Having a user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing website for your firm plays a critical role in lawyer SEO. Your website is your primary marketing and branding medium. It is also a digital interface, where not only your present clients, but even potential ones interact with your firm for the first time. This is why you need to pay careful attention to its design and appearance.
Whether you are refurbishing an old website or building a new one from scratch, try to avoid the following web design mistakes at all costs.
Not Keeping It Mobile-Friendly
With mobile devices (excluding tablets) generating 52.6% of global website traffic in the fourth quarter of 2019, not having a mobile-friendly website is a huge mistake. You will fail to reach out to a large number of potential customers, particularly the tech-savvy millennials and gen Z.
Furthermore, having a mobile-friendly website will help you improve your local lawyer SEO marketing efforts. Fortunately, building such a website is not expensive or complicated. If you are not sure if your website is mobile-friendly, you can use Google’s mobile-friendliness testing tool to find out.
Not Showcasing Your Human Side
When it comes to seeking legal services, trust is perhaps the most critical factor. Gaining it is possible if your lawyers come across as sensitive human beings. Unfortunately, lawyers are often perceived as robots. It further highlights the need to project your team members as humanely as possible.
One way to show the human side of your lawyers is to use humor when creating their profiles on your website’s About Us page. You can also show glimpses of their personal side such as them performing charity work or family-friendly activities to help you project your law firm more humanely.
Using HTTP Instead of HTTPS
Security is the biggest concern, especially when it comes to protecting sensitive legal matters. So, having an insecure website starting with HTTP instead of HTTPS is a big letdown for many potential customers.
As you know, most law firm websites have a contact form, where potential clients can share their contact details. However, people are less likely to do so over an insecure website as the chances of personal information getting phished, hacked, or stolen are high.
So, you need a secure website starting with HTTPS, which you can do by getting an SSL certificate. Make sure to get it as early as possible if you don’t have it already.
Using Too Much Legal Jargon
Most lawyers get carried away in showing their authority and end up using a lot of legal jargon on their website. Although you may be conversant with legal writing as a professional, your potential customers are not. You need to speak the language your customers can understand.
Use simple and short sentences. Keep the paragraphs short and to-the-point throughout your website. Use natural language wherever possible as it will help boost your local attorney SEO ranking and voice search optimization. Don’t stuff keywords. Use them naturally in the content.
Using Stock Images
While it is okay to use one or two stock images such as a courtroom or the US flag when designing your law firm’s website, overdoing it can do more harm than good. To begin with, stock images, no matter how attractive, are often forgettable.
Secondly, using too many stock images may make people think that you are hiding the real people and the location of your law firm. So, except for one or two stock images, you should use pictures of your lawyers and paralegals in action, wherever possible.
For profiles, use professional close-ups of your team members. You should use unique images wherever possible. Also, avoid using the same image twice. Lastly, make sure all the images are high-quality and responsive.
Taking It Easy on the Loading Speed
The website’s loading speed is critical because according to Google, even a one-second delay in mobile load time can impact your mobile conversions by up to 20%. In other words, your website needs to load fast.
You can use Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool to find out how quickly your website loads on different devices. This tool will not only analyze your website’s speed, but also make suggestions to improve it.
Usually, avoiding landing page redirects, optimizing the images and media, streamlining your content, and using limited plugins can help improve loading speed. However, you should talk to your developer for a better strategy.
Contact Gorilla Webtactics for Best Law Firm Website Design Inspiration
Avoiding these six web design mistakes should help you create a better law firm website. If you already have a website, you need to identify and fix these issues immediately. Gorilla Webtactics is one of the trusted names in law firm web designing that can take care of all your designing needs. Contact us online or call us today at (612) 260-1506 to know how we can help you design the perfect website.
