When it comes to creating a new website for your law firm, it’s easy to lose sight of what matters most. The things you want to include in your new site can get in the way of what you actually need.
Knowing how to prioritize what you want versus what you need in your new website gives your practice better results. You’ll achieve your objectives while building your client base and getting the greatest return from your website design.
Start With a Purpose
The best way to prioritize your wants and needs is to start with the goals of your website. By defining your objectives, your new site design will meet the needs of your business and achieve the growth it needs to succeed online and offline.
The goals of your new website depends on many factors including your law firm’s practice area, size, and target audience.
In some cases, a simple and clean design is all you need to provide the information that prospects use when deciding to purchase your legal services.
Large firms that operate in a more complex or technical area of expertise may require a design that has a wide range of features to accomplish its own objectives.
The following are common website goals to consider:
- Sell legal services directly online
- Generate leads
- Increase traffic
- Improve your site’s conversion rates
- Enhance the user experience
Considering Your Wants
There are many features that you can integrate into your new website’s design. But business owners often choose features based on what their competitors are doing. As a result, they can fail to meet their own objectives.
Videos, slideshows, and other features may serve a valuable purpose for some law firms. But they can also negatively impact the user experience.
The elements of your new website must work to achieve your business goals. The things you want may not always match what your law firm needs.
It’s important to consider the purpose of each design element and decide how it contributes to the success of your practice.
In most cases, you may achieve better results by simplifying your approach so that your marketing message isn’t lost in your website design.
What You Need From Your Website Design
Working with a skilled web designer is the first step in accomplishing your law firm’s goals. Investing in a new website must provide a return on your efforts.
Prioritizing your needs against your wants lets your site work for you while growing your client base over time. Your website design must be based on the results it achieves for your business.
Calls-to-action, popups, and other features can be used strategically depending on the goals of your website and the nature of your practice.
Website’s that focus on generating leads can use these elements to increase their conversion rates.
But law firms that are looking to nurture prospects or referrals may do better with a simple design that offers the information needed to move users into the next stage of the sales process.
Understanding the difference between what you want and what you need is a critical step in designing a new website. Many features may not be right for your law firm, and identifying them early in the design process saves you time and money.
How has your firm used its website design to achieve its business goals? Let us know what elements are working for your business in the comments below.
This process makes it easy to build a website that grows your practice and helps your law firm reach a new level of success.
