Your Profile Should State More Than Just Your Accolades, Let Your Audience Know The Real You

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When a potential prospect visits a website, the “About Us” page is one of the most viewed. Why is this so? Well, most prospects are curious to know the person, business and brand behind the website prior to making a buying decision. Their interest is not so much in a fancy or easily navigated website as it is in the people delivering the product and/or service. They want to know if the people behind the company’s name are trustworthy to work with. The “About Us” page should give prospects an indication of your trustworthiness before the initial contact is made.

Researching the Attorney

It does not matter the nature of the business. This holds true for attorney profiles, especially since attorneys operate a service-oriented business where trust can become an issue for some people. For most people, including myself, if I were to receive a referral for an attorney, prior to making contact, the first thing that I would do is to go to Google search engine and do an extensive search to learn as much as possible about the attorney. I would search for client reviews, testimonials and even instances where disciplinary action was an issue. Afterwards, I would visit the “About Us” page on the website for more details about the attorney.

The Standard Resume

In most cases, when I do visit a law firm’s website, and get to the attorney’s profile, it will usually have a standard resume that looks just like Steven E. Blumenthal’s profile below.

The Typical Resume Details

You will usually see the attorney’s name at the top left corner of the resume with a picture of the attorney on the adjacent right. Next, the attorney will have a list of his or her education history and a list of professional memberships. There is usually mention of the states in which legal practice is allowed. If it is applicable, there will also be a listing of awards and presentations that the attorney participated in. Finally, in a paragraph or two, the attorney will indicate where they grew up and went to school. Mention will also be made of their area of focus and how they started in their legal field.

Making a Confident Choice

Now, don’t take this the wrong way! This attorney profile is decent enough, but it really does not offer much to work with nor does it tell as much as I would have liked about the attorney. Like most potential prospects, I would prefer more compelling information about the attorney to make me feel confident and reassured that the attorney or law firm is the correct choice to efficiently handle my case.

What Prospects Want

Prospects already know that you have a law degree and that you may have years of experience in your chosen field, but they want to know the real YOU – on a personal level and the benefits that you offer as it relates to their case. What can you do to get this information across to your client?

Well, if you want to take your attorney profile to the next level in order to receive a higher conversion rate, take the following tips into account and put them into immediate effect.

• 1. Make It Personal

  Yes, highlighting your educational background and awards earned and won are excellent details to showcase on your attorney profile. However, the reality is that writing about the prestigious law school that you went to is not really as big of a deal as you may think – especially not to the lay person as it may be to your other legal colleagues.

• 2. The Goal of the Prospect

  When someone visits your website, the goal is not to learn about your professional accolades, but to establish a personal relationship with you. Therefore, the first order of business is to use the power of words to connect emotionally with your target audience. You would be surprised the high impact of establishing this bond. In fact, it can make a whole lot of difference in how your prospects view you and the trust level that they will have, subsequently converting more prospects into strong leads.

• 3. Be Personable

  Be sure to include a segment in your bio that indicates your inspiration and motivation for pursuing your specific law degree and why you chose that field. Provide some background information about your family and what you love to do in your free time. This will show prospects that you are actually a real person that does real things. Remember, you have to be as personable as possible because that really counts!

• 4. Keep Your Jargon To Yourself

  Unless your website is specifically directed to other lawyers with the hope of acting as their legal counsel, you should limit the legal jargon. In fact, in your attorney bio or other content on your website, be sure to use vocabulary that your prospects can understand. Always bear in mind that your clients are not lawyers. When you employ legal verbiage on your bio, you run the risk of turning off your visitors and confusing them. It will then be more difficult for your visitors to connect with you when technical language is used. It is best to keep it very simple, yet informative. You should come across as being trustworthy and knowledgeable in your field. This is exactly what clients are looking for. Legal jargons should remain in briefs, contracts and agreements – where they rightly belong.

• 5. Add Testimonials

  Nothing speaks as loudly as a satisfied client telling the online community about your company and the high level of service that you offer. A testimonial can go a very long way in getting new clients. With a testimonial, your clients put a stamp of approval on your service, helping with the final push to get new prospects who may be still weighing their minds about contacting you.

  People are generally persuaded by reviews and testimonials. Don’t believe it? How about this interesting little fact? According to a survey performed by BrightLocal:

  88% of respondents indicated that they trusted online reviews as much as they’d trust a personal recommendation. According to Nielsen’s Trust in Advertising Report, this is overwhelmingly the most trusted form of advertising by consumers. Although the caveat is reviews, they have to be authentic, and there has to be enough of them to make a judgment call.

  Testimonials can only HELP you, but ONLY if they are real. Fabricating reviews and testimonials is against the law – but as an attorney, I assume that you are already aware of this and for that reason, would steer clear of going this route.

  After completing a successful case, it is recommended that you reach out to your client and ask them to write a testimonial about the services you provide and their experience in working with you and your law firm. If I were you, I would use at least three testimonials on your “Testimonial Page.” You could rotate the testimonials, using different ones at different times, to showcase a variety of different customer experiences and perspectives.

• 5. Add Your Winning Cases

  Your potential prospects are more interested in learning what cases you worked on and more importantly, which ones you won. Therefore, it would be advised that you display at least two successfully won cases on your website. Don’t just speak about the outcome, but without going into great detail, tell a quick story about certain specifics of the case that your prospects can relate to and connect with. Mention some issues of the case, the approach you took to represent the client and the winning outcome. Your visitors will be more confident in allowing you to handle their case after reading your success stories.

• 6. Bonus: Add A Video

  Consider this – instead of adding your picture, add an intro video. Create a simple video of you introducing yourself to your audience so they can get an even more personal feel of who you are as a person. Not many attorneys are doing this so this will provide you the opportunity to stand out from the competition.

   You may like: “Helpful Tips To Create Your First Legal Marketing Video“ 

Conclusion

By implementing these proven and effective steps to improve your profile, you will increase the odds of creating a bond with your target audience as well as increasing the conversion rate of your website. Don’t just post a legal resume if you want to stand out from your competition. Instead, provide a persuasive picture to your prospects, imploring them not to walk away.

Do you think that your website has fallen victim to the standard attorney profile and typical resume? Contact us today for a free website analysis and a reasonable quote for web design services to aid in the improvement of your website for higher conversion and subsequently more clients. Contact us today before your prospects continue to turn away.