The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/448505
WWW.ILTANET.ORG 41 About the Author Deborah McMurray is the CEO and Strategy Architect of Content Pilot LLC, a strategy and technology company that serves law firms around the U.S. Specializing in websites, proposal centers and experience management, Content Pilot has won numerous "Best of" awards from National Law Journal and other publications. She also writes the popular Law Firm 4.0 Blog. Contact her at mcmurray@contentpilot.net. Where should you start? The "2013 Am Law 100 Websites: Ten Foundational Best Practices," a research study that analyzed these top public websites, provides firms a framework for the conversations that precede a refresh or full redesign. Although the firms in this study represent America's largest, the website takeaways are scalable to firms of any size. There are 10 foundational best practices and, consequently, 10 areas of focus in the study; several attributes fall underneath each major topic area. Here are the findings for five of the 10 areas of focus: navigation, lawyer bios, website content (other than lawyer bios), interactivity and social outreach, and mobility. How would your firm's website rate in each category? There are three types of website visitors: searchers, navigators and browsers. Type A people start with search. If they can't find what they want with your search, they try your navigation. Business people typically don't browse on their computers during the day, but they do browse on their tablets at night. Here's how navigation was rated. Note: Researchers rated each attribute on a scale of one to 100. The numbers below represent the average score (for each attribute) received by the Am Law 100 firm websites. • Global and local navigation styles are consistent – a visitor doesn't have to relearn new styles throughout the site – 93.8 • Global navigation uses mega-menus/cascades that give visitors one-click access – 34.6 • Easy to navigate across multiple devices – smartphones, tablets, desktops – 67.6 • Cross-linking promotes horizontal travel from one section of the site to the next – 87.7 An interesting finding here is the low average score of 34.6 for the use of mega-menu or cascading navigation. This is the only way to consistently meet the one-click standard. In 2010, Am Law 100 firms scored an average of 86.5, which is Excellent. With updates made to this foundational best practice in 2013, they only scored 70.9. This indicates firms aren't keeping up with the standards set by the broad Web industry or the expectations of sophisticated website visitors. Only one firm scored 100 for navigation, and 13 firms scored Excellent, which was a score of 86 to 100. We know, based on website analytics, that at least 50 percent of visitors are viewing lawyer biographies. It is the primary reason they are coming to your website. There are a lot of attributes in this section, but none are wildly trendy or new. They are just smart characteristics to engage your visitors more, and to keep them on your bios longer. Remember, the numbers below represent the average score received by all Am Law 100 firm websites (on a scale of one to 100). • First 150 characters of the bio are current, compelling and relevant for SEO benefit – 77 • Overview paragraph – first two to three sentences are descriptive of the work the lawyer does and the types of clients the lawyer represents – 84 • Bio does not use Mr. or Ms. Lastname throughout – it uses the lawyer's first or nickname – 35 • Current photos that convey personality – 87 • Full contact info is easy to find and links to v-card – 99 • Bio includes links to social media profiles and pages – 32 • Bios list and crosslink to practices/industries, articles/news/events – 84 NAVIGATION LAWYER BIOS 2013 AmLaw 100 Websites: Ten Foundational Best Practices Research Prepared for the ILTA Webinar April 30, 2014 LEARN MORE ONLINE Watch the webinar recording "2013 Am Law 100 Website Study: Ten Foundational Best Practices and Trends for 2014" 14% 26% 58% 2% 0% EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR POOR UNACCEPTABLE Find the recording online at iltanet.org under the recordings tab. HOW DID AM LAW 100 WEBSITES RATE IN NAVIGATION?