Inspire Client Confidence with a Modern & Professional Website

A common law firm web design mistake is using a non-responsive design. This means that your law firm website will not be able to adapt to different screen sizes and devices, which can lead to a poor user experience. Another problem with a non-responsive design is too much text on your website. This can make it difficult for users to find the information they want.

Keep in mind that a mobile-friendly law firm website design is something that 72% of visitors expect from your website. So, make sure to use a responsive design so website visitors can view your site on all devices.

How Does a Non-responsive Design Affect Your Law Firm?

The following are the effects of non-responsive design on your website:

• It makes it hard to navigate because it doesn’t consider the browser window size or the device being used. This makes it difficult for users to click from one page to another to find relevant content.
• It also tends to use more bandwidth than responsive designs and may cause web pages to load slowly or not load at all.

How to Address the Issue

• Adjust the layout based on the screen size and ensure it’s easy to navigate on all devices.
• Run responsive tests on your website design. This helps in ensuring that your website is responsive across all devices tested. You can identify any problem before it negatively affects the user experience.
• Make sure all the buttons are big enough for a better touch experience.

You might be tempted to support your online marketing efforts with a complicated and impressive website design, but legal websites that take this approach are doing more harm than good. Plus, cluttered sites can make it difficult for search engines to crawl and index them appropriately. That’s why keeping things clean, simple, and easy to navigate on your website is essential.

When users arrive at your site, they want to easily find your blog posts, contact page, practice area, etc. If you make the menu difficult to follow or if there are multiple menu bars with different and confusing navigation, chances are high that you’ll lose this visitor to other law firm websites.

How to Reduce Clutter

• Simplify Your Site’s Layout. This is especially important for lawyers with a lot of content on their sites, such as those practicing intellectual property law or criminal defense. By breaking up your page into sections with clear headings and subheadings, website visitors can easily navigate and find what they’re looking for.‍
• Use White Space as Much as Possible. White space helps create a sense of order and lessens visual clutter. When designing your webpage, try to include plenty of empty space where you can put images and text, as well as plenty of empty space around the edges of your page where you can add links or buttons that call out important features of the site.

When visitors click on a broken link on your site, they’ll be automatically directed to a 404 error page. In this case, it’s not uncommon for the individual to assume that they are in the wrong place and exit your firm's website altogether. This page could also affect your search engine optimization (SEO). Once your URL is broken, it will hinder Google from crawling your website.

Rather than using a generic 404 page telling them that the page is unavailable, you can do some digging to find out how to make it function properly.

Of course, eliminating the source of the error is the first step that you should take to fix that dedicated page. Something that not all law firms do is edit your 404 page from there, so the language isn’t generic. Provide them with other links to explore and show that they didn’t do anything wrong.

Visual hierarchy is another content marketing strategy to keep in mind. It’s commonly used in eCommerce stores, but the same value proposition also applies to the best lawyer websites. A visual hierarchy can outline the specific information you want your site visitors to see so they aren’t overwhelmed with information.

Even if you have a solid website with online reviews and client testimonials, ensure that there is thought put into how the information is displayed on your site.

A call-to-action (CTA) is the text or button on your web page that you want visitors to click. Whether it’s to sign up for a newsletter or download a free e-book, a CTA should be clear and concise. That way, when visitors land on your website from a Google search, they know exactly what action to take next.

At the very least, you should have a CTA that says ‘Click Here’ or something similar. You need to add a straightforward CTA if you don’t have one to get more clients.

What to Consider When Creating a CTA

• Visibility: All web designers will tell you to make sure your call-to-action is visible and easy to understand. Ensure visitors can easily identify what action they should take next, and the wording is clear, concise, and easy to read.
• Layout: When creating websites, if you have multiple call-to-actions on your landing page, make sure they are separated to avoid confusing visitors.
• Visuals: Maintaining a consistent visual style throughout your law firm website design is important, so visitors don’t get lost or confused.‍
• Font style and size: You should choose fonts that are readable and simple at the same time—for example, Open Sans, Merriweather, or Roboto. And make sure the size of the font is easy to read on contact forms.

83% of visitors expect mobile sites to load in three seconds or less. A slow website can frustrate visitors and leave them with the impression that your firm is not serious about customer service. For example, new clients trying to view a law firm’s website will exit the page in 3 seconds if the response time is too slow.

Nobody wants to sign up for a website that takes too long to load, so it’s no surprise that most law firms might lose web traffic on that page. A slow website can cause visitors to abandon their journey before they even get started.

Since your law firm website design slows down the firm webpage, here is what you can do to fix it:

• Invest in a dedicated server that allows heavy traffic without slowing down and monitor them regularly.
• Ensure your law firm website can handle all the different devices and platforms people use to access mobile devices, desktops, and browsers.
• Optimize the speed of your content by compressing images. Fewer page elements mean quicker load time.
• While redirects are sometimes necessary, you should not use them excessively. This is because they cause an additional HTTP request-response cycle and increase the time between requests; therefore, you should keep the frequency of redirects to a minimum.

A big part of any lawyer’s job is to show off your work. A law firm’s website should be an extension of your brand, communicating your work and how you can help your clients. That means you must ensure that every piece of your website tells a story about what you do. This isn’t just about the visuals.

You also need to ensure that you’re showing off all of the key pieces of the law firm website's content, like your case studies, testimonials, awards, press releases, or press features.

These will give visitors a better sense of what to expect when they hire you.

While it’s important to include contact information and a logo on your site, it’s also important to make it easy for potential clients to understand who you are and what kind of legal services you offer.

Some of the most common law firm website mistakes to avoid are:

• Not tailoring your law firm website to the needs of your target audience.
• Using generic web design elements and stock photos that don’t stand out.
• Not including clear call-to-action buttons. As such, it should be designed with care to ensure that it is professional and engaging.
• Not taking the time to test different layouts and website content to find the right look and feel for your site.

In order to create the right impression, it’s important to demonstrate professionalism and brand identity. Additionally, stick to one design style and use subtle illustrations and visual elements that reinforce your brand’s message.