If you are an attorney in Orlando trying to choose the right web designer, keep in mind that the competition in our area is huge for this occupation. There are several hundred legal professionals in the Central Florida area looking for new clients. Because of this, it is not only important to have a great web design, but you must also have a site that is optimized for your target audience. This optimization will boost your rank in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).
If your budget allows, it is smart to hire SEO professionals. As designers and programmers, we do add the title for each page and description for each page of the site as we develop the site. We also submit the site “once” to search engines for review. But this effort is not enough. It is important to do more!
Hiring a professional SEO technician is helpful:
A professional SEO technician will determine which keywords and phrases work best for your legal website. Using the most sought after keywords and phrases might not be the best strategy for SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Example: For an Orlando divorce attorney, your SEO tech may go to a secondary phrase with keywords such as “child support attorney or alimony attorney rather than trying to compete for the obvious first choice.
Avoid obvious longtail keywords:
Using the obvious phrase “Orlando divorce attorney” is probably very competitive and used by most attorneys in your field. You would be only one of many. This is why it makes sense to carefully consider the keyword strategy before proceeding. As mentioned in the first paragraph in this post, long-tail keywords (phrases which contain keywords) should be researched to optimize your chances for success.
Converting click-throughs to actual clients:
An SEO team or your SEO technician is tasked with identifying the relevant keywords and phrases which are best for your individual SEO rank. They are working on creating content monthly which ranks high and turns those clicks into real clients. Keeping this content thorough and relevant is a must. A few carefully constructed blog posts each month will go a long way to improve your clickthrough rate. Ask your web designer for referrals for professional bloggers. This expense is well worth the price as you develop your site to be an authority site online.
Writing your content for website home pages:
As we begin to develop the website concept for a new design, we work hard to keep this copy to a maximum of 300 words for the homepage. We finish by adding a few bullets to quickly identify legal services. There is no one better than the actual legal staff to provide the right information. We suggest they partner with the SEO technician to write organic and relevant copy (especially for home page copy).
Should the attorney write the content?
The attorney himself or herself is usually extremely busy and not available to assist. They also normally write in legal language. This may not be clear to all people so it is best to have the legal team and the SEO technician write the content. They will best understand how to optimize for both the search engines and those looking for legal services. This strategy will ensure that the page copy is perfect. Other pages of the site (other than the home page) can have a bit more content.
Avoid adding bloated content:
We do hope you avoid having too much copy so if possible keep the content to 300 words per page. None of us have time to read bloated content. When searching online we usually leave a site within a few seconds if we cannot find exactly what we want quickly. We want to know just the facts. This is why bullets work so well on the home page. Use imagery and other elements such as “call to action buttons” to get your point across. Make sure they have access to your phone number on the home page and an email form and you’re covered.
We’re not suggesting that they will never go further into the site. But experience has shown us that the majority of those finding you online enter the site and leave quickly if they are short on time. This is especially true for those using their smartphones to search
Mobile-first design strategy:
As smart web developers, we are now using a mobile-first design strategy. This is especially important for the attorney website design, due to the competition of legal choices online. We also know that the majority of those searching the web for legal information are using their smartphones. To cover our bases here, we develop a mobile view to meet the requirements of top search engines like Google first before working on the computer and tablet views of the site. This is what we mean when we refer to a “mobile-first” design strategy.
Additionally, the content must also be shortened for the mobile view. When a new client is looking for legal services on their smartphone they most often do not go beyond the home page. We keep it simple, clear and concise. This special optimization will result in higher page rank and satisfy mobile users.
Problems with some legal websites:
- Having too much legal content hard to understand
- No blog page on site: Offering no current legal news and views
- Adding SEO copy which could compromise the attorney’s ethical rules
- Not getting the attorney approval on copy added to the site
- Using the wrong longtail key phrases to optimize for SEO
- No attorney disclaimer on the website
Conclusion: Choosing a web designer for an Orlando attorney
For best results, attorneys should do their due diligence to find a local web designer who is the perfect fit for their team. They should have a proven track record for developing successful legal sites. Ask to check out their portfolio before making any decision. Choose multi-media designers and programmers who are willing to offer great support for problems that could arise once the new site has been published. We would be honored to be considered as you search for the perfect designer for your legal site.
Here is a legal website we published this year for you to review. Another must is to hire a professional SEO Team or a Professional SEO Technician to handle adding copy to the site. Most good multi-media web designers have a list of SEO individuals they refer to and may even have someone on their staff to consider.
The professional SEO individual or SEO team will partner with the attorney’s representatives to make sure everything is written and printed online correctly and allowed by the legal community. There are some elements not allowed on legal sites that can be used on other sites. For example, we know that attorneys are told to avoid adding any advertising slogan to the site. Their peer community considers this as “non-professional content.”
Contact us to discuss options for your next great legal website.
Thanks for stopping by and congrats to Holiday Coachlines and the staff. Their new website is now available for visitors and online clients. Also, it is great to have the Florida Association of Veterans Education Specialists back in our corner. Enjoy your new sites and keep in touch with the team for any questions or concerns this year.
Jean Holland-Rose
Chief Creative Officer & SEO Professional
Inside Design Orlando
An Orlando Website Design Company since 2001
