These are some of the top design mistakes we have seen when working with clients to help them with their law firm’s new website. They aren’t steadfast rules, but they hold up about 90% of the time.
1. Too many images – distracting
Pictures and graphics on a site are nice and they can help convey a message to the user. However, too many of them can send a mixed message or just distract the user from what your site is all about – your law firm helping them.
If you are unsure that your site has too many pictures, ask a friend to take a look at just one of your pages and ask them what message they are receiving. If they can’t tell you quickly or if the message is directly related to a picture and not the content of the page, you probably have too many images.
2. Content hidden below the fold
In the world of design the term “above the fold” or “below the fold” refers to what the user sees right away without having to scroll down. Anything the user sees immediately without scrolling down is above the fold. The term comes from newspapers. The next time you pass a news paper vending machine or a news stand, look at how the papers are displayed to you. They are folded, with the most eye catching images and stories above the fold. This is done to help real you in. If your most appealing content is hiding below the fold, your users won’t dig in deeper to find out more about your law practice.
3. Hard to navigate
Some designs (especially the DIY kind) make it hard for the end user to find where they are going. An easy to navigate website is laid out before the design even begins either with an outline or a visual map of how the site will flow.
For Example:
If you specialize in several types of law; say Real Estate, Personal Injury, and Business Law, your outline might look something like this -
I. Real Estate
1. Sellers
a. Contracts
b. Closing Documents
2. Buyers
a. Contracts
b. Closing Documents
c. Title Search
3. Realtors
a. Contracts
b. Closing Docs
c. Client Assistance
II. Personal Injury
1. Auto Injury
2. Truck Accidents
3. Slip & Fall
4. Dog Bites
III. Business Law
1. Formation
2. Compliance
3. Contracts
In this example you would want your main practice areas to have summaries of each of their sub areas on their page. You would also want to make sure links are present, in the same location on every page of your website to these main practice area pages.
Users don’t like to be confused and if you don’t have easy to follow, consistent navigation – you may lose the attention of your audience.
4. Trying to appeal to everyone
If you try to build a website for everyone, it will appeal to no one. No one knows your target audience better then you do. Make sure that you have it narrowed down and focused on the type of clients you want to work with. Trying to capture clients outside of what you are normally used to may actually drive away the clients you want.
5. Not designed for search
This is another point where the layout and flow of your website comes in. If a human has problems navigating your website, so will the search engines. Also, search engine spiders cannot read images. If all of your text is on an image you are losing out on the content search engines need to figure out what your website is all about.
6. Making your site look like an advertisement
Nothing can turn off a customer more then constantly being sold to. If your website looks like a late night infomercial, you will be perceived as unprofessional. In some cases, this type of website may appeal to your audience. If that’s the case, then I would recommend split testing this type of site against a website that is full of useful and free information. The split test can help you determine if the infomercial feel of your website is actually what your audience wants.
You would be amazed at how much giving away advice and information, without asking for anything in return will reel in new customers. Why does this work? Because it makes you appear to be an authority in your practice area.
7. Using Flash
I’ve only ever seen flash work for one type of website – Bands. Flash might look cool to you, but it really is outdated and very difficult for search engines to read. Not to mention it is distracting, and generally a bad user experience. Flash websites usually break all of the rules on this page.
8. Hiding contact information
Your phone number should always be above the fold on every page, usually at the top of every page. A link to your contact page should also be above the fold on every page next to your main links. Don’t make it difficult for your customers to figure out how to get in touch with you, it makes it look like you don’t want to talk to them and when you need an attorney, you want someone who is always willing to speak with you.
9. Images don’t match color scheme
When selecting images for your site (remember, not too many images), try to make sure that they match the color scheme of your website. Some websites even start with a few images and build their color scheme off of those. Your law firm’s logo is a good image to start with.
If you already have images on-line (Facebook, Myspace, and existing website), try using colorsuckr.com to help you build a palette for your new website.
Tags: Attorney Marketing, Law Firm Marketing, Law Firm Web Design, Law Firm Websites, Lawyer Marketing, Lawyer Web Design, Lawyer Websites
