The Vital Components Of A Good Solo Law Firm Site
There are a few major elements that need to be present on all successful solo law firm websites. Obviously, your website should be doing all the heavy lifting of delivering qualified leads to you that you aren’t currently able to do yourself. But beyond that, there are some layouts, features and best-practice guidelines that all good websites share. This section provides a good overview of what to include on your solo law firm website. First, and most obviously is the presence of contact information. Your phone number and (ideally) email address should appear in the upper-right hand corner or at least at the top of your main page. These are the two most common ways someone will get in touch with you, so don’t make it hard for them to find out how to contact you immediately. FAQ’s or Frequently Asked Questions is also a standard feature. These could be a mix of frequently asked questions about your firm, as well as commonly searched for questions or questions your clients have. This can help you capture visitors using search engines like Google. For instance, if someone’s searching "how do I know if I need a divorce lawyer" or "how much does it cost to hire an attorney?" you can have pages that directly target those questions and link them to your FAQ section. Your About Us and Practice Areas should be another major feature of your site. Many sites have a bulleted list down the page with all the important services your solo law firm provides. Confirmation Messages are another element many sites miss out on. After a visitor inputs their information , they will receive a confirmation message after they hit the submit button. Alternatively they will be taken to a new page that says something like "Thank you for your inquiry." This is important because you’ve just captured qualified lead and shouldn’t let them escape on the hope you send them an email message later today. Sometimes your great content doesn’t show up on Google like you want it to. This is because you are not the only one creating great content. Other lawyers, legal blogs and places like FindLaw, Avvo, Nolo and more are publishing great content and Google sees this. Google wants to deliver the best results, and if they aren’t coming from your site then they will deliver someone else’s. Here is where Google Search Console comes in. It is the best and most complete way for you to verify that the content you want indexed and delivered in search results is actually being delivered. It is extremely simple to set up, simply follow the directions offered by Google (you don’t have to go as far as setting up all the tools offered, just the basic version will do). You need a Google account to use this tool, which is a good idea because we’ll also use your Google account to run Google AdWords to find new clients. This is your best chance for first impressions. In fact, it’s the only impression your prospective clients have before agreeing to retain you for their legal matters. Don’t mess this up and allow the clients to leave before they ever even consider your services.
Solo Law Firm Website Design Trends
Although the majority of features and best practices for a top solo law firm website are standard, the design trends in this industry vary throughout the years. Some aspects of website design in general are easier do-it-yourself, some aspects aren’t. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the more popular styles, color schemes, typography and imagery that’s currently appealing to potential clients.
There is no law that limits the design style of a website, although certain design choices come and go with trends. Flat and minimalist are two of today’s more popular styles. Flat design is a cleaner, more modern style that lacks a three dimensional look. A minimalist style is one that simply cuts out any unnecessary details. The results are similar in that flat and minimal designs are more crisp and clean and less cluttered compared to other styles. Of course, you want your law firm’s website to stand out from the rest, so incorporating original looks into these styles can often be the trickiest aspect of using these designs.
As mentioned earlier, websites can be made using a range of different content management systems. In the past, websites used color schemes based on the chosen CMS, but today, color choices are based more on personal or company preference. Certain color choices can work better or worse for a business though, such as green for a financial institution or red for a charity, and some color schemes are more popular than others.
In the realm of web design, there are a few common color palettes that potential clients have been liking for several years now. Dark is still in, possibly because it gives a sense of luxury or importance. Pastel colors have been on the rise, since they convey a sense of freshness and purity. The neutral color palette is back with several variations including beige, creamy white, grey and taupe. Most people consider the natural palette to be warm colors like orange and red, but you can find cool shades of brown and green as well.
The most common types of fonts that are used on law firm websites are serif and sans-serf. Serif refers to the curly or square cut that’s more often found at the end of a letter. Sans-serif, which literally means without serif, is a simpler version of serif. In many cases, serif will be used for headlines or other prominent text. Sans serif will be used for important blocks of text. Certain styles of serif are known for connoting history and trust. Whereas sans-serif will often have the opposite effect.
Navigating today’s websites presents a far more complicated challenge to developers than the relatively simple task of finding a product page only five years ago. Images, videos, headings, and the all-important ‘call to action’ must be presented in just the right way. Images should be engaging without being obvious in their manipulation. Text should emerge effortlessly, and videos should be beautifully integrated.
