15 Important Things to Include on Your Law Firm’s Website

Do you have a website for your law firm? If not, you’re missing out on a big opportunity to reach potential clients.

A website is the first place people will learn more about your firm and what you can offer them.

Did you know that 96 per cent of individuals looking for legal counsel are used search engines? You want to make sure your legal practice’s website is set up for success and ranks high in search results when potential clients are conducting online research.

So, what should you include on your website? Let’s See.

15 Important Things to Include on Your Law Firm’s Website:

Here are the 12 important things to include on your law firm’s website:

Dedicated Pages for Each Practice Area:

The first step is to set up a separate page for each practice area you want to work in. For example, if you’re a personal injury lawyer, dedicate an entire page of your website to that specific practice area and include case studies and testimonials from past clients.

Staff Profiles:

Don’t just list the names of your employees under the heading “Our Team.” Add photos and give biographical information about all your employees, including legal assistants and paralegals.

Provide short bios with their specialties and qualifications so potential clients can easily identify who they’d like to speak with when requesting information or setting up an appointment.

Law Firm Blog:

By adding a blog to your law firm’s website, you can showcase your unique expertise in both its depth and breadth.

Not only will this help serve as another resource for site visitors who want more information on certain legal topics related specifically to what they are experiencing at their practice areas, but it also ranks higher.

When put into search engines like Google or Bing, blogs are indexed directly by these companies rather than having websites do so separately.

This means there’s no need to spend time advertising through other channels if we have all of our bases covered straightaway!

Create a blog to publish articles about current legal issues, updates in your practice areas, and any interesting news related to your law firm. This gives potential clients another way to connect with you outside of phone calls or consultations.

Blog-based websites have 434% more search engine-indexed pages than non-blogger websites.

Mobile-Friendly Functionality:

More than half of all internet users access the web using their mobile devices.

So, make sure your website is mobile-friendly by checking out how it looks on phones and tablets before you launch it. Also, make sure to include social media links so people can contact you through Facebook or Twitter if they prefer.

Video Testimonials:

If possible, film video testimonials from clients about the services you provided to them (and why they’re satisfied). Place these videos on individual pages dedicated to each practice area that needs more exposure because this allows consumers to see real people talking about working with your law firm in that particular field – not just words or screenshots on a page.

A Call to Action on Every Page:

A call to action is a way for site visitors to get in touch with you, whether by phone, email, or by sending an online inquiry.

The call to action button should be prominently displayed on every page of your website so potential clients can find the contact information they need quickly and easily.

Live Chat Functionality:

Let site visitors chat directly with you through the live chat function on your website! This is one of the easiest ways for people to ask questions about cases they may have or inquire about how much certain services cost – even if it’s just good old-fashioned curiosity that drives them.

SSL Security:

SSL security adds an extra layer of protection for your site visitors. It means that all information they provide to you is encrypted and secure, making it more difficult for potential legal issues and personal information to be hacked.

Law Firm Testimonials:

You should seriously consider including a testimonials page on your legal firm’s website. According to a report by Bright Local, 76 percent of customers trust internet reviews as much as recommendations from family and friends, and positive evaluations increase the likelihood of client usage by 91%.

Post testimonials from past law firm clients on your website. If you’ve received positive reviews, share them to reach out and connect with potential new clients.

Attorney Bios:

Like testimonials, attorney bios are an effective way to establish authority in your practice area.

From legal experts who co-authored publications on important issues to professionals in the private sector, bios are a great way for site visitors to learn more about who they’re communicating with and what experience they bring to the table.

Law Firm Website Disclaimers:

In general, disclaimers are a legal requirement to protect your firm from any liability. However, that doesn’t mean they need to be boring! Law firm website disclaimers can be creative and include appealing imagery or even videos that help visitors understand the types of cases you’re willing (and not willing) to take on.

Newsletters:

Newsletters are an effective way for law firms to find new clients and build relationships with existing ones.

These publications should contain industry-specific content, such as updates about recent legislation or case law changes within your state and other useful information (e.g., upcoming seminars and events). The more valuable these newsletters are, the more likely people will want to read them!

Law Firm Website Privacy Policy:

A privacy policy is required by law to ensure site visitors are protected if they submit personal or sensitive information.

These policies should include how you’ll use any data collected, whether it’s selling the information to third-party companies for marketing purposes or using it within your firm.

Also, let users know who they can contact if they have questions about their privacy.

Contact Us Page:

When people can’t find what they’re looking for on a site, they usually look under the “contact us” section (if there is one). Site visitors need clear instructions on where to go and how to get in touch with you – especially when concerning testimonials, testimonials, and attorney bios.

Cookies Consent Pop-up:

Have you ever noticed a little pop-up box on a website that asks for your permission to use “cookies?” The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, commonly known as the GDPR, is largely credited for the growing popularity of consent notifications for cookies data files sent by websites and kept on a user’s computer by their Web browser.

According to the EU’s “Cookie Law,” also known as the privacy Directive, you may not follow individuals without their consent. The Cookie Law requires publishing a Cookie Policy, consent form, and pop-up notification.

