Are clients finding you through your website?
So, you’re a lawyer and you need new business. Now what? You need a website. Don’t tell me — you already have a website that your brother/uncle/niece created for you. Not you? How about this one – you already have a website and you don’t need to spend time working on it because no clients find you through the website. Really? That’s a problem!!
If you’re an attorney who caters to consumers, clients SHOULD be finding you through your website. Your website should be one of your top three sources of new clients.
How can you make sure that your website is functioning as it should? Great question. The answer is a design that lends itself to lead generation. Here are a few tips I give all of my attorney clients. If you’re an attorney OR someone who caters to consumers, you definitely need to look through this list and make a mental list of the things you (your brother/ uncle/niece OR a legal marketing firm) must change about your site. Trust me, you’ll be happy you did!
1. Make sure that a client can contact you the second he or she lands on your site. No scrolling, no clicking, no hunting. Your contact information needs to be large and clear and at the top of your home page. Remember, most website visitors stay on a site for less than two minutes and look at fewer than three pages. Make sure that even in a short amount of time, they can find your contact information and call you!
2. If you have a contact form on your site (and you should), be sure it is short and sweet. Get the information you need to contact the client and nothing more. The more fields you add to the form, the fewer people will complete it.
3. Add the really important information on the top left-hand corner. This is where people naturally look when coming to a website. Get your name, phone number and email address in that location.
4. Make sure you have great content. For those potential clients who browse around the site, you want to look like an expert (even though your state bar rules may preclude you from saying that). Add content that is useful for the potential client: no “legalese” and no case law. Clients don’t care about that. It doesn’t matter how many classes you AmJured or how many times one of your cases was published. They don’t know what that means and they don’t care. They just want to know that you can help them with their legal issues. Keep that in mind.
If you have any questions or concerns about your own website, please contact us. (What the heck? Send your brother/uncle/niece our way, too!) We’re happy to give all of you a free website evaluation and discuss some things that may improve your site.
