So, here you are, an awesome local attorney with a fantastic website. Everything looks great and your office is set up, waiting for business and eagerly anticipating call after call. Unfortunately, the phone isn’t ringing, the inbox is on empty, leads dripping in much slower than you’d like.
What’s wrong?
While one quick look at an attorney’s website might not reveal the issue, dig a little deeper and it’s fairly apparent that the majority of lawyers and attorneys online are missing one critical piece when building their website: CTAs.
CTAs, or Calls to Action, are simple, straightforward ways to tell people on your website’s pages exactly what you are needing and wanting them to do. Because it seems so obvious, most website pages actually completely overlook CTAs, assuming that the viewer knows you’re wanting them to fill out a form, add their email address, or pick up the phone and call you.
This assumption, however, is one of the main reasons why great looking websites don’t convert.
In order to have an effective website as an attorney, you have to be generating leads every single day. No matter how many views your website is getting, if those views aren’t turning into leads and converting, then it’s not really doing your practice any favors.
Take a quick look at your website right now and see if you can find your CTAs.
- Where are you specifically telling a viewer exactly what you want them to do?
- How are you telling them what you want?
- Is your CTA hidden or easy to find?
Designing a website that focuses on highlighting CTAs, and creating an experience that takes your visitor from Point A to Point B to Sale, is what many of the top lawyers and attorneys are doing. And, if you’re having a tough time competing with them, it’s probably something you need to consider doing too.
Ready to learn more about the best CTA tips for websites for attorneys and lawyers?
Here are our top six secrets:
- Use Action Words. If your current CTA is just a big green box around your phone number, then it’s not compelling or specific enough. The most effective CTAs use action words, replacing something like “submit” with something more exciting like “get” or “try”. If you were trying to convince someone in person to do something, what would you say to them? “Submitting” or “entering” information is much less intriguing than “reserving” or “saving” or “trying.”
- Show Up, Don’t Show Off. Your CTA needs to be easily found, bold and clear. It doesn’t need to be obnoxious. If you’re CTA text and button takes up a large percentage of the screen or covers other elements, it will look like you’re trying to hard to get business. And, let’s face it, no one wants to work with a needy attorney.
- Short and Sweet. One of the keys to effective CTAs that convert is super simple text. If you already have CTA text written for your website, are there any words you can remove while still conveying your message? As a general rule of thumb, the best CTAs are ones that are only two to five words long. While you can sometimes get away with them being longer, too much text detracts from what CTAs do best – getting people to take action without giving them too much to think about. People, especially online, like to skim. And, if your CTA on your website is too long, it will be skimmed too.
- First Person First. What’s the difference between first person and second person CTAs? First person converts better, and by a lot. Instead of using “you” or “your” in your CTA text, switch to “my” and “mine”. While it might feel strange at first, research shows that this simple change can actually get you 90% more clicks. Why? Psychologists say it has something to do with your customer feeling like you’re more empathetic by placing yourself in their shoes.
- “It’s Urgent, Urgent.” Foreigner might not have understood what a CTA was, but their song is a great one to keep in mind when creating copy for your website. Attorneys and lawyers have an added benefit here because their potential clients are already emotional, making it easier to persuade them that they need to something “Right Now!” Asking your website visitor to “Call” produces much different responses than “Call Today” or “Call Now”.
- Consider Your Colors. An effective CTA on your website isn’t just about the text you write. So much of your CTA’s ability to convert actually has to do with the colors around it. For example, green and orange buttons and text, in general, are much more effective than other colors. Red, although bright and bold, can raise a (red) flag, making people hesitant to click or follow through. Other insights can be gained from some “color psychology” research, such as the fact that black is associated more with luxury and blue evokes a sense of trust and security. In any case, your CTA should be bold, providing visual contrast from the rest of your website design and color schemes.
CTAs are powerful. And, if they’re missing from your website or done ineffectively, then you are likely missing out on clients who were ready to convert, but just didn’t have the motivation to follow through.
Remember, your website’s visitors are looking for your help – that’s why they’re on your website.
Creating great CTAs are actually giving them exactly what they want. Not giving this text to them doesn’t just hurt your law practice, but it is actually off-putting too.
