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Biggest mistakes in web design 1995-2015

December 5, 2006

Vincent Flanders’ Web Pages that Suck posts the ‘Biggest mistakes in web design 1995-2015.’ Yes 2015, the same mistakes will be repeated over and over.

The 14 points are a worthwhile and entertaining read but law firms need not look any further than the #1 Mistake – Believing people care about you and your web site. They don’t.

Write these two sentences where you can see them as you’re working on your computer:

The only reason my web site exists is to solve my customers’ problems.

What problems does the page I’m looking at solve?

Nobody cares about you or your site. Really. What visitors care about is solving their problems. Most people visit a web site to solve one or more of these three problems.

  • They want/need information
  • They want/need to make a purchase / donation.
  • They want/need to be entertained.

Too many organizations believe that a web site is about opening a new marketing channel or getting donations or to promote a brand or to increase company sales by 15%. No. It’s about solving your customers’ problems. Have I said that phrase enough?

Two thirds of people coming to a law firm website, blogs included, are looking for practical legal information. They are not looking for information about the law firm and its lawyers. Looking at most law firm sites you would think it’s just the opposite.

Legal blogs draw far more traffic than law firm websites. A big reason is that blogs offer people the information they need, whether those people are execs, other lawyers, or consumers.

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