Websites Aren't Built in a Day

Design Layout

With your firm's wireframes approved, you are now ready to begin design exploration. For many firms, this is the phase that most attorneys have been waiting for. Everyone begins to get excited when the design team is ready to present “concepts” to the firm that will hopefully result in a winning design direction and a communication style that will represent the firm's culture. Because this is one the most engaging or “sexy” phases of any new website assignment, many design and marketing professionals soon learn that while they have been painstakingly developing and reviewing the earlier phases of the firm's new website ' the sitemaps and wireframes ' many of the firm's attorneys may have not have been as engaged or focused on these stages. As a result, once designs are presented to the firm, quite often this is when you begin to hear from your lawyers about changes and/or edits to the website's navigation and/or architecture. This also happens when sitemaps or wireframes have not been shared outside of your committee before moving on to the design phase.

Remember, the larger you grow your circle of support, the easier it will be later when naysayers pop up after the launch complaining that they don't like aspects of the site. You should be aware that changes requested during the design concept phase ' changes that most likely could have been caught during the sitemap or wireframe stages ' will only delay your website project. Unfortunately, this is when the marketing and design team learn that the firm's lawyers simply didn't have a full understanding of what the sitemap and wireframes represented to the website assignment when they were presented. Had they been better educated regarding the importance of these phases, it is likely that they would have identified these edits much earlier.

Because these initial stages do not have images or illustrations representing the firm's personality, many lawyers on the website committee simply entrust these stages to the marketing team, and only give a cursory review of the sitemap and wireframes so that they can get to the creative phase. When changes are requested at the creative concept phase, lawyers tend to become frustrated when they learn that edits and changes requested at this point take longer to make than those made during the sitemap or wireframe phase. One of the most important lessons that you can take away from this article is that the better you and your lawyers review and suggest edits during the wireframe phase, the greater the opportunity you will have that your website project will stay on track and launch on schedule.

Initial Concepts

When design agencies make the initial design concept presentations, most will present two to three concepts that represent a specific direction based on the firm's strategic plan and brand platform. In many cases, firms are shown only a few pages ' generally the home page, a bio page and perhaps one other main page of the website ' so that a specific design direction can be selected by the firm before all the other pages of the firm's website are done. At this juncture, it is important to go outside of your website committee, again so that you can get additional input and opinions from other members of the firm's leadership and continue to build your circle of support.

Expect this stage to take two to three rounds of revisions before
everyone is comfortable with a specific design concept and direction. The design stage typically involves moving the information outlined in the planning stage further into reality. The main objectives during this phase are for firm leaders to reach a general consensus on the site's structure and, more importantly, the specific visual representation that will eventually represent the firm in a unique way while resonating with your target audiences. Upon completion of the design concept phase, the website should more or less be ready to move forward in the areas of content development and any special features like blogs, video, event registration pages, as well as recruiting or alumni pages.

Content Strategy

As important as having a sound design strategy, you also need to have a well-defined content strategy. Most everyone will agree that one of the keys to a successful website redesign is to make sure you have an easy-to-use Content Management System (CMS) that will allow you to develop and enter content that is specific to your firm on a regular and ongoing basis. Fresh content is what keeps a website relevant and current. Most people who visit a website will only scan your content. Therefore, it's important that the firm develops eye-catching headlines followed by copy that is written in plain, straightforward English and not “legalese.”

Your website is the first place that most of your clients and prospects will look to learn about you, your lawyers and your areas of expertise. It should speak to your external audiences in a way that they find engaging and not what you feel you need tell them. When developing a website content strategy, it's important to focus on your external audiences, providing information that will be of use to your current and prospective clients as opposed to being internally focused. Gone are the days where firms simply took their brochure copy and used that as the basis of their website content.

In his article “How to Write Effective Web Copy,” Herman Drost suggests a number of solid ideas, including: “Writing effective web copy begins with an understanding of what the goals of your website are. Remember that you are trying to get someone that you can't see and may have never met take steps towards building a relationship with your [lawyers] or your [law firm].”

This is where it's important to revisit your brand platform or creative work plan to determine your firm's unique selling proposition and benefits, and focus your copy on these items. Remember to write in an informal style and to keep your sentences simple and easy to understand. Use keywords that will allow search engines to find your site. Also, this is your opportunity to trim the fat and eliminate fluff. Read your bio. Does it go on for pages and pages and include cases that you may have worked on years ago? Ask yourself how long you would stay on your own bio page if you were a stranger to the firm. Look at how you might shorten the narrative of your bios and look for ways to better organize all of the key information on your new bio page so that readers can find information about you that they can relate to.

Finally, monitor your website and see what pages are receiving the most traffic, making sure that you anticipate where your audiences are looking for information. By doing this and adding content to these heavily visited areas, you will only add to the success of your content strategy. This is what will ultimately generate interest in your site and firm.

In the next installment of this article, we will discuss Development and beyond.

In the first installment of this article, which has now expanded to three parts, we began to educate law firm professionals about the many steps required in designing and building an effective website, as well as why law firm websites simply can't be designed and launched in a few short months.

