There’s no doubt that a well-designed website helps your law practice stand out, boosts brand awareness, attracts your ideal client, and gives value to both current and new clients. According to statistics, more than one-third of consumers will hunt for a lawyer online. That means that not having a website at all is actually a disservice to your organization or practice. To truly build your organization, you must be willing to invest a little money in its online presence.
Increasing numbers of lawyers are realizing the importance of having a professional website and an online presence. A lot of people are price-conscious when it comes to building their website, whether it’s for a new legal company or an established firm that is updating its site.
Essential Elements Of An Excellent Law Firm Website
The more appealing and easier to use your site is, the better chance you have of getting a visitor to become a customer, here are five of the most important steps to keep in mind when you’re making a website:
- Navigation – Your website should be easy for people to use and make sense. Visitors shouldn’t have to scroll through pages that are too crowded or go on a scavenger hunt to find what they are looking for.
- Visual design – Your website should be easy to navigate, visually appealing, and free of clutter.
- Mobile-friendly – There is a significant probability that more than half of your visitors will be using their smartphones to access your website. People will immediately move on to another website if yours has an unattractive design or is difficult to use.
- Branding – What distinguishes your business from the rest? What is it about you that attracts clients? In an increasingly competitive industry, branding is your secret weapon.
- Messaging – Clear, interesting, and easy-to-understand material should be the goal of any website
The Purpose Of Attorney Website
Instead of asking, “How much should a law firm’s website cost?” Let’s analyze the functionality of the website.
Many things can be done with law firm websites. They tell people who you are, show off your service areas, and give people a way to get in touch with you if they need those services. Beyond that, your website should tell your target customer what makes you unique, or your value proposition, and show them how you can help them.
Your Unique Value Proposition
A value proposition is a statement about what you do for your clients that other lawyers don’t. It explains why your client should choose you and should be a big part of your law firm’s web design. If you don’t know what your unique selling point is, follow these steps.
1. Decide what your unique selling point is
Identify Your Target Client’s Main Concerns
Take some time to figure out what your client’s main problems are. These questions will depend on what you do and who you want to work with. This is the best place to use your avatar or persona for your clients.
Identify How Your Service Solves These Concerns By Listing The Benefits
Now, think about how your services can help with these problems. Instead of listing the features of your service, talk about what your service can do for people instead.
Position Yourself As The Provider Of The Value
Place this unique value at the top of your home page and all over your website to show that you’re the source of it.
Attorney Profiles
Isn’t it interesting that lawyer profiles are often the most popular pages on a firm’s website? As many as 56% of people who go to a law firm’s website will look at the attorney profiles (Above the Law). To take advantage of this, make sure each lawyer’s profile has:
- Areas for training
- A high-quality headshot
- Differentiator
- Topical and newsworthy legal matters
- Experience
How Much Are Attorney Websites?
It’s possible to break down the cost of attorney websites into the following three groups:
Low-Level
Includes the cost: of $10,000 to $15,000
You can obtain this if you don’t want to spend a lot of money on your legal website. You’ll get a low-cost website with a basic design and a few flashier features.
Most of these sites use pre-made templates, so they don’t require much technological expertise (and can be developed fairly quickly). At this price, a solid bespoke design is out. You can get a simple website that performs the job.
The Middle-Level
Includes Cost: $15,000 to $25,000
Towards the middle, you start to see some customization and more flexibility when it comes to what kind of CMS system you use.
A lot of the lawyer websites you see are in this group.
$15K to $25K is what you can expect to pay for a website that has:
- Fairly Custom Design
- Complete Freedom
- Better Features
Top-notch Level
Includes costs: $25,000 to $100,000
In terms of design, copy, and features, most of the best law firm websites are in the top tier, which is where the best is. It is easy to think of them as the best lawyer websites out there.
If your budget is more than $25,000, you have a lot more options. It will get better and better the more money you spend from there. Some law firms even charge more than $100,000.
People in this tier will get:
Completely Custom Design:
No matter how complex or how many pages you desire, the more money you invest, the more likely your website will be absolutely unique.
Visual Appeal:
This budget-tier website will have a fantastic visual look that genuinely matches your firm’s brand.
Copywriting:
This budget-tier website will have a fantastic visual look that genuinely matches your firm’s brand.
Many services appeal to legal firms and attorneys with large budgets.
The Benefits Of Having A Website For Your Law Firm
Web Presence
In a lot of surveys, it has been found that people now prefer to look up information about you on the internet before they come to see you in real life. Clients who have been referred to you will still want to look at your website and learn more about you from the people and the website. So, if your law firm doesn’t have a website, people will go to the ones that do which will make them happy.
Platform To Showcase Your Expertise
A website is a good way for law firms to show off the people and skills that they have. It lets you show off your best closures, your strength, your teamwork, your experience, and the qualifications and skills of your individual lawyers so that your clients know what you have. It will also help your clients learn more about their cases and what kind of lawyer they need.
SEO Will Help Google Talk About You
SEO-friendly websites or blogs for your law firm don’t need a lot of work from you to get people to come to them. Putting your website on the first page of search results will make people go to your site and let Google tell other people about you.
Target And Attract the Right Clients
You can tailor your service to the person who is the best fit for your law firm if you have a website. Everything from the images you use to the copywriting, headings, and important parts of the page. If you use strategic keywords in your copy and in your blogs, you can make sure that Google sends the right people to your site.
Build A Reputation
Having a website isn’t a choice in 2019. It’s a must. A website for your law firm lets you build an image that will help you get new clients and keep the old ones around.
Save Money
Another good thing about having a website for your law firm is that it helps you save money in the long run. This is because the internet has taken the place of print media because it can do everything from marketing to advertising quickly and at a low cost.
Gives A Professional Image
When your company has a website, it looks more professional. More and more people are using the internet to find and get in touch with the local business that can help them. Most of your new customers will see your website as the first thing they see when they meet you. This is why it’s so important for your law firm to have a website that looks good.
Customer Care
If your website also shows and tells people about your law firm’s skills, it also has extra features that make it easy for them to get in touch with your law firm at any time.
It Is A Long-Term Asset
Web sites are long-term investments for your business that will pay off many times over. It will help you get clients you haven’t heard of.
Conclusion
Every day, potential clients are searching for legal services online. A good online presence is essential to attracting new customers and sustaining a profitable law practice.
Creating legal websites takes skill and a bit of knowledge of how law firm website design and development work.
A website can cost a lot of money, this one-time cost is worth it in the long run. Having a strong online presence is essential to promoting your legal practice and demonstrating your authority and knowledge.