Websites have long become a necessity for every business out there. People want to find companies and relevant information faster than ever before, and websites can deliver all that and more. In essence, websites are the portals companies can use to connect with their consumers. For lawyers, websites should offer more than their phone number and address, but valuable information pertaining to their area of expertise, a showcase of their testimonials, and relevant news that can engage users. If you’re a lawyer worth your salt, chances are you have a website. But the question is not whether or not you have a website. The question is whether or not you have a website that sells.

Simply having a website isn’t enough these days and unfortunately, many lawyers have been making the same mistakes with their websites time and again. Take a look at the following to points to make sure your website speaks to your practice from a professional and interesting point of view.

Bad Content
There are several different ways that your website can have “bad content.” First, you can have poorly written content. Everything from your biography to your firm’s history to an explanation of your services should all be written in clear and concise language. Since your website visitors have come to learn something, make sure there is content they can understand. Second, bad content can be irregularly updated content. Let’s say you’re a great writer and you’ve even managed to come up with a few wildly successful blog posts that made their rounds around various publication and social media platforms…but that was two years ago and the traffic coming in from those links has undoubtedly stopped. That’s because content has to be fresh and reoccurring to gain attention. Get your website away from bad content to start improving immediately.

Going It Alone
Your website might be great on its own, but it will need the support of other websites to truly survive and bring in traffic. SEO strategies tell us that a well connected website, like Wikipedia for instance, has a higher ranking than a website whom nobody else is linking to. This is because search engines take into consideration how many other useful and popular links are linking back to your website. Consider writing guest blog posts for fellow law firms, university blogs, and various well-respected law blogs. Having your name in as many trusted places as possible gives you a greater opportunity to be seen and more reason for search engines to rank you higher.

Copying The Competition
There are a lot of law firm websites out there that work and have a steady favorable outcome. You’ll surely find a few law firm websites where somebody took a great looking theme, applied a few cool widgets, and inserted some choice keywords, and called their SEO efforts a success. And they might have indeed seen a small increase in their traffic because of that. However, to really make a splash with your website, it’s important to stand out from the competition. If visitors can find the same user experience and the same information on another website, what’s their incentive to come to your website? Find ways to improve upon what your competition is already doing. Look at their blog posts, social media efforts, and what their commenters are saying to gather ideas about how your website can improve. While you can certainly take notes from the competition, creating an original and unique website will make potential clients more prone to call you than anyone else.

Forgetting About The User
Often times, lawyers mistake search engine optimization, or SEO, with strategies that are entirely based on the search engines. The name SEO might be a little misleading because many of the strategies center on the user. Write content with search engines and users in mind to ensure keywords are both included and used correctly. Consider your website’s navigation so it follows a fluid structure that is beneficial to both humans and search engines. A website that keeps all visitors in mind can create a better user experience that can be just as important as a high ranking. Again, fresh content, unique design elements, and a network of helpful links and partners can boost your website’s ease of use and popularity.

When you put your law firm online, you thought a website would be enough to cover you for a while. Now is the time to turn your website into a portal for communication and an attractive sales pitch for qualified leads. Finding the right formula of search engine optimization and user experience, updating content regularly, and standing out from the crowd can all turn your website into a major selling point for your practice. Avoid the classic mistakes many lawyers make with their website and become a trusted source for your potential clients.

Pete is a conpywriter working for Cecil & Geiser, whom are dedicated to protecting the state of Ohio. With decades of experience getting clients the results they need, they still treat every client as if they’re the only case in their office. If you’ve been injured in a car accident, contact them for a free consultation and have the best Ohio law firm in your corner.