Best Practices in Law Firm Web Sites

Deborah McMurray (www.deborahmcmurray.com) has recently completed a comprehensive and fascinating look  at the good, bad, and ugly of law firm web sites.  Deborah, a 20+ year veteran of law firm marketing, developed a list of standards for law firm web sites and measured the web identities of the Am Law 100 against the standards.  The results are available in a down-loadable white paper, and on a case-by-case basis for the Am Law 100.  If your firm is not one of the elite 100, Deborah will review your site for a fee. 

After reviewing the web sites of the AmLaw 100, she developed 10 Best Practices for Web Site Design.  Great web sites excel in these areas:

1. Communicate your Message
2. Graphics and Design
3. Navigation
4. Narrative Content
5. Lawyer Biographies
6. Practice/Industry Group Descriptions
7. Contact Information
8. Site Search
9. Site Optimization for Online Search
10. Site "Hygiene"

She scored the AmLaw 100 web sites according to these practices, and graded the scores from "Poor" to "Excellent".  42% of the web sites ranked "Fair" or below.  5% ranked "Excellent" and 53% ranked "Good" or average. 

In addition to the top 10 best practices above, I'd add:  "Substance: Information helpful to buyers and users of legal services." such as newsletters, blogs, podcasts, webinars, and articles. 

The white paper is a must read for any law firm marketer who is planning a re-design in 2007.  If your firm is on the AmLaw 100, it is worth buying the detailed analysis for your firm.  Visit Deborah McMurray's website,www.deborahmcmurray.com for more information. 

Comments

[Grant Aldrich]

Hi Mark,

I think Deborah is definitely on to something in her identification of important elements for law firm websites.

I wrote a recent post on my blog about this very same topic. Law firms need to transition their websites into knowledge repositories that focus on previous projects, past clients, and the professionals at the firm.

Grant

[steven davies]

This is the best affiliate elite review I have ever seen.