Five Areas Where Your Firm Website Needs Changing

When it comes to marketing your law firm, your website is your online presence. Sure, there's social media and other emerging e-trends that need to be recognized, but it all starts (and sometimes, ends) with your website.

But my firm already has a website, you say. But hold on: Is it up-to-date? Is it interactive? Does it feel like it's representing a firm with people who were born after bathing became a social norm? Here are five suggestions on where your website may need to be given a slight (or major, life-changing) facelift:

1. Make it interactive. If your website just sits pretty like a sign with merely just contact information and nothing else, this is a waste of a domain. Your website should be a more interactive experience with opportunities for you to answer questions that prospective clients might have, a place for you to represent yourself to the Internet-world, and helpful links that speak on your areas of specialty.

2. Social media. Yes, it’s been said to death. So, if you’re tired of hearing about how social media is crucial, but you haven’t gotten to it yet — get. To. It. Social networking is the most popular way to brand your firm outside of your website and to connect with your clients and prospective clients. Some popular and likely some of the most accessible sites are Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. There are button graphics and link codes that you can find online so that you can place these accounts in a handy dandy section on the main page of your website.

3. Stock photos. Who are those strangely plastic looking people in black suits that smile upon us from so many different law firm websites? Are they even lawyers? While a stock photo here and there is fine, try to incorporate graphics that actually represent your firm — this personalized touch goes a long way and makes your business seem real and accessible. Instead of a picture of a random building, have a picture of your office building. Instead of stock photos of Jane and John Doe in suits, put your own professional photo up.

4. Accuracy. Is your address and phone number still the same? Do you even still own that fax machine that you listed a number for? Are you still licensed in the state that you first took the Bar in? There is nothing more unprofessional than an outdated business page. Even worse, if you have broken links or improper links that go to the wrong page, this is a red flag that often tells prospective clients that if you’re too distracted to put together an accurate website, you may not be a good attorney.

5. Easy does it. While you obviously don’t want a bare website, simplicity is still key. There’s nothing that reads are more unattractive than a cluttered website with irrelevant music streaming in the background that takes hours to load. It is often worth it to hire an experienced webdesigner or someone who can help you polish up the look of your website so that it has a fresher look that will appeal to more people.

Related Resources:

• 10 Tweets of Advice: Social Media Lawyer Marketing (FindLaw’s Strategist)
• Internet Marketing Basics for Lawyers: Website Considerations (FindLaw’s Strategist)
• 1.5 Smartphone Users Worldwife: Need a Mobile Website? (FindLaw’s Strategist)