Your brand is the most important thing and it encompasses who you are as a firm. It tells your story and connects your clients to your people and the services you offer. To be effective, it should be authentic and truly reflective of who you are.
Ask yourself, how many brands do you recognise instantly? Yes, the big brands, Apple, Nike, Amazon, Coca Cola, and they have the big budgets and so can afford to promote their brands on many platforms. But what they do so well, is retain a consistency of brand across every promotional opportunity – which includes their website. Each has an individual approach that is recognisable at every point of contact. We connect with a brand that offers us something special. We connect on an emotional level and ultimately become loyal followers.
We can learn a lot from this. Each brand has a look, a feel, a tone of voice and sparks an emotion in each of us. We can be engaged, inspired, intrigued, informed, and start to believe that this brand is trustworthy and credible.
Trust in our brand is key. So, what can your website do to promote your law firm’s brand?
7 Ways to Ensure Your Website Reflects Your Brand
Know Your Target Audience
Understand who it is that you want to appeal to. Images can be powerful and reflect a lifestyle or attitude that your clients can relate to.
But, they can be equally off-putting, if too high-brow or too high street. Whatever the style, they should be well considered and of high quality.
Logo
Think about the position and size of your logo. Make sure you have a good quality version of your logo and that it adheres to your brand guidelines. It should be instantly recognisable as a brand mark that identifies you as a firm. Clear space all around the logo protects the integrity of the brand.
Colour Palette
Always use the correct colour references. If your brand has an extensive colour palette – reflect this on the website. If the palette is limited, then this can equally be bold and memorable if used with confidence.
Tone of Voice
This should be the tone used throughout the whole firm. It’s the way you answer the phone, to the way you style a letter that you send to a client. Agree a tone of voice that is reflective of the firm’s personality, whether it is relaxed, friendly and casual or robust, direct, and formal.
Key Messaging
This is probably the hardest line to achieve. You are searching for the one genuine line that sums up why you do what you do. It can be a key differentiator. Ask yourself, what makes you different from your competitors and why should potential clients choose you rather than them? But keep it real and something that you genuinely believe.
Personality
Does your website give the correct impression of who you are? If you have a warm, approachable, friendly team, is this obvious when you land on the homepage? If you are ranked high amongst your peers is this reflected on the site? Whatever sets you apart should be visible throughout your brand collateral including your website.
An Up-To-Date Online Presence
To build trust and impress your clients, be responsive with your client service. If you promise something, then follow it through. Be true to your word. Keep the website current, relevant, and informative. If staff have left, then update the profile pages.
Customer Service Goes Hand in Hand with a Good User Experience
It’s easy to think that once you have a website, you are all set to go. Yes, it’s a tool to be used but your understanding of how useful this tool can be in promoting your brand is not to be underestimated.
How many times have you been to a website that is so complicated to navigate, you give up and move on after a few seconds? If you say you are experts, and a great team to work with, then make sure the website says the same and supports your promises.
Consideration of the user is key. A simple, well thought out navigation will promote a good user experience and an even better lasting impression. Keep it slick and polished. Make it easy for the user to contact you with good calls to action throughout the site. Don’t be afraid to show some personality. People like to know who they are going to be talking to, so friendly, down to earth profile pages that share a little something about you, will help break down any barriers and may end up being that ‘something’ that engages the user to click or call.
Attention to Detail
Sometimes it is the little things that let us down. Set your standards high with good, relevant content. No typos or grammatical errors. Keep staff pages up to date and invest in professional profile photos.
Be proud of your brand and protect it. Your website will encompass many aspects of your brand and be a place to showcase your values. It will be the place to build new client relationships, a place to bring your team together and a place to help set you apart from your competition. Plus, the great thing about a website is that it has the ability to constantly evolve. In this ever-changing world – that has to be a useful thing.
If you think your website might be in need of a redesign or a refresh, give us a call on 0117 325 200 or email sales@conscious.co.uk.