Is Your Web Site Successful? Tips and Techniques to Get More Out Of Your Web Site
This article was published in my column Faulkner’s Practical Web Strategies for Lawyers in the April 15 issue of LLRX.
I am often asked, “Is 200,000 hits a month good for a Web site?” when talking with lawyers at meetings and other events. Of course the number changes every time, but the general inquiry is the same: how does someone determine if their Web site is successful or not? For some it is all about the numbers. The bigger the numbers, the more successful it is. To others, they want to track a specific ROI to their Web site, which could be I receive x amount of clients for every y amount of phone calls via my Web site.
My typical response to these types of questions is that the success of a Web site is determined by a variety of factors that are weighted differently by each individual asking the question. In reality, the success of a Web site is in the eye of the beholder, and it is the management of the expectations put on a Web site that determine if it is successful or not. While that may sound like a cop out for an answer to some, it is very true. For a large firm, a Web site may be largely a marketing tool for exposure, but their focus to gain more clients is through their partners and rainmakers. For a solo or small firm in a suburb of a metropolitan area, a Web site may be a great way to bring in clients and distinguish them from the lawyer down the street.
Reasons Why People Visit Your Web Site
Before you can make some adjustments to your Web site, it is best to understand some basic behaviors of the types of visitors that come to your Web site. Visitors to your Web site are most likely doing one or more of the following:
- Shopping around for legal services
- Looking for someone they can trust
- Looking for someone who has expertise and success with the problem they have
Like many services, visitors to law firm Web sites are shopping around for legal services. Many have a problem that they cannot solve on their own. They want someone who can help them solve their problem, whom they can trust, and who will accomplish the assignment without breaking their bank account. Your Web site is one of the first exposures a potential client has to you and your firm. Building initial trust via your Web site is crucial to get that visitor to even consider filling out a client-intake form or making that initial phone call.
Tips for Improving Your Web Site for Success
Assuming that your Web site, at the bare minimum, gives your firm exposure to someone seeking a lawyer who is on the Internet, the following tips will help you identify ways you can improve your Web site to meet your expectations.
Look at Your Web Site Statistics
Every Web site host should provide you with some statistics about your Web site. It is best to look at these statistics before you make any other adjustments to get a baseline of what is really happening on your site. Looking at these statistics can help you identify problem spots as well as traffic trends. Some key statistics to look at are:
- Entry Pages
- Most Visited Pages
- Search Terms
- Bounce Rate
- Referrers
Entry Pages. This is the first page a visitor comes to when they are on your Web site. This is a key report to know if your visitors are entering on your homepage first, or going to a specific content page. If visitors are entering your Web site on your homepage, you will want to take a look at your Exit Page report next. More on that when we get to bounce rates. If visitors are first entering your Web site on a deeper content page, such as a practice area, you will want to see if that matches with the types of clients you may be gaining from your Web site.
Most Visited Pages. Consider these pages as your most popular pages. Most visited pages, or most page views generally are ones that visitors look at the most. This report consolidates all the pages, by ranking, into one nice listing of what visitors are looking at. You may be able to identify a page that has important information regarding one of your services is not being looked at a lot you may need to investigate why. Is it your navigation? Is it how the teaser on your homepage is phrased? This report helps identify those types of instances.
Search Terms. Search terms are another key indicator as to what visitors are using to find your firm’s Web site. If you have tailored your Web site correctly with terms that describe what type of services your firm provides, you should see the same terms in this report. If you do not see them, you may need to adjust the copy on your Web site so that it is more in line with what visitors are searching on. It is not uncommon for a law firm Web site to use terms that do not match those for which a visitor is searching. Remember, more often than not a potential client will not be searching on the technical or legal term for a type of case, but rather the type of problem they have.
Bounce Rate. The bounce rate can be determined by dividing your exit page by the entry page that matches it. For instance, if your top exit page is your homepage with 100 exists, and your homepage is on your entry page report with 200 visits, then your bounce rate is 50%. This means that 100 visitors entered your Web site at your homepage and then immediately left without going to any other pages. Some analytics programs, like Google Analytics, provide a report that shows the bounce rates for your Web site. Others will require you to do some comparison to determine your bounce rate for certain pages.