Redoing your firm's website is a collaborative process with specific steps that you should try to follow. The purpose of this three-part article is to review each of those steps so that law firm professionals have a better understanding of website design and development in order to better manage internal expectations when they undertake a website redesign project. The end result should be a website that will resonate with your current and potential clients while effectively differentiating the firm and communicating a unique value proposition.

In the installment herein, we review the more creative and technical aspects that go into the website redesign process, including design layout and content strategy.

Design Layout

With your firm's wireframes approved, you are now ready to begin design exploration. For many firms, this is the phase that most attorneys have been waiting for. Everyone begins to get excited when the design team is ready to present “concepts” to the firm that will hopefully result in a winning design direction and a communication style that will represent the firm's culture. Because this is one the most engaging or “sexy” phases of any new website assignment, many design and marketing professionals soon learn that while they have been painstakingly developing and reviewing the earlier phases of the firm's new website ' the sitemaps and wireframes ' many of the firm's attorneys may have not have been as engaged or focused on these stages. As a result, once designs are presented to the firm, quite often this is when you begin to hear from your lawyers about changes and/or edits to the website's navigation and/or architecture. This also happens when sitemaps or wireframes have not been shared outside of your committee before moving on to the design phase.

Remember, the larger you grow your circle of support, the easier it will be later when naysayers pop up after the launch complaining that they don't like aspects of the site. You should be aware that changes requested during the design concept phase ' changes that most likely could have been caught during the sitemap or wireframe stages ' will only delay your website project. Unfortunately, this is when the marketing and design team learn that the firm's lawyers simply didn't have a full understanding of what the sitemap and wireframes represented to the website assignment when they were presented. Had they been better educated regarding the importance of these phases, it is likely that they would have identified these edits much earlier.

Because these initial stages do not have images or illustrations representing the firm's personality, many lawyers on the website committee simply entrust these stages to the marketing team, and only give a cursory review of the sitemap and wireframes so that they can get to the creative phase. When changes are requested at the creative concept phase, lawyers tend to become frustrated when they learn that edits and changes requested at this point take longer to make than those made during the sitemap or wireframe phase. One of the most important lessons that you can take away from this article is that the better you and your lawyers review and suggest edits during the wireframe phase, the greater the opportunity you will have that your website project will stay on track and launch on schedule.

Initial Concepts

When design agencies make the initial design concept presentations, most will present two to three concepts that represent a specific direction based on the firm's strategic plan and brand platform. In many cases, firms are shown only a few pages ' generally the home page, a bio page and perhaps one other main page of the website ' so that a specific design direction can be selected by the firm before all the other pages of the firm's website are done. At this juncture, it is important to go outside of your website committee, again so that you can get additional input and opinions from other members of the firm's leadership and continue to build your circle of support.

Expect this stage to take two to three rounds of revisions before
everyone is comfortable with a specific design concept and direction. The design stage typically involves moving the information outlined in the planning stage further into reality. The main objectives during this phase are for firm leaders to reach a general consensus on the site's structure and, more importantly, the specific visual representation that will eventually represent the firm in a unique way while resonating with your target audiences. Upon completion of the design concept phase, the website should more or less be ready to move forward in the areas of content development and any special features like blogs, video, event registration pages, as well as recruiting or alumni pages.

Content Strategy

As important as having a sound design strategy, you also need to have a well-defined content strategy. Most everyone will agree that one of the keys to a successful website redesign is to make sure you have an easy-to-use Content Management System (CMS) that will allow you to develop and enter content that is specific to your firm on a regular and ongoing basis. Fresh content is what keeps a website relevant and current. Most people who visit a website will only scan your content. Therefore, it's important that the firm develops eye-catching headlines followed by copy that is written in plain, straightforward English and not “legalese.”

Your website is the first place that most of your clients and prospects will look to learn about you, your lawyers and your areas of expertise. It should speak to your external audiences in a way that they find engaging and not what you feel you need tell them. When developing a website content strategy, it's important to focus on your external audiences, providing information that will be of use to your current and prospective clients as opposed to being internally focused. Gone are the days where firms simply took their brochure copy and used that as the basis of their website content.

In his article “How to Write Effective Web Copy,” Herman Drost suggests a number of solid ideas, including: “Writing effective web copy begins with an understanding of what the goals of your website are. Remember that you are trying to get someone that you can't see and may have never met take steps towards building a relationship with your [lawyers] or your [law firm].”

This is where it's important to revisit your brand platform or creative work plan to determine your firm's unique selling proposition and benefits, and focus your copy on these items. Remember to write in an informal style and to keep your sentences simple and easy to understand. Use keywords that will allow search engines to find your site. Also, this is your opportunity to trim the fat and eliminate fluff. Read your bio. Does it go on for pages and pages and include cases that you may have worked on years ago? Ask yourself how long you would stay on your own bio page if you were a stranger to the firm. Look at how you might shorten the narrative of your bios and look for ways to better organize all of the key information on your new bio page so that readers can find information about you that they can relate to.

Finally, monitor your website and see what pages are receiving the most traffic, making sure that you anticipate where your audiences are looking for information. By doing this and adding content to these heavily visited areas, you will only add to the success of your content strategy. This is what will ultimately generate interest in your site and firm.

In the next installment of this article, we will discuss Development and beyond.