Three Easy Ways Law Firms Can Get More Clients from their Websites
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As part of my work conducting website audits, I've observed that many fail to offer the basic information that makes visitors pick up the phone and call.
Lawyers often call me when they are upset that visitors to their beautiful new websites look at one page and move on. This is called a high "bounce" rate in Google analytics.
Typically lawyers want to know if they should hire an SEO expert or buy pay-per-click advertising. I will perform a manual examination of their site and regularly find that this is not necessary. Instead they simply need to reorganize their websites to present visitors what they are looking for.
A new nationwide survey conducted in by online marketing specialist WebVisible finds that consumer clients look for three things on law firm websites:
- Details about credentials and experience: 68%
- Personal referrals or recommendations from network: 58%
- Information about legal procedures and answers to common questions: 52%
“Getting found online is just the first step,” said Ron Burr, WebVisible CEO. “Law firms have to make sure the information they provide online will help close the deal with a potential new customer. Just as important, they need to give people a way to take action in that moment – with a phone call, email, SMS text message, form fill or printed driving directions. It’s the combination of giving people the right information to make a decision and the option to act now that will help law firms to turn online traffic into new business.”
Here is what I recommend lawyers should do with their websites:
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To get an expert opinion by a human being who operates several websites -- and to have your website make the phone ring -- just contact me. There is no downside to ask for a quote.
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- Beef up your bio. Add information about deals you have closed or cases you have settled. What is compelling are case histories. What is boring are lists of jurisdictions admitted, articles and honors from law school, and bar association memberships. Credentials must have meaning for a potential client (not the lawyer).
- Testimonials are very powerful. If your state ethics rules permit them, your website should carry positive comments from clients, and identify the clients if possible. Further, you should create a profile on LinkedIn, which connects to your website, and invite your clients to make recommendations. My favorite example is a Phoenix lawyer, Brian Burt, who has 51 recommendations. Can you top that?
- Write FAQ files that deal with common questions. When searching online, potential clients want to know what the law is and how it works. Lawyers should compile the questions they get from new clients and publish the answers on the web. This way, a lawyer can demonstrate their expertise and answer all the preliminary clients of a potential client. All that's left for the client to do is call.
I know there are a lot of free auto-website-audits available. Typically a web developer will run a computer program on your website and give you machine-generated results. This is not the same as having a trained professional personally examine your site and make recommendations.
Take this a step further, law firm websites see visitors come to their site only once and never return.
By creating pages that have recent relevant experience along with a resource center (linking to various blogs, articles, whitepapers), will encourages users to continue to come back and view what you have to offer. Law firm websites have to get away from that static content and create an atmosphere that show the attorneys know which articles should be read. By building a following of users who continue to come back and check in what you practice department is posting will only help your chance of someone hiring for your expertise.
You know the industry, you know the blogs, so why not share the information? The user is eventually going to find that information somewhere, why not find it on your website.