75% of people admit to judging a business’s credibility based on its website design. If your homepage falls flat, your firm will fall flat, too.
While every legal website should be unique, there are proven blueprints that can help your firm nail that first impression.
Let’s put the attorney home page under the microscope and dissect seven key elements from core design elements to navigational tools.
Why the home page is so important
First impressions, yadda yadda—you know that you only get one chance to impress a potential client.
If you’re trying to grow your law firm, your home page is the single most important tool at your disposal. Your home page is the delicate testing ground where people decide whether or not you’re capable of taking care of them.
As design trends evolve and online attention spans wane, it’s critical to keep your home page up to date. You might only get a few seconds, so all the key information needs to be above the fold (visible without scrolling down).
Don’t waste a drop of precious attention. Instead, direct it where you want it to go.
Elements of a powerful home page
If you’re building your site from scratch, here are the seven key elements to make your firm’s home page pop. If you’d rather scratch your eyes out, get a template that does all of this and more.
#1 – Your logo, brand or firm name
This is usually located on the top bar of the site, and clicking it will always bring the user back to the home page.
Your logo serves two purposes:
- Confirms that the user has reached the desired destination
- Reinforces the firm’s name with a memorable, branded design
The styling of your firm’s name is your first opportunity to show who you are. Your font, colors and graphic elements should be legible, unique, and memorable.
#2 – Your location
Your online visitors need to know that your law firm serves clients in their geographical area.
Boldly state your nearest metropolitan area on your home page.
This is not only good for SEO purposes but also for building trust with potential clients. It’s like one more breadcrumb on the trail, saying I’m a member of your community, you can trust me.
#3 – Your contact information, including a button
64% of users want to see contact information on a business’s home page—and 44% will click away if there is no contact information.
Include a simple, attractive “Contact Us Today” or “Schedule A Consultation” button above the fold on your home page.
Your online visitor may already know they want to speak to you. Don’t make them jump through hoops to contact you. The Contact button could lead visitors to a page with an email submission form or a bookable calendar, but remember to include a phone number for people who prefer voice calls.
Make sure to use a custom confirmation message that will appear after the person submits their inquiry. Use this message to set expectations with regard to hearing back from your team.
You can include a chat option, too.
#4 – Your services and mission
Explicitly name all your practice areas and briefly state your mission.
People should know immediately that they’re in the right place—and they might be impressed by your other practice areas.
Don’t go into too much detail on your home page. A paragraph is plenty and a keyphrase + icon is better.
Remember, you can (and should) link from your home page to a separate page for each practice area. On these pages, you can go into deeper detail about your specific services and expertise in that niche.
#5 – Visuals that align with your practice area
Will yours be the photo that sank a thousand cases? Choose wisely! Don’t be limited to photographs or sterile cityscapes that don’t say anything about your firm or your clients’ needs.
Consider vector art, creative stock imagery, or themed images that speak more to emotions than your practice area. For instance, this Massachusetts estate planning firm’s home page features a view of the water at sunset off Cape Cod
A caveat: Visuals are important, but we’re also big advocates for negative space! That’s why all of our design layouts include a strategic proportion of blank space.
Don’t overcrowd the layout. Negative space gives the mind breathing room. It helps with scannability. It lends a sense of luxury and confidence. Less is more!
#6 – Testimonials, press, or awards
Social proof is the spoonful of sugar that makes all your other content far more easy to digest.
Pick a single, powerful testimonial within a carousel of other great reviews to avoid overwhelming users.
Look for one review that calls out your practice area, your unique value proposition, and the case outcome. For instance, “The team at Radsen Law helped my company resolve a complex cross-border dispute that threatened my business, securing a favorable outcome that ensured our continued growth in global markets.”
You can also include a list of award icons and “as seen in” press coverage links. The key here is to keep the look simple. Let the visuals do the work and don’t over explain yourself.
#7 – Menu or quick links to relevant sections of the site
This one’s obvious, but it’s still important. Your visitors should be able to quickly navigate to other areas of your website from the home page—with strong emphasis on quickly.
Make sure the hamburger menu or top bar is easy to find.
If you use a OneFirst layout, you don’t have to worry about this as we include an obvious, attractive menu feature in every site. But some website builders like Wix and Weebly don’t make it so easy.
Final words
If you don’t have a great home page, then you really shouldn’t be working on any other pages of your website. That’s the hard truth!
You get one first impression. Don’t flub it. Get a professional, user-friendly website from the legal marketing experts, with a site layout built on a decade of experience developing effective digital assets for lawyers like you.
