2010 amlaw 100 websites: ten foundational best practices research results ilta webinar – 12.16.10...
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2010 AmLaw 100 Websites: Ten Foundational Best Practices
Research Results
ILTA Webinar – 12.16.10By Deborah McMurray, CEO/Strategy
Architect Content Pilot LLC
Why Foundational Best Practices?
Launched Amlaw 100 research in 2005 Firms were spending millions . . . and visitors weren’t
any happier 2005, 2006, 2007 and now again in 2010 Certain of the Ten Foundational Best Practices have
evolved in the last 5 years The Web industry has changed Visitor expectations of websites are much higher Buyers of legal services have told us what they want
from a law firm website The 2010 list reflects these changes – and into 2011
2010 Ten Foundational Best Practices
The 2010 list:
1. Communicating your message
2. Graphics and design
3. Navigation
4. Lawyer biographies
5. Narrative content
2010 Ten Foundational Best Practices
The 2010 list, continued:
6. Web site interactivity and outreach
7. Site search
8. Site optimization for online awareness
9. Firm citizenship
10. Site “hygiene”
Foundational Best Practice #1
Communicating your message
Logo, firm name and strategy copy stand out
Practice and industry focus is apparent
Geographic reach is apparent (one office/40 offices)
Contact info is clear and easy to find
Site features (if consistent with strategy/brand):
• Links to foreign language translations
• Personalization if it supports strategy
Amlaw 100 - Foundational Best Practice #1
Avg. score of AmLaw 100 – 80.1 Good
Foundational Best Practice #2
Graphics and Design Web site uses consistent graphics/colors/imagery that adhere to
clearly established design style
Typography is legible, uniform, Web compatible and complements the overall Web site design
Layout is effective in its use of page real estate
Site is compatible with mobile devices
Site is compatible with most popular browsers (IE, Firefox, Safari, AOL)
Amlaw 100 - Foundational Best Practice #2
Avg. score of AmLaw 100 – 87.2 Excellent
Foundational Best Practice #3
Navigation Home/global navigation is obvious and allows visitors
to find what they want in 1-2 clicks
Global and local navigation styles are consistent—visitors don’t have to relearn navigation in different parts of the site
Cross-linking promotes easy horizontal travel from one section of the site to another (bios to practices to articles to news, etc.)
Logo on each interior page has a consistent location and anchors the site by linking back to the home page
Amlaw 100 - Foundational Best Practice #3
Avg. score of AmLaw 100 – 86.5 Excellent
Foundational Best Practice #4
Lawyer biographies First 2-3 sentences of the bio are current, compelling and relevant
to lawyer’s practice (visitor and SEO benefit)
Bio is SEO friendly (think how humans search for people)
Current photos—ones that show personality and support messaging
Full contact info is easy to find and links to v-card
Includes links to social media profiles and pages
Bios list and link to practices/industries, articles/news/events
Bios include deals/cases info that is the most relevant to the practice
Bio design provides for listing most recent deals/cases, pubs and presentations, with a link to >>view all
Amlaw 100 - Foundational Best Practice #4
Avg. score of AmLaw 100 – 65.5 Fair
Foundational Best Practice #5
Narrative Content PRACTICE AND INDUSTRY DESCRIPTIONS
Visitor/client-focused content has consistent language use and is specific
Content is organized intuitively, by services and expertise clients buy, not how the firm is organized
Practices and industries are broken out separately. Add geographic regions as a third option
Descriptions include specifics of deals/cases including client names or descriptions of clients
Cross-linking to other sections of the site is maximized
Foundational Best Practice #5
Narrative Content, continued
NEWS AND PUBLICATIONS
Media contact is clear and easy to find throughout the site
News/press pages are maximized for PR benefit and use by journalists
Headline news populates the home page (SEO benefit)
Sections include “subscribe” features for firm publications
Amlaw 100 - Foundational Best Practice #5
Avg. score of AmLaw 100 – 70.4 Good
Foundational Best Practice #6
Web site interactivity and outreach
Client extranet is offered and accessible
RSS feeds throughout the site
Alumni center
Newsletter and other info sign-up
Links to firm/lawyer blogs on bio, practice and other relevant pages
Offers educational Webinars and podcasts
Effectively uses LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter on careers or other pages
Effectively uses video to further key messaging
Amlaw 100 - Foundational Best Practice #6
Avg. score of AmLaw 100 – 39.5 Poor
Foundational Best Practice #7
Site search Site offers full-site keyword search and advanced search option
throughout the site
Advanced search enables visitors to narrow or refine the search in multiple ways
Search results are clear and well organized
• Most relevant results appear first
• Annotated search results show the context of the search term
Site offers multiple searches, including detailed lawyer search and news/publications/articles/events searches
Separate experience/deals/cases search
Law school alumni search in careers
Amlaw 100 - Foundational Best Practice #7
Avg. score of AmLaw 100 – 51.9 Fair
Foundational Best Practice #8
Site optimization for online search Metatags, keywords, page title and meta descriptions are
correctly used/placed
Page titles are optimized
Images have alt tags that provide alternative text when images can’t be displayed
What is the site’s online awareness—comparative analysis of:
• Google® PageRank
• Number of pages indexed by Google
• Link popularity
Amlaw 100 - Foundational Best Practice #8
Avg. score of AmLaw 100 – 61.2 Fair
More about Foundational Best Practice #8
Site optimization for online search – Firms failed in the following areas: No meta-descriptions or keywords on any pages but
the home page, or the meta-content was very weak (not descriptive enough)
No alt-tags on lawyer bios Every site had source code in it for alt-tags on
images, but few utilized the resource to optimize it No html content on the home page (such as not
including cross-links or an expanded footer) If the domain changed (because of a merger), low
SEO scores – PageRank very low and few indexed pages
Foundational Best Practice #9
Firm citizenship
Site has a statement of core values
Site illustrates firm’s commitment to sustainability
Site illustrates firm’s commitment to diversity
Charitable and civic commitment is described and evident
Pro bono commitment is described in detail, highlighting stories and specific matters
Amlaw 100 - Foundational Best Practice #9
Avg. score of AmLaw 100 – 64.1 Fair
Foundational Best Practice #10
Site “hygiene” Includes up-to-date copyright
No error pages are found
No broken links or images appear during a spot check
Pages print and email easily
Most pages include dynamic “print to PDF” option
Copy and content have been checked for spelling and grammar
Amlaw 100 - Foundational Best Practice #10
Avg. score of AmLaw 100 – 77.7 Good
2010 Amlaw 100 TOTAL
Avg. score of AmLaw 100 – 68.4 Fair
2010 Amlaw 100 Top 25
Excellent – 86-100Good – 71-85Fair – 51-70Poor – 26-50Unacceptable – 0-25
2007 Amlaw 100 TOTAL
Avg. score of AmLaw 100 – 71.2 Good
Deborah McMurray
214.351.9690
Contentpilot.netLaw Firm 4.0 Blog