Referrers. Knowing how your visitors found you is also important. A referrer report will tell you the site a visitor was on just before coming to yours. Often the first couple of referrers will be search engines. Other times you will see directories that list your Web site. If you register your Web site with a directory listing, or pay for search result listings, you will want to make sure those Web sites are in your referrer report.
Building Trust with Proper Design
Did you know that you have less than 30 seconds to make a positive impression or grab a visitor’s attention to continue reading your Web site? If you have a home-grown Web site that was built in Microsoft’s Front Page or Publisher, or by your nephew, it is time to trade up.
Professionalism is what immediately starts to build a potential client’s trust in you and your firm, not the standard clip-art of the scales of justice that is on that template you used. There are many firms that can provide you with a professional looking Web site for minimal costs. Some will even help write the copy that goes on the site and make sure it is search engine optimized.
Having a cleanly designed Web site is a start to building trust. Use colors that are inviting, not dark or heavy. It is best to put a dark font color on a light background, not the reverse. Make sure your Web site will print out easily without cutting off text on the right side of the page margin. If you want to see some of the best designed and formatted Web sites, take a look at Internet Marketing Attorney’s Nifty Fifty. These independently evaluated Web sites cover areas such as design, content, usability, interactivity and more. You can get some good ideas from these Web sites concerning features to include when developing your Web site.
Design goes beyond pretty pictures and clean lines though, to how your navigation is written. The how your page "scans" is also important. That is a key thing to remember; Web users scan Web sites, not read them. It is only when they see something that catches their eye will they read more about that topic. So if your Web site is very text heavy, you will want to break up those paragraphs into readable, scannable chunks of content. This is where the words used in the headlines are always key. It is also important not to bury content that is important so your visitor can contact you. Make sure you phone number, or client intake form is readily accessible from anywhere on your Web site. Once that visitor decides they want to call you, don’t make them search too hard for how to do it. Having your contact information in your footer is always best.
It’s About Them, Not You – Evaluating Your Copy
The problem with many legal Web sites is the copy in them. More often than not, the Web site content will focus on what the firm has to offer; what the firm can do; what areas of law in which their lawyers are experts.. What the content should address is how your firm can help a visitor solve their problem. An easy way to see if you have self-centered copy on your Web site is to count up how many times you have "we" in your copy vs. "you." You will want phrases like "Thomas Jones, LLC can help assist you in a child custody hearing," or "The Bill Smith law firm are experts in the new bankruptcy laws to help you get back on financial track." The focus is on them, not you; it is important for a potential client to see that you care about their needs. Just this slight change of text and content orientation will help bring clients to your firm versus them moving on to the next one.
Conclusion
Web site success is based mostly on the owner’s expectation. If they have a certain expectation that their Web site should bring in 10% of their firm’s clients, then their Web site needs to be geared to bring in clients. By analyzing your current Web site statistics and visitor behaviors you can determine where you can make improvements. Cleaning up the copy on your Web site to make it client focused and adding phrases that target their needs will help you build trust. Having a professional design will also build trust. It is through that initial trust where a prospect will have the desire to call your firm, or fill out a client intake form to contact you.
I’ll Take My Legal News to Go Please: A Intro to Podcasting
Originally published in the March 15, 2006 issue of LLRX. This version has since been updated covering additional resources.
Where do you get your legal news and updates from? Law journals? Your state bar association? Online searches and watchlists? LexisNexis or WestLaw? The problem with those resources is that they require reading. You have to sit down and read text on paper or a screen. Enter the podcast, an audio file that can be downloaded or burned to a CD that can be played anywhere, anytime. Here I will explain what a podcast is, describe their potential, and how to find and subscribe to them.
What is a podcast?
At its core, a podcast is nothing more than a recorded audio file, just as a blog is nothing more than a website. But like blogging, the value of podcasting comes from the content that is written and how widely it is distributed. According to Wikipedia a podcast is:
"…the distribution of audio or video files, such as radio programs or music videos, over the internet using either RSS or Atomsyndication for listening on mobile devices and personal computers."
