5 Law Firm Web Strategies for 2013

Nov. 14, 2012 - PRLog -- 5 Law Firm Web Strategies for 2013

We are in the midst of a digital revolution. Never before in our history has information been so accessible and instantaneous than today. In 2010, 77.3% of the US population had access to the internet (239,893,600 Internet Users (http://www.internetworldstats.com/am/us.htm)) With rapid smartphone and tablet growth, our society is constantly connected and accessing information in a matter of seconds. An increasing amount of law firms are now finding new ways to use their Websites for industry recognition, promotion of legal services and an influential aspect of legal counsel decision-making process.

As Web integration specialists, I-ology has worked with law firms for the past 14 years to create customized Web business tools that help streamline our clients’ operations. As digital technology evolves and becomes more accessible, we help advise our law firm clients by strategizing Web solutions that make sense for their practice goals and objectives. Below we review five relevant Web strategies to consider when building a comprehensive law firm Website:

1) Create a Consistent Brand Experience on Mobile

Why is mobile important in 2013? Mobile Web traffic is rapidly increasing, representing 13% of total Web traffic (http://www.internetretailer.com/2012/01/23/mobile-traffic...) and mobile Internet usage is projected to surpass desktop usage (http://www.businessinsider.com/mobile-will-eclipse-deskto...) by 2014. Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for building a mobile Website. Mobile strategies are reliant upon specific company objectives and industries, but the most important element to remember is portraying a consistent brand aesthetic across your mobile Website. Often, budget, timelines and resources play lead roles when developing and executing mobile solutions. So, which mobile option is right for your company? The three most common ways to build a mobile presence: responsive Web design, secondary mobile Website, or a mobile application (native or Web).

2) Build In Responsive

Over the course of 2012, responsive Web design has started to pick up more traction in the technology arena. Still new to the concept? As I-ology’s preferred method of building mobile Websites, responsive design recognizes a user’s screen resolution and then auto-adjusts the content to fit that device based on predefined design breakpoints. When we designed our latest responsive I-ology (http://www.i-ology.com) Website, we featured four design breakpoints: 1200 px, 1024 px, 760 px, and 480 px. Responsive Websites also do not require browser sniffing and device detection like secondary mobile sites.

Another benefit of responsive Web design is that because an entire Website’s content is accessible through a single Website address, there is no need to update content for multiple platforms. Google also loves the methodology of simplifying the Website address usage and has actually made it their preferred way (http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2012/04/responsive-design-harnessing-power-of.html) of building mobile Websites.

3) Utilize Your Content Management System

Our clients’ Websites have content management systems (CMS) that provide all the necessary and advanced tools to allow clients to maintain their Website with fresh, relevant content. A CMS should have a user-friendly interface with an intuitive design that provides simple instructions to create, upload and organize content. The flexibility to add/remove pages to your site as needed is important for law firms to publish fresh and relevant content. Rich Text Editors allow for easy updates on Web pages with content, images, links and set styles through a friendly user interface. Advanced users can switch to HTML mode and update directly through code. New content management systems have custom search engine optimization (SEO) tools allowing users to add page titles, meta descriptions and meta keywords to assist in configuring pages for SEO.  Another benefit of a full content management system is the simplicity of creating new Web pages to be created, deleted, saved to a sub-navigation or saved as a draft and published. A page can also be set to public or private and be hidden on the site, accessible by only direct link or Website address or administrative access.

4) Optimize Attorney and Professionals Sections

Whether your law firm is large or small, optimizing your attorneys’ biographies and professional pages is crucial for Web traffic and creating a positive user experience. Optimizing your Website is nothing new, but optimizing for long search is an important and growing segment of today’s Web experience. A long tailed local SEO strategy is a great area for optimization. Law firms are also carving out their niche practices, industries and services through search engine marketing. Remember to optimize attorney bios for mobile readability and include important information such as practice areas, publications, featured clients and LinkedIn profiles. The integration of social profiles and channels throughout law firm websites are another important part of customizing the users experience.

5) Build a LinkedIn Strategy

LinkedIn is the top spot (http://press.linkedin.com/about) for professional networking and your online resume. LinkedIn currently has 187 million members and is on pace to surpass 5.3 billion professional-oriented searches in 2012. New features and updates to company pages and continued expansion of member profiles are providing real benefit for law firms to have a LinkedIn strategy. The new company pages allow detailed expansion of services and information, much more value than the simple biography of previous company pages. Member profiles now have skill sets to display on their profiles and recommendations for each. We have integrated LinkedIn profiles into our clients’ Websites to help the cross-promotion and expansion of the law firms’ marketing efforts.  

There is no off-the-shelf, one-size-fits-all Website strategy or solution for law firms. Many factors come into play when deciding which strategy best fits your company’s Web goals. We have come to understand that enabling the latest Web technologies and knowing what is possible from a digital standpoint is critical to reaching your target market.

This article was written by Michael Eck from I-ology in Scottsdale, Arizona. I-ology is a technology company that creates Web-based business tools that streamline our clients' operations. We are committed to revolutionizing the way organizations use the Internet to do business. For more information please visit www.i-ology.com.