Lawyers Validity Test: The Website Behind The Referral

Is Your Website A Tortfeasor?

A happy client hands your business card to a friend who mentioned they need to find a lawyer for this, that, or the other. The business card is nice: professional looking typography and design paired with beautiful velvet soft-touch 16pt cardstock. There is even a little Spot UV printed over the logo adding that extra inch of effort on the firm’s part.

First impressions are going well. This Potential New Client (PNC) has received a quality recommendation from a trusted friend, and the business card presented looks high quality. Said PNC hits the road, and later that evening pulls out the business card to check out the company more online.

Typing in the website URL, the PNC sits for a second while the site loads.

The anticipation is building. PNC is wondering if this will finally be the solution to their ongoing quest to find the right law firm to represent their interests.

Cue Jaws music here, playing softly as they wait for the page to pull up ….dunnn un… dunn un… dun un…dunn un.. DUN UN….DUN UNN DUNNDUNUN.

Finally, after an agonizing 2.3 second wait – the website loads. PNC is taken aback. The fancy business card and the website look as if they belong to two completely different entities. Not only are the colors from the website nonexistent on the business card, but the website vibes are clunky and outdated. There are no recent success stories or case studies to allude to their good work. Attorney photos are dated to ten years ago, making PNC wonder if these same lawyers still work there currently. Double checking that the name matches the business card in hand, the PNC skims through the home page and the About page, leaving the site after a few seconds, wholeheartedly unimpressed. Instead of proceeding with the initial referral, they follow up by doing a general search out at Google for ”general practice law firms near me” and proceeds to explore the first few options listed.

The Takeaway

Referrals can be solid pathways to new client leads. They can also get cut short by the online validity (or lack thereof) that the PNC looks for to back up the initial handout.

Brand look and feel is a big part of this – and fairly well understood as to its role in creating client trust. A website, business card, brochure, email, and any other collateral presented by a law firm should be unified by a central brand to impart trust on potential new clients. Its law firm marketing at its best.

In addition to brand uniformity, making sure that the brand is also kept up-to-date with photos, information and in the case of law firms – recent firm successes and partner recognition.