50 Things Our Web Team Wishes You Knew

At PaperStreet, our goal is to keep our clients happy and with us for many years. We’re proud to say that we have clients with us for over 10 years. Some attorneys have been with us since the very beginning – over 20 years ago!

Part of what keeps our clients happy is the fact that we communicate directly with our firms. You can talk to anyone on our team at any time with any questions you may have.

That said, clients don’t always know the right questions to ask. Accordingly, we’ve created this list of 50 things our team would like you to know in terms of how to make the most of your website design and marketing campaigns.

Content

1. We want to edit / proofread content BEFORE we add it to the website.
2. Your web pages look better with a consistent style. Items like: headers to break up text, firm name written the same throughout, etc.
3. Blog posts older than a month on your homepage 100% outdates you. If you can’t keep up with the blogging more frequently, do yourself a favor, and at least kill the date.
4. Including dates for your education and bar admission details on your biography is completely unnecessary (and a practice we’re seeing die off).
5. When it comes to blogging, set realistic goals. Rather than trying to write too many blogs each month, commit to at least 1 per month. Ensuring you have frequent posts is more important than a significant number each month.
6. While it is important to blog, it is equally important to reach a happy medium when it comes to the length of the blog. Something too short won’t have any real impact; however, something too long won’t be a good read.
7. Your content doesn’t need to be perfect at launch. The great thing about the internet is that it updates instantly so you lose the impression that it needs to be 100% to go live all at once.
8. Though we often as for sample designs that the firms like, it’s also great to send us reference content pieces – especially when we’re creating your attorney bios. Samples help us determine your writing style and can help us match your intended tone.

Development

See also:https://www.paperstreet.com/blog/5-things-web-developer-wished-knew/

1. We want the website design to be fully approved BEFORE we build a site.
2. Our training session is on how to make content edits. Not a site design review.
3. If you send over support or edit requests, please provide clear examples of what problem needs to be addressed or specifically list out the requested changes. Vague instructions can lead to the wrong work being done.
4. Every feature adds weight. Plugins, animations, and all-new functionalities like live chat support or map can bring both practicality and presentation to your legal website. But be warned: Everything loaded on the page must also be computed, so every feature contributes to an incrementally slower website. Only add what you really need!
5. Use screenshots. When your website needs a change in a specific location, try to use software on your PC (like the Snipping Tool) to get a precise image of what you want to edit. We want to know we’re editing exactly what you need.
6. We implement caching on your website to speed up the site loading time. After your web team has completed any website updates for you. Please make sure to clear your browser cache to ensure that you are seeing the updates correctly.(See: https://www.paperstreet.com/blog/site-caching-can/)
7. All assets that load on a webpage can and will affect the page loading time. To optimize loading times, make sure that images that are uploaded are the correct size, and compressed accordingly. Bonus points for using modern image formats such as webp instead of jpg or png!
8. Send in everything that you want done in one request. Back and forth eats at billable time and can cause confusion
9. When adding images to your website, ensure to also add concise alt text unique to each image. This not only improves accessibility for screen reader users, but can also improve SEO!
10. ADA compliance is an important aspect of website ownership. Your site is fully compliant when it launches, but we encourage you to allow us to scan and make updates every 2 years as the guidelines change often.
11. We are happy to host your site even if we did not design it. If you are working with an outside design agency, we encourage you to avoid Divi, Elementor and WPBakery when selecting a theme builder.
12. Our hosting plan encompasses aspects such as website security, plugins, and more. Don’t assume that cheaper hosts will offer the same services we do – nor will they offer the same 24-7 support services from someone in this country, and on our team.

Design

1. Images and taglines can be finalized during development, it should not hold up your design process.
2. Limit the number of people who review the designs to 5 or less. The more feedback you get, the more it can lengthen the process and confuse the direction. Trust your experts and your gut.
3. Don’t be afraid to tell us something isn’t working. We can’t make changes to something if we’re unaware of your displeasure.
4. The more rounds a project has the higher the chance the process spirals and loses focus. Gather your feedback as cohesively as possible (especially during round 1) to make our rounds of revision as efficient as possible.
5. Less is often more – white space can be your friend. Incorporating a fair amount of white space on your website helps attract attention and creates elegant, sophisticated designs.
6. Change is good. Stepping outside of your comfort zone will help set you apart from your competitors. Modernizing your website to the latest trends and functionality will create a site that is sure to usher in new clients and last for years to come.
7. Momentum during the design phase is crucial to a successful project. We recommend weekly meetings and providing feedback within 48 hours to make meaningful progress. These frequent touchpoints allow for our teams to be on the same page and the lines of communication are open.
8. Your version and our version – the design team will often show you exactly what you are requesting but we may have a better solution that we will show as well. Our goal is to solve the problem in the best way with both function and form.
9. Websites are living, breathing, and moldable marketing pieces. Don’t get too stuck thinking you are married to a certain design element or structure. Many aspects of a website are updatable post launch and should be refreshed and tweaked over time.
10. Custom photography gives websites a special edge that’s hard to replicate without access to photos of your people and places. If you’re looking for something really amazing, consider how custom photos would elevate your designs.

