Drive Website Traffic Through Intuitive Home Page Design

When it comes to implementing a sound online marketing and branding strategy, many law firms tend to focus on external elements like advertising, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and social media. These factors are undeniably vital to the success of a legal practice since they can attract many prospects to a website, but once visitors arrive at the home page, it becomes important to drive even more internal traffic.

One way to capture traffic is through intuitive home page design. A previous paradigm of website design consisted of flash intros and other gimmicks that were not necessarily appropriate for law firms or solo practitioners. While prospects looking for legal services are more likely to be attracted to quality content, the presentation, layout and navigation are crucial to the experience.

What sort of intuitive home page design would apply to an estate planning law firm? The first design element to keep in mind is simplicity and focus. One effective layout consists of a navigation sidebar to the right that offers fixed navigation and a couple of interesting features, such as notable cases won. This sidebar should occupy no more than a quarter of the screen. Bold headlines that speak directly to visitors should appear on the large left column, along with a fresh content item and prominent photographs or social media buttons.

The logo of the law firm should always be placed on the top left corner of every page. The content should follow a certain hierarchy, with the main content arranged in the top center and two complementary articles below it. Instead of displaying entire articles, catchy summaries can be written to entice visitors to click and follow even more content and call to action items.