There are many factors that go into designing a professional website that will be effective for your law firm. The following are some key considerations:
1. First and foremost, your website must be designed with your target audience in mind. Who are you trying to reach with your website? What are their needs and how can your website address those needs?
2. Your website should be easy to navigate and user-friendly. Visitors to your site should be able to find the information they are looking for quickly and easily (such as who you are, what you do, and how to contact you). This means keeping it simple. A cluttered, confusing website will turn potential clients away.
3. The content on your website must be well-written and accurate. This is important both for search engine optimization purposes and to ensure that visitors to your site find the information they need.
4. Your website should be visually appealing. This does not mean that it needs to be flashy or over-the-top, but it should be pleasing to the eye and easy to read.
5. Use strong calls to action. Include clear calls to action on every page of your website, telling visitors what you want them to do (subscribe to your newsletter, contact you for a consultation, etc.).
6. Avoid stock images and use high-quality firm photos. First impressions count, and good visuals can make a big difference. Include professional photos of your team, your office, and anything else that will help potential clients get to know your firm.
7. Regularly update your content. A stale website is a turnoff. Make sure to regularly update your content, whether that means adding new blog posts, publishing case results, or anything else.
By following these tips, you can ensure that your law firm’s website is effective and achieve success in your online marketing efforts.
What should be included in your law firm’s website design?
- A strong headline that articulates a clear value proposition and avoids common overused phrases like “experienced team with best results” or “small firm, big results.”
- Professional photos of the lawyers and support staff
- Accolades from reputable sources such as the American Bar Association, Best of the Bar, Super Lawyers, AVVO, Better Business Bureau, etc.
- Legal services and clearly defined practice area content
- In depth articles that demonstrate your legal experience
- Blog posts
- New client testimonial videos
- Clear call-to-actions that prompt a visitor to call the firm or submit a web form
How a professional law firm website design can help grow revenue
Your website is often the first point of contact between you and potential clients. It’s important to make sure that your website makes a good and lasting impression that accurately represents your firm and what makes you different and unique compared to competitors.
The fastest-growing and top-billing law firms in your city understand that at the center of their client-acquisition strategy is having the best law firm website.
How to track website visitors and other important metrics
Your website can track a lot of data behind the scenes. Lawyers need to understand what data to track and how to interpret the data in order to understand how their new website attracts more clients and cases. This is especially true for small law firms.
Data sources to install on your law firm website:
- Google Analytics
- Google Search Console
- Call Tracking software such as CallRail
- Facebook Pixel
These data sources allow you to see important metrics about your website’s search visibility and its ability to be found by legal consumers searching for a lawyer near them.
What data should you track on your law firm website?
- How visitors found your website (Google Analytics)
- How long they stayed and how many pages they visited (Google Analytics)
- What sources are driving the most traffic to your website (Google Analytics)
- What keywords and search terms are visitors typing into Google to get to your website (Google Search Console)
- What search terms does your website rank for (Google Search Console)
- How many new calls came from your website (CallRail)
- How many web form submissions did you receive from your website (Google Analytics, CallRail)
How to calculate the value of your law firm website
Did you know your website has a dollar value? The most savvy entrepreneurial lawyers understand that great law firm websites can become a lucrative business asset. Here’s an example of how to calculate your site value:
If your website ranks highly for lucrative search terms related to your practice areas such as personal injury lawyer near me, top family law firm, or best criminal defense lawyer, the traffic your site generates from these keywords has a monetary value.
SEO tools such as SEMRush can actually calculate the dollar value of your organic ranking positions. For example, if your law firm website ranks high in search and generates 100 visitors each month for the search term personal injury lawyer near me, SEMRush can calculate how much money it would cost you to generate the very same traffic via Google Ads. If the average cost-per-click for this search term is $150 and you want to generate 100 new website visitors from ads, that would cost you $15,000/mo in equivalent Google Ads. That means your site for that one keyword is worth $180,000!
If you rank highly for dozens or even hundreds of keywords, your law firm website could be worth easily 7 figures.
Why your law firm can’t afford weak or outdated website design
There are so many things to consider, from the overall look and feel of the site to the specific content that needs to be included. But with the help of a professional law firm web design agency, you can create a site that is both aesthetically pleasing and informative.
