The cliché that you never get a second chance to make a first impression is spot on when it comes to your law firm’s website. Your website will undoubtedly serve as your law firm’s introduction to prospects searching online. With this in mind, it’s vital to have an engaging homepage; however, you should spend equally as much time on your firm’s “About” page (“About” being interchangeable with page titles such as “Meet the Firm,” “Our Firm” and “Meet the Team”).
Consider that your firm’s “About” page is the second most frequently visited page on most law firm websites. It’s where visitors will assess your qualifications and expertise, read about your victories and aim to learn more about the firm before engaging its services. Indeed, your law firm’s “About” page has the power to help you develop new business or, conversely, steer potential clients to a competing firm.
With so much riding on the content of the “About” page, it’s incredibly important that this page accurately reflects your firm and your attorneys’ capabilities. Here are three ways to make sure your “About” page stands out:
- Focus on What Meets the Eye
The importance of having an engaging website cannot be underscored enough. This means that your entire website — not just your homepage — must be visually appealing. Consider that our brains process images tens of thousands of times faster than words. In this case, truly, a picture is worth a thousand words. So, a page full of text isn’t going to excite or encourage your visitors to keep reading. On the other hand, when it comes to images, a little goes a long way. Your “About” page shouldn’t be overwhelmingly busy with loads of graphics, either. Likewise, avoid glaring colors or hard to read fonts.
Your “About” page should also be comforting. By comforting, we mean include a group photo of your firm and/or photos of your office. High resolution, professional images should be used, and they shouldn’t be of your lawyers in any threatening or intimidating poses. Even if you’re as tenacious as a bulldog in negotiations or a courtroom, potential clients want to get to know you through your website. In other words, a menacing stare you might use to cross-examine a witness in a jury trial is not necessarily the first impression you want people you’ve never met to form of you. Photos of the firm will particularly help new clients or visitors feel like they have a connection to you before you have your first meeting.
- Quality Content Is King
An aesthetically appealing “About” page needs to be supported by quality content, relaying the firm’s particular areas of practice, notable wins, unique niches and experience. Experience will include everything from education to previous work in different practice areas, to ongoing education, association memberships, leadership roles, charitable endeavors/pro bono work and specific case results. You don’t need to write each attorney’s life story for your team page, but it’s important to touch on any specialties, highlight key victories and demonstrate unique skill sets.
When drafting your “About” page, highlight what differentiates you from other firms. For example, if your firm has a long, interesting history, capitalize on the fact that you are an established firm that has been in operation for years and emphasize your areas of specialization. Remember too, that diversity appeals to many potential clients, so be sure to showcase the diverse makeup of your firm’s attorneys and support staff. Likewise, be sure to include pro bono efforts that convey your firm’s commitment to the community. The “About” page should also list any awards you’ve received to demonstrate the firm’s successes and expertise.
- Ability to Connect Is Crucial
Your visitors need to be able to reach you, and in this day and age, many people would often rather initiate a conversation electronically as opposed to making a phone call. Make it easy for visitors to email the firm. Many firms choose not to have email addresses listed on their sites, as it can invite spam. This is completely understandable and often even recommended. However, there should be a readily available means of emailing the firm, even if the email isn’t spelled out. Enabling captcha should prevent an abundance of spam or, alternatively, use a contact form that can send messages directly to the firm.
In addition, make sure that your “About” page has a clear, easy-to-navigate directory for your office locations and for individual attorney bios (if this isn’t already captured in your main bio section). In that same vein, make it easy for visitors to learn more about specific practice areas by linking to those pages within the “About” page. This will not only allow for visitors to easily access your work in environmental litigation, for example, but also, by making it easy for your visitors to navigate your website, they are more likely to spend more time reading through all of your content.
If it’s been awhile since you’ve looked at your law firm’s “About” page, it’s time to evaluate its efficacy. Review the page and look for updates to be made in terms of new awards, case victories, leadership roles, etc. Look for ways to say the same thing in fewer words, so the page isn’t just a repetition of your home page or bio pages. Finally, ask others who you trust for their feedback and impression of the page, and incorporate changes as needed. After all, this could be your only chance to make a good impression on a potential client.
