You know that estate plans need a review every few years to keep up with up changes in client’s lives and the law. So does your estate planning law firm’s website. It may not have a “use-by” date, but websites that aren’t reviewed and updated every few years can cost your practice market share.
Maybe you don’t need a completely new website, but if you haven’t had a website review in a while, what better time than right now?
Responsive design is still an issue for some websites. If your website received a cursory tweak to conform in a minimal fashion to this change (which is now several years old itself), then chances are your users are not having the best possible mobile experience. With more and more searches happening on mobile platforms—smart phones and tablets—your out-of-date website isn’t doing its share of marketing.
UX is key to performance. That’s User Experience, and that is the key focus of today’s websites. How easily can users navigate around your website? Are they being drawn to engage with you and members of your team through professionally produced video? Are they sticking around long enough that they are comfortable enough to fill out a Contact Us form that starts an automated intake process? Or are they bouncing out fast and heading to your competitor’s website?
Fresh content is good for humans and bots. Whether you are keeping your blog content fresh with IMS blogs (sent to your inbox every week!) or updating attorney bios with new publications and community announcement, fresh content makes your website more visible to Google algorithms and shows human visitors that there’s activity. Lack of any updates will make users wonder if you’re still in practice. We’ve seen it happen.
Keeping up with current styles. Estate planning and Elder Law attorneys are not known for being fashion forward, but that’s okay—as long as your website is up to date with current styles. Website design changes over time, and your website needs to keep pace. Users won’t feel compelled to take action if they are bogged down on a cluttered website. No videos or even up-to-date photos will make them wonder if the rest of your practice is equally neglected.
Become a social animal. If you aren’t yet benefitting from social media, make this spring the start of a whole new world for your marketing. Younger clients, by which we mean anyone under 45, expect at the very least to see you on Linked In. Facebook is the next one to add, more useful if your estate planning law firm is active in community events and has a lot of photos to add. Twitter is great if you are able to post fairly frequently on news from the firm and about related estate planning and Elder Law topics.