Whilst browsing on the web earlier we were reminded of an interesting way of assessing the strength of a brand. We noticed an article about a well known law firm, TLT Solicitors, which has won a number of awards.

We decided to take a look at how strong the firm is online, since most successful businesses now take the web seriously and have websites worth checking out.

Cutting a long story short, frankly, we’re not all that impressed with the TLT website but clearly, the firm is outstanding in many other ways and perhaps is in a strong enough position to currently not overly worry about it’s online presence (we would argue that’s shortsighted).

The interesting thing to come out of our seo tests on the site was that we noticed that the cost per click of the branded search for TLT solicitors come sin at a whopping 19 dollars which is very high for a law firm. It means that other firms or organisations recognise the strength of the TLT brand and consider that if they can get clicks for branded searches, the potential client may be of value. It’s a little odd that other forms might think that someone searching for TLT Solicitors might instead visit another law site, but the main point is that the cost per click is useful as an indicator of brand strength, and clearly TLT has a strong brand.

Branding has become a  far more significant issue for law firms in a  much more competitive and fast changing environment. We work with several law firms including Darlingtons and Gannons and whilst their primary rationale for investing in online marketing remains immediate work via prominence in the search engine rankings, they are increasingly recognising that there is  long term pay off in that high rankings for multiple keywords builds brand awareness. On the basis that many potential clients may only trust the name of a law firm they have seen a number of times over a period, and that with decision to buy legal services it could be months before a client returns after an initial visit, the value of a brand is obvious.

With the veritable avalanche of websites and information on the web, being different has never been more important.

In some sectors, such as with solicitors or anything relating to professional services, being different seems like an anathema to most, but even i these sectors, most of us make a value judgment as much on the look and feel of a website as content.

It’s a fact, some would think bizarrely, that even the best websites have an initial bounce rate from a home page of upwards of 50%. This clearly indicates that if we don’t like the look of a page, we will simply go elsewhere.

Even where specific information is being sought or a service such as no win no fee injury solicitors, the average amount of time spent on a webpage for a law firm is less than 2 minutes.

Aesthetic judgments will often be made if a website looks dated, if it is static and looks old fashioned – the implication from this is perhaps that the law firm itself is dated and “old school”. then there’;s the other style of website which many still seem to utilise, which is very “busy”. In other words a website page that has a lot of different components on it. This sort of approach always puts me off, and is against the principles suggested on sites like Mashable and Unbouce.

Given such a short window of opportunity to start a visitor (and potential customer) journey 3 things are worth considering :-

1. the power of an initial visually strong message

2. a single clear message on the home page and other strategically important pages, where the visitor’s attention and eye are drawn to 1 or maximum 2 things on the page – a good example of this less is more in our view in the legal sector is the Mishcon de Reya website

3. a different approach – different may be risky, but different is important in an ever more saturated online world.

In industries like law, which are risk averse, it is worth sometimes experimenting but in ways which are relatively safe. If you have a main firm website which performs well, why not try a radically different microsite approach ? That way you are not putting all your eggs in 1 basket and can try and test different things. A firm who definitely embrace this type of approach is this law firm in London. They have a variety of microsites and have just launched a new employment law site which is radically different to any other law firm website we have seen, with a very striking wallpaper type effect which is more commonly seen on artistic sites such as photographers or fashion site design. Interestingly, the firm advises us that they have deliberately adopted a high risk approach with a view to being different and they acknowledge that the site may not appeal to traditionalists.

As James Swede, the firm’s Senior Partner says “Darlingtons don’t try tio be different, we simply are. Anyone visiting our new site will see, within a second or two, that we are different, we don’t need to say anything, certainly not the usual cliches about being different you see on so many other law related sites. Ours is a firm of action, not words”.

For another site with a look and feel different to the many other staid sites in it’s sector is the Blackhawk London website, which, inlike almost every other investigative services site, has pictures and profiles of it’s team on the site. In an industry under fire for shady practices and where trust is paramount, Blackhawk tel us that it was a no brainer to do this.

Here is  quick introductory link to a fascinating article about semantic search.