Before writing this article, I went through over 100 different law firms’ websites and looked at their “free consultation” page.
A few observations:
1. Every lawyer offers a free consult/evaluation.
2. Every lawyer cares about me.
3. Every lawyer is honest.
4. Every lawyer has experience.
5. Every lawyer has results.
6. Every lawyer will listen.
7. Every lawyer will put my interests first.
And it goes on and on.
The bottom line is that when a person is contemplating contacting you, your free consult page is one of the most (potentially) valuable pages on your website. It is equally one of the most overlooked pages by law firms.
When someone gets to the point where they’re asking the question, “Do I want to talk with this firm?” you must show them how you can help them get to where they want to go.
This means that your credentials are only as good as the clarity of why they matter to me. I don’t care that you have 120 years of combined experience. What I care is that through your years of experience, you’ve developed a clear set of strategies to help people in my specific situation achieve the best possible outcomes in court.
If you haven’t given your free consultation page serious consideration and attention, you’re doing yourself a disservice.
This is the page you want to link to at the end of each page where you say, “And if you’d like to talk to our firm, click here to contact us.” This is the page you should use when retargeting. This is the page that you should send to people who are asking, “But…do I really want/need you?”
Sending your website visitors to a generic “Contact Us” page is cold and not compelling.
I think you might get the picture. So, let’s dive in.
The Big Picture
Is it easy for the individual to contact you?
Looking at your website and looking at your free consultation page, is it easy for the user to contact you? Do their eyes quickly identify what they are supposed to do next and how to do it?
Does the reader understand why they should contact you?
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As I mentioned above, every lawyer sounds the same. Even the lawyers that I can tell poured significant thought into their website copy…they pretty much all sound the same. When people hire a law firm, they’re hiring a team of people to help. What makes your firm unique? Does that come across clearly? Or are you just another attorney?
Do you connect with the reader’s emotions?
Lawyers are extremely guilty of writing “lawyerly” and sounding cold and emotionally removed. The fact is, humans, rely heavily on their “gut” and emotions to direct their decision-making. You might “logically” be the better lawyer, but…are you connecting to their emotions and helping them feel like their future will be better with you?
Do you address major questions and objections?
Most lawyer pages just spit out facts about the law firm and aren’t written to methodically address the concerns and hesitation in the mind of the reader. Your job is to help the individual understand how you’re going to make their life better. This means anticipating questions and building in responses onto your page. Sometimes this is as simple as having a FAQ section. Other times, it means weaving concepts in and out of your sentences to really help connect two and two in the reader’s mind.
Does the reader understand what they get out of a consult?
People have a lot of negative views on lawyers and many may be skeptical about a “free” consultation. Others simply have no idea what to expect. What will happen in a consultation? Why should they do it? Do I really need one? It’s your job to set them at ease and help them understand the value. Just as if you’re selling a product or service, you need to sell the value of this free consultation. It costs them time, too.
The Details
What to Include on the Page?
The contact form.
There are a lot of details below.
A compelling headline.
You need to capture the interest of the reader immediately. Help them understand why they should care.
Text explaining the consultation.
Here you want to build trust, make your firm feel human, and set expectations for what happens next. Make sure you’re connecting with the reader’s emotions and helping them see why talking with you is beneficial to them.
Video content.
Text is pretty easy to write, and video is resource-intensive. If you have any quality video content that tells people about your firm, put it on this page. It’s important to have a range of types of media users can consume as some will value video more than others.
Next Month we will continue with “The Contact Form”.
