The Ingredients of a Great Website, Part Two: Beyond the Home Page

A couple of weeks ago, we published a blog entry discussing several essential “ingredients” of a strong website home page. (Read that blog entry here.) Today, we’re going to focus our attention on the interior pages of your website. This is not intended to serve as a complete list of everything your website needs, and not all of these components will apply to every firm website. But each of these elements is very important, and we recommend them in almost every circumstance.

If your website is going to reflect your status and expertise, as well as engage your visitors and help to generate new business, it should have the following pages and functionality:

1) Industry focused, regularly updated blog. A blog is an extremely valuable tool, both in terms of attracting traffic to your website, and in terms of engaging your audience and demonstrating your expertise. Your blog should focus on providing value to your target market – and one of the best ways to do this is to write blog entries addressing common questions and concerns that your market has. This shows your readers that you understand their concerns, and that you are well positioned to help them. If this sounds like too much work, just let us know – we can help!

2) Testimonials / success stories as permitted. Studies have conclusively proven that the use of testimonials greatly aids the sales process. Potential customers want to be reassured that you’ve helped other people like them in the past, and testimonials allow you to do just that. So your testimonials and success stories should be featured prominently on your website – as long as your industry regulations allow you to do so.

3) Contact page, including an accurate map. When a website visitor is ready to get in touch with you, make it easy! Your contact page should be easy to find, and it should clearly display your contact information. We recommend including a contact form which can be filled out directly from your site, in case the individual doesn’t want to call or email. It’s also important to have an accurate, easy-to-use map on your contact page for clients who wish to visit your office in person.

4) Services page that clearly explains how you can help. It’s important that website visitors immediately understand what you do. A services page is a great place to do this. While creating the content for this page, don’t use confusing legal or technical jargon. Instead, take your services and “translate” them into clear, direct language that will resonate with your market.

5) Lead capture forms on every page. One of the primary purposes of your website is to generate leads and help you grow your practice. To do so, we highly recommend using lead capture forms on every page of your site. This can be as simple as a box on your sidebar encouraging your readers to download content such as a special report in exchange for their contact information.

There’s a lot that goes into creating a successful website. Including these five components will ensure that you get off to a great start, but if you’d like some additional help with this process, please get in touch with us today!

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Spotlight Branding

Spotlight Branding is a content marketing and branding firm for lawyers and other professionals. Our goal is to help you create an online presence that positions you as a credible expert in your field, keeps you connected with your network in order to stay top of mind and increase referrals, and to become more visible online so prospects can find you!