Today, we’re bringing you a special guest post, from one of the ILN’s marketing professionals! Alina Crisu is the PR & Communication Associate with LLPO Law Firm in Cyprus and she’s got some great advice on optimizing your website to give you a competitive edge in your market.

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Crowded markets are plentiful with potential clients and competitors to learn from. But how to run a remarkable business in such a crowded place? And how to make a potential client choose to pay attention to your business and services?

One of the most important keys is Optimisation. By optimising the tools you already have, you make your business stand out in the crowd.

“Your website is today’s business card and it needs updating.”

Below you will find a few tips on how to optimise your website in order to attract more traffic, get leads and new clients.

If your law firm has already updated its website, then maybe this article is not for you.

Have you been struggling to attract leads and new clients to visit your website?

Maybe one of the reasons is the fact that your website has a low score on keyword and search phrases. This means that the text content you have on the website does not reflect the terminology that people use when they search for a law firm or a lawyer. Search Engine Optimization, SEO, is vital to your website (Google, Firefox, Bing, etc).

Research the keywords and search phrases that are relevant to your Law Firm and Practice Areas, keeping in mind that users might not use the professional terminology of the industry.

Let’s say your business is in Milan, Italy. If I search online “Law Firm in Milan”, then the text content that you have on the Main Page of the website should also include  “Law Firm in Milan”, in order for the website to pop up organically on the 1st results page.

Example: “Our law firm is situated in Milan, one of Italy’s greatest cities.”

Re-write and update the content using the keywords and search phrases. Don’t overuse them, as it might be considered spam.

For more in-depth research on how to increase traffic on your website go to Google Keyword Planner.

Does your website address targeted clients’ pain points?

You might have an image of your typical clients, but in order to attract a wider clientele, identify some of the issues they might encounter when they use your website.

• Is your website using a multilingual option?

Identify more than two languages under which your website content can be displayed. The basic two languages displayed, on your website, should be the 1. native tongue of the country in which your law firm has its practice and 2. English.

But what about the 2nd and 3rd largest community of other nationalities present in the country of practice that does not master the two languages mentioned above?  Or the language of your targeted clientele profile that might not be in the country of practice?

• Is your website mobile-friendly?

The percentage of websites accessing from mobile phones has skyrocketed. It is highly important to optimise your website to a mobile-friendly platform. This makes the client’s journey and likelihood of contact much easier. People’s attention span has decreased so if it is not 1 easy click away they will move on to the next option or abandon the search.

Keep in mind: “Decisions are 80% emotional and 20% logical.” Any small frustration might discourage your lead from taking the next action step.

• Is your website accessible for the visually impaired?

Google Search reveals that globally there are 43 million people living with blindness and 295 million people living with moderate-to-severe visual impairment. Including this category in your business plan and website design increases your chances of standing out from the crowd by recognising their value and pain points. Empathy is one of the most valuable human traits. Including empathy in your everyday work and business strategy appeals to the emotional side of your client’s decisions and makes them pay attention.

How to optimise your website for the visually impaired:

• Ensure your users can increase the font size;
  • Keep the text short and don’t use long lines;
  • Ensure headings are visually obvious;
  • Use visual contrast on the “call to action” buttons:

It may seem obvious, but light text on a white background is not friendly for anyone. If you want the visitors to have an easier time navigating your website then highlighting the important actions is the right choice, for everyone;

• Use Screen Readers:

This is The Only way some people might engage with the content on your website. The text must be understandable, laid out, and ordered in a way that not only makes sense to humans reading it but also to assistive technologies like screen readers. When presenting important information do not use images;

• Consider the keyboard:

Some of your website visitors may use the keyboard to navigate, therefore ensure that all fields and links are accessible by using the tab key and follow the correct order.

Last but not least which seems like a no brainer, but it must be said:

Make sure that your business is easy to find on Google Maps and via GPS.

If your business is not on the map it becomes invisible to some of your potential clients and creates distrust.

I hope this article has brought some value to your business.

Thank you for taking the time to read it and I look forward to feedback.

Connect with Alina via email.