Sometimes we get approached by clients who already have a website and want to direct their efforts to Google Ads. They’ve heard that these tools are effective. Hey, what’s better than having your website listed first in the sponsored section?

And look. For a lot of firms Google Ads are effective.

They get people to click to your website. But remember that a click to the website doesn’t equal a client conversion. As specific as your marketing company targets those ads, they do not replace the efficacy of boosting your search rankings organically and converting clients through a well-built website.

At the end of the day, if you don’t have a good, clean, informative website:

you may as well be putting lipstick on a pig.

How to go about building a compelling website that converts clients?

We’re going to assume that you already know you need a home page, an about me, some pages dedicated to practice areas, FAQs and a contact page.

Whether you are doing it yourself or hiring a company to do it for you, let’s start with what you don’t want on your website:

• Duplicate content. Some used to think that more was better, so they’d write a paragraph about a topic and then paste in previously posted content below. Whether or not this copy was relevant is beyond the point. Google punishes for duplicate content. If it’s egregious, they will even block you from the search.Full disclosure: there are ways to prevent Google from penalizing duplicate content by using what’s called “nofollow” rules, but this is something you really want to bring in an expert for.
• Excessively detailed practice pages. Yes, it’s good to build them out and really target the kinds of cases you want, but remember that your website is kind of like staging a house. You want it clean and organized, so it gets sold.

Want to talk more about a particular subject? Use your website’s blog.

Just remember that potential clients have no hesitation about using the back button.

Don’t let them get lost on your website.

• Slow performance. If your site takes more than a second to load, you got a problem. Potential clients want answers, and they want them fast. Does your website load slowly? There could be a lot of factors contributing such as: hosting service, graphic specs, not enabling browser caching.  

A web expert can run an analysis to determine what’s causing the slow down.

All of the above makes for one ugly pig. But how do you make a pretty pig? Uhhhh. We mean website:

• Calls to action. On your contact page and spread throughout your website should be a page redirects to your contact info. You can see an example of this by looking at our homepage. We use Acuity to schedule consultations– it’s an easy way to get to know potential clients and see if we are a good fit for each other.

• Have a blog. You may be tempted to sort new content into your practice pages, but remember what we said above about avoiding clutter. A blog can help you target clients with SEO-driven copy. It will help you share special news (did you have a major court victory recently!?) and creates resources for clients to find on the web.

• Make it look real purty. Hire someone to get some some great photos of you and your team. Make sure the digital files of your logos are up to current pixel standards. Use WordPress–it ranks better.  (See our previous blog on why WP is the way to go).

Take time to think about your brand. You want the copy on the website, colors, and graphics on the website to represent who you are.  

The above is by no means an exhaustive list of what you should and shouldn’t do with your website (for example, it’s a great idea to put testimonials on the homepage. Do that). But hopefully, this gives you an idea of what to consider when building a website or when hiring someone for a web build. It may even have you taking a look at your website with a more critical eye.

Remember: build a good website first…then worry about the stuff that comes after.

Still feel like having your own website won’t happen until pigs fly? We’re here to help. If you are an attorney or a law firm and have questions about building a website, contact Conversations Digital today.