This post contained The Important Pages on a Law Firm Website, which include, About Page or Attorney Profile, FAQ Page, Practice Areas Page, Special Offer Page, Contact Page Client Testimonials Page
It isn’t enough to simply have a website for your legal practice. Every law firm has a website. But not every law firm has a great website. But wait, what makes a great law firm website? It’s simple. A great website provides the information prospective clients are looking for, and it effectively generates new leads and new business for your practice. In this post, we’ll explain the 7 essential pages every law firm’s website needs to have, and why they’re so important. We’ll also show you examples of websites from legal practices around the country, plus a list of best practices that you can use to make your website stand out. Here are the 7 most important pages on a law firm website.
The Important Pages on A Law Firm Website
Below is a list of the most important pages on a law firm website, in no particular order. To truly have a high-quality website for your firm, you should have all of these pages, and maybe more.
- About Page or Attorney Profile
Many lawyers around the country improve their websites and grow their practices. The “about” page is the 2nd most visited page on a lawyer’s website (after the homepage of course). So one should spend some time developing a good about page (or attorney profile page) if you are interested in converting website visitors into clients.
Most people visiting your website will have little or no experience researching, finding and hiring a lawyer. Plus, they’re usually searching during a difficult time (perhaps they’ve been arrested recently, or they’re in the middle of a divorce). Either way, they’re likely to be experiencing a whirlwind of emotions, including stress, anger, and confusion.
These website visitors are looking for something easy to understand with helpful information, and someone they can reach out to for assistance. That’s where your about page comes in, because it allows your website visitors to form a more personal connection with you, and learn about your background, education, and professional accolades.
Best Practices for About Pages on Law Firm Websites
Make sure to include professional photos of all your firm’s lawyers.
Text is great for visitors but make sure it’s skimmable and easy to read. Use bullet points to highlight the most important information.
Write about your philosophy and approach to the law. How do you practice? What makes you different from other lawyers? Why are you the right fit for this potential client?
2. FAQ Page
Getting answers to legal questions is particularly important to clients when navigating a complex legal issue. Chances are you hear many of the same questions over and over from prospective clients during your initial consultations. A great frequently asked questions (FAQ) page can help provide answers to those initial questions beforehand.
An FAQ page with answers to common questions will help you and your clients get more out of their initial consultation. It also provides you with the opportunity to show your expertise and build credibility.
However, legal issues can also be quite complex to understand, and that’s why it’s important to keep one principle in mind when creating your FAQ page: simplicity.
Don’t dive too deeply into your answers. Answer the question in a way that an average person can understand, and don’t overuse legalese. The goal of your FAQ page should be to encourage a website visitor to call you and ask the next question, i.e. the one that requires a more in-depth answer than an FAQ page can provide.
Best Practices for FAQ Pages on Law Firm Websites
Keep it simple. Include basic questions that can be answered in a paragraph or two.
Limit yourself to questions that are specific to the law you practice and your firm’s policies. Use the questions you hear over and over from clients to guide you.
You can also use your FAQ page as an opportunity to vet prospective clients. If you don’t offer payment plans, for example, have a question about payment options and answer it there.
3. Practice Areas Page
What are your specialties? What makes your practice unique? You should create a page for each area of law that you specialize in. Not only will this help visitors get a better understanding of your practice and whether your services will meet their needs, but these pages also have important keywords that will come up in search engines.
These types of pages can rank well in Google results and can also be used as landing pages for online marketing and advertising campaigns. For example, if you wanted to advertise on Google for the search term “DUI lawyer” you would be better off directing visitors to a landing page that is specifically tailored to the topic of DUIs, rather than a more general page about your firm.
Best Practices for Practice Areas Pages on Law Firm Websites
- Avoid putting all your practice areas on a single page. By creating pages that are focused on a single service you’ll be able to go into more detail and better connect with your audience.
- Clearly explain each practice area, the cases you take on, and why you do a better job than other lawyers in your area.
- A great page should include this information: What are the most important pieces of information about this type of legal practice? Who needs help (i.e. who’s the ideal client)? What’s his or her next step (call, email, etc.)?
4. Special Offer Page
A special offer can help you stand out from your competition and encourage website visitors to take action and contact you. People always love to feel like they are getting a deal of some kind.
If you create a dedicated page for your special offer, you can also use it as a landing page for Google Ad Words, Facebook ads, and other online advertising campaigns as explained above.