Legal podcasters, like legal bloggers, share knowledge, opinions, and commentary on topics that can advance the profession while keeping us up-to-date on legal topics or new legislation. In many cases, they are produced by the same person creating content in both mediums, written and spoken.
The Future of CLE?
In 2004, Duke University gave its entire freshman class an iPod. Why? It was an experiment, with professors recording their lectures and making them available as podcasts to students to listen to and reference. It is an experiment that has taken off, and now many universities are producing podcasts for students. Why is this relevant? Today, over forty (40) states require mandatory continuing legal education credit for lawyers licensed in that state. Regardless of the state, all lawyers need to keep up on what is happening in their areas of practice, to maintain a competitive advantage inside and outside the courtroom. Podcasting is just one more way to keep up to date on what is happening in your area of law.
The biggest difference, though, is that you may not receive CLE credit for your efforts. At least not yet. Robert Ambrogi, a lawyer and contributor to the Law.com network believes that podcasting could be the next wave of how to obtain CLE credit.
One of the great things about podcasts is that it is a listening medium, which makes it much more flexible to stay up-to-date on legal information. For instance, I, like many others, have a decent commute to work. Truth be told it is about an hour and twenty minutes each way. In that time I will work on my computer, gaze out the window, listen to music, and more recently listen to podcasts. That commute time is a perfect opportunity for me to catch up on topics and commentary on the web and legal industry.
Self Study
One way many lawyers will obtain CLE credit is through self study. This is where podcasts have their current potential, though there is no official report of a podcast being accepted as a self study CLE course. Many CLE courses are submitted by approved organizations. Individuals producing podcasts may not go through this process of getting approval before publishing them, and thus lawyers listening to them may not receive credit for listening to them.
Regardless, if you apply for self study CLE credit with your state, if you find the right podcast that covers topics in your area of law, the information is valuable no matter what source it comes from. We should all strive to continue to educate ourselves to be the best in our fields, whether credit is given or not.
If you are not sure about what your state allows for self-study CLE, check out the ABA’s MCLE center or your state bar’s website.
How to Find Podcasts
There are many directories that list available podcasts to which you can subscribe to. Often you will find them by accident if you are reading a legal blog or one is referred to you by a friend or colleague. Popular directories such as iTunes, Odeo, iPodder, and Podcast Alley provide listings to many legal podcasts, though none have a specific legal category at this time. At the end of this article, I have links to several legal podcasts, directory listings, and legal information provider’s podcasts.
How to Subscribe and Listen to Podcasts
If you are not familiar with the process of subscribing to a podcast, here are the basic steps. Note, you do not need an iPod to listen to podcasts. You can listen to them on any MP3 player or computer.
First you will need to download a podcast aggregator. If you already use a news aggregator like FeedDemon, you can use it. iTunes is another popular software if you have an iPod.
Second, select a podcast directory to search within. For this example, I’m using Podcast Alley and doing a search on "law". The first result is May It Please The Court by J. Craig Williams. Click on the link which gives you some additional information about the podcast as well as an option to "subscribe" to it. Click the "subscribe" link and you are then presented with a URL to copy and paste into your podcast aggregator. If you are using iTunes open the program and do a Ctrl U and paste the URL into the subscribe screen. If you are using FeedDemon, copy that URL into a new Channel.
Third, connect your MP3 player of choice to your computer and transfer the audio files to your portable player. If you are using iTunes, it will transfer automatically after it downloads the most recent podcast. If you are using another aggregator such as FeedDemon, you may download each individual podcast from each entry in the RSS feed.
Once loaded onto your portable music player, you can listen to the podcast from anywhere. If you download the audio file to your computer, you can burn a CD and listen to it on the go as well.
Will Podcasting Catch On?
In February 2006, eMarketer reported that more companies are looking to advertise or sponsor podcasts due to the targeted audience that a podcast can provide. PEW Internet for Life Project in July 2005 reported that 13% of Internet users even know what a podcast is. That number has undoubtedly increased since then. I recently saw a billboard driving into Chicago for the new AT&T that said "Podcasting Delivered," referring to their Internet access service they provide. Adam Curry, the one often referred to as having started podcasting, recently stated on his show the Daily Source Code that it may take another three years for podcasting to become really well known. Though still in its infancy, the legal arena has seemed to adopt blogging quickly, and they may just do the same with podcasting.
