Website Design For Attorneys

If you take the time to read about website design for attorneys, you will find that there are just about as many theories on what is a good design as there are website designers. From my research and experience, I believe that there are certain basics that every attorney website should follow. At AttyClicks, we are committed to these basics because they help lawyer websites bring in clients.

First, do not use flash. While some people think that a website should have a flashy opening, flash can be deadly to a website. Most search engines do not read flash. Also, flash takes time to load and viewers (potential clients) do not like to wait. Instead, they click on the next website.

Second, I believe that content on a lawyer website needs to be on the left side and links or additional information needs to be on the right hand side. Basically, search engines read from left to right, top to bottom. However, they do not read by lines. Instead, search engines read by "blocks". If a page has two columns, the search engine will start with the left column and read top to bottom. Then it will go to the right column and read top to bottom. Because information in the left column is read before information in the right column, the information in the left column is deemed to be more important that the information in the right column. Your content is more important than links. If you have links in the left column and content in the right column, then the search engine thinks that the links are more important that your content.

Third, as a part of website design for attorneys, each webpage needs to have a call to action which encourages potential clients to contact you. It does little good to have a well designed website that ranks well in the search engine rankings and then require potential clients to have to look for how to contact you. On every page, tell them to call or email you and then make it easy for them to do it.

Forth, you need to create trust with potential clients. One way is to offer free initial consultation or free answers to general questions. Another way is to provide pertinent general legal information on your website so that potential clients can feel comfortable that you can handle their legal matter.

Fifth, it is a good practice to list in your attorney website the services that you provide. For example, to lawyers, personal injury denotes a certain practice area, but to most of the public, personal injury doesn't mean much. It is better to list car accidents, truck accidents, slip and fall, etc. People feel more comfortable contacting you when they see that you handle legal matters like their's.

When you think about website design for attorneys, you need to consider both the layout of the website and webpage and the content that is on each webpage of the website.