Developers have also found that certain factors can help or hinder the performance of images, such as:
Using positive images will help elicit the desired response from visitors to your site, especially when working on a solo lawyer website design. On the other hand, negative images will turn potential clients away.
Solo Law Firm Website SEO Fundamentals
Effective SEO strategies can significantly enhance the online visibility of a solo law firm website:
Keyword Optimization
Keywords are essentially the terms or phrases that users search for online and that you should consider targeting. These could be something general like "Divorce Attorney in San Diego" or something more niche like "Estate Planning Lawyer for Artists in Los Angeles."
Once you know what your targeted keywords are, place them throughout your website content, landing pages and blog posts to let search engines know about the subjects you’re targeting. The keywords should naturally fit with your website copy.
Meta Descriptions
A meta description is a short paragraph, typically around 150 characters long, that describes the content of a webpage. It’s not directly part of the website’s content but is instead an HTML tag in the website hiding in the code.
The meta description is meant specifically for search engines and searchers to give a short summary of the page content. In most cases, if someone finds your "snippet" on a Google search page, their first impression of you and your site is actually that description rather than your website, which is why a well-written meta description can be so important.
Just like your web content, you should be using your targeted keywords in your meta descriptions as well.
A few other elements you can focus on are call to action, length (less than 140 characters is ideal), emphasizing benefits, and creating a sense of urgency.
Local Search Engine Optimization
Local SEO is additional strategies that you can use to optimize your site for location-based searches. This becomes particularly important for solo lawyers practicing services that are typically provided locally.
For example, if you are a personal injury lawyer in San Diego and provide free consultations, then a potential client is most likely going to search "San Diego Personal Injury Lawyer – Free Consultation." In order to optimize for this type of search query, you’ll want to make sure to include your keyword (personal injury lawyer) and location (San Diego) in the copy and meta description of all your pages as well as use those keywords as headings and subheadings.
Other local SEO options include: Google My Business, Yext, BBB, Yelp, YellowPages, Superpages, and Facebook business. Although there are more general sites, these are some of the most popular.
Solo Law Firm Website Service And Expertise Presentation
In addition to having an optimized solo law firm website, it’s important that the firm’s services and expertise are clearly displayed and showcased. Since a potential client’s first impression is often based on the website, having a clear understanding of provided legal services is important. A professional divvying up of the various services is crucial. For example, a website may categorize its services into three main groups. In each main service category, a list of subservices in 1-3 levels of depth can be included, or the main categories of services may be expanded into a tabbed format that opens up in the same browser window, with each corresponding page providing information on the firm’s expertise in realistic terms.
When creating a solo law firm website, it’s critical to have a clearly defined, uncluttered site map to avoid overwhelming your visitors with too many choices that are difficult to manage. To help users navigate the site easily, avoid dropdown menus on the home navigation. Dropdown menus are often surprisingly hard to use, especially on modern, mobile-responsive sites. Therefore, avoid dropdown menus and instead, use clearly defined and labeled menus. Clear headers and section labels also serve the same purpose of differentiating between services and expertise to help interested parties find what they’re looking for. Both the firm’s services and expertise should be broken down separately. The services are what the firm provides, such as estate planning or criminal defense. The firm’s expertise can be divided among the various areas of law the firm practices. Having sections of the site dedicated to both services and expertise allows the firm to better target the right audience for each specific service.
Another important section of a solo law firm website is the attorney bio. An attorney bio gives more information about the firm’s lawyers and their background and credentials. This is important because a potential client wants to know who will represent her. It’s usually not enough just to have the name and the position listed; an interested party wants to know some details about the lawyer, such as education, degrees, personal information, or any volunteer organizations.
Client testimonials are important for solo law firms. Client testimonials offer social proof to potential clients, offer the opportunity to showcase specific successes, and endorse the firm’s services. Soliciting client testimonials is a good way to improve the firm’s standing in the community while also supporting the local economy and having a positive effect on SEO.
Solo Law Firm Website User Experience And Client Engagement
User experience (UX) plays a critical role in not just the look and feel of a law firm website but also the level of engagement it can generate with potential clients, particularly with the majority of web traffic now coming from mobile devices. Mobile responsiveness is a key element here; if a prospect opens your site on their phone and has to zoom or scroll excessively just to get to a phone number, email link or online chat box, they will look for an easier path to information and services. The same applies for slow-loading pages – this can result in the user leaving your site before it fully loads. The average mobile site loads in 15.3 seconds – compare that to a desktop load time of only 5.9 seconds. A 0 . 1-second slowdown can equate to a 7 percent drop in conversion.