Best Practices for Special Offer Pages on Law Firm Websites
- Keep it simple. Your offer shouldn’t take more than a sentence or two to explain.
- Make it eye catching! Capture your audience’s attention and keep them reading!
- Experiment with different new special offers to see which brings you the most business.
- Contact Page
The end goal for most lawyers’ websites is to drive new business, which makes the contact page extremely important. This is where people will go in order to get in touch with your firm (and hopefully end up hiring you).
So what should go on the contact page on a law firm website? Your contact page should provide prospective clients with all the information they need to reach out and connect with you. For example, where is your practice located? How can prospective clients reach you? What’s the best way to get in touch – should they call or send an email? How can they schedule a consultation?
A contact page should answer all of those questions and include most, if not all, of the following information:
- your law firm name and address
- your phone number(s)
- your email address
- a map of your office location
- a contact/message form which people can use to inquire with you directly
Best Practices for Contact Pages On Law Firm Websites
- Embed a Google Map so visitors scroll around, zoom in and out, and see where you’re located.
- Be clear about your hours, especially if they vary from day to day. If you’re open outside of normal business hours for consultations, say so.
- Use the “tel” attribute to make your phone number clickable from mobile devices.
- Client Testimonials Page
Featuring client testimonials on your law firm website can be tricky depending on the type of law you practice, but if done well, it is an excellent way to build trust with prospective clients who are visiting your site.
People like to know that other real people just like them, have had the same legal problems and have hired your firm to resolve them. It makes people feel comfortable and starts building trust, which is critical in the. Legal sales process
Ideally, you should have about one paragraph of text in the testimonial, explaining why the client hired you, and how their experience was working with your firm. Photos and names provide added credibility (since these things can be easily faked). But be careful because some of your clients may not want their names and pictures on your website (e.g. criminal defense clients). You may be limited to written testimonials with only a client’s first name if that’s the case.
Including links to your Yelp and Avvo profiles, where prospective clients can see more reviews, often with more personal information about the reviewer, is also a good idea because it lends added credibility..
Best Practices for Testimonials Pages on Law Firm Websites
- Include prominent links to your Yelp and Google Plus pages so prospective clients can see even more great reviews!
- Be choosy about the testimonials you feature. Pick 3-5 of your best testimonials.
- Don’t include testimonials from “Anonymous” these don’t carry much weight. If possible, consider filming a video testimonial from a satisfied client.
- Include a clear call to action on your Client Testimonials page. Ask for a call, contact form submission, or email.
7. Blog Page
OK, so this isn’t a single page, but an active blog is something every great law firm website absolutely has to have. Blogging does wonders for your SEO because Google loves websites that are updated often with fresh content.
It’s also important to keep your blog up to date. Neglected blogs, i.e. those with “recent” posts that are years old, can be even worse than having no blog at all. Prospective clients will judge you based on the quality of your blog and the frequency of your posts.
If your blog looks like it has been abandoned, clients will assume your firm is going out of business or no longer taking in clients. If your blog is active, with recent posts and comments, they assume you are running a thriving practice and helping tons of clients just like them every day.
Keep it active, but you don’t have to overdo it. Focus on producing one great blog post every month, rather than a hastily thrown together post every week. Here are a few guidelines to help you get started:
- Aim for 500-1500 words. Any shorter and you’re not going to get the full benefits of frequent blogging, which include higher rankings in Google search results and more leads for your practice. Any longer and you’ll lose the attention of all but the most dedicated readers.
- Make sure your blog posts are on the topics your audience cares about and is searching Google for. Use this guide to keyword research to learn the basics.
- All blog posts should have a purpose. Are you trying to entertain your audience? Inform them? Promote a product or service? Focus on balancing promotional, entertaining, and informational blog posts.
- Include a clear call to action on all posts. After reading your blog post, what should someone do next? Leave a comment to ask you a question about the topic? Call you for a consultation? Share the post with a friend? Be clear and straightforward and ask your readers to take the next step, whatever that is.
Conclusion
That wraps up our list of the 7 most important pages on a law firm website. If you’re just starting to develop your first website now, .
As you can see, developing a quality website that will help your law firm bring in new clients will require a decent amount of work. But now that you know exactly what information should be on a law firm website, you should have a good idea of where to begin. Have any questions? Just leave a comment below!