I have written at length about what not to do on your website if you want to make the right first impression on prospective clients. In response, several of you reached out to me to ask for examples of how to do things right.
To help you create an engaging website that converts prospects to clients, I have looked through our best law-firm website contest winners. Here is a compilation of sites for you to reference when creating or revising your website.
1. Prominently Displayed Phone Number
Seven out of ten of our 2017 website winners have their firm’s phone number displayed near the top of their website design, which is great.
That said, just listing the phone number is not enough. Yes, you must prominently display your phone number. But you must also make it click-to-call compatible for mobile users. Four out of ten of our winners got this right:
When I look to see who fared best in this category, however, there is no clear winner. For several, the font was either quite small or the font color did not stand out to draw the eye. All ten of our 2017 winners have room to improve.
2. Break Up Large Blocks of Text
The following websites did a great job at breaking up big blocks of text by using great visual cues, including sub-headers, short paragraphs, lists, bold text, and hyperlinks:
3. No Random Initial Caps
I am happy to report that nine out of our top ten from 2017 did not violate this pet peeve. If yours does not pass this test, stop reading this right now and fix it. I’ll wait here until you’re done.
4. Bios That Go Beyond the CV
When I read a lawyer’s bio, I want to feel like I learned something about who the lawyer is as a person. Unfortunately, most lawyers’ bios are merely résumé narratives.
Fortunate for us, a couple of our top ten winners did not disappoint in setting a good example for a great bio:
- M Agnew of Yeti Law
- Jess Birken of Birken Law
5. Focus on the Client
Most lawyer ratings mean nothing to prospective clients. When reviewing the home pages of our recent best-website winners, the following sites did a great job on focusing on what matters to the client—not on what makes the lawyer look important:
6. No Unnecessary Jargon (it’s all Unnecessary)
All lawyer websites fail this test—even our best website winners. But, you can contain the damage by limiting the jargon as much as possible. From archaic legal terms to complex medical terms, do what you can to break down insider lingo into plain language that anyone can understand. The following website does this fairly well:
7. Summarizing—Not Quoting—Statutes
If you feel the need to reference statutes on your law firm’s website, do so sparingly. And never quote them in full. Instead, summarize the most important parts of the statute, like these sites:
8. Clear Practice Areas & Services
What’s great about the most recent crop of best-website winners is a majority of them have unique practice areas that they market on their websites. These four, however, do the best job at standing out from the crowd a content and design standpoint:
Bonus Pet Peeve to Avoid: Small Font Size
Upon close review of each of our recent best-website winners, there is a consistent issue—dare I say, another pet peeve—that I must address. The issue? Small fonts. Visit these sites to see for yourself what I mean:
For increased readability of your website, it is best to use a font size of at least ten points and, if your site targets senior citizens, at least 12 points.
This post originally on Lawyerist.com.
