Do you own a law firm and desire a visually appealing website design? Keep these points in mind.
The demand for lawyers and law firms to distinguish themselves from rivals has risen due to the commercialization of legal services and the escalating competition in today’s legal industry.
In simpler terms, it’s hard to stand out if potential customers don’t notice you.
Worse still, lacking a strong online presence may lead clients to choose to work with a different company.
On the other hand, if the website in question is poorly designed, contains substandard content and lacks crucial information, it might be more beneficial to not have a website at all.
Large companies invest thousands of dollars in website design companies.
Budgets are not large for smaller businesses.
The truth is, achieving an excellent website design can be done for significantly less.
Here are our top recommendations for creating an outstanding website for a law firm or legal practice, regardless of whether you’re collaborating with a freelancer or an agency:
1. Consider a Fresh Design
Your website reflects your brand and often forms the first impression. Using a pre-made design could make your website look like hundreds of others online, missing the opportunity to create a unique impression. Therefore, considering top branding agencies could be beneficial.
Why would a potential customer remember your website when there are so many others similar to it?
Instruct the agency to create a website with an aesthetic that differs from typical legal sites, which is beneficial.
Keep in mind the impact and message you want to convey to your audience and prospective clients.
Quick tip – Are you familiar with the term “Hero areas”? These are large sections found on a website’s homepage, often filled with text and images, or sometimes just an image.
Their size and importance immediately capture the visitor’s attention. It also sets the visual tone and the rest of the page for the site.
For a clearer idea, take a look at this example from the Foot Anstey website.
2. Don’t over Stuff your Website
Avoid cramming too many words and photos on your homepage.
Delete all unnecessary content, retaining only the essential text and images intended for your visitors.
Numerous businesses commit the mistake of overloading their homepage with excessive content, resulting in confusion and poor user experience.
Keep in mind that some visitors may access your site using laptops and smartphones, so avoid designing pages with complex features or for large display sizes.
Ensure that your logo is professionally designed as you contemplate the layout of your website.
The Call to Action (CTA) plays a vital role in encouraging visitors to delve further into your website. Therefore, having a compelling CTA on your homepage is imperative. When designing your CTA, consider several key elements. For instance, the CTA should be placed where it’s immediately visible (usually above the fold), it should stand out from the rest of the content on the page, it should link to another page, offer a less emphasized alternative, and undergo testing for design, content, and placement. If you need assistance, you might find these Los Angeles based website design companies helpful.
3. Be Proud of Your services
Ensure that the service you’re providing is prominently showcased on your homepage.
When potential clients explore a law firm’s website, they are primarily searching for two critical pieces of information: the services your firm offers and the profiles of your attorneys.
You only have a few seconds to create a good first impression, so make it count.
4. Audience hates buffering
Do you enjoy websites that take forever to load? Certainly not, and neither does your audience. Slow loading times can negatively impact conversion rates, meaning fewer people may be purchasing your products or services.
If your website design is graphics-intensive, you need to ensure you have the necessary infrastructure equipment and bandwidth to support these designs.
By using superior hosting and maintaining a simple design, you can decrease your load times.
The most affordable monthly hosting plan may not always offer the best worth. While it might be less costly, it also runs the risk of being unsafe, sluggish, and inconsistent.
5. Make sure the Website Follows a Consistent Pattern Throughout
Ensure uniformity in your web design and navigation. Avoid creating disparate designs for various pages on your website. Each page should share a common layout and style.
6. Website Structure
Search engines favor well-organized websites, and so do people. In fact, people tend to favor well-organized things in general. It’s important to remember that when potential buyers visit your website, they are often seeking specific information.
They don’t frequently read the entire page; rather, they’ll skim the headlines and short snippets of text, along with any images or graphics, but not necessarily all of them on a single page.
A well-structured site that conveys information in a clear and organized manner is significantly more effective than a disorganized one. Enhance your law firm’s visibility on Google by steering clear of common law firm website errors.
Maintain a minimal use of text color and fonts, but employ color to accentuate key information. This is not to confuse, but to underscore.
Additionally, know that the majority of readers will ignore material if the headline placed above it doesn’t grab their attention, so pay attention to strong headlines. Consider these creative agencies to hire for a better website structure.
7. Don’t Get Preoccupied with Your Domain
Avoid lengthy domain names. Even if your company has five equity partners listed, it’s not necessary to include all their names in your domain.
A shorter and clearer domain is easier to remember and type.
Consider how both users and search engines will perceive the URLs on your website. Try to use names for your URLs and titles that sound natural whenever possible.
8. SEO and SEM
A law firm’s efforts on one marketing campaign usually come at the expense of others. Both search engine marketing and search engine optimization are extremely specialized topics that take a lot of time to study. SEO and/or SEM efforts can give lawyers and law firms a lot of influence, so they shouldn’t be overlooked.
9. Quality Content
Quality content is appreciated by both readers and search engines. Poor content can quickly repel visitors from your website. Remember, headlines should not be ignored. They serve as a hook to keep your readers engaged.
Analyze the companies you respect as well as your successful rivals. Explore their websites. Assess how they articulate their services to current and potential clients.
Evaluate the website’s color palette, tone, image application, illustrations, and overall layout. Don’t hesitate to use bolder colors.
10. Test User Experience
Your site visitors should enjoy a pleasant experience. Investing time in obtaining direct feedback from customers is worthwhile. Being deeply involved in the project, it might be challenging for you or your internal team to manage this on your own. Luckily, user testing tools like Crazy Egg are extremely helpful.
Final words
Your website’s general layout and each individual page both need to have a compelling design. Whether you are considering website redesign services or want to make a brand new website, we hope these best practices will provide you with the best website you have in mind.
10 Best Practices For Designing a Law Firm Website