So Who’s Podcasting in the Legal Industry?
While there are many podcasts available on a variety of topics and subjects, there are just a few as of today that are specific to the legal industry. There are a couple of lawyers podcasting as well as a few legal information providers. The following is a beginners list of podcasts to subscribe to.
Lawyer Podcasts
- Bag and Baggage (Podcast Feed) – Denise Howell, appellate and intellectual property lawyer with Reed Smith.
- May it Please the Court Podcast (Podcast Feed) – J. Craig Williams, a founder of The Williams Law Firm.
- Coast to Coast (Podcast Feed) – J. Craig Williams (May It Please The Court) and Robert Ambrogi (Lawsites)
- The Legal Talk Network – a network of lawyers nationwide providing the latest legal news.
- The Legal Underground Podcast (Podcast Feed) – Evan Shaeffer, a trial lawyer in the midwest.
- The Rethink(ip) Aloud Podcasts (Podcast Feed) – IP lawyers, Douglas Sorocco, J. Matthews Buchanan, and Stephen Nipper
- The Kennedy-Mighell Report (Podcast Feed) – Legal technologist extrodinaire Dennis Kennedy and online legal research guru Tom Mighell explore the world of legal technology with an Internet focus.
Legal Information Providers
- FIOS Podcasts on Demand – FIOS podcasts featuring hour long seminars covering a wide range of E-Discovery topics.
- Merrill – Legal solutions provider has several on-demand seminars for download in mp3 format.
- Ten Minute Mentor – The State Bar of Texas’ podcast on mentoring and practical information to lawyers.
- The Westcast (Podcast Feed) – Thomson West podcasts on legal news.
- Update Philadelphia Bar Association – The Philadelphia Bar Association has a variety of podcasts covering topics from Practice Management to Interviews.
Directories
- iPodder (http://www.ipodder.org/directory/4/podcasts/categories/law) – Download aggregator software as well as search for legal related podcasts.
- Podcast Alley (http://www.podcastalley.com/search.php?searchterm=law) – A specific search for "law" in podcasts listed in Podcast Alley.
- iTunes (req. download) – Search for "law" under Podasts in iTunes to get a listing of available legal related podcasts.
- Odeo (http://www.odeo.com/find/law) – Record, download, and share podcasts with Odeo.
Update: Since publishing this article, the Creative Common’s Podcasting Legal Guide was released with some great information on the legalities surrounding podcasts.
Microsoft Taking RSS Seriously in 2007 Releases
After much rumor regarding how much RSS will be integrated into the new Microsoft releases of their 2007 Office line as well as Vista OS, Rick Klau of Feedburner gives us some intiial reaction to how Outlook 2007 integrates feeds.
PCMag also has screen shots of Vista. Somehow this look stragely like another OS interface. Regardless, MS finally kicked up wth cool factor on its UI.
Web Site Design Tips from Justia
Justia’s blog has some good tips on how to improve your law firm’s Web site. I think these tips go beyond the law firm (as many good Web design tips do) and can be applied to any professional services firm. My favorites:
Skip the skip button. I’ve got a news flash, Flash intros, while cool, are not great openers to your Web site. Lose them or lose business.
Discover your visitors deepest desires. Gotta look at stats. It is the only way you get to know your visitors. See related post I wrote on Web statistics.
Link properly to other web pages. This is really a key usability thing. Nobody wants to see broken design due to long, dynamic links let alone think they have to retype them back out. Use the words as the link. Much, much better.
[Tips via Larry Bodine]
Web design can be tricky. There are definitely some standard practices that we know work. The best practice though is to continue to analyze what your visitors do on your Web site and make proper adjustments. Getting a good statistics package is very key. Don’t be affraid to hire an outside consultant to do an audit on your Web site if you are stuck. Sometimes outside eyes can give you a fresh approach to converting visitors to customers.
In Seattle Later This Week
I’ll be in Seattle later this week for a meeting. I’ll have some free time, but not a ton. Mostly on Saturday afternoon/evening. Anyone out there who reads want to get together for a beer? Drop me a line at faulknef [at] gmail.com.
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