Most of the law firms who engage our services are struggling with low, flat, or declining website traffic, resulting in fewer client instructions.  And understandably, they are often confused or unsure of the underlying problem, and the best course of action.

In this article we will outline the five possible reasons why your legal website is not doing its job – namely to act as a storefront to attract new client instructions.

Reason 1 – Your service pages are too short

This is a common and very easily resolved problem we see every day.  Don’t believe us? Look at your highest performing competition.  They will have separate pages for each service offering, typically of 800 – 1000 words depth, in addition to lots of detail and information for the reader.  Not only does this help to establish your firm ‘s as an authority in law but it also communicates to your audience that you have the expertise and robust knowledge in certain practice areas.  Many of the best sites also use video to convey personality and professionalism.

Reason 2 – Your content is not optimised for the terms that matter

We cannot emphasise how important it is that any content on your website, whether it be the core content or blog posts, has keywords naturally woven into the content.  Every year Google is getting better at separating the wheat from the chaff – i.e. promoting genuinely authoritative sites and pages and demoting pages that are using crafty ways to boost rankings.   We only work with clients who also invest in a reputable SEO/digital marketing professional, because content which is not optimised effectively will never be seen.  As someone once said, it is the equivalent of creating a great magazine and then stuffing it at the back of the shop, where no one can find it.

Reason 3 – Your website is not encrypted

All legal websites should be secure (encrypted).  How do you know if your site is secure? If you look at the top left of your web browser, you should see a padlock, meaning there is an encrypted connection between your computer and the website.  You may see ‘not secure’, or ‘your connection to this site is not fully secure’ (the wording will vary between browsers).  Google considers law firm websites to be as important as medical sites in the sense that the advice given can have a significant effect on the lives of readers; this is known as ‘Your money or your life – YMYL’, and as such, anything you can do to demonstrate trust and security, the better.  If your site is not secure, we can advise you on the best steps to take to achieve this.  This is a quick win as Google boosts the rankings of secure sites.

Reason 4 – Your website content is stale

For many years Google has rewarded fresh content, and indeed, the very best law firms are now generating daily, or weekly articles, blogs, and/or vlogs to engage their audience.  It is also best practice to review your core website content annually to ensure it is a) in tune with your business strategy and offerings, b) optimised for search rankings, and c) reflective of the current case law and legislation.

Reason 5 – Your site is being penalised

There are many reasons why a site is penalised when it comes to search engine rankings, but here are just a few:

• Your content is low value – i.e. little depth, poorly researched, and very similar content to other sites
• Low bounce rate – clients are not clicking through to other pages once they arrive at your site
• Unnatural use and over repetition of keywords
• Use of paid for links from link-farms (a widely used strategy for increased rankings but one that is now actively penalised by Google).
• Hidden content
• Poor performance – Google measures the user response time of sites and demotes those that are not performing.
• Website not optimised for mobile devices

In conclusion

There is little doubt the legal industry is shifting from the traditional model of reliance on word of mouth, and inter-generational business.  Your website is now most likely the number one gateway for clients to reach your law firm, and therefore exceeding the online presence of your competition is becoming increasingly imperative.  The good news is if your firm is not getting the traffic it needs, in most cases, any problems can be easily and quickly rectified.  Any law firms looking to improve their website should look at their core content firstly and foremost, as this is the foundation of your online shopfront.  Once this is done, regular blogs and vlogs, backed up with a consistent social media presence will further boost your digital authority.

The Legal Copywriting Company is dedicated to helping law firms and barristers achieve their marketing goals by creating engaging, SEO friendly content for their website and marketing materials and managing their social media.  To find out more, please fill in our contact form or email corinne@www.thelegalcopywritingcompany.co.uk or phone 01691 839661.