Learn how to create best-in-class, engaging websites for your firm.

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WebsitesConsiderations
forLawFirms
NumberOneinaSeries

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USER EXPERIENCE
BIOGRAPHIES
SEARCH
CLIENT
ACQUISITION
MICRO-SITES
MOBILE CROSS-
DEVICE

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24%
OUT A GLOBAL SURVEY OF
500 BUSINESSES, 24
PERCENT OF THEIR ANNUAL
ONLINE REVENUE WAS LOST
DUE TO A BAD WEBSITE
EXPERIENCE.eConsultancy, June 2011

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3%
OUT 1,500 WEBSITES
REVIEWED, ONLY 3 PERCENT
(45) OF THE SITES EARNED A
PASSING SCORE.
Forrester, March 2012

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USER EXPERIENCE IS A BROAD RANGE OF
DISCIPLINES WITH THE OBJECTIVE DELIVERING
SATISFYING AND ENGAGING EXPERIENCES
LAW FIRM WEBSITE USER EXPERIENCE (UX)
User
Experience
• Branding
• Usability
• Information
architecture
• Design
Satisfaction
• Pleasure
• Fun
• Surprise
• Achievement

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WHAT ARE THE CULPRITS OF POOR UX?
WHAT IS REGULARLY FOUND
1. Crowded page—lack of
white space around
elements
2. Misaligned site map—
menus do not reflect the
importance and relevance
of information
3. Hierarchical menus—
difficult to use multi-tier
navigation
4. Deep site navigation—
visitors click 3-4 levels to
get to the information they
seek
5. Search—overwhelming,
irrelevant search results
“PROBLEMS WITH TEXT
LEGIBILITY, TASK FLOW,
LINKS TO PRIVACY AND
SECURITY POLICIES, AND
USE OF SPACE HAVE
DOMINATED THE TOP
FAILURE LIST SINCE 2005.”
FORRESTER, 2012

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SITE MAP AND NAVIGATION
SITEMAP
1. Does the order of the main
menu reflect what is
important to visitors?
2. Does information hierarchy
align with expectations?
NAVIGATION
1. How deep must visitors go
to get to what they need?
2. Do menus support a “first
glance” overview of
navigation options?

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PAGE STRUCTURE AND TYPOGRAPHY
PAGE STRUCTURE
1. Is the information structured
in order as is followed by
peoples eyes?
2. Does it have sufficient white
space to make the
information stand out?
TYPOLOGY FOR READABILITY
1. Is there an appropriate use
of font size, type, color and
line height to guide the eye?

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USER EXPERIENCE
BIOGRAPHIES
SEARCH
CLIENT
ACQUISITION
MICRO-SITES
MOBILE CROSS-
DEVICE

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45%
45 PERCENT OF CURRENT IN-
HOUSE COUNSEL (CURRENT
CLIENTS) REVIEW THEIR
ATTORNEY’S BIOGRAPHY
PERIODICALLY.
BTI Study, 2011

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56%
56% OF WEBSITE TRAFFIC
GOES TO ATTORNEY
BIOGRAPHIES.
The Great Jakes Blog, 2010

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Buyers seek a referral
from trusted colleagues or
friends.
They make a short list of
three to six lawyers to
review.
They Google the lawyers'
names to see what
surfaces on page one or
two of results.
Then, these buyers visit
the lawyers' websites and
biographies.
Buyers compare bios
side-by-side on the
conference room table,
filtering the short list.
The buyers may call one,
or perhaps two or three of
the short list lawyers to
interview.
They choose a lawyer
over the others because
the references were
strong, the experience
that the biography
presented was current
and relevant.
The right lawyer gets
hired
BIOGRAPHIES AND LAWYER SELECTION

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GETTING FOUND
SHOW UP ON GOOGLE
1. Google typically pulls the
first 150 characters in a
lawyer's bio for the search
results
USE THE RIGHT WORDS
1. Be descriptive and
differentiating—what makes
you different
DO NOT FORGET THE LINKS
1. In-bound and out-bound
links determine relevancy
2. Link to pages within your
sites, or external articles,
accolades and news

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GETTING YOUR MESSAGE ACROSS
MERCHANDIZING ATTORNEYS
1. Make it personal—start with
a great image that engages
2. Make it convenient—
organize information from
most commonly viewed to
least
3. Make obvious—the most
popular information, like
contact details should be at
the top

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LOOKING GOOD
THE CARDBOARD CUT-OUT?
1. Formality is opening up to
personality—let your people
shine through
2. Reflect the culture of the firm,
while letting the person be the
focus
3. Consider stance, dress, color
and overall tone
4. Do not sacrifice on quality or
size—this may be the
attorney’s first impression

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ARE RATINGS AND REVIEWS NEXT?
THE AMAZON ATTORNEY
1. Firms are considering if and
how reviews and ratings
make sense
2. As with all user generated
content (UGC) associated
with a firm, it must be
moderated
THE SOCIAL NETWORK
1. Consider LinkedIn, Twitter
and even Martindale-Hubble
Connected as biography
components—provide
another perspective for a
client

