Five Reasons Why Your Law Firm Website Redesign Team Need Your Attention

Making the choice to invest in a new website is an important step for a law firm. Whether it is your first website or you want to update an existing one, communicating with your project redesign team is key.

Consistent and clear communication will doesn’t just help your redesign team, it helps you get a better website quicker.

Timely responses get your website live much faster

The first, and perhaps most obvious, reason is that getting clear and timely feedback will result in a quicker site launch.

(A GIF of the website launch process….kinda.)

As web designers, we bring our expertise to every project for our clients. Part of that expertise is including clients in the process for feedback. When we complete a homepage design draft, we need the approval of our clients to move to the next step of the process.

We understand that lawyers and law firm staff are often busy, but taking the time to chat with your redesign team means your new website will launch faster so the rest of your marketing efforts can reap the benefits.

Gathering logins helps with a smooth and successful launch

In order to launch your new website smoothly, our team needs certain login credentials. Most importantly, we need access to your domain registrar. While we often will not need these logins until late in the process, earlier is always better. Other logins credentials that are crucial in certain situations include DNS, hosting provider and content management system (CMS).

Other logins, while not always required, will help to make sure everything is properly in place for a new site launch. These often include credentials for social media pages and profiles, online directories, and file resources.

Being able to organize and verify these login credentials as early in the process as possible means everything will be ready for a smooth launch day.

Your opinions matter and it’s better to get those opinions early

Is there a specific color you really don’t like? Is there a certain design element you have to have? Although we speak to our clients throughout the entire website redesign process, it’s very important to know of any items having to do with design at the beginning of the process. If certain preferences are not communicated at the beginning of the process and we reach the coding phase, it will take some time and potentially delay the project overall if certain changes are made later on in the process.

Your opinions matter, and we always want our clients to love their website redesign. If there’s something you’d like to see: communicate it! We love feedback, and also love to stay on time and keep projects on track for our clients.

We want your site to be State Bar complaint

Law firms fall under the observation of various State Bar associations. The rules of these associations are usually very specific and can vary quite a bit from state to state. While web design companies who focus on law firms will often be aware of the common State Bar rules, we rely on your expertise and review to ensure the final product fits the requirements.

Does your state require certain disclaimers to be added to areas of the website? Are you required to submit advertising assets to a board for approval? Are there certain words or phrases you need to avoid? We want to make sure everything follows the requirements set by your State Board.

Also, if your firm operates in multiple states, we want to be able to accommodate the extra regulations your site may need.

Conversions matter

One thing always on our team’s minds: Conversions. We want a user-friendly website for our clients that converts well. This comes into play during all points in the process: when creating content, design and coding the website.

Although we appreciate all feedback, sometimes there are preferences that could clash with the overall performance and CRO (conversion rate optimization) involved in the website redesign. We will always be candid when this is the case, but it is important to understand that going against conversion-related design suggestions could affect the performance of your website in the future.

Everything’s better with a little teamwork

Creating and launching a new website for your law firm is a team effort. Working together with a knowledgeable project redesign team will result in a smoothly-launched website that is both effective and to your preference.

Want more advice on law firm marketing? Sign up for the Consultwebs newsletter, follow us on social media, and subscribe to the LAWsome Podcast.

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Resources to Set Up a Remote Law Firm

Because of the recent changes to social patterns & behaviors, there has rightly been a surge of interest in the legal community about running a remote law firm.

Since Consultwebs has been 100% remote from the beginning, we’ve learned a few things about running a company with a distributed workforce that we wanted to combine with our industry knowledge, to share with those suddenly questioning the pivot to remote.

Below, we’ve identified eight ‘starting points’ towards going remote, and have provided a ton of links to advice, and legal tech suggestions from legal professionals on our LAWsome podcast that you’ll find valuable.

If you would like to discuss these suggestions on remote operations in more detail, reach out to directly to us and we will do whatever we can to help.

Remote Culture

One of the main concerns with remote working is culture. Working in an office, seeing faces of staff, interacting with clients and shaking hands; it’s all a part of the culture, and is massively important to a service industry like legal.

Communication, is the key to successful remote operations.

A big barrier to overcome in remote, is figuring out the successful communication strategies with various different personality types. Since body language is a large percentage of the way humans communicate, feelings can get hurt easily in remote, text-only exchanges.

We use the DISC personality profile system internally, and it has been a fantastic tool to better interpret the most effective way to communicate with staff. Quickly, it breaks humans into four distinct personality types, (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Conscientiousness) and associates a set of traits and behaviors that describe the way they interpret and understand the world.

Understanding, appreciating, and adjusting to the distinct personality types & communication styles in your team, can make all the difference in a remote culture.

It’s also important to be mindful of mental health & morale in the remote setting.

We believe in daily communication at Consultwebs, we hold town halls, we have a company-wide water cooler chat that is hilarious, we hold contests, we recognize successes and wins, share advice and help projects along. Communication and community are key.

Video Conferencing Software 

Like we mention above, maintaining connection with staff & clients in a remote setting is going to be a top concern for a service industry like legal.

