We may be a little biased considering our 'bread and butter' is law firm websites, but our answer is a resounding “Yes”! There are many reasons that your law firm needs an up-to-date website, which we discuss later in this blog post. But ultimately, don’t you want your website to be showcasing the expertise, skills, experience, and caring nature of your firm?
One of the ways your law firm can achieve all these things is by having a well-designed, SEO-friendly and regularly updated website. A great website which provides potential clients with the information they need is a big tick in generating new work. But, if you still aren’t convinced, have a read of these six impacts of an outdated website.
1. You might lose clients to competitors
Ultimately, an outdated website is going to impact your law firm’s credibility. As frustrating as this may be for your firm, a poorly designed website or one with outdated content can reflect negatively on your firm's professionalism which might send traffic straight to your competitors.
Potential clients may be asking themselves questions like “If you don’t have time to update your law firm website, how can I be sure you will have time to carry out my case?” or “If you haven’t updated your website with relevant industry knowledge, how do I know you have the skills to get me the best outcome from my case?”. Questions like this which undermine your credibility are ones you don't want potential or existing clients to be asking.
In addition, an outdated website may give the impression that your firm is out of the loop on current guidance or is not technologically savvy, which can undermine trust. Your website is there to instil trust in your law firm, so you need to ensure content and designs are regularly updated to stop clients from going to the competition.
2. Your law firm website might have lower-quality content
In addition to losing out on new enquiries to your competition, an outdated website is likely to have lower-quality content. Users want a website that answers their questions, demonstrates authority, and builds trust. Potential clients shouldn't have to search high and low for an answer to their question, and they want the answer to be written as simply as possible in a digestible format. A website that hasn’t been updated in the last five years is unlikely to fulfil those needs.
If you think back to the implementation of ‘no fault divorce’, what was the process for updating your law firm’s website and was it successful? Or have you not even got round to updating the content and so are providing potential clients with incorrect information? What about the increase to the amount of the statutory legacy in July 2023?
3. You might not be seen as a thought leader in the industry
Your website is an excellent place to showcase your firm’s expertise, insights, and ideas, so it’s essential you are including these on your website and updating them regularly. As you know, guidelines and best practices change quite frequently so you will be unlikely to be seen as the thought leader if you have old content on your website.
So, by thinking outside of the box or regularly updating your website with fresh and valuable content, such as blog posts, articles, case studies, or industry reports, you can establish yourself as a knowledgeable authority in your field. This demonstrates your commitment to staying current with industry trends and sharing relevant information with your audience.
This, in turn, enhances your firm’s credibility and can attract more searchers, leading to increased recognition and thought leadership opportunities.
4. Your law firm website might be hard to navigate
An up-to-date website improves user experience because you are regularly ensuring that content, design, and functionality are optimised, making it easier for visitors to navigate and find the information they need. For example, signposting older related blog posts to a new blog post, linking from one service page to another if they are closely related or having a how-to guide on a service page.
By regularly updating your website, you can incorporate improvements in site navigation, such as clear and intuitive menus, easy-to-find search boxes, and linking the logo to the homepage.
Updating the website's design elements and structure can also enhance navigation by organising content into relevant categories and creating primary and secondary menus.
By keeping up with technology and implementing responsive design, you can ensure that your website is accessible and easy to navigate across different devices. These updates contribute to a better user experience and improving engagement on your website.
5. Your law firm website might be breaking the law
This might sound extreme, but new regulations are always coming into play to protect users and their data. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and the UK’s Data Protection Authority (DPA) are going to start closely monitoring websites, with firms who fail to put clear “Reject All” buttons on their cookies bar risking enforcement. You can read more about what your cookie banner needs to adhere to legally here. Similarly, law firms regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) must have the SRA digital badge on their website – we recommend putting this in the footer of your website.
These aren’t and won’t be the only changes that need to be made to your website legally. Therefore, if you aren’t regularly checking for updates and implementing these changes, your law firm website could be breaking the law!
6. Your law firm website might be losing traffic
Hopefully, after reading the rest of this blog post, you understand the ways in which an up-to-date website can lead to a loss in traffic and therefore enquiries. But if you still need a little more convincing read on.
Firstly, an up-to-date law firm website will have valuable content that answers a user’s question. Without this content on your website, it’s likely that someone will land on your website and bounce straight off to a competitor because the information they want isn’t there. If your law firm’s content hasn’t been updated in five years, there is a chance it’s outdated and not fulfilling the users’ needs.
In addition, a well-designed, modern, and up-to-date website will increase the trust and credibility your firm instils in potential clients. Without this, potential clients might leave your website and again, go to a competitor firm that’s website looks more trustworthy.
Finally, regular updates demonstrate that the firm is active and current, increasing its visibility in search engine rankings and making it more likely to be discovered by users searching for legal services bringing more traffic to your website. If your traffic has plummeted, it might be that content that was working before is no longer seeing the same search traffic because it is outdated, or keywords have changed.
So, how often should you be updating your law firm's website?
How long is a piece of string?! Although each law firm will have different processes for updating their website – some might have content written and uploaded by an agency regularly, some might add a new blog post and check content every month, and others might only give it a quarterly check, there are some best practices to follow.
We would recommend:
- Reviewing your content monthly and making any necessary changes.
- Staying up to date on industry changes (such as the ‘Reject All’ cookies banner we mentioned above) and updating your website content accordingly.
- Adding monthly blog posts.
- Editing your website with seasonal content – such as adding seasonal opening hours or even a Christmas logo around the festive period.
- Changing your website to reflect a change in branding, ownership or to show off your law firm’s personality if you have grown or matured.
By updating your law firm website at regular periods, your firm can be sure that its website is performing for the search engines and your clients, and showing your firm in the best light.
If you’d like to discuss improving your law firm’s website, we’d love to help! We have over 19 years of experience in helping law firms become more successful online.
Get in touch at sales@conscious.co.uk or 0117 325 0200.