Once upon a time the typical person opened up the yellow pages to find a lawyer. Today they go online. Your web site then is often the first and most lasting impression of who you are. Its critical that you make the most of that first impression by having a well designed web site.
Your window of opportunity is small. You have just seconds to persuade a potential client to stay on your site and delve deeper. Your message must be clear and memorable. In fact a recent study by Candian researchers suggest that window may be even smaller. In the study they discovered that people could rate the visual appeal of sites after just 1/20th of a second!
So given that, a well designed legal website needs to do a few things; 1) It should load right away. If not people will click elsewhere. 2) It should have your location and phone number clearly visible on every page 3) The design should express who you are and distinguish your firm. 4) It must answer the question, “Why should I hire you?” 5) Finally the site should be easy to navigate.
John Gaertner, an Arizona Divorce Attorney, has a custom FindLaw web site. In my view, the design of the site (featured above) makes a wonderful first impression for anyone searching for a family law attorney in Arizona. Immediately upon clicking on the site, the eye is drawn to the flashing tagline which clearly spells out what he does and who he helps; Arizona families. The flashing family law imagery reinforces that focus. Finally, the smiling picture of John personalizes the site and further conveys the inviting theme of his site.
However, you don’t need a custom website to create a great first impression. If you purchase a template site, try an “un-templatize” it as much as possible with logos, photos and other content unique to your law firm’s brand. Paul Englander, a Phoenix personal injury attorney, does a great job with this. Paul has added pictures to just about every page of his firmsite; http://www.paulenglander.com/.
*For more information on FindLaw website design visit my website.