How to tell if your law firm website needs an updated design:
Let’s put yourself in the shoes of your potential clients. When they use search engines to try and find the best law firm to help meet their legal needs, what are their choices?
Perform a search for your practice area using your city. Click 5 or more law firm websites so they’re open in their own tab. Then, open up your website. Look at each one. What are the headlines stating? How professional are the pictures? If you’re a prospective client, what leaves a memorable best first-impression? Lastly, which firm would YOU call if you needed legal advice?
Remove any bias you have towards your own firm. Would you choose your own law firm or someone else? If the answer is someone else, it’s likely time to update your law firm website.
How to drive traffic to your law firm’s website
You don’t want a new beautiful modern law firm website that never gets seen (we call these kinds of sites billboards in a corn field).
There are many ways you can get new potential clients viewing your website:
- Make sure your site shows up at the top of Google for what’s called a Branded Search. A branded search is when someone (likely a referral) types your name or law firm’s name into the search bar to validate your experience and expertise before making a call. Top law firm websites ensure that their home page is optimized properly for branded search.
- Run Google PPC and LSA ads. The fastest (but usually most expensive) way to get more quality website traffic is to pay to be at the top of Google search. Be careful though, this is what we call “rented visibility” which means the moment you stop paying Google for top-spot placement, you disappear.
- Implement a law firm SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategy. If you don’t want to rent your visibility forever with ads, law firm SEO (also called organic traffic – because it’s unpaid), can be one of the most lucrative and consistent ways to bring in more clients. Unlike paid ads, SEO is a long-term game tied to long-term growth goals. However, once your site begins to rank for terms your potential clients are using to search for legal services, the phones can start ringing off the hook.
- Post on Social Media such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok. The key to driving traffic with social platforms is to produce quality content. The best law firm social media accounts out there often answer client FAQs. The more creative and memorable the videos, the better engagement.
- Guest post on 3rd party websites that allow it. When you post on places like your local bar website, association websites you belong to, or other legal industry thought leader sites, you will often be rewarded with what’s called a backlink. A backlink is when another website links to yours. Not only do backlinks drive traffic to your site, they boost your trust and authority score with Google!
- Write a monthly email newsletter. Email is tricky depending on your practice area but when consistent emails are written that provide real value to your potential clients, they can lead to more traffic and leads.
- Get listed in legal directories with premium profiles to attract new clients. There are a lot of legal directories out there to consider. We recommend doing a search for lawyers in your practice area locally. Which legal directories appear at the top of the results? Those are the legal directories you will want to consider.
What are the best law firm legal directories to link to your website?
There are dozens of legal directories out there. While a legal directory could rank well in your metro for one practice area, it could be completely buried on page 7 for another practice area. That’s why you need to see which directories rank for the kinds of clients you wish to attract.
Popular legal directories include:
- FindLaw
- SuperLawyers
- AVVO
- Justia
- Lawyers.com
- Lawinfo
- Abogado
- Martindale
How to choose the best law firm website design company
A law firm’s website is one of the most important tools in its marketing arsenal. It is the first point of contact between the firm and potential clients, and it should therefore convey the firm’s professionalism and expertise. When choosing a law firm website design company, it is important to select an agency that has experience designing websites exclusively for law firms.
The company should understand the unique needs of law firms and be familiar with the latest trends that make up the best law firm website designs. In addition, the company should be able to provide a portfolio of previous work so that you can see examples of their designs.
With so many law firm website design companies to choose from, it can be difficult to know where to start. However, by taking the time to research your options and select a reputable company, you can be confident that your law firm’s website will be an effective marketing tool.
What the best law firm websites all have in common
- They use professional firm photos and avoid stock images
- They have a well-crafted logo and brand
- The page headlines avoid overused phrases and instead focus on what makes the firm unique and different to convey value
- Practice area content answers their legal consumer’s most frequently asked questions
- Video is used throughout the website to explain the legal process or share client testimonials
- There are clear call-to-actions that prompt a phone call or web form submission
- The website loads quickly and is easy to navigate
Let’s discuss creating the best law firm website for your firm
Your legal marketing strategy is not complete without a talented team to create a custom website for your firm. It’s time to stand out from the busy noise of competitors. If you’re serious about growth and seek to dominate your local market, it’s time to get in touch with our team here at Growth Lab.