There are several trends we are seeing as firms are updating their websites to new designs and technology.
By the way, don’t fool yourself… People are visiting your website and drawing a conclusion about your firm based on it. Read about failing the mirror test here.
Back to the trends, with the digital revolution in full swing, designs built around mobile access and mobile resolution are very important. For firms whose clients are individuals rather than businesses, it is critical.
However, yes here comes the big but!
Your business is a law firm, not selling widgets on a shopping site.
Our experience tells us to steer our clients away from some of the latest design fads; so, we strongly suggest you…
Buck the trends of:
Minimalism for minimalism’s sake: Yes, a single page is great for phones, but I also do not want to scroll for days to find what I need. A menu would be nice.
Don’t “outcool” yourself: Saw a sight the other day that was only the firm name and a search icon. Please don’t make me work to get information from your website.
Saving the best for last: Eat dessert first! Put the most important information near the beginning of the one-page site. Highlighting what you do and links to the professional’s info.
Go Hybrid: Keep the mobile ready design, but switch in more traditional design and navigation elements, as applicable to your practice.
Size Does Matter: What is with the latest trend of having massive headers and footers??? Completely negates the whole mobile friendly aspect of the site. BTW – That is not a hybrid!
Pinterest, sminterest: Again, your firm is not selling widgets, or a shopping site. The grid design is cool, but challenging to stay consistent to in a law firm design; which can lead to an eclectic mish-mosh of design and weak navigation function.
Over-design: Think of what you do when you visit a website, do you marvel at the colors and moving imagery? Or, do you go right to what you are looking for? We are guilty of this in our website, but hey it’s cool. My gut tells me, I am likely the only person to ever watch all of the animation on our home page (not really laughing…)
Getting over-charged: This is a biggee. There is no way you should ever be entering into a subscription arrangement with anyone for a website update, and especially not one of the 800 lb. Gorillas! Just makes no sense to pay a premium for a cookie cutter website that looks like every other firms in your building. If they lead with “template”, or “pick your color scheme”, just run.
On that note, read more here on the hidden costs of a website update here.
Stepping off the soap box now…
If you have found any of this post interesting or helpful, we would appreciate the opportunity to share further our views and experience with law firm website design and updates.
Contact us to schedule a website update review. You will find we are direct in our approach and deliver quality work at a fair price. We look forward to hearing from you.