Attorney Thomas Gutierrez Blog: This is What Potential Clients are Looking for When They Visit Your Legal Site

Just having a website for your law firm isn’t good enough anymore. In today’s digital world, every attorney has a site packed with information about what they can do for potential clients. And this has caused a bit of a problem. Why? Nearly every law firm looks similar, sounds the same, and doesn’t quite hit the mark for potential clients online.

This is, of course, a problem, since attorneys rely greatly on the quality case leads that derive from the internet. In fact, around 70% of attorneys have generated cases from their sites. That’s because approximately 33% of people start their search for a firm online.

However, knowing just what potential clients are looking for when they visit your legal site can add tremendous value. Let’s take a deeper look at what those potential clients are actually seeking out when landing on your attorney website.

They Are Looking for Legitimacy and Trust Signals

Legitimacy and trust are probably the very first signals potential clients will be looking for when visiting your attorney site. Why? Most online users seek a good first impression, just like in real life.

Let’s slip on our clients’ shoes for a moment. Say you were looking for a personal injury lawyer and you land on a cluttered website that was outdated. Would you be willing to explore the practice areas of that site and read the content? Probably not.

It is imperative to have an online presence that emits legitimate and trustworthy feelings. Update your site design, differentiate the aesthetics from other law firms in your area, showcase awards and memberships, attorney profiles, and use psychological trust factors.

Images Do In Fact Speak a Thousand Words

Part of having powerful legitimacy and trust signals on your site is knowing how to leverage photography correctly. You want to be able to make a personal connection with potential clients visiting your website, and images are the best way to do just that.

Why? Well, we live in a more visually stimulated world. The growth of Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest are good examples of why imagery is so important. Rule number one, use images that are real, not stock. This can make a stronger connection within moments of potential clients landing on-page.

Here’s an example from my site…

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Your Attorney Site Needs to Be Lightning Fast

This factor in what potential clients are looking for when they visit your legal site is more back of the house. Why does site speed matter? One reason is that site speed is a big-time Google ranking factor. That is why the digital marketing agency I use for my firm’s site makes site speed a priority.

Another reason why your site needs to be lightning fast is the competition. While doing the research, I found that a website needs to load in three seconds or less to keep the potential client engaging with your site. And three seconds is on the cusp of too slow. Realistically, you want your site speed to be one second or less. It is part of that whole user experience thing.

Showcase the Practice Areas Your Firm Provides Legal Help For

In most cases, people are not just looking for a lawyer. They are looking for a specific kind of lawyer. For example, a personal injury lawyer has expertise in a number of practice areas, but not always all of them. This makes showcasing your practice areas important, and doing so will cut down on time-consuming, poor leads coming from your website.

Here’s the navigation to my website’s practice areas as an example…

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And this is what my practice areas page looks like…

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Ensure you have a main practice area page and individual web pages for each practice area you offer legal help for. Try to fill out your practice area web pages with personalized content that will resonate with the community you serve. This makes a strong connection that potential clients can’t ignore.

Have Plenty of Testimonials and Social Proof You Have Won Cases

There is certainly a big difference between a lawyer and a lawyer that wins cases. This makes having plenty of proof on your website available for potential clients to peruse absolutely critical. You may also want to have a web page dedicated to your achievements in the courtroom to sweeten the deal.

For example, something with case results and numbers attached is optimal.

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Testimonials also need to be diversified in today’s digital world. No longer can you simply have a few test testimonials on your site and call it a day. You need to have more engaging and trustworthy content, like testimonial videos.

Combining text and video testimonials is a win-win for your website and your law firm. Potential clients can engage in the testimonial medium they like the most, and see real tangible dollar amounts of the cases you and your firm has closed in the past.

In Conclusion

Knowing what potential clients are looking for when they visit your legal site can have a tremendous impact on the number of cases your site drives, as well as the quality of those cases. From sending powerful trust signals to having social proof via testimonials and case results, take the steps needed to maximize the value of your online presence.

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