At our company we happily use Zoom for Business, which has great functionality able to host 50+ participants, is easy to set-up, and has many different subscription levels depending on your needs. The best part of Zoom is the instant messaging function and Team message boards, making it easy to communicate and keep track of work.

Intake Optimization 

Seeing that communication is often cited as the reason clients like or dislike lawyers, optimizing your intake process before you go remote is imperative.

In conjunction with a dedicated client management platform, we suggest law firms choose conversion-centered call tracking software, like Call Tracking Metrics, to enhance their intake process. According to this episode of LAWsome, featuring LeadDocket’s Harlan Schillinger, lawyers that focus on & optimize their intake processes, typically see a 20% increase in conversions!

Strong Case/File Management Program or Protocols

There are many document management programs, several case management programs, and plenty of litigation support software options for lawyers. Problem is, as of 2018, the adoption rates for tech like this is abysmally low.

According to a 2018 Florida Bar Opinion Survey, 64% of lawyers had no case management program, 78% had no dedicated document management program, and 92% of lawyers polled had no litigation support software.

Tech competency has been a huge barrier to lawyers embracing tech, but with WFH becoming the new normal, it’s time to get arms around this stuff. According to the numbers, the competition is unprepared, but thankfully, you won’t be!

Whether it’s Clio or Casepeer for case management, or any of the other options available across your firm’s workflow, law firm clients (remote or not) that take CRM and file management seriously, always outperform those that don’t.

Calendaring Software

Keeping track of, and having easy access to edit and add to, your calendar and schedule is extremely important in remote business settings.

Calendly, is a calendaring software we’ve been using to book guests on the podcast and it has been a life saver. You can adjust your availability and send links with multiple options for scheduling an event, rather than going back and forth and eating up billable time. You can learn about more DIY legal tech solutions, and how to create a FrankenFirm, from real legal tech experts on our LAWsome podcast.

Electronic Payments + E-Signature

Using e-signature software for intakes & disbursements, like Docusign or other solutions, can increase case sign ups and quicken case management processes.

In a profession that’s seen as lucrative, it can be shocking to learn how poor most law firms handle e-payment billing & e-signatures for their practice. According to Sarah Schaff, lawyer and founder of the legal payment software company, HeadNote, accounts receivable is the last thing lawyers think about, when it’s the first thing that impacts their bottom line. Learn more about legal payment software on this podcast.

Ability to Outsource Legal Work

Give the current state of things, the gig economy, Work From Home, and established business models, are all set to mix with one another in the coming months.

Law firms that can use tech to complete project work and manage legal issues across a distributed workforce, can begin to see opportunities that were unavailable to you in an office setting. Virtual assistance for law firms, AI legal research capabilities, and the ability to run a virtual law firm, are all current realities.

The benefit to remote operations that align with good project management practices, is that the risk of disruptions is distributed, and, you build trust across teams and outcomes.

Digital Marketing Presence

In a time of social distancing, maintaining and promoting your law firms presence in your local market is going to be more important than ever. Instead of thinking social patterns will revert to pre-COVID times, this is a critical time to recognize “the new normal” and seize the opportunities in an increasingly digital-reliant marketplace.

In a WFH world, social media has replaced the water cooler, the mobile phone has replaced the front door, and your desktop computer is the new consultation room.

Key questions to ask about your firm’s digital marketing presence include; Is your website quick-loading and mobile-friendly? Are you using social media to promote the firm, but also communicate with clients & staff? Could a branded podcast help market your firm? How does your law firm rank for popular keywords and show up on the pages potential clients are searching?

In Conclusion

With a continued presence in the marketplace, and a focus on addressing & solving the above areas with the right combination of people, processes, and tech, a remote practice can be a reality at your law firm. While technology and market dynamics can pivot quickly, it’s less easy for a business to do so. The time to make adjustments is now. We hope you find these links and resources useful and we are here to help our clients in any way we can.

If you are looking for further advice establishing remote operations for your law firm, Get In Touch. Want more advice on legal marketing? Sign up for the Consultwebs newsletter, follow us on social media, and subscribe to the LAWsome Podcast.

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Law Firm Website Design: Design for Conversion

Do you “like” your law firm’s website design? Are you “happy” with it? Or are you measuring the amount of leads your website develops, and basing your feelings off that?

After launching thousands of law firm websites, we’ve learned a few things about successful legal web design, what convinces and converts users into clients. But more importantly, we know how web design choices can confuse clients and cause them to click away, and seek other counsel. The secret lies in something called, Design for Conversion.

First, let’s talk about the subjectivity/objectivity gap in legal marketing and law firm web design and discuss the secret mindset that overcomes these biases. Then I’ll share a few examples to demonstrate the positive (and negative) results possible when you design with conversion in mind.

Design for Conversion

The success of a law firm’s web design, marketing, and advertising to the external audience is subjective: “I like it” or “I don’t like it.”

