The way consumers access the internet is changing. In 2014, mobile surpassed desktop as the most commonly used way to browse the web. This trend is continuing, so it is vitally important for law firms to have a mobile-friendly website. Any law firm has numerous reasons to provide potential clients with a fast, easy-to-use mobile website.
Reason #1: You’ll keep potential clients on your website
Consumers expect web pages to load quickly – especially while browsing on a mobile device. In fact, 40% of mobile users will leave a web page if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load according to a study by KISSMetrics. Mobile users even expect pages on their phone to load faster than desktop pages! As if this wasn’t reason enough to adopt a mobile-optimized site, the study also revealed that nearly half of surveyed mobile users reported that they will go to a competitor’s site if a page is taking too long to load on their phone.
What does this mean for your firm’s website? You could be losing clients if your pages are too slow. This is especially true if you practice law in a very saturated market such as Social Security disability or personal injury.
If your visitors can’t find what they need quickly, they’ll turn to another firm. The average user expects web pages to load in less than two seconds, so you should make sure your website loads quickly. You can easily check if your website is fast with Google’s PageSpeed Insights.
Reason #2: Your site will appear higher on Google’s result pages
Every year, Google implements algorithm changes that adjust which websites appear at the top of its search result pages. These updates are made in an effort to keep the most relevant and useful websites readily available for consumers. Last year Google released an algorithm change that affected mobile sites. Websites that were mobile friendly showed up near the top of search engine results, and those without a mobile site dropped in results.
This means that potential clients may not even be able to find your firm’s website. Instead of a link to your legal practice showing at the top of a user’s search results, links to the competitors who practice law in your city or in your same area of law will appear higher than your firm’s website. Why is this order so critical? According to MOZ, up to 90% of clicks will occur on the first page of search results, and of these, 40% will go to the first result. If your firm’s website isn’t optimized for mobile, you could miss out on a lot of potential clients.
Reason #3: Mobile helps assist conversion rates.
According to a study preformed by SurveyMonkey, nearly two out of three of adults bring their phone with them to the bathroom. Despite this, the restroom is not the ideal place to make a purchase or place a call. In fact, no matter where they are, mobile users often take multiple steps before they make a purchase or, in your case, hire an attorney.
But at some point, either later in the day or weeks after their initial visit, an interested buyer will go back to the same website on a desktop and make a purchase. This is what’s known as a cross-channel conversion. Traffic came from one channel (in this case, mobile), left the website, and later returned to complete a goal on a separate device.
Adding a mobile-optimized “Contact Us” form can help your firm catch these cross-channel conversions, which will lead to more inbound calls and potential cases for your firm.
Ready to embrace mobile? Here’s what to do.
Updating your site for mobile may not be a quick fix, even if you have your own in-house web development team. Depending on the size of your website, it could be a large undertaking and require your developers to spend weeks or even months on the update. Even without your own in-house team, making the migration to mobile is critical for law firms’ success in 2016 and beyond.