As we design and build law firm websites, we see similar issues arise, time and again. One of the most time-consuming conundrums is the Practice section, often compounded by an Industry section. Read on for a few tips to organizing your Practice area and Industry content.
Practices Versus Industries
Some law firm sites have separate sections for Practices and Industries, some mix them together, and some just list Practices. There is no standard or “right” answer. The only typical thing is how complex and convoluted these sections tend to be. Why all the confusion? Usually, the problem comes down to two issues: (1) content “bloat,” and (2) “lawyer-speak.”
Less is More
Adding a Practice or Industry page takes time, but deleting one can also be a challenge. These pages must represent your firm’s core focus of work, not an area one attorney has handled once or twice. Prospective clients expect significant experience for every Practice and Industry you include on your website. Take a hard look and edit your lists regularly.
Services Not Practices
Lawyers understand what “Practice Areas” are. But outside of law firm websites, that phrase is rarely used. Understanding how site visitors think, talk, and search is crucial for an effective website.
Visitors to your site may have an immediate issue and want to know if you can help them. But they may not know to look under a heading called “Practices.” So, rather than including a long list of practice areas that may be overwhelming, define and succinctly describe the “Services” that you provide. Services may include pages such as:
- Intellectual Property
- Labor & Employment
- Litigation
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Trusts & Estates
- Etc.
If your firm offers a wide array of services, you may need to create main service areas with secondary pages underneath all or some. Doing so helps users navigate more easily without becoming overwhelmed.
Importance of Industries
Many IP firms do a good job streamlining their Services and Industries. Fitch Even, for example, has one landing page called “Capabilities” where they list both, each with a graphic icon. As a full-service firm, the Morse website breaks services into four simple buckets, each with sub-pages to help viewers navigate intuitively. Looking at other industries, this CPA firm and this Engineering firm have simple drop-down menus from their main navigation with Services and Industries (or Markets).
Visitors to your site know what industry their business is in, and want to see how your firm can help them with their issues. Industry pages explain your attorneys’ expertise within that field and often reference multiple services clients in that industry regularly need. Remember to cross-link industry pages with related service pages, rather than writing duplicative copy. Industries may include pages such as:
- Automotive
- Energy
- Health Care
- Life Sciences
- Real Estate
- Etc.
Again, you may want to organize content into main industries with sub-pages, depending on the variety of industries you work with.
Common Causes for Confusion
So often, sites have duplicative or extremely similar text on Practice and Industry pages. Usually, the industry-specific work you do can be covered on an industry page. Assure attorneys that content will not get missed if it’s only mentioned on an Industry page — most users are more inclined to look there. If you have a lot of duplicative content and can’t get buy-in to streamline it, combining practices and industries into one section may be a good solution. When everything is in one grouping, attorneys are generally more willing to remove duplicates.
Consider Case Studies
Case studies can be a great way to illustrate your work and how you added value, solved a problem, and helped a client. Instead of including another practice page (especially if it’s not an area where you’ve done a lot of work), try writing a case story. Case story pages should also be cross-linked to related service and industry pages.
Looking at the Numbers
If you manage your law firm’s website and review the analytics, you’ll undoubtedly see that the Practice pages are not big winners when it comes to site traffic. Is this because visitors to law websites are not interested in what law firms do? Or are they confused and overwhelmed by the endlessly long practice area lists and pages? I’m a firm believer that improving (shortening, consolidating, better organizing) content will enhance the users’ experience and increase the time spent on these pages.
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