Why Do Some Law Firm Websites Fail to Deliver ROI?

Many law firms are hesitant to invest in website promotion and good web design because they are concerned about getting a good return on their investment. However, investing in a law firm website is somewhat different than investing in other forms of marketing.

About Measuring Website ROI

When making decisions based on projected ROI,  one should first determine how they will measure it. A law firm website, however, can pose a challenge in this particular assessment.

This is because an attorney website is not only a direct client development tool, it is an indirect one. Direct conversions can be tracked with web analytics but indirect website conversions are harder to track for attorneys.

For example, a potential client may first hear about a particular attorney from a friend or referral source. After hearing about this attorney, the potential client may turn to Google to find more information. This should lead them to the lawyer’s website, where they can either re-affirm their decision to contact the lawyer or decide not to.

Tracking the above scenario via web analytics would be difficult since the potential client visited the lawyer through a Google search of the lawyer’s name. Unfortunately, we would not know the exact percentage of such searches that were actually the result of someone making a referral. Therefore, tracking ROI here would be somewhat problematic.

Although tracking ROI can be a challenge, there are clear reasons why a lawyer website may fail to deliver results. Below are a few suspected reasons.

Failing to Speak to the Potential Client

A website may fail because it failed to address the audience. For example, if a website is too focused on an attorney’s background without explaining why this background is important to clients, the website my fail to reach the visitor.

Failing to Make a Good Impression

An attorney website that is poorly designed will fail to make a positive impression. A poorly designed site will look dated and fail to project a modern and stable image for the law firm it represents. In comparison, a well designed site will make a firm look successful and stable.

Failing to Optimize for Search

A site may fail to develop new leads if it is not optimized for search. Good Search Engine Optimization for lawyers requires monitoring and routine updating. What was good SEO a few years ago may not be good today. Moreover, in order to drive a significant volume of organic search traffic to a site, the site will need links to it. Without a significant link building campaign to support a site’s launch, significant search results will be difficult to achieve.

There are many reasons why a site may fail to deliver ROI, but the above are a few of the primary reasons.