Many law firms will hire a developer to work on their website even when it’s clear that they’re not interested in their end goal. That’s a major red flag. The very first step to building an effective lawyer website design is understanding the site’s goal. For law firms, a beautiful website design will not add any value if it doesn’t offer the ideal user experience. The focus should be on simple law firm website design basics like making sure visitors can find the information they need fast and guiding them through goal conversion activities.
In this article, we will discuss the best practices for web design that law firms can implement to create a professional and effective website for lawyers that serves their law practice.
Lawyer Website Design Best Practices
1. Well-optimized Contact Forms
To start us off, law firms should ensure that their contact information is displayed in such a way that it makes it easy for web users to contact them. Most people get frustrated when they can’t figure out how to reach you and bounce off from your international law firm website. What we’ve seen work for many law firms is a short contact form that helps generate more leads for the law practice.
Simple tips for creating effective contact forms on lawyer websites:
- Choose a well-designed layout that’s appealing and familiar. The size of the field should be in line with the expected length of the answer.
- Avoid too many form fields. This will create a cleaner form that doesn’t overwhelm the user. A rule of thumb is to limit the contact form field to not more than 5.
- Contact forms should be placed on multiple pages and locations throughout your website. Avoid cluttered areas as the form can easily go unnoticed.
- Ensure the form is optimized for mobile. Mobile users will convert better with a cleaner design, so eliminate any unnecessary fields.
- Optimize the submit button by choosing the best label. Research on action words that help users to act. You can run an A/B test to see what works best for your users.
- Choose the right colour for your button.
- Avoid asking for personal information that you don’t need.
2. Proper internal linking
The best law firm websites should have a proper internal linking structure. Internal linking shouldn’t be done for search engines alone; it should be done with the website users in mind. The main goal of internal linking is to ensure that people can find what they’re looking for on your law firm website regardless of their landing page. Don’t link for the sake of it—only link when it makes sense contextually. Best practice is to limit the links on a page to 100 max.
3. Proper use of graphic elements
The other thing that the best law firm websites have in common is the proper use of graphic elements. Graphics should be used to break up content on your law firm’s website to create interest and allow visitors to scan through the pages quicker. These graphic elements can simplify the process of finding useful information on a page that’s filled with lots of text. When used well, graphic elements will give web users a memorable experience that contributes to law firms’ branding and credibility.
Below are a few ways the best law firm websites can use graphics to stand out:
- If you offer free consultation, create a graphic that will let people know about this.
- If you have a slogan, turn it into a graphic to give your law firm website better branding.
- Use graphical buttons to improve how users get to the ultimate goal on your law firm’s website.
4. Stick to your brand colours
If you have distinct colours that people already know about, stick to them when designing graphics or elements throughout your law firm website. Most law firms don’t pay attention to the colours they choose and the emotions they evoke on different sections on their website. The emotion behind every colour is so important, especially in the legal industry.
For instance, if you focus on criminal law, you may want to go for the bolder colours such as the reds and orange, whereas an environmental law firm will work best with hues of green and blue. Also, keep in mind that the tint, shade, and saturation of the colour matter. You may also want to introduce a different colour reserved for your call to actions across all pages.
5. Clearly display your USPs
What sets your law firm apart from your competitors? This should be clearly conveyed the first 3 seconds a web user lands on any page on your law firm website. Law firm web users are looking for pages that stand out for the right design reasons as well as experts they can trust. A unique selling point or a unique value proposition simply conveys how your company or service offerings are different from the rest in the business. It details why people should hire you instead of other law firms and is typically included above the fold.
6. Feature some FAQs
In a world where information is always at your fingertips, it’s a no-brainer that your law firm website should have a FAQ section that answers the who, what, when, where, why and how questions of every practice area you cover. FAQs are critical in law firm website design as they help you cover topics that could rank your pages high on search engines as well as provide useful information to website users. The best practice when creating FAQ pages is to ensure that each focuses on a particular keyword.
7. Attorney bio pages
This is another critical section in your law firm website design as it allows you to solidify what website visitors may already have heard about your law practice and team. This page should contain not only lawyer bios but also their accomplishments, badges, accolades, and awards that the law firm has received in the past. Well-structured bio pages with relevant content will showcase your law firm as a trustworthy and credible practice.
8. Website built for mobile
With more people browsing the web now using their mobile phones as opposed to desktop computers, law firms must invest in mobile-friendly web design. In fact, search engines like Google are now only indexing mobile-first websites. Don’t lose a lead because your law firm’s website doesn’t look good on mobile devices.
Also read: Responsive Web Design – 6 Quick and Foolproof Tips
Need help with law firm website design?
For many years, dNovo Group has been designing law firm websites. We’ve offered law firm marketing and helped lawyers across different practice areas such as family law, criminal defence, and social security law firms to build web pages that attract leads and retain clients. If you need a little extra help in web design for law firms or legal marketing, contact dNovo Group.
