The Legal Marketing Association’s April 23rd, 2014 luncheon’s featured speaker was Deborah McMurray, fellow in the College of Law Practice Management. She was inducted into the LMA’s Hall of Fame at the 2008 annual conference. She came to discuss the results of the 2013 AmLaw 100 Websites: Ten Foundational Best Practices research.
The #1 foundational best practice is “Communicating Your Message.” Your firm must have a clear and differentiating position. Your practice areas and industry focuses must be apparent as well as your geographic reach. Contact information must be clear. If you are a global law firm, your site should feature links for foreign language translations. The average score for the top 100 AmLaw firms was 72.6—“Barely good.” The winner in this category was Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.
The #2 foundational best practice is “Graphics and Design.” It is important for websites to use bold branded designs in their layout. The amount of white space used makes a difference to the look and feel of the site. Strong imagery reinforces the brand and makes your firm stand out. The average score in this category was 77—“Good.” The winner in this category was Goodwin Procter.
The #3 foundational best practice is “Navigation.” There are three different types of visitors to a website: searchers, navigators and browsers. It is crucial that a site is easy to navigate on any type of device, whether desktop, tablet or mobile phone. Global and local sites should be consistent, and global navigation should provide one-click access. The average score for all of the firms was 70.9—“Fair.” The winner in this category was Kramer Lavin Naftalis & Frankel LLP.
The #4 foundational best practice is “Lawyer Bio.” The first 150 characters of an attorney bio must be current, compelling and relevant in order to reap the best SEO benefits. The first two-to-three sentences should describe the lawyer’s practice and the types of clients he or she represents. The bio should not use formal titles such as Mr. or Ms., as these are considered “unfriendly.” It is better to use their first name or nickname. Their current photo should convey their personality, and their full contact information should be easy to find and contain a v-card. Bios should include links to social media and list links to practice areas, industries and news events. Attorney bios should also include detailed experience and matter lists. The average for this category was 75.3—“Good.” The winner in this category was Jones Day.
The #5 foundational best practice is “Content.” The content of the website should contain visitor-focused language. It should be organized intuitively, by services and expertise, rather than by how the firm is organized. Practices and industries should be broken out separately. Descriptions should include experience specifics, including client names. The use of video and multi-media is good, but make sure the content is relevant and current. Maximize use of news and press pages to get public relations benefits for the firm. Make sure to include publications, articles written, events attended, and make it well-organized by topic, author and speaker. The average for this category was 70.6—“Fair.” The winner in this category was Sutherland.
The #6 foundational best practice is “Interactivity and Social Outreach.” Make sure your firm has an RSS feed throughout the site. Include links to an alumni page on LinkedIn, law firm blogs and Facebook. The site should also link to social media sites, and keep content on those sites current. The average for this category was 52—“Barely fair.” The winner in this category was Barnes & Thornburg LLP.
The #7 foundational best practice is “Site Search.” It is crucial for your website to offer full site keyword search. Advanced search links should appear on all pages to enable visitors to narrow or refine search in multiple ways. Search results should be well organized and utilize modern search technology. It is recommended that a firm’s website offer multiple searches, including a detailed lawyers search, news publications, articles, events, law schools attended, etc. The average for this category was 49.2—“Poor.” The winner in this category was Cozen O’Connor.
The #8 foundational best practice is “Site Optimization and Online Awareness.” It is important that the firm has data feeds from external sources, including social media, videos and blogs. Strong, properly structured HTML is crucial. The average for this category was 54.5—“Fair.” The winner in this category was Morrison Foerster.
The #9 foundational best practice is “Mobility.” A true mobile website is important, and it’s something that most law firms don’t currently have. Eleven to 25 percent of law firms currently have mobile sites, and that number is quickly growing, because viewing of websites is now taking place on everything from a desktop, to a tablet to a mobile phone. The average for this category was 34.5—“Poor.” The winner in this category was Quinn Emanuel.
The #10 foundational best practice is “Hygiene and Usability.” Your firm’s website should have perfect functions on all modern browsers (IE7 and newer). You should also have the ability to collect and bind PDF’s together. The average for this category was 73.7—“Good.” The winner in this category was Wilson Elser.
Additional panelists included Anna Behrman, chief marketing officer at Marshall Gerstein Borun LLP; Suzanne Donnels, chief marketing officer at Jenner & Block LLP; and Katryn Treskow, director of marketing communications at Winston & Strawn LLP. They discussed the importance of content strategy when developing and maintaining a firm’s website. They also discussed the importance of mobile sites, since clients are viewing websites not only from their desktops, but from their tablets and mobile phones as well. If enhancements are made to your site, make sure they are made to include all devices.
Websites can drive new business. As a marketer, you need to understand your visitors and design your website around their needs. You need to offer something of value including client interviews, interviews with partners, anything to differentiate your firm from the competition. This can be a very powerful tool, leading from content to new clients.
Sheri Wolfe has been with Traub Lieberman Straus & Shrewsberry since July 2008. She is the marketing coordinator for TLSS and focuses on the firm’s business development efforts, social media, website development, corporate event planning and communications. Prior to joining TLSS, she spent 12 years in the advertising industry.