To the ones investing in marketing, the results expected are extremely objective: “How many calls/cases can we expect?” “Leads will increase by what percent?” “Spend = Return.”

Here’s the paradox – most law firms forge their marketing material within a subjective bubble, “I like it/I don’t like it,” rather than a bubble based on objectives.

So, the objective measurements the shareholders will be asking for once the ad campaigns go live, are unattached to the content from the very beginning.

After generating millions of leads and designing thousands of websites for lawyers, Consultwebs has an answer for this paradox – Design for Conversion;

“It’s not what moves us; it’s what moves the needle.”

Designing for conversion is a mindset we employ at Consultwebs that ensures the success of our legal marketing campaigns is measured by conversions, not convictions.

Objective success in legal marketing has always seemed elusive because of the subjectivity paradox in measurement and taxonomy. But once we’re agreed on how we measure conversions and marketing, then our strategy, direction, and next steps become clear.

Conversion is not just selling or getting clicks. It’s about meeting key performance indicators that drive business goals.

Define ‘for Conversion’

Most law firm marketers are only tracking direct conversions, if they are tracking marketing metrics at all.

In an informal Twitter poll, we discovered that more than 70 percent of lawyers don’t know how much it costs to produce a lead for their firm.

 

So if you’re tracking marketing numbers in anyway, like ROI (return on investment), CPL (cost per lead), and CPC (cost per case), then you’re already light-years ahead of the competition.

Most marketers are too busy marketing to see if anything converted or made an impact. Not only do they need to be paying attention, they need to be looking at the right types of conversions.

A conversion isn’t just a client signing up for representation. It can be steps leading up to and around that main goal. Things like calls, clicks, chats, emails, form fills, downloads, engagements on social, dwell times on blogs – all of these can add up and prove that your marketing is working.

Marketing can have a direct impact on business development efforts, but only when a strategy connected to measurable goals meets the Design for Conversion methodology.

Once you have measurements in place, you can begin controlling your subjectivity around marketing and get to objective measurements that prove the marketing is actually leading to results.

The truth about web design is, sometimes beautiful things don’t work, and ugly gets the phone to ring.

Looks Good – Doesn’t Convert

“Pretty websites rarely convert as well as unpretty ones.” – Seth Godin

With every marketing decision you make for the law firm, there needs to be a reason behind the choice. In the video game Super Mario Bros., every tube you went down, every mushroom and flower you ate, were all steps to get to the one goal, the Princess.

So when it comes to a website, the No. 1 reason it exists is to develop business for the law firm, which is why the Design for Conversion mindset makes a difference.

Law firm web design should be focused on value, not viewpoints.

The true value of a web design is its usability:

• “What do visitors want and/or need to know?”
• “Is everything clear and not confusing?”
• “Do the users know what to do, and what to click next?”

If these three concerns go unaddressed in your web design, then it doesn’t matter that you have a video in the header of you riding a unicorn (which, of course, is super cool, but beside the point)!

One example of something designers and clients love, but actually leads to less engagement from users, is the Carousel. This is a way to show images and flip through them by clicking on big arrows, in an attempt to get people to engage.

Studies show, the engagement numbers for carousels are insanely small. The percentage of users that clicked to the images in Positions 2-5 is well below 1 percent.

This kind of insight is only possible with a Design for Conversion mentality, plus the ability to measure and test the capabilities of your web design choices. You may want a carousel of your dog on the website, but you have to wonder if you “need” it.

Looks Bad – Converts Well

When it comes to “ugly” sites that convert (which really makes them beautiful), there are a few simple design considerations that make conversion more likely.

According to the web design site Crazy Egg, and its LIFT model of conversion, effective websites need to have a strong value proposition, high relevance, and a crystal-clear user experience.

Along with the lift of good UX, there is also a need for web design to reduce distractions and anxiety.

This is a counter-intuitive finding, but studies show, “ugly,” older-looking websites often make technologically inept users feel safer, compared to newer sites designed to look slick.

Let’s look at one of the most trusted and trafficked websites on the internet – CraigsList.

It is not easy on the eyes, but the site earns trusted traffic and links by the thousands everyday. Its secret? Clear navigation, easy usability, a simple page with clear categories.

Law Firm Web Design Isn’t About ‘Pretty’ vs. ‘Ugly’?

The main takeaway from all this is that law firm website design is not a subjective endeavor. It’s not about pretty vs. ugly. The only metric that really matters, is conversion rates.

If you’re considering an expensive redesign because you hate your site, look under the hood and see what the conversion rates are first. Maybe the website you’re sick of converts like a charm. The only way to find out for sure is to use the Design for Conversion methodology.

Question your critiques around marketing, and always seek to avoid the subjectivity/objectivity gap, not by asking, “what do I say,” but, “what do the numbers say?”

If you need a web redesign for your law firm, then get in touch with the legal marketing experts at Consultwebs and find out how our design-for-conversion methodology can help make your website more profitable.

Want more advice on law firm marketing? Sign up for the Consultwebs newsletter, follow us on social media, and subscribe to the LAWsome Podcast.

 

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