How to Build Lawyer Website to Bring in More Clients

We talk to a lot of lawyers and law firm marketing managers. And this is what we hear:

“We have a website, but it doesn’t do anything.”

If you’re not getting calls from your website, or not even getting traffic, your website is probably like most of the law firm websites we see — digital brochures with information prospects don’t really care about.

This is why 72% of websites fail.

Why Do Law Firms Need Websites?

At the time of writing this, we typed “law firm Chicago” into Google search and were met with about 130 000 000 results within 0.73 seconds! Although the legal industry is saturated and competitive, not having a law firm website isn’t an option as nearly 100% of people seeking legal services and counsel start online.

A high-performance law firm website will help you stand out from the rest. It establishes your firm as an expert in your practice areas and is an important component of your digital marketing strategy.

When developed correctly, it creates trust, and credibility, and converts visitors into new clients. The bottom line: Without a website, prospects won’t find you online. If they’re unaware of your law firm’s existence, you’ll lose out on your share of the online market.

How to Build Law Firm Website That Will Get More Clients?

We’re going to lay out the 7 Top “Must-Haves” for websites for lawyers to make this as easy as possible. Couple these 7 with the right objectives for your law firm website and, if done right, your lawyer website will deliver incredible results.

7 Keys for Attorney Websites to Get More Clients

1. A Great User Experience on Website

User experience is a web design term that combines ease of use, clarity of information, and the speed of your website.

Ease of use means your website needs to be super intuitive for users. If you have a blog, call it a blog. Don’t make site visitors figure out that “Insights” takes them to your blog posts.

Clarity refers to the language you use. Don’t use jargon, just use common terms.

To put it in perspective, people looking for a service provider, such as an attorney, will make up their mind 2/3rds of the way on who they want to retain before calling anybody.

So, to answer the questions prospects have using a language they’ll understand. They need to see what you do and who you do it for, and how you’ll ultimately help them.

Finally, speed is the most straightforward of all. If your website loads slowly, visitors will leave. And remember: Google’s watching, too—if too many people bounce off your site thanks to slow loading speed, your website’s Google ranking will go down.

2. Competitive Design for Law Firm Website

A “good enough” website design is attractive, clean, professional…or not?

Looking good enough isn’t good enough for a law firm website. Most websites for lawyers look the same—just switch out logos and colors. And so, if you only expect your great law firm website to look “nice,” it will end up looking like all the rest.

Your website design must be competitive, and it has to stand out.

The design has to make a visual impact and visitors have to be able to tell the difference between yours the other law websites, and the last attorney’s site they visited. Start by looking at your best competitor and make sure your website looks at least as good. Then work with your web design agency to identify the competitive advantages you can build into your site to really stand out.

3. The Preponderance of Proof (Competence)

One way or another, you have to prove competence in the areas of law you practice most (or want to practice more of). The use of case studies is the best way to showcase competence. For every type of work you work on, write 3-4 case studies. Explain the problem your clients had, the challenge it presented, and how you helped them solve it.

We know that some Bar associations prohibit using case studies and testimonials, but you have other options. You must show proof somehow that you’ve “been there, done that,” because people need that confidence when hiring a lawyer. You can work hypothetical examples into your blogs if case studies aren’t an option in your state.

4. A (Growing) List of Answers to Questions

Answer all common questions asked on law websites by potential clients, and that list should always be growing. Your potential clients first search for answers to their questions (discovery phase), then for a law firm that can help them solve their legal problems (decision phase).

You’ll only attract people in the discovery stage by addressing the questions they want answers for. Not by telling them about your great law firm! (that comes later).

Make a list of questions your prospects ask. Write up an answer and post each answer on its own page of your site (these can be blog posts). Use the question as the title for the post.

Then create cross-links between the posts (build contextual connections between posts), and your prospects will end up spending more time on your site as you answer one question after another. This is “step one” in how your website blog can be the most powerful business developer your firm has.

Here is more on How to Turn Law Firm Blog into a Client Attraction Machine.

5. Lead Magnets

The next piece of that same powerful business and web developer machine is how you collect information from the prospects on your site. Lead magnets are exactly how you do that.

Lead magnets convert eyeballs into prospects for your firm. You offer them something (a resource) that helps them track questions or start to map out their plan of action for the legal problem they face. Checklists, resource lists, and white papers are all classic examples of lead magnets.

Thing is, they have to enter their name and email address to download the resource.

Your site then follow-ups with occasional emails and contact forms that offer MORE resources those prospects will want. Did they download the Estate Planning Checklist? Then you know what legal service they’re interested in. Keep sending them valuable information and you’ll create the authority and trust that will mean you’re the one they call when they’re ready to pick up that phone.

6. Reviews and Testimonials

They are worried about hiring an attorney they do not know. They want to know how good you are before hiring you.

The next best thing to learning from experience is to learn from other people’s experience. This is why consumers trust reviews and testimonials. They offer a concentrated pool of recommendations that a prospect can assess.

The power behind reviews is real, especially with a solid policy in place to reply to all reviews—good and bad. And even where Bar associations do forbid posting testimonials and reviews on your website, there’s a simple and ethical work around your web design agency in Chicago can set up for your law firm website.

Talk to your web designer about installing review badges on your website. This is an icon on the site that links to either your profile on Google, Avvo, Yelp, or wherever else you have reviews. That little badge will update real-time with the number of reviews and your overall rating, and consumers know they can click on those badges to see all the reviews their hearts desire.

7. Humility

This is the final must-have for web design for attorneys, and it doesn’t come naturally to many: humility.

Take those cliché, serious lawyer photos for example. Yes, we get it. You’re important. And yes, you probably read that whole bookshelf of law books behind you. But people buy only from people they like.

The Best Website Builders for Law Firms

Good website builder is easy to use, and typically provide templates and features based on web design best practices like mobile responsiveness and search engine optimization. Their plug-and-play options deliver quick results. However, they can be limiting.

Whether you choose to DIY your own website depends on the size and scope of your law firm. More often than not, it’s better to hire professionals, so you can focus on your business.

If you want to explore the best website builder options, we suggest:

• Wix
• Squarespace
• Weebly
• GoDaddy
• Jimdo Creator

When Do You Need to Update Your Law Firm’s Website?

We recommend doing a website audit at least once a year. Search engines algorithms and online client behavior are constantly changing, so it’s important to keep up to date with the latest best practices.

You should consider updating your law firm’s website when:

1. It doesn’t look modern and consistent with the times,
2. It doesn’t work properly, and
3. It doesn’t offer features clients expect

Updating a website doesn’t mean a complete redesign. It could be you just need to make small adjustments to the page layout or tweak SEO.

Does your law firm have a plan for growth in 2023?

Let us help you create a growth plan

Web Design Services for Law Firms

We offer a full range of digital marketing services with an expert team devoted to creating successful law firm websites that have the right branding and calls to action to convert qualified leads.

Besides content marketing and paid advertising, our web design services include:

• UX/UI Design
• Landing page design and optimization
• Corporate design and branding
• Custom WordPress web design
• Mobile-friendly design
• Conversion rate optimization
• eCommerce web design

We don’t need to tell you that professionalism sells! And honestly, while it does come at a (worthwhile) cost, hiring professional website designers is a business investment. At Comrade Digital Marketing Agency, we’ve created websites for some top law firms in the country.

Our designers understand the technical aspects required for search engine optimization. We’ve created many attorney websites that have increased leads and helped our law firm clients get more traffic and revenue.

Now that you know what makes an excellent law firm website design, you might be interested in learning how we can help design attorney website of yours! Why tell us more about your legal website aspirations?