How to improve an attorney website?

It’s rare to find a person who actually wants to hire an attorney. People associate lawyers with bad news for a good reason. The fact is there are millions of searches for attorneys each month.

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But, what do people find when they land on your website? Will they want to call your office to set an appointment? Or, will they click the back button and look elsewhere?

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It all depends on your website. If you don’t want your website to turn off potential clients, show them who you are. Your website doesn’t have to be the usually boring run of the mill attorney website.

Below are some steps to clean up your website:

Step 1: Lose the legal bric-a-brac. If Lady Justice statuettes, courthouses, law publications, and other lawyerly knickknacks litter your website, then lose them all. And that portrait of you sporting an imperious look? That goes, too. There are too many boring law firm websites out there nobody visits. If you want to stand out, you have to do better than average.

Step 2: Clean up your text content. Your law school credentials and lawyer rating amount to squat. Place those in the innermost recesses of your website like your attorney profile pages. People go to your website to hire your services, not to admire your credentials. Instead tell people what makes you different than the others. How are you better than every other attorney in your niche? Yes, you can do this without sounding like a used card salesman.

Step 3: Have a new picture taken. Show that you can be trusted. Place that new photo on your homepage front and center. Save your scowl for the opposing lawyer. Have a really solid “About” page. Share what makes you better than others. Tell the story behind your law firm.

Step 4: Tell visitors that they are in the right place. Every page of your website should start out with a reminder of that. Your website is not a testimony to your greatness; it’s about helping people.

Step 5: Ask for action. Tell your visitors what you want them to do. Do you want people to call you? Show your phone number loud and clear. Do you want people to subscribe to your email list? Give them a good reason to do so.

Having your website cleaned up will not make you a better attorney. That’s all on you. However, it can convince someone to hire you instead of another lawyer. Attorney websites should be all about welcoming people. Being surrounded by the trappings of law only turns people away. Rid yourself from that surrounding, and you should find yourself surrounded instead by more clients.