Law Firm Website: The 5 Most Important Building Blocks

Website as a Driver of Digital Law Firm Marketing

Digital marketing is booming. In lawyer marketing too, both the initial approach to clients and the subsequent building of trust are increasingly taking place via digital channels. There are many reasons for this. On the one hand, user behaviour has developed in this direction. We all gather information online and are permanently accessible via virtual channels. On the other hand, digital marketing measures offer many advantages. Activities can be tracked better, aligned more precisely to the target groups, optimised better and linked together.

Digital marketing is scalable and the impact of the measures can be optimised.

The website is at the centre of marketing. It is the anchor that connects all measures throughout the entire marketing process. It ensures visibility, generates leads, enables engagement and creates proximity.

The 5 Most Important Elements of a Successful Law Firm Website

1. Information Architecture and User Guidance (UX/UI)

Building a successful website needs to be well planned. It is crucial that users find the right information in the right place on your page and can navigate easily through the content. This requires more than just a clear navigation bar. Modern user guidance encompasses all content: You control the behaviour of your users through the architecture and design of your pages. Good UX design includes the following questions, for example:

• Where do users enter (landing pages)?
• What information do they need at this point?
• Where should they go next?
• What do we want to achieve on the individual pages?
• How is the content linked?

A clean page structure, comprehensible content, clear goals and attractive navigation elements ensure that your target groups not only find you, but also stay with you.

2 Branding and Design

You can fall into many traps when designing websites. For example:

• Boring: Today, nobody has time for boring layouts. This is especially true for websites.
• Over the top: Yes, you can animate websites and it is important that there is some movement. But it should be used with moderation. Nobody needs wild blinking or text moving on LSD.
• One-size-fits-all: Nobody remembers websites that look like any other. But here, too, you need to be careful: Don't just blindly do something else. 

First impressions count. Or how often have you booked a hotel in search of a nice place to stay whose website didn't convince you? Where we are looking for quality - and we are particularly so at Anwält:innen - we expect this quality in every interaction. Boring and careless template deserts certainly don't say that you stand for high-quality, personalised legal advice. So present yourself online with a look that matches the level of your work.

Here are a few tips:

• Texts: Web writing is different from legal writing. What works: Short, active, concise wording. Put yourself in your target's shoes. Only write texts where they are needed and in a language that your target group understands.
• Branding: Stand by your brand identity! The look and feel of the page (typography, colours, imagery, etc.) should be derived from this identity and communicate what makes your company special. 
• Motion: Less is often more. It is important that the interaction feels good for the user. 

3. Content That Attracts, Captivates and Convinces

Whether it's about generating new contacts or convincing existing leads that your law firm is the right one: Digital marketing is all about content. The website therefore needs different content formats:

• Lead generation: It's your blog posts, FAQs and other in-depth topic content that appear high up in Google's search results. This is the content that generates new contacts for you on an ongoing basis and without additional effort.
• Offer Infos: Personal profiles and service descriptions (e.g. areas of law) show what your law firm offers and communicate your positioning. This information is consulted by users who have found your law firm and want to find out more.
• Contact details: Anyone who has found the website (1.) and has been convinced by the information on the offer (2.) needs easy-to-find contact details.

Lead generation content allows you to precisely control the traffic to your website. Depending on the content you publish, other users will find you. Example: If you write a blog post with the title ‘How to get rid of your tenants easily!’, landlords are more likely to find you. If you want to fight for tenants, then the title would be ‘5 tips: How to successfully defend yourself against the cancellation of your flat’ would probably be better.

If you want to put your content to the test, ask yourself:

1. Would potential clients click on this blog title in Google search results? 🍯🐝
2. Is the text exciting and easy to read so that users are captivated and want to find out more? 🍿🍿
3. Is the additional information so convincing that potential clients want to stay in touch with your law firm? 🤝🤝

Note: Only in the rarest of cases will clients contact you directly the first time they visit your website. It's important that they come and take something away with them - even if it's just your branding in their subconscious. This is where you pick up on the next interaction. And so, step by step, a net is spun...
 

4. Technology: Basics and SEO

When it comes to technical basics, there are no more excuses. Websites must load quickly and display well on all devices. The basics of web design are the prerequisite for your law firm to be found in Google search results and on ChatGPT. It's easy to check whether your website fulfils these standards.

Of course, there are also other points to consider. Optimising the visibility of your website (formerly: SEO) is an ongoing task. You should always ask yourself:

• What are my clients looking for?
• What content do we already offer that fulfils these needs?
• What content should we add?
• How can we further improve existing content to bring it to the top of Google and ChatGPT?

You should also not forget ‘housekeeping’ and regularly keep an eye on the technical basics. There is always minor work to be done here, such as removing broken links.

Climbing the rankings doesn't happen overnight. The whole thing is a marathon, not a sprint.

Conclusion: The Law Firm Website as a Digital Honeypot and Virtual Promise of Trust

In digital marketing, companies without a functioning website are hopelessly lost. Law firms that implement the most important points correctly have an advantage in the battle for the digital attention of their target groups. These ingredients determine the success of your website:

• Information architecture and user guidance
• Branding and design
• Content for all needs
• Technical basics and SEO
• Ongoing analysis and optimisation

Sounds like a lot of work? Yes, it is. But if you do it right, your website will work for you. It makes your marketing with a return that always justifies the investment.