You must also describe the many sorts of Cookies you’re utilizing and give visitors a choice to accept or delete them.

Conclusion:

To make sure your website is effective, here are 12 important things you should include on it. It’s a great way to showcase your firm’s credentials, expertise, and past cases.

If you’re looking for more information or need help with any of these points, don’t hesitate to contact us! We offer comprehensive web design services that will take care of all the heavy lifting so you can focus on what matters most- providing top-quality legal advice and representation.

Working on a website can be difficult. Adding new media and updating pages is chore, even though you know your company website needs to evolve and become more accessible to the many users you are trying to reach. Maybe when you first built it, accessibility wasn’t even really discussed. But now you’ve taken a step back, looked at your customer base with a desire to include everyone and you’ve realized just how important it is to make your site accessible. However, the thought of building a robust site that can do all the things you want it to do is overwhelming.

What is Web Accessibility

A practice of designing and coding the website in order to provide complete compatibility in accessing it by people with disabilities. In addition, it is a way to improve search engine optimization only an ADA Compliant Web Designer will help you to make your website Compliant. Is your website compatible? By going through the checklist below, you can get the answer.

Assessing Current Web Pages and Content

The website must include a feature like a navigation link at the top of the page. These links have a bypass mechanism such as a “skip navigation” link. This feature directs screen readers to bypass the row of navigation links and start at the web page content. It is beneficial for people who use screen readers to avoid to listen to all the links each time they jump to a new page.
All the links should be understandable when taken out of the context. For example, images without alternative text and links without worded as “click here”.
All the graphics, maps, images, and other non-text content must provide text alternatives through the alt attribute, a hidden/visible long description.
All the documents posted on the website should available in HTML or another accessible text-based format. It is also applicable to other formats like Portable Document Format (PDF).
The online forms on the website should be structured so assistive technology can identify, describe and operate the controls and inputs. By doing this, people with disabilities can review and submit the forms.
If the website has online forms, the drop-down list should describe the information instead of displaying a response option. For instance, “Your Age” instead of “18-25”.
If the website has data charts and tables, they should be structured so that all data cells are associated with column and row identifiers.
All the video files on the website must have audio descriptions (if necessary). This is for the convenience of blind people or for having a visual impairment disability.
All the video files on the website must have synchronized captions. People with hearing problems or deaf can access these files conveniently.
All the audio files on the website should have synchronized captions to provide access to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
All web pages should be designed so that they can be viewed using visitors’ web browser and operating system settings for color and font.

About Website Accessibility Policy and Procedures

One must have a written policy on website accessibility.
The website accessibility policy must be posted on the website at a location where it can be easily found.
The procedure should be developed to ensure that content is not added to the website until it has been made accessible.
It should be confirmed that the website manager has checked the code and structure of all new web pages before they are posted.
While adding the PDFs to the website, these should be accessible. Also, the text-based versions of the documents should be accessible at the same time as PDF versions.
Make sure that the in-house and contractor staff has received the information about the website accessibility policy and procedure to confirm the website accessibility.
It should be confirmed that in-house and contractor staff has received appropriate training on how to ensure the accessibility of the website.
The website should have a specific written plan if it contains inaccessible content. Also, it should include timeframes in place to make all of the existing web content accessible.
A complete plan to improve website accessibility should be posted along with invited suggestions for improvement.
The homepage should include easily locatable information that includes contact details like telephone number and email address. This is useful for reporting website accessibility problems and requesting accessibility services with information.
A website should have procedures in place to assure a quick response to the visitors with disabilities who have difficulty in accessing information or services available on the website.
Feedback from people who use a variety of assistive technologies is helpful in ensuring website accessibility. So make sure to ask disability groups representing people to provide feedback on the accessibility of your website.
Testing the website using a product available on the internet is helpful, These tools are of free cost and check the accessibility of a website. They may not identify all accessibility issues and flag issues that are not accessibility problems. However, these are, nonetheless, a helpful way to improve website accessibility.

Checklist of Action Items for Improving the Accessibility of a Website

In addition, while considering the above suggestions, the following checklist initially prepared by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for Federal Agencies provides further guidelines on ways to make websites more accessible for persons with disabilities.

This practical advice, as well as another checklist, are available at:

Satisfying all of these items does not necessarily mean that a website complies with ADA, but it will improve the website’s accessibility and decrease the risk of litigation. Again, an Expert or Web Accessibility Consulting & Services provider should be engaged to conduct a comprehensive review of your website.

Nothing brings you closer to reality than actually facing it. This is the premise of my latest attempt to spread awareness about Web Accessibility.

For better understand, here is a link in which a practical example is shown to make the websites’ user experience better by following the guidelines. Also, it tells the issues affecting various users on the internet with solutions.

You can make your website ADA compliant in an easy way by consulting the professionals, who can do this job effortlessly. Also, you can get a quick website audit from To Be ADA Compliant that offers complete web accessibility consulting & services in California, USA.

Resource: https://dev.to/chinchang/an-interactive-and-practical-introduction-to-web-accessibility-22o1