Unfortunately, many legal websites tend to follow such a similar format that it can be hard to distinguish one from another. You want your site to accurately reflect your brand while being professional and, of course, achieving your goal of maximum conversion. The question many webmasters tend to overlook is whether the site is also easy on the eyes. In other words, does the person landing on the site want to stay and read or are they hitting the back button as fast as they can. Before you begin, consider once again the purpose of your legal website. What do you hope to accomplish and what sort of mood do you want to set for your visitors?
One of the most basic issues on your website is readability. Is it truly easy on the eyes? We have all attempted to read online articles in fancy fonts or on a colored background, or words which were crammed together with little to no whitespace. When a reader struggles to decipher your content not only will they not stay—they will not be back. Consider the fact that most all newspapers and magazines are printed in columns. The purpose is to shorten the lines so that after you’ve read one line it’s easy to find the start of the next. If you don’t want to use columns, center your text with no line of text exceeding 650 pixels in width. Almost all those who use computers have screens at least 1024 x 768 pixels, so keep this in mind when putting your pages together.
There is almost never a reason to place light text on a light background or the flip side: dark text on a dark background. Ensure your text and background are nicely contrasted and no matter how much you want to add color to your site, resist the urge to do so with your actual text. If you actually want visitors to read your website, make sure it is large enough that they actually can read it. 12px is the standard and anything smaller is…well, too small. Use white space intelligently. Make sure there is a bit of space after each line, and don’t crowd your graphics in too close to your content.
While capitalizing a word can draw the reader’s attention, use all caps sparingly. If you want to draw attention to something, make your title bold or in all caps, or even in a different or larger font, but the remainder of the text must be easy to read. The same goes for exclamation points. An article filled with exclamation points does not make it more important, only annoying to the reader. Now, this tip certainly seems like a no-brainer, but you might be surprised how many websites ignore it: Use a spell checker. While there are certainly people in the world who may not notice or care that there are misspelled words on your website, the majority of people do notice and they do care. Misspelled words on your site make you look amateurish and unprofessional or give the reader the idea that you don’t care enough to give your content a once-over prior to publishing.
Finally, make sure that you use graphics sparingly and that they do not detract from your message. For expert help in creating your legal website, you need a designer who is experienced in lawyer website design. We have the experience, the knowledge and a long history of creating stellar websites for legal professionals. For your free consultation, call (800) 877-2776 to speak with a design expert—never a sales representative.
