The great majority of lawyer websites that I see have bad hideous website designs. I’m pretty sure most of them were designed even before there was an Internet. They look that bad. The funny thing for me, as an Internet Marketing Consultant for Lawyers, is when I tell an attorney how bad his/her website is, most will say, “It’s not that bad…I kind of like it”. Yes….and I kind of like how the famous track star Carl Lewis sings the national anthem.
Getting high rankings on Google, Yahoo and MSN is crucial to having your website generate new business for you, but often overlooked is being able to convert visitors to your site into buyers. That is accomplished by having compelling content on your site that convinces a potential client to call you. However, most people who are looking for an attorney will not even read the content if the site design is not good. Your website’s design must be attractive and professional looking in order to keep a client on your site reading through the content. If a site design is ugly, or even has an outdated look, you will lose your visitors. I know this from analyzing website traffic reports. The telltale statistics for me are 1)Page views and 2) Time on your site. If the great majority of your visitors are only visiting one page, then leaving after an average of 5 seconds, you’ve got problems. Not Michael Jackson problems, but that’s not good for business if people are leaving your site almost as quickly as they came. With the Internet, it’s kind of like dog years. If you’re site design hasn’t been changed in 5 years, that’s like 35 years on the Internet. From a consumers perspective, the design of a site is tied in to how good an attorney may be. Is that true? Of course not, but that’s how consumers think. Which of these two attorneys below would a consumer be more likely to chose?
a. http://www.personal-injury-attorney-in-san-diego.com
b. pslaw.com
Wow. Definitely not lambchops.
Another extremely important element is the navigation of your site. Is it easy for visitors to find the information they are looking for? Is it easy for the search engine spiders to find the information on your site? Site navigation is another crucial element to retaining visitors on your site.
Many attorneys don’t want to spend money on a new site design, but what they are missing is that usually (depending on what type of case it is) one new client will pay for that site design. Even if your site doesn’t come up for generic search phrases, people will still search for your site by typing in your name. Trust me, if your site looks something like Mr. Sideburns site above, you need a new design. You’re losing potential referrals as well.
One more thing, if you look scary or crazy, don’t put your picture up on your site.
