When a potential client visits your firm's website, the last thing you want is for your page design and user experience (UX) to send them clicking or scrolling in the other direction. Unfortunately, UX mistakes can have that effect, causing users to become stressed, frustrated, and far from impressed with your firm. 

Those feelings translate to increased bounce rates, lower conversions, and a hit to your brand reputation. If your firm wants to achieve its business goals, your design system should account for user needs and preferences. 

Putting aesthetics ahead of functionality and ignoring fundamental aspects of responsive design will prevent you from connecting with clients and growing your firm. Whether you already have a website in place or are currently building one, understanding UX errors and best practices to fix them is essential.

Potential clients are often in urgent, high-stakes situations and need legal help as quickly as possible. At the same time, they want to have confidence in a firm's trustworthiness and credibility. A poor website UX affects your firm on both fronts and increases a user's anxiety. A flawed website design for law firms slows down and complicates their search while also sowing doubt. In the mind of your potential lead, if a law firm isn't capable of setting up a user-friendly website, how can they provide sound guidance on legal issues? 

The quality of your firm's UX also directly influences your bounce and conversion rates. When a site struggles with navigation and accessibility, visitors will disengage and leave more quickly. In addition, if they can't easily find a way to complete the action they want to take, such as scheduling a consultation or making a phone call, they may give up on your firm before they get to know you.

Time is often of the essence when someone is looking for an attorney. Clients are facing deadlines and pressure, and if anything on your site slows down their search for a firm, they're likely to turn to the next best option.

Technical barriers can also affect accessibility, particularly for leads with disabilities. These are some of the most common UX mistakes that reduce conversion rates due to inaccessibility: 

• Incompatibility with screen readers 
• Missing or inappropriate alternative text for images 
• Lacking keyboard navigation support 
• Forms with missing input labels, unclear instructions, or color-coded error messages 

On top of these issues, your site's speed affects user engagement. When a page has slow load times, the client might assume the entire site is down and opt to go to a competitor rather than wait for you. 

If your page is loading too slowly, consider removing unnecessary widgets or plug-ins. Broken elements, such as links or contact buttons, are equally discouraging and make your firm seem unprofessional, so always test them when developing or updating your site.

Your website is often the first impression a potential client gets of your firm, and a disorganized or chaotic page can turn them away. Menus and navigation bars with too many choices, confusing labels, or missing information are a critical error because they make it difficult — if not impossible — for users to find their way around your site. 

A weak visual hierarchy can also extend to headers, buttons, and text blocks. If they have similar sizes, colors, and spacing, users don't know where to look or what to click first. Keep menus and headers straightforward and specific, without overloading on information or skipping key details. 

A cluttered page is also distracting, leaving clients unsure where to look or click. When a page has too many images, ads, widgets, and pop-ups, users feel overwhelmed and may perceive your firm as unfocused. Make sure to incorporate plenty of white space and limit your visuals to ones with a real purpose. 

Today's most effective law firm websites are also mobile-friendly, particularly since 16% of adults in the United States are smartphone-only internet users, relying exclusively on their phones for access because they don't have home internet. While your firm might have a mobile app, users should still be able to visit your website from their phones and have the same seamless experience they would on a desktop. 

Some website platforms, such as ExpressionEngine and WordPress, offer themes and designs compatible with mobile devices. However, site customization options and plug-ins can make your page difficult to navigate or see on a smartphone, so make sure to perform usability testing on different kinds of devices before going live.

Your page content should make users confident in your professionalism, expertise, and experience, while also strengthening your legal backlink strategy. When done poorly, the formatting, style, and focus of your content can rapidly erode that confidence. For example, dense blocks of text with few spaces discourage people from reading or even skimming what's on your site. When adding content to your page, use subheaders, bullet points, and paragraph breaks to make it more appealing and easier to follow. 

Careful wording, placement, and design also come into play when crafting a call-to-action (CTA). A vague CTA won't give users the drive they need to click through and reach out to your firm. Poorly placed CTAs are also missed opportunities, failing to capture client interest at the right time and place. 

Think carefully about what specific action you want users to take and when they're most likely to take it. For instance, including a CTA button on a page describing different types of claims creates an immediate link between user research and action.

Addressing common UX mistakes is beneficial for your firm's overall marketing strategy and business goals. It results in longer engagement, more form submissions, and higher consultation requests. It also helps you connect with clients in need and support them through challenges and potentially life-changing events. 

Hype Legal understands law firm website design from every angle, and we can help you decide what to do and what to avoid. Contact us to learn more about the worst UX errors and how you can avoid or correct them.