Think Mobile: Is Your Law Firm Website Mobile Ready?
Mobile search on the Web is exploding and by next year will become the most common way people access the Web.1 This trend includes how people look for lawyers — in fact, in the past year, Lawyers.comSM averaged close to 450,000 visits a month from consumers using a mobile device.2 Unfortunately, many law firm websites today aren't mobile ready.
According to the Pew Research Center, half of all U.S. adults now have a mobile connection to the Web through either a smartphone or tablet, significantly more than a year ago. Specifically nearly a quarter of U.S. adults (22 percent) now own a tablet device — double the number from last year. And of those who don't have a tablet, about one in four plan to get one in the next six months. Some 17 percent of cell phone owners say they do most of their online browsing on their phone, rather than on a computer or other device. Most do so for convenience, but for some their phone is their only option for online access.
As a frequent traveler, I experience the daily frustration of trying to navigate websites that are not mobile-optimized on my cell phone. A mobile device's smaller screen and slower Internet speed require your mobile website to be streamlined — with simple features, trouble-free navigation and relevant information — to ensure a positive user experience. A poor mobile experience can also have a lasting negative effect on your firm. Sixty-one percent of mobile users are unlikely to return to a mobile site they've had trouble accessing and 40 percent will visit a competitor's.3
Here are some other important considerations when optimizing your law firm's website for the mobile Web:
- Are you managing the content for both your primary and mobile websites to be sure your websites convey a message that's consistent and accurate — no matter which one consumers visit?
- Be sure your mobile site provides the right navigation so users can quickly find relevant information. For example, a click-to-call feature allows visitors to call your firm at a click of the button. Another great resource to add is a "Find Us" feature that makes it easy for clients to find directions to your law firm. Mobile maps let users display a location map and find directions from their current location, all without typing.
- Consider the needs of users of different mobile devices, such as iPad® or iPhone® which won't display Flash.
Don't want to wade through the mobile optimization of your law firm's website on your own? We stand ready to answer your questions and help you evaluate your Web presence — just contact our law firm marketing specialists.
1 Gartner, Inc. press release, January 2010
2 Self-reported LexisNexis Web statistics, September 2012
3 Google Mobile Ads Blog, June 2011
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