When website design as an industry first started to develop during the 1990s, there was very little talk of specialization. Everyone who could master HTML and graphics was suddenly a web designer and he developed websites for all types of businesses, regardless of the industry. The problem with such an approach is that the needs of various industries differ, and it’s never possible to be an expert in all these fields. Take the legal industry for example, and how a company that specializes in attorney web design can better serve a firm of attorneys.

Graphics/Layout: A legal firm is different from most other business types in many respects. In a sense it’s more formal and structured that most businesses and customers expect lawyers to act and communicate in a very professional way at all times. Their website should be a reflection of this reality. If they should therefore appoint a web designer with experience of, as an example, the music industry, and none of the legal world, he might be an excellent web designer, but the type of layout and graphics he is used to create could be totally unsuitable for a legal firm. Attorneys normally don’t want websites with loud Flash presentations and blinking red text - they need a more stylish approach.

Logo design: The same is true when it comes to developing the logo for a legal company. A firm of web designers that specialize in the legal industry will know that the logo of a legal firm should be stylish and professional. It should fit in with the whole atmosphere surrounding the industry. There is a vast difference between the kind of logo you will design for a lawyer and a stand-up comedian.

Website content: Search engines want high quality, relevant content when it comes to ranking websites. This is true for all types of websites. As far as legal websites are concerned, there is an additional issue however: the content should contain no statement that is not 100% a reflection of the truth. There should be no outrageous claims that could eventually lead to a client suing the company because they can’t live up to their promises. It’s therefore very important to know the language of the industry. The content should also be checked thoroughly by the client himself before it is published on the web.

Search Engine optimization and marketing: When the website has been completed, it has to be promoted on the search engines. In order to do that successfully, the website must be developed with the correct legal keywords in the first place. The content must also contain valid keywords of the industry in such a way that it’s not conspicuous, but it will attract the attention of the search engines.

Blogs and social media: A web design firm that knows the legal industry, will also best know how to market your website by making use of blogs and promoting it on social media websites. Once again they have to know the language of the industry and at all times adhere to the professionalism required from lawyers.

From the above it should be clear that it will hugely benefit a legal firm to employ the services of a company that has extensive experience in the field of attorney web design, rather than use a well-known company with no area of specialization.

Looking for a professional company that offers Law Web Design? Find out all you need to know now in our Web Design for Attorneys guide.