A responsive, quick-loading site can attract and engage prospects, but the possibilities for extending that engagement grow with features like chat boxes or contact forms. The prospect is already browsing the firm’s site, they’re already interested in the practice area, so it’s simply a matter of getting them to make their interest known.
Cookie-cutter features like newsletter sign-ups or donate buttons are lower on the engagement spectrum than others, as these actions take more time to complete and require additional information from the user. However, responses to these features can provide insight into the prospective client’s needs and wants.
Law Firm Website Security And Compliance
A proficient law firm website must prioritize security and compliance with data protection regulation. Any breach of client confidentiality can have dire consequences for a solo practice, so website builders must pay particular attention to security.
Encryption is essential, not only to protect confidential information, but also to prevent hacking attempts from cybercriminals. A website must therefore be able to provide SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption, to ensure that all data sent to and from a law firm is transmitted securely.
All good law firm websites will have a privacy policy. Legal services providers are required by law to explain how client information will be used and to detail how their private data will be safeguarded. Lawyers can use a privacy policy generator, but should always review the document to ensure that relevant jurisdictional information is covered.
It is law firm websites in the U.S. that are most prone to oversight when it comes to compliance. Law firms in America must adhere to a plethora of state and federal laws, which can vary from one jurisdiction to the next. To avoid compounding compliance concerns, the developer building a law firm website should know how to create a site that meets the strictest standards state by state. Likewise, they should be familiar with the CPA (Canadian Bar Association) rules and regulations when designing a law firm website in Canada.
Watching And Learning From Best Solo Law Firm Website Examples
We’ve analyzed a number of successful solo law firm websites to determine what exactly sets them apart. A successful solo law firm design is one that relies on both the designer’s eye for aesthetics, and the lawyer’s understanding of what will help them gain new clients. Lenny Arguelles works hard to establish a clear understanding of his practice areas and the benefits he provides to his potential clients right off the bat. Arguelles provides a strong opening paragraph with a friendly approach that makes him seem like the right attorney for potential clients looking for legal solutions for their problems. The page immediately introduces the lawyer himself, and gives the reader a short narrative that shows who Arguelles is, and how he can help them. Marketing your personal brand is crucial to becoming the go-to attorney for certain types of cases, and Arguelles stands out amongst other attorneys with his personal approach and plain language narrative, which explains the value he offers potential clients.
Linda McOuat Nuss provides an excellent range of content on her small law firm site covering a wide array of topics that her potential clients might have questions about. We particularly liked Linda’s FAQ and resource pages, where she covers common questions in great detail. Some solo law firms skip these two essentials altogether, but Nuss has established her site as a valuable resource to prospective clients who want to do some research before deciding which Calgary family lawyer to use. Knowing that her prospects in British Columbia are probably looking to do research because they live in a digital age, she explains her answers with plain language and simple, non-technical explanations. If potential clients like what they see, they can reach out to Linda for a consultation with the click of a button.
Robert Grosman’s solo law site caters to a lower end of the U.S. market , and he lists his legal services with clear language from his homepage. His writing is concise, but it also conveys his skill and experience throughout. Grosman understands what the average consumer is looking for when looking for a lawyer and clearly communicates his approach to management law. Even a small tip like replacing some text with a bulleted list helps when trying to convey a large bit of information in a concise way. His homepage utilizes a bulleted list to showcase his legal services and his qualifications.
A clean site with a classic aesthetic, local attorney Steve Gierut provides possible clients with a simple contact form that lets people know that they will receive a response within 24 hours. This is an attractive feature for any potential client looking for counsel quickly. Mr. Gierut takes his client’s privacy seriously when establishing a small solo law firm site online. With only a short blurb about him, his text is followed by an easy click to contact him directly. He also lays out his qualifications plainly, without overwhelming readers with long paragraphs of text.
Unlike most of the solo law websites we previously analyzed, Nick Charles provides only minimal amounts of text for possible clients looking to contact him. Instead, his site focuses on one of the largest growing demographics for attorneys, the under 30 year old crowd who are looking for answers to their legal questions. Unlike his peers, Charles spends most of his real estate discussing how their generation gets their information online. This provides him with the opportunity to explain to young adults how he can help them understand an area of the law in which they’re unfamiliar. Instead of telling them how great he is, Charles uses his blog to explain his points and invite people to learn more by clicking on the links provided.