- Clients will be easily engaged and will be more interested to contact you. There is less frustration in the format of the website, so they can access your contact information easier.
- Search engines tend to favor websites with a good user experience. A lot of things they consider is loading time and bounce rate.
- It will be easier to update your website if you have an organized layout. Websites that are all over the place is not only difficult to the user, but also to the editor.
Depending on your goals, it is important to first plan your website’s content before creating its format. According to Lawyers of Distinction, there are 5 important pillars of user design which are very effective for attorney websites.
5 User Experience Design Tips for Attorney Websites
1. Pick a responsive theme
Responsive theme is defined as any theme that changes its layout depending on the device it is viewed at. Lawyers of Distinction suggests that websites should pick a responsive theme that can change its layout, especially when it is viewed on mobile devices. At present, there are more users who are browsing using their mobile phones more than desktops. Old layouts tend to be unresponsive and would only look organized when viewed on desktop devices. So make sure to update your website’s theme every once in a while to continue its responsive layout.
2. Choose a minimalist layout, but according to your style
Your layout should also be leaning towards a minimalist theme. Minimalist pages take a less amount of time to load, and it will be very helpful to your users if they can access your page even with a slow internet connection. The ultimate goal of your website is to send viewers to be your potential clients by contacting you, so that is more important than creating a fancy-looking website that appears complicated. Minimalist themes can be found in WordPress dashboards, or you can download them by searching for “minimalist CSS layout” on Google.
3. Make your menu visible
More often than not, the first thing that your users will encounter is a blog post from your attorney website. If they don’t see anything relevant to their purpose in your blog, they will find the menu on your website. The menu contains the different sections such as home, about page, contact, testimonials, so on and so forth. This is very crucial for your attorney website because, without it, the viewers won’t be able to find out more about you and your work. What you can do is place your menu items above as your header, or a collapsible item on the side. You can also add additional links at the bottom to improve accessibility.
4. Your homepage should contain the benefits you can offer
One copywriting tip that Lawyers of Distinction suggests is having a solid index or home page. A good home page will lead users to learn more about you or help them find the contact details to reach out to you. The most effective home pages have a clear layout that presents your benefits to the customer. How can you help them? How can they benefit from your business? What gives you the position to help them? These things can be considered by your users so that they can gain trust in you as a professional even without having initial experience with them. Users also appreciate testimonials from other people, so if you can find previous clients who willing to say something about your work, this will also be helpful in your attorney website.
5. Place your hotline as a part of your header
An attorney website is a service-based, non-software business. This means that the second step is to usually call your office, or to email, you personally to ask more information about your rates and services. They can also ask legal counsel about matters that you are knowledgeable about. In this case, it may be easier to cut to the chase and present your more reachable contact information online. You can add your office’s hotline, e-mail, or personal number as a part of your site header. The header is located above all your website’s pages, along with your menu and site title.
It is highly likely that users will opt for your business if you have good content paired with an excellent layout. The principles of good user experience on an attorney website are simple: searchable contact details, easy to navigate, and can define who you are as a business.