Your website is one of the most important parts of your business. It’s often people’s first impression of your practice, so it needs to reflect your professionalism and expertise. You don’t need to be a graphic designer to make your website look good. You just need to understand some of the core professionals of building a professional online appearance.
Colors
In law firm web design, you want to keep your color palette to a minimum. Flashy colors or high-contrast elements can make you seem less serious and less professional. Instead, pick your core brand color and use iterations of that on your website.
Many law groups choose to use soothing, trusting colors, such as blue or green. You can use various shades of your primary color and complement it with a neutral tone, such as white or gray. This gives your website depth and character without distracting from your content or the seriousness of your work.
Font
Similar to the colors you choose, you need to choose a professional font that represents your brand. Stay clear of script or designer fonts that might be difficult to read.
Traditionally, professional agencies would use a seriffed font but few websites go for this level of formality. Instead, look for plain sans serif fonts that are easy to read and straightforward in design, such as Arial and Helvetica.
Header
The most important part of any website is its header. As you build your legal website, remember to keep these elements in your header:
- Business name
- Business logo
- Services page
- Call to action
Your business name or logo (it’s best to choose one or the other) should be at the top left of the page. This will be the first thing people see when they come to your site. The other elements will be on the right side of your head, with the call to action most prominent. Most people include a button that takes visitors directly to your landing page.
You can always include more elements if needed, but it’s recommended to keep your drop-down menu to no more than four items.
Accessibility
As you craft your website, you can’t forget about accessibility. Although not yet a legal requirement for private businesses, adhering to the WCAG guidelines is good practice. This ensures disabled people can access your website and its information with ease.
The foundation of web accessibility is designing sites so they are easy to navigate with keyboard commands and compatible with screen readers. After you finish designing, check your website with an accessibility evaluation tool.
Responsiveness
The final thing to consider, which most web builders account for, is responsive design. The majority of people visit websites on their phones, which means yours has to be compatible with the small screen. Using responsive design is one way to ensure your website automatically adjusts to the user’s screen size instead of being too large, small or awkward to view.
These are the main things to focus on when developing your law firm’s website.
