Three Vital Elements in Your Law Firm Mobile Design Strategy
Mobile Search Trends Are Changing Rapidly
Do you have a mobile design strategy for your law firm website? Do you need one?
In the last twelve months, mobile traffic to law firm websites has risen by at least 17% and is steadily growing every day. Smart phone ownership has become mainstream, and it is inevitable that mobile searching for legal services will grow dramatically in the coming months and years.
There are three main considerations to keep in mind when you develop a design strategy around mobile devices.
- Optimize your design to look stellar on a smaller screen.
- Keep the content to a minimum for speed, usability and easy navigation.
- Keep your focus on converting the user through mobile standards.
Optimizing Your Design to Look Stellar
Your main law firm website design has been optimized for desktop and laptop monitors. To give your users the best experience while they search for a law firm from their smart phone, you will need to create a specific design and code for these smaller screens. When a user hits your site from a mobile device, it should have a bit of code to direct the user to a mobile optimized page.
Most mobile sites leave out one of the most important elements for the front page of the site: The law firm branding. The user expects to see the same type of branding they would see on your main site, magazine ads and TV ad campaigns. If they don’t see a professional, experienced and inviting law firm, they will go back to find one more suitable to their needs.
The home page should offer easy links to the most visited pages on your site, in the simplest possible way. The three main pages you should make easily accessible are your attorneys, contact information, and directions to the firm. Most users do not want to spend a large amount of time reading information about car accidents when visiting your site from their mobile device. They want to quickly and easily find a reputable firm that they can trust, and contact them right then.
Minimize Content & Navigation for Speed & Usability
The speed of your mobile site not only affects search engine optimization, but also the amount of frustration you create for your visitor. Providing only the necessary elements to users will increase the speed and the success of your mobile website. With inconsistent network connections, improving the load time is paramount to improving the users’ experience. Giving the user too many options or too much content can overwhelm the user causing a serious headache while they stare at the small screen in their hand.
Focus On Mobile Standards for Conversions
Make it big! Don’t create all your links as small, difficult to read to touch text with an underline. Our fingers are larger than a mouse pointer, so make room for even the most mammoth hands to tap your buttons.
Displaying your phone number is not as important on a phone-optimized site. However, making it look like a button that can be tapped to create an instant contact to the firm is a very good idea. The user is not going to write down your number and switch to their phone app just to type the number in and call – that is not convenient. Simply have a great looking button that says, “Tap here to call us now”. This button will launch the phone app and automatically call the law firm with just one tap of the finger. Remember, you want to make this the most seamless experience possible for your prospective client. You don’t want people to get in a car accident while trying to contact your firm.
Do You Need A Mobile Design Strategy?
Yes, you do need a mobile design strategy. That is, if you are interested in keeping up with new technology and getting more clients in the age of super connected individuals. Yellow page ads are dead, smart phones and tablets are the future. The longer you wait to embrace the future, the more you will see your leads dwindle.
For additional information on mobile Internet marketing for law firms, please see Why Are Mobile Friendly Websites Necessary for Law Firms? and Mobile Revolution or contact us today at marketing@consultwebs.com or 1-800-872-6590.
