Law firm website design : Think like your prospects, not the managing partner
Law firm website design can do a lot to distinguish your firm from other law firms. That’s the subject of an article in the New Jersey Law Journal by Margot Teleki, president of CopyWrite LLC of Chatham, a commercial writing and marketing company.
In addition to providing a list of suggested includes in your law firm website, Teleki makes some pointed comments on design & key content.
As for graphics, law firm Web sites are too often unimaginative — making use of stock art and smiling photos of staff — sometimes in shirt sleeves, sometimes in full dress. We found a look of sameness in most of them — supreme courts or a court building. The scales of justice were pretty popular. Artwork and design should be attractive and inviting, though the Web site text is the major factor, especially when a client is having legal problems. Then artwork and design are not the primary focus.
A law firm’s Web site should be written with the objective of inspiring the confidence of a referred client — or attracting new clients. Regardless of its objective, it must be written so it informs and builds confidence. It must be written from your client’s point of view rather than your own. It’s nothing personal — just business.
The guiding rule at LexBlog is to make sure our clients’ law firm blog designs look nothing like 99.999% of the law firm websites. Many law firm websites look like they were done by amateur designers in 1998 (24 years ago on Internet time). Those done more recently do all they can to look ‘lawyerly.’ Problem is people dislike lawyers. They are looking for law firm websites that provide a sense of comfort. Comfort is established via a first class law firm website design that looks similar to the top designs seen on consumer and professional websites around the net.
And in the case of images and photographs people do not feel comfortable looking at lawyers. Let’s face it. 80% of people distrust lawyers. Why do you want to put images and photographs of people your target audience distrusts on your law firm websites and blogs?
On law firm website and blog design start thinking about designs that excite your clients and prospects, not the law firm’s managing partner.