What makes a law firm website a success? Some people will tell you to look deep into all kinds of analytics data for your answers—especially your traffic and engagement numbers.
And, while all that analytics data can be legitimately helpful, there is really only one number that matters. Why did you build a website in the first place? Was it to get more people on the internet to come look at your website? Was it to bump up your traffic or get people to spend more time on the page before they leave? Absolutely not!
You built your website to bring in more cases and clients. Period.
If your law firm website converts visitors into leads, then it’s successful. If it doesn’t, then it’s really just a “pretty face” that isn’t doing much for your business.
You can have the prettiest website in the world. You can have a ton of traffic that you’ve paid for with your time or your money. However, if your law firm website’s design isn’t consistently converting that traffic into real cases and clients, it’s failing in its primary duty—and you need to get to the root of the problem.
Conversion is absolutely the most important thing to look at, but other metrics matter, too. Find out more about all the law firm website metrics that matter the most.
Why Isn’t Your Law Firm Website Successful?
Lawyers and law firm website designers often get overly focused on the wrong stuff and end up designing law firm websites that fail. Why? There are lots of reasons, but it’s often because they fall prey to a bunch of common misconceptions, like the four I’ll talk about below.
Misconception #1: My law firm website should be designed to get to Page One.
Too many websites are designed, developed, and written for search engines. However, law firm websites that are created to get to the top of Google’s Page One often give a disappointing performance after launch. People are not search engines, and they use Google searches to find answers to their questions. They don’t care that your website is seeded with keywords, and they don’t care how much you spent on pay-per-click (PPC) for stuff like “Texas product liability lawyers.” They aren’t searching for those kinds of keywords, anyway!
Your law firm website should be designed for your perfect clients and referral sources—not for search engines. Buying your way to Page One with PPC might get you more traffic, but it probably won’t get you more clients, at least not on its own. And you can try to calculate the perfect set of keywords for organic search, but it’s going to fall flat if people don’t find what they actually need on your website when they get there.
Ultimately, if you design your law firm website solely for search engines, you’re choosing search traffic over actual, valuable conversions.
Misconception #2: My homepage is my most important page.
Lawyers often put too much focus on the homepage of their websites. They assume that everyone will come in through the homepage, so that’s where they need to put all their effort.
The problem is that this really asks the homepage to do too much on its own! You need those supporting pages on your law firm’s website to be just as great.
A lot of your best potential leads will never even see your homepage. Instead, they’ll land on a supporting page and call you. So, you really have to think about how consumers find an attorney and what steps they take to get there.
For example, most people facing a legal problem will first ask their friends and family if they know a good lawyer. If they get a recommendation, they’ll type the attorney’s name or the law firm’s brand name into search. These are the people that will come in through your homepage. It’s where you want to concentrate on capturing those kinds of referrals, orienting them to your brand and personality, and helping them navigate to the right place for their concerns. In short, homepages are all about referrals and brand-name searches.
However, if friends and family don’t know any lawyers, then most people will turn to Google with their questions. They might type in something like, “lawyers near me” or “estate planning law firm” and land on one of your practice area pages. Or, even more likely, they might type in questions or long-tail keywords that lead them to your blog and content pages, like “what is probate,” “rights in PA after truck accident,” or “why do I need an attorney after work injury.”
The point is that there are at least three different ways people might find you online, but only one of those ways involves your homepage. So, if you want to succeed, you have to look at your website holistically and really strategize how it all works together to bring in all kinds of leads.
Misconception #3: Content doesn’t matter.
If your website isn’t converting, it’s probably because you’re not feeding it content—and I mean actively, frequently, and in a disciplined manner.
I touched on this a bit above, but the content you stock your website with matters. Some folks get so distracted by sleek designs and flashy widgets that they forget to stock their websites with videos, articles, blog posts, images, and other compelling content. The law firm’s website design LOOKS amazing. But, as people visit it and try to dig in, they don’t find enough substance to match what the style seems to promise.
If you want your website to convert visitors into clients and leads, then you have to create relevant, original content that answers questions and educates.
Need some tips for feeding your website the content your perfect clients crave? Find out how to think about content and write like an expert.
Misconception #4: People will figure it out on their own.
Some people will visit your website, get what they came for, and then call you or fill out your contact form without any prompting. However, you’re going to get a much better rate of conversion if you design your law firm’s website to take people on a logical journey that periodically ASKS them to reach out.
The organization of the content on your website—and the design of your navigation—should help people get to the specific kinds of answers they’re looking for. It should take them from the general to the specific and give them options for pursuing the information that is most relevant. Along with that, your design should also incorporate relevant “calls to action” on every page that let visitors know how to take the next step as soon as they’re ready.
Grow Your Success With a Law Firm Website Design That Converts
If you aren’t sure if your website is doing what you want it to do for your business, test it out for yourself. Do some searches that are relevant to your practice and see where you show up. Try to get to different kinds of information on your website. While you do it, don’t think like an attorney. Instead, think like the consumer—a.k.a. your perfect client. With that mindset, it’ll be easy to identify the areas where your website could use some work.
Is your website design getting in the way of your success? Are you ready to invest in a conversion-focused website that resonates with your perfect clients? Start with a fresh foundation that focuses on the things that actually bring you new clients and cases.
Join us for a website design consultation, or talk to my team at 888.886.0939.
