A Complete Guide to Law Firm Website Design
By Adrian Aguilera
With the rise of the digital-first era, your law firm website is one of the best ways to secure and convert leads. Good website design for attorneys presents a professional look and feel, easy navigation, high speed, and excellent online customer service. It requires strategically building, maintaining, and marketing your site—and it all begins with the right tools. This overview will cover the benefits of website design for law firms, the differences between a DIY and third-party web design, and key design tips for building and marketing your site.
How Does Website Design for Attorneys Benefit My Firm?
Your website should demonstrate your firm’s professional expertise, develop trust, and communicate clearly. This foundation of website design maximizes client leads and conversions. Below are three key benefits of website development for law firms.
Positions your firm as online experts
When competing with similar firms in your area, you want to show prospective clients that you are the best person for the job. A well-built and maintained website design for law firms features useful, relevant content that instills confidence and increases leads. For example, a blog written by attorneys at your firm can position you as a source for guidance related to your practice. So, when someone performs a Google search, sees your firm’s content, reads and values it, they are more likely to reach out for a consultation.
Serves as an online source for new leads
When people are considering a service, the first place they usually begin is with online reviews. Good lawyer website development features regular client testimonials in a variety of formats. This includes video and written quotes. Your firm should also consider devoting a staffer to monitor Yelp and Google reviews. Respond to all reviews (predominantly negative ones) as a part of essential customer service. Regularly monitoring reviews can uncover some pain points that your firm should fix. In the long run, this enhances your firm’s reputation and builds confidence that your attorneys are the best fit.
Presents online communication tools for converting leads
A well-designed website is intuitive, easy to use, and offers modern tools for asking questions and setting initial consultations and appointments. Aside from a homepage on your practice and contact page, modern software communication tools can increase lead conversions. For example, an AI chatbot is an excellent way for clients to receive answers to basic questions. If the questions become technical, the AI can transfer the client to a human staffer on your firm’s team. Software tools also allow clients to schedule a consultation directly from your firm’s site. With this strong communication and convenience built directly into your law firm website design, your firm will experience higher conversion rates.
DIY Website Design Vs. Third-Party Web Design
There are pros and cons to who constructs and manages the performance of your law firm’s website design. Designing a law firm website on your own is typically more affordable, but it’s more time-consuming since you’ll need to learn, build, and manage the site. Software tools such as WordPress and Lawlytics provide easy tutorials, customer service, and templates for designing your website at a reasonable price. You also need to consider the cost of regularly managing the updates and performance of your site. This may translate into hiring a marketing staff member or a freelancer—which may cost more in the long run.
Hiring a third-party agency or service for lawyer website development is usually more expensive altogether, but your firm’s staff/attorneys can devote their entire time to casework. The caveat is that you’ll need to carve out time for communicating any updates/needs with the third-party service. If it’s an agency you decide to hire, they also may take longer to provide updates, as they are servicing multiple clients.
If you’re a small agency, consider designing the site independently. You can always hire an expert freelancer or marketing staff if it becomes too cumbersome to maintain. If your agency is bigger, your best bet is to allow a third party to build and manage the entire site while you focus on the operations and work of your firm.
Tips and Best Practices for Law Firm Website Design
1. Build essential web pages
Beyond basic information such as firm name, address, location, and phone numbers, your website should make it easy for clients to quickly learn who you are, how you help, ask initial questions, and book a consultation.
During law firm website development and maintenance, your site should have the following key web pages:
- A homepage on how and why your firm is the best choice, as well as your practice areas
- An about us page on each attorney and staff member
- A testimonials page with client quotes and/or videos
- A blog built from a strategic content plan for lead generation and conversions
- A contact page with the ability to chat easily, email, and even book appointments
These pages form the basis of optimum website design for law firms and should receive regular maintenance and updates. For example, if your firm expands its practice areas, you should issue an update as soon as possible. You lose leads if your site’s visitors are unaware of a new practice area. Also, if you hire a new attorney/staff member, immediately post their background on the “about us” page. The same goes if an attorney or staff member quits. Finally, the blog should feature published content (with good SEO) at least twice or more per week, so your firm shows up on Google searches as often as possible.
As a key takeaway, don’t wait months to refresh your site. A great law firm website design needs regular updates and maintenance to position your firm against competitors and maximize leads/conversions.
Check out our go-to handbook for law firm digital marketing strategy, for a more in-depth marketing plan.
2. Put yourself in your client’s shoes
Video advertisements and accolades are nice, but clients are more likely to hire you if you present why you enjoy your practice and how you specifically help. They don’t necessarily want to read how long you’ve been in practice or how you own the courtroom. Literally, every law firm says this! So, why not focus on what makes you the best person for the job.
Good website development for law firms starts by humanizing your firm’s staff and attorneys to build trust. For example, your “about us” page should contain rich headshots and a brief explanation of why each attorney came into practice and any community activities. Also, feature videos (not sensationalized ads) that show how you’ve specifically helped a client. For your blog, publish a steady stream of blog content that puts the reader first. For instance, if your firm specializes in personal injury, you could publish a blog post highlighting the first three things you should do when sustaining an injury after a dog bite. This humanizes your firm, positions your site as a credible source, and helps increase traffic and the chances of booking a lead.
3. Integrate user-friendly laptop and mobile navigation
Your website is your law firm’s digital-first impression for potential clients. Modern website design for law firms should present easy navigation that is mobile-friendly. First, list all key web pages (about us, blog, testimonials) as tabs, so visitors can quickly find what they need. Secondly, issue regular technical maintenance. Your site shouldn’t contain broken links/images, 404 error pages, or web/software glitches. These technical hiccups are a turn-off for your site’s visitors and will significantly lower traffic—which will affect your firm’s leads.
Lastly, issue mobile development of your site. This is a crucial portion of good law firm website development and navigation. Consumers are increasingly using smartphones and other mobile devices for research and purchases. If your site loads as a tiny version of what appears on a desktop, your mobile traffic will suffer.
4. Monitor site speed
Your firm’s website should never feature lags or slow load times. If your potential lead is stuck on load screens, they will leave—and most likely never return. Technical maintenance should also include a monthly report on how well your website’s pages and interactive content, images, and video are loading. Your pages (and all interactive components) should load in three seconds or less. Consider hiring an expert who can monitor and easily fix any issues that affect your website’s speed, so it runs at peak performance at all times.
For more on website maintenance and auditing, read our ultimate marketing checklist for law firm success.
Get Started Today With MyCase Website Design
MyCase law firm website design services can help your firm maximize lead generation and conversion for small and large firms. This includes constructing and maintaining a fast, reliable, custom website that integrates into MyCase legal case management software.
Try MyCase today risk-free with a 10-day free trial. We offer affordable monthly and yearly subscriptions. Plus, there’s no commitment required, and you can cancel anytime.
