Vordea News and Press Releases
"What does your website say about you?" article published in the New Jersey Law Journal February 6th.
What does your website say about you?
Did you know that in 2004, there were 59,945 attorneys practicing in the State of New Jersey? In Morris County alone, there are 89 law firms that employ ten or more people, so there are a lot of law firms practicing today which means a lot of competition for cases. Yet, when you look at attorney websites, too many of them lack comprehensive information that the person seeking counsel wants and needs to know.
Recently my partners and I were called on to write a web site for a law firm, so our first step was to look at other law firm websites. What we found surprised us because, with few exceptions, websites were written from the attorney's point of view, rather than from the point of view of the person seeking counsel.
Marketing 101: to communicate effectively, you must write from the point of view of the person you're trying to convince, rather than from your own point of view. You must tell them if – and how - you can satisfy their needs and desires.
Many years ago, my first boss in marketing told me that no consumer can ever do anything about a product or service that he or she doesn't know about. That's a lot of double negatives, but a greater marketing truth has never been told.
Choosing the right firm or the right attorney within a firm can be one of the most important decisions a person may ever make – a decision that could possibly impact the rest of their lives, not to mention their family's life. Choosing the right attorney or firm can make or break a corporation as well.
If you look for an attorney the way many of us do today, you'll first ask your friends for referrals, then look up the recommended firm on the website, so that website better offer information, confidence and comfort to a potential client. A client in trouble – individual or corporation - needs to be assured that the chosen law firm will give them aggressive advocacy and have the right skill set to win a case. They want to be assured that their attorney will fight for their rights – and win! They want to feel assured that they are of primary interest to their attorney – not just another case on the block.
So what should an effective website contain?
- The specialties of your firm – personal injury, accidents, taxes, divorce, corporate, product liability, international law, trade law, etc.
- Don't forget to put your contact information on the Home Page, as well as on every other page. That includes headquarters as well as offices in other cities, states – or countries
- States where you are licensed to practice
- Identify the types of cases you concentrate on. E.g., for an attorney concentrating on accidents – the various types of accidents: drunk driving, motor vehicle accidents, falls in front of a retail store or commercial building, etc.
- Identify what constitutes injuries from accidents – neck injuries, spinal cord injuries, back injuries, and so on. Be specific.
- Your firm's attorney profiles
- Cite examples of cases you've recently won and settlements (no names, please)
- FAQs are most helpful because they show that you have insight to a client's thought processes – their questions and concerns
- Languages your firm's attorneys are fluent in. Many of your clients today may only feel comfortable speaking Spanish – or German, Polish, French or Italian
- Affiliations your firm has – professional, local, national
- Most important: your landing page – or contact page; the page where you give potential clients the opportunity to contact you directly via your website
- A map of your locations should also be included
Statistical information can be most enlightening. It makes your potential clients realize that they're not alone – that many other people are in the same boat. For example, regarding motor vehicle accidents, did you know that there are 230,429,000 vehicles* traveling U.S. roads? Broken down: 137,633,000 registered cars, 4,903,000 motorcycles, 84,188,000 vans, 7,858,000 trucks and 750,000 buses. No wonder there were 44,800** deaths in 2003 due to motor vehicle accidents. No wonder car accidents are forecasted to become the main cause of preventable death over the next 15 years.
Though this article cites accidental injury or death, the same principles apply regardless of your firm's area of concentration.
A law firm's website should be written with the objective of inspiring the confidence of a referred client – or attracting new clients. Regardless of its objective, it must be written so it informs and builds confidence. It must be written from your client's point of view rather than your own. It's nothing personal – just business.
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Article written by: Margot Teleki of CopyWrite, LLC. CopyWrite, LLC is a Vordea Marketing content and writing partner.
* Source: Statistical Abstract 2001 (the most recent year to date.
** Source: World Almanac 2003 (for 2006)