The website designs that stay the most “fresh” are often the designs that think outside the box. Some of our most unique imagery has stayed at the top of our most popular designs for several years. Embracing a novel color and/or design theme can increase the longevity of your site.

SEO

1. In most situations, you need to have a physical office location in the area you want to target for SEO. Google associates law firms with localized searches.
2. Homepage hero videos are harmful to mobile load speed. In general, every website feature comes at a cost from a speed perspective. When we add them to websites, we require a certain plugin be used to keep speed as high as possible.
3. The mobile version of your website should be highly prioritized and provide a great user experience.
4. With SEO initiatives, it often takes time to see results. The work we put in as SEOs will pay off in time with quality and consistency, but it is not often you see an immediate rise in rankings.
5. You can’t simply set it and forget it when it comes to your SEO content strategy. SEO evolves constantly, meaning what worked in the past, even in the recent past, may not be effective today. Updates in search engine algorithms, changes in user needs, or new technology can all have an effect on what works. Adapting strategies regularly is a necessary part of the process.
6. When you change your firm name, move office locations, change an area of focus or make any other large change within your firm, you need to update a lot more than just your website. Most times you will need to reflect these updates on dozens or even hundreds of websites to ensure your marketing stays consistent. Your web team can most likely help, but they will need to be notified of the change.
7. Your SEO team cannot remove business reviews from Google with a click of a button. We also don’t have special access to Google that allows us to manipulate reviews.
8. Your participation is not only highly encouraged but in many cases it is needed in order to succeed in SEO. Your SEO team can do 80% of the work, but there are some things we simply cannot do on our own such as obtaining login information for pre-existing accounts, accessing internal client emails or phone verifications required by some local listing websites.

PPC

1. Googling your own ads can be detrimental to your campaign. It can lower your CTR and may often stop showing for you giving you the impression you aren’t showing at all on Google. Instead, try using the ad preview tool within your campaign settings.
2. Recommendations offered by Google inside of Google Ads accounts are often detrimental to the success of campaigns. If you see one and are unsure why it hasn’t been implemented, ask your marketing team. Do not apply them, and never set them to automatically apply.
3. Don’t use bank accounts to pay for Google Ads spend, unless it is absolutely necessary. Bank payments are slower and harder to resolve if there are any issues, which can cause balances to mount up and ads to be shut off completely. Credit or debit cards are preferred.
4. Your feedback is essential to the success of any marketing campaign. Even with advanced tracking in place, your marketing team has no insight into what inquiries were good or bad for your business. Without additional feedback and guidance, the marketing team works solely from data, which can be misleading if what looks good in the numbers isn’t good in reality.

Social Media

1. Don’t treat social media as your PR platform. Sharing news and awards is important, but also create posts that will make potential clients want to follow your feed.
2. Consistent branding efforts are critical across your social media platforms. Your logo, branded templates, and other firm identifying criteria should be utilized to create uniform imagery.
3. Go multimedia with your posts. Sharing sound files, videos, and animated content are all great ways to make your business stand out in a potential client’s feed.
4. Your social posts need to be scheduled regularly. Inconsistent posts will lead to less followers.
5. Social media is highly effective for branding, but may not have as high an ROI as other more aggressive marketing efforts. Be sure to share your goals with your social media team in order to make sure that you’re covering all of your bases.

The Overall Process

1. Our timeframes for our website launches depend primarily on your firm and how quickly you respond to us – especially when approving designs. The biggest delays to our website launches stem from law firms not responding or simply experiencing indecision. The fastest launches occur when clients respond to us within 48 hours.
2. We freely offer marketing advice and suggestions with the sole goal of helping your website improve. If we make a suggestion and explain why it will help your site, it is not our intention to simply make a sale.