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USER EXPERIENCE
BIOGRAPHIES
SEARCH
CLIENT
ACQUISITION
MICRO-SITES
MOBILE CROSS-
DEVICE

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90%
90 PERCENT OF COMPANIES
REPORT THAT SEARCH IS
THE NO.1 MEANS OF
NAVIGATION ON THEIR SITE.
Search Technology: Resurrecting the Web’s Workhorse, Jupiter Media
Metrix

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82%
82 PERCENT OF VISITORS
USE SITE SEARCH TO FIND
THE INFORMATION THEY
NEED.
Specialize Your Site’s Search, Forrester Research

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SEARCH IS YOUR WELCOME MAT
MAKE IT OBVIOUS
1. Put it where people expect
2. Make it look like a search
box
MAKE IT LARGE
1. Make it large enough hold
the longest attorney name
or practice
MAKE IT CONSISTENT
1. Same place on every page
2. Same behavior on every
page

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DIFFERENT SEARCH FOR DIFFERENT CONTENT
HIERARCHICAL CONTENT
1. Practices and services
2. General information
FLAT CONTENT
1. Biographies
2. Publications
3. News
4. Events
20% 80%

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SEARCHING FLAT CONTENT
NEED TO FILTER A LARGE
AMOUNT QUICKLY? USE
FACETED SEARCH
FLAT CONTENT
1. Often a large volume:
Thousands (or tens of
thousands) of items
2. Typically attribute rich:
Filtering by attributes can
narrow the search quickly
3. Generally a consistent
structure: Makes it easier to
show specific details in the
search result

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49%
49 PERCENT OF VISITORS DO
NOT BOTHER TO
REFORMULATE THEIR
SEARCH QUERIES AFTER THE
FIRST FAILED RESULTS.
Jakob Nielsen, 2011

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SEARCH SUCCESS
 Each successive required search query will lose more visitors
 Getting a first-time satisfactory search results in greater
engagement
GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME
First query
51%
Second
query
32%
Third
query
18%

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KEY CAPABILITIES TO GET RIGHT
AUTO-SUGGEST
1. Recommend content that
does exist in your website
2. Provides convenience
SYNONYMS
1. Make smart substitutions
AUTO-CORRECT
1. Fix misspellings on-the-fly
2. Avoid “No Results”
PHRASE-BASED SEARCHES
1. Deliver relevant results
around multi-word searches

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USER EXPERIENCE
BIOGRAPHIES
SEARCH
CLIENT
ACQUISITION
MICRO-SITES
MOBILE CROSS-
DEVICE

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80%
80 PERCENT OF EXECUTIVES
AGED 50 OR BELOW WILL USE
THE INTERNET DAILY TO SEEK
BUSINESS INFORMATION (THAT
FIGURE IS STILL OVER 60% FOR
THOSE AGED OVER 50).
Forbes, 2010

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2M
2 MILLION REGULAR
READERS OF THE MCKINSEY
QUARTERLY, OVER 40,000
FACEBOOK FANS, AND
AROUND 40,000 FOLLOWERS
ON TWITTER.SRC Associates, 2010

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YOUR WEBSITE IS THE IDEAL VEHICLE FOR THOUGHT
LEADERSHIP MARKETING (TLM) TO DRIVE CLIENT
ACQUISITION THROUGH ENGAGEMENT
CLIENT ACQUISITION
WEBSITE
WHITE
PAPERS
WEBINARS EVENTS BLOGS FORUMS

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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP MARKETING (TLM)
THE PRINCIPLE OF TLM IS SIMPLE ENOUGH:
YOU GIVE AWAY A LITTLE VALUABLE
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY TO ESTABLISH
YOUR POTENTIAL USEFULNESS TO THE
CLIENT, IN THE EXPECTATION THAT THE
CLIENT WILL USE YOUR EXPERTISE AND
SERVICES
ROLF JESTER, VP, GARTNER, 2010
SHOW THEM WHAT YOU KNOW

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MAKING TLM MATTER TO CLIENTS
PROSPECTS WANT YOUR PERSPECTIVE, NOT YOUR
SERVICE: THEY WANT TO “BUY INTO” YOUR
APPROACH AND PERSPECTIVE TO SOLVING
THEIR PROBLEMS
Take a Stand:
Develop a POV on
a subject
Tell Me Something I
Don't Already Know:
Make yourself
valuable to your
audience
Be Vertically Famous:
Be known for
depth in a
specialty
What Does Your
Competition Miss?
Fill the gaps in
their offerings and
messages
Develop Your "Voice":
Consciously create
a style and
approach to your
communication
Tell a Story: Make it
a long-term,
engaging
relationship—they
want to come back

