While people can learn a lot about your firm by visiting your website, they are less likely to contact you unless your site has compelling calls to action. A call to action (CTA) encourages visitors to take action, such as calling, completing a contact form or starting a live chat. This gives your firm the chance to convert the people who visit your website into potential clients.

However, simply telling users to do something does not mean they are going to do it. We recommend employing some CTA best practices to help increase your conversion rates. Attention spans are shorter than ever before, so you only have a few seconds to get peoples’ attention and encourage them to engage with your firm.

Below, the experienced marketing professionals at PMP discuss these best practices, including the language to use, where they should be placed and how to create an emotional appeal.

If you are looking to improve your website to get more cases, contact PMP to get your customized website solution.

Crafting Effective CTAs for Your Law Firm Website

There are many critical elements of a compelling CTA.

Clear, Concise Language

You do not want people to be confused about what you are asking them to do or how it benefits them. Unless you tell them, people may not know what to do next, and most people are not going to expend the effort to figure it out.

It should also be easy for people to know what to expect after taking an action, such as completing a website contact form. For example, will your firm reply with an email or phone call? When will you contact them?

You may want to avoid longer words, like consultation. Saying something like “talk to a lawyer” may be more effective, as consultation is not a word that is used often by the average person. People may also be confused about what a consultation is. On the other hand, people understand what it means to talk to a lawyer.

However, you do not want the CTA to be too simple. Saying “click here” is much less effective than saying “click here for” and then telling users what they will get when they click.

Value Proposition

People need to understand the benefit of taking an action to engage with your website. For example, some CTAs note that the initial consultation is free. Other CTAs tell users that they can discuss their case right away when they call. CTAs can also note that people who call can talk to an experienced lawyer.

Creating a Sense of Urgency

The purpose of a CTA is to trigger an emotional response and give people a sense of urgency. They need to feel like they need to act soon to get the legal help they need.

For example, some CTAs tell people not to wait. Other CTAs may tell people to contact the firm the same day. These messages are clear and specific, which makes them more effective at getting website visitors to act quickly. If they do not feel the need to act quickly, they may be more likely to leave your site and go to another.

Certain words and phrases are more effective at evoking emotion than others, such as:

  • Free
  • Limited time
  • No upfront fees
  • Protect your rights
  • Today
  • Now
  • Don’t wait

You should also use action verbs in your calls to action, like:

  • Call
  • Schedule
  • Talk
  • Get

Another consideration is the lead up to the call to action. For instance, your text may be more effective if it is preceded by a question. This helps make it easier for people to understand what you want them to do.

Various Types of CTAs

When adding CTAs to your website, it is a good idea to create various types. For instance, you may have CTAs that tell visitors to call your firm and others that ask users to complete a contact form.

You should also tailor CTAs to their target audiences. You may find that some CTAs work better with some audiences than others.

Where Should CTAs be Placed on Your Website?

While the words you use are vital, the placement of a CTA could undo all the work you have put into choosing the right words. In some cases, users might not even see the CTA because of where it sits on the