Today, having a website for your business is not a choice, it’s a must. If you have a law firm, even if it’s a small one, you’ll still need a website. A well-designed and aesthetically appealing website can help you attract new leads for your law firm marketing, make it easy for people to find you online (boost your SEO), and establish your digital presence.
But the fact is, law firm web design is no easy task. Even a few seemingly simple mistakes can seriously affect your sales conversions, undermining the very purpose of creating a website in the first place. The worst part is, you will have to spend more money and time on potentially redesigning your entire website.
Here are four common mistakes that can ruin a lawyer web design.
1. Putting Legal Jargon in Your Content
It is only natural that as a lawyer, you want to demonstrate your professionalism and skills by talking about legal stuff in detail. Unfortunately, that’s precisely what your target audience DOESN’T want. Instead, what they want is concise and clear information about what you do, and more importantly how your skills and knowledge can help them.
If you use too much legal jargon and words that are totally alien to your target audience, they will feel confused and move on to another law firm’s website, which is most probably your competitor’s. That’s why you shouldn’t cram too much content, and especially legal jargon, into your website. Use simple language and short sentences to describe yourself, your skills, and how you can help your clients.
2. Using Poor Website Navigation
User-friendly navigation is the backbone of a good-quality law firm web design. A few seconds after landing on your website, your customers and prospects would want to explore it further. Maybe they’ll want to know more about a particular criminal offense, schedule a free consultation, or check out one of your attorney’s profiles.
Is your website navigation-friendly enough to allow them to find what they want quickly?
If not, you are going to lose good leads, probably forever.
Your site navigation needs to be spot-on. Make sure your main menu is not cluttered with too many options. It’ll confuse your website visitors. Keep it simple and to-the-point, as each link should take people to the intended web page directly. This means all your links, including the ones on the anchor text, should be working properly.
3. Aggressive Use of Graphics
Graphics can help you create a customized website that makes a lasting impression on your prospects. Unfortunately, in their effort to impress the users, most lawyers go overboard with graphics.
A law firm website with a ton of irrelevant images, colors, text, and other things does more harm than good to your sales conversions. It makes your target audience wonder what exactly you are trying to say, which isn’t a good sign for your business.
Instead, you need to focus on the optimal use of graphics and striking the perfect balance between your visual elements and the available whitespace. That’s why a minimalist lawyer web design is often recommended by experts. It makes the right use of graphics to send a clear, concise, and crisp message to your potential leads.
4. Lack of Quality Calls-to-Action (CTAs)
Calls-to-Action or CTAs are essential to generate more leads. The primary goal of a CTA is to encourage your prospects to take the desired action. However, you must do it without being annoying.
The first step is to make sure your CTAs appear a few minutes after your webpage loads. Your prospects would want to spend time browsing your website before they are prompted to take the desired action. If this starts popping up immediately and too often, your target audience will be annoyed.
The CTA should also convey the message in exact words and with the right images. Every single element in your CTA needs to be relevant. Make sure to tell your prospects what you want them to do by using appropriate action verbs. For example, you can ask them to “Schedule a FREE call now!” or fill out the contact form with a simple “Contact Us” message.
It is also better to use CTAs depending on the page or its content. For example, you can use a “Newsletter Subscription” or “Download Our XYZ E-Book” CTA on your blog, where the first thing people are looking for is more information. A reassuring CTA like this will compel your prospects to download the e-book in exchange for their email. You can reach out to them via email for further follow-up.
Conclusion
If you want your website to bring in more qualified leads and establish your brand online, its design needs to be impeccable. Unfortunately, a lot of things can go wrong with a web design due to seemingly simple mistakes. Hopefully, this post will help you avoid four of the most common mistakes. An experienced law firm web design firm like Gorilla Webtactics can help you design an elegant website, making sure you get the best return on your investment. Call us today at (612) 470-9877 or contact us online to find out how we can help.