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TLM TO ENTICE AND ENGAGE
TLM CONSIDERATIONS
1. Findability (SEO)—
prospects use Google
search to find solutions to
problems
 Use industry vernacular that
people would use to describe
their problem
 Use tools like Google Insight
and Trends to confirm your
key word relevance to a
market
2. Gate the content—require
registration before access—
they give to get
3. Follow-up with email to
create a closed-loop
marketing cycle—create

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USER EXPERIENCE
BIOGRAPHIES
SEARCH
CLIENT
ACQUISITION
MICRO-SITES
MOBILE CROSS-
DEVICE

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93%
93 PERCENT OF BUYING
CYCLES START WITH ONLINE
SEARCH (PERHAPS NOT
QUITE WHAT YOUR FIRM
EXPERIENCES—BUT THERE
IS MOVEMENT THAT
DIRECTION).
Marketo, 2011

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SMALL BUT EFFECTIVE
MICROS-SITES
1. Small task and message-
focused websites
2. Landing pages (1-2 pages)
support lead capture,
typically from email or PPC
campaigns
3. Larger micro-sites support
branding and SEO
campaigns with targeted
messaging
4. Typically are stand-alone
with their own URL

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HOW CAN ATTORNEYS USE THEM?
THE ATTORNEY MICROSITE
1. Complements the main
website biography
2. Provide greater detail about
themselves personally, their
matters and documents
3. Becomes blogging platform
to communicate and interact
with the public
4. Each attorney can
personalize the experience

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HOW CAN PRACTICE USE THEM?
THE PRACTICE MICROSITE
1. Deliver industry or problem-
specific messages to a
targeted audience
2. Build a following around the
thought leadership first, firm
brand second
3. Host a moderated forum to
support the overall targeted
discussion to establish
credibility and trust
4. Develop deep SEO to drive
acquisition in the target
market

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CREATE UNIQUE CONTENT
 Content duplication (copying) between the main website and the
microsites will lower page rankings within Google for all sites
 Inventory obsolete microsites to understand their content when
compared to the main site—these forgotten sites can damage
rankings
KEEP IT FOCUSED, KEEP IT SIMPLE
 Targeted content results in targeted visitors—maintain tight, guided
editorial control to reach the right audience through search
 Drive people to take action—register for an event, download a white
paper or to call you to discuss their concerns
KEY CONSIDERATIONS

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USER EXPERIENCE
BIOGRAPHIES
SEARCH
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ACQUISITION
MICRO-SITES
MOBILE

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100M
THE NUMBER OF
SMARTPHONE USERS
EXCEEDS 100 MILLION
WITHIN THE FIRST THREE
MONTHS OF 2012.
comScore, Inc. 2012

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24%
WITH NEARLY ONE IN FOUR
SMARTPHONE OWNERS (OR
24%) ALSO USING TABLETS
DURING THE FIRST THREE
MONTHS IN 2012.
comScore, Inc. 2012

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MOBILE APPS FOR YOUR FIRM?
DO LAW FIRMS “NEED AN
APP FOR THAT”?
1. Apps are expensive: Must
be written for iPhone, Droid,
Blackberry
2. Apps are task-centric:
Ideally suited for repetitive
tasks people need to
perform while mobile
3. Apps are hard to find: Apps
must are only found in a
market
4. Apps are cool: They
position your firm as future
facing

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IS BEING MOBILE-OPTIMIZED ENOUGH?
FIRST, WHAT DO VISITORS
REALLY WANT TO DO ON
THEIR MOBILE DEVICE?
1. Address and map
2. Phone number
3. Partner name

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ADOPTING A MOBILE-FIRST STRATEGY
A MOBILE-FIRST STRATEGY
Think about your website as
MOBILE site first—start with
mobile as the premise for your
site
WHY MOBILE-FIRST?
1. Opportunity: A growing use
of tablets and smartphones
2. Constraints: Screen size,
Network speed, Modes of
use
3. Capabilities: Location
(GPS), Visual input,
Gesturing
“WE REALLY NEED TO
SHIFT NOW TO START
THINKING ABOUT BUILDING
MOBILE FIRST. THIS IS AN
EVEN BIGGER SHIFT THAN
THE PC REVOLUTION.”
Kevin Lynch, CTO Adobe
“WE'RE JUST NOW
STARTING TO THINK
ABOUT MOBILE FIRST AND
DESKTOP SECOND FOR A
LOT OF OUR PRODUCTS.”
Kate Aronowitz, Design Director
Facebook

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GETTING TO A MOBILE-FIRST STRATEGY
RESPONSIVE DESIGN
1. One website: Not a
separate mobile and
desktop site
2. HTML5 & CSS3: New
technologies to create sites
that respond to screen sizes
and orientation
3. Future proofing: Do you
know what is next?

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EXAMPLE: RESPONSIVE DESIGN

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EXAMPLE: BOSTON GLOBE

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19%
WITH NEARLY ONE IN FIVE OF
THE 2011 AMLAW LIST (OR
19%) HAVE MOBILE
WEBSITES.
AmLaw, 2011

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RESPONSIVE DESIGN: THORSTEINSSONS LLP

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