Thanks to local television commercials and giant billboards plastered with mustached faces, certain types attorneys and lawyers have, over the years, gotten the reputation for being, at the very least, cheesy and insincere. While not every attorney has to deal with this type of image, every attorney needs to understand the importance of using professional design and images on their website.
When a viewer first comes to your website, they instantly look at your images and visual marketing. Though the words are important, great text laid over run-of-the-mill stock images won’t get you customers.
In fact, it could actually lose you the ones you already have. Because attorneys and lawyers work from a foundation of trust, relationships matter. And, as most of us know, first impressions are everything when developing a new relationship.
Here are a few facts you should know:
- When it comes to communication, 93% of it is visual
- When your audience sees an image on your website, it’s processed 600,000 times faster than text (which means they’ll make a judgment before their logical brain can even catch up)
- 80% of everything your audience sees is remembered versus only 20% of what they read
- When you include great, professional visuals on your website, that page is 40 times more likely to be shared on social media
By investing in professional design and quality images for your website, you tell your potential clients that they matter. Just as you would dress nicely on a first date, the images and visuals you select are equally important.
Stock images are used prolifically in marketing and, because people are exposed to them a lot, it’s easy for the majority of them to spot the ones that are cheap and cheesy. Or, even worse, the ones that are cold, impersonal, and irrelevant.
The best way to make your website’s visuals look professional?
Here are three website secrets that will dramatically improve your firm’s visual marketing strategy:
- Have a style guide and stick to it. In order to come across as professional, your images and visuals need to be consistent. Know your colors, know your fonts, know your mood and stick with those decisions. Don’t publish or post visuals, especially static ones on your website, that don’t adhere to your brand’s style.
- Create custom infographics. People love infographics, which is why they’re one of the most shared features on a lawyer’s website. Although you can post an infographic created for someone else (as long as you give credit and follow proper copyright law), nothing is more compelling (or professional) than a great-looking graphic made just for you and your firm.
- Don’t be afraid to spend money. There are a lot of decisions to make about where you’re going to spend your marketing budget, but you’ll never regret spending it on great visuals and professional images. Not only will it help convert leads to clients, but, because clients will be compelled to share your website’s pages, it will help the word get out about your services too.
