Most law firm websites don’t need rebuilding. Most of them need defining.
The case below is one example of what that means in practice. The firm is anonymous at their request, the numbers are real and the work took eighteen months from first audit to the marketing report that produced these results.
The firm
A mid size regional UK firm with offices across two counties. Commercial law, private client, residential conveyancing, plus a sub-brand for a specialist service line. Strong directory presence. Established brand. A small in-house marketing team carrying both commercial and private-client responsibility, plus the supplier relationships that came with it.
A typical mid size firm in nearly every respect.
The starting position
The site looked like it was performing. Search rankings strong. Organic traffic two thirds of all sessions. The agency’s quarterly report showed steady year on year growth.
Underneath, the picture was different. Return visitor rate stuck at 12%. Bounce rates on the most visited content above 85%. Pages per session down 10% year on year. Mobile speed score 43 out of 100.
And the lead number didn’t add up. The agency was reporting 640 leads for the previous full year. Google Analytics showed 78 goal completions. Nobody had agreed which number was the real one.
What we changed
Five things, none of them a rebuild.
We agreed a working definition of a lead, written down, used everywhere from then on.
We rebuilt the home page. Two clear user paths above the fold instead of a wall of services. Wireframe first, content second, development third.
We fixed the sign-up form. It had been a 404 for three months before anyone in the marketing team noticed.
We reviewed hosting. The firm was paying £530 a month for a dedicated server it didn’t need. We moved providers, freed up budget for a content writer.
We updated the news template and pruned the old articles dragging the engagement numbers down.
Twelve months on
Q2 FY22 marketing report, year-to-date.
Online enquiries up 190% year on year. Web traffic up 8% year on year, 40% quarter on quarter. Search volumes up 16%. Press coverage up 30%. Share of voice up 319%.
The commercial team alone saw enquiries rise 233% year on year. The hosting saving paid back the consulting fees inside the first year.
What this means for you
The full case study runs through the audit findings, the strategy, the timeline and the work in much more detail. If you’re a marketing lead at a mid size firm and any of this sounds familiar, it’s worth a read.
See the full case study – How a mid size regional UK law firm grew online enquiries by 190% without rebuilding their website
If you’d like a confidential conversation about a similar piece of work at your firm, get in touch.