The Anatomy of a Lead Generating Law Firm Website

If you follow our blog, you know that we believe your website is your biggest marketing tool. It’s an important avenue for turning prospects into clients. We often talk about how to drive more high-quality traffic to your law firm’s website, but traffic alone won’t impact revenue unless visitors become new clients. That’s why it’s critical to design your website with lead generation top-of-mind from the very beginning. If you’re starting to think about the opportunities you have to increase lead conversions on your site, you’ve come to the right place. Whether you’re creating a new website or taking some time to improve a longstanding one, include these elements to optimize for all-important lead generation. 

The Anatomy of a Lead-Generating Law Firm Website

1. Lead generation forms

These are a crucial part of any digital lead generation efforts. Without them, there is not a great way to gather contact information from prospects. Embedding lead gen forms right on your website makes it easier for visitors to begin a relationship with your firm. Landing pages are the usual place to have lead gen forms, but they can go anywhere on your website as long as they align with your goals. Shorter forms will entice more completions, but longer forms will ensure higher quality. 

2. A form-scraping tool

After you’ve created and embedded lead generation forms, you need to have a way to collect the information you obtain. There are tools available that will “scrape” the forms, which means information is automatically collected and added to your database. This is important for consolidating leads and then creating campaigns to nurture them. HubSpot has a free Collected Forms tool you may want to check out. 

3. Primary and secondary calls-to-action (CTAs) on every page

The action that website visitors are prepared to take varies from just learning more about a topic to consulting with an attorney. It’s your job to guide individuals to those next steps. It’s important to create different CTAs that speak to different audiences across the buyer’s journey. We suggest having a primary CTA on every page – one that’s above the fold and speaks to your main goal. Then, include some CTAs within the pages that address secondary actions such as signing up for your newsletter or downloading a white paper. 

4. Gated offers on landing pages

Landing pages are essentially the hub of your law firm’s lead generation efforts. That means every offer you create and every campaign you run should be tied to a specific landing page. Pair valuable content with a landing page designed to entice clicks. Use the copy on the form to interest prospects in the next step, and fill out a form to get access to the premium content. Note: having high-quality content is key for the landing page campaigns to work.  If you’re looking for detailed information on building well-designed landing pages that are optimized for lead conversion, check out: Anatomy of a Perfect Law Firm Landing Page. 

5. Pop-up forms

These sometimes get a bad rap, but can still work as long as they’re used correctly. The key is to make sure you’re offering something that enhances the visitor’s experience, not interrupts it. Their appearance should only be triggered by certain actions or time spent on the page, and pop-ups should use language that’s organic and human. Keep the mobile experience in mind as well – if pop-ups ruin the user experience for some visitors, they’ll backfire in a big way. We recommend turning pop-ups off for mobile visitors.

6. Intuitive UX design and thoughtful CTA placement

Pages built with a user-centric design are far more compelling than those without. Layout, CTA placement, whitespace, colors, fonts, and other supporting elements should all be used thoughtfully to encourage action. Ensure that your pages are directing visitors’ attention to the areas of the page that are most likely to convert them to leads. This comprehensive eye-tracking study shares that a website reader’s natural eye path begins in the upper-left hand corner of a webpage and moves in an “F” pattern. 

7. A blog with lead generating CTAs

Your law firm’s blog is a huge traffic and lead generating tool for your law firm’s website. We won’t get into the plethora of other benefits of blogging, but a thoughtful blog with strategic CTAs can drive traffic to your website and complement your other campaigns. Every blog post needs to have a lead-generating call to action. Ideally these CTAs lead to a landing page with a gated offer (see point number 3). Additionally, as you create lead-generating offers (eBooks, guides, checklists, on-demand webinars, etc), promote them by blogging about subject matters related to them, and then put CTAs that lead to the asset’s landing page on every one of those blog posts.

Related: 8 Compelling Calls-to-Action (CTAs) for Law Firm Blogs

8. Social proof

It’s important to include trust builders like testimonials and reviews on landing pages. If you’re going to ask people for their contact information via forms, you need to display your credibility and prove yourself somehow. Look to add items such as client testimonials, case studies, and prominent client logos to establish credibility and trust.

Takeaway

These elements are just the basis of a law firm website optimized for lead generation. They are fundamental, however – so start with these areas and continue seeking ways to drive and qualify traffic. Continually A/B testing and tweaking your website to optimize it for leads based on your own, unique audience are also key to improving user experience and converting visitors to leads. 

If you need more ideas for turning your law firm’s website into a lead generation engine, contact us today. We have plenty of experience helping law firms and lawyers generate more leads and more business through their website and digital marketing efforts.