In the world we inhabit design impacts behavior, and those who understand how to impact behavior adjust their designs accordingly. According to Dr. B.J. Fogg, three elements must come together at the same time in order for a desired behavior to occur. These three elements are motivation, ability and trigger. Should the desired behavior not occur, you can assume one of the three elements was not present.

How, you might ask, do these three elements of behavior relate to your legal website? Well, presumably the goal of your law firm’s website is to achieve maximum conversion. You want visitors to your website to receive something of value and, in turn, become a client. You want your visitors to be highly motivated to call your office and set up an appointment, you want that action to be easily accomplished and you want a trigger in place that prompts that behavior.

Motivation

Looking at the three elements separately, let’s consider motivation. In most cases you can presume that your visitor already has a certain amount of motivation to come to your website. After all, few people browse legal websites with no goal in mind. Most people who click on a legal website have a particular problem which they need an attorney’s help with; they are motivated to find the help they need. Your use of an effective design, layout and sales copy can certainly boost motivation, but it is nearly impossible to create motivation in this instance artificially.

Although there are many motivators, hope and fear are possibly the two most likely to bring visitors to your website. If the person has been arrested or a family member has been arrested, then they are fearful for the future. Hope is where your website comes in. You must offer both high-quality information as well as hope that you can use your legal skills to increase the odds of a positive future.

Ability

Next comes ability which is essentially whether the task at hand is easy for the person to accomplish. In other words, if you want your visitors to sign up for your weekly legal newsletter yet it takes filling out a long form to do so, you have made the task difficult—and in most cases any level of difficulty on the Internet causes visitors to hit the back button and seek out a more user-friendly website. Motivation is simply not enough when you are looking for conversions. It’s more effective to make the task easier to accomplish rather than artificially attempting to increase motivation. Simplicity is key for your legal website; it can be very professionally and well-designed while still being simple for the average user to navigate.

Trigger

Finally comes the trigger—if there is no appropriate trigger the desired behavior will simply not occur even if motivation and ability are firmly in place. The trigger is what causes human beings to take action, so your call to action on your website is a trigger. Watch the content of your trigger carefully and remember that the trigger must proceed in small, easy-to-accomplish steps rather that a blaring “hire me now” button. When the three elements come together beautifully you likely have a highly experienced website designer to thank! 

Finding a Web Designer Who Understands Lawyer Websites

We are experts in lawyer website design and would appreciate the opportunity to discuss highly successful strategies for your legal website. When you call you will speak with a knowledgeable consultant rather than a sales rep. Call (800) 877-2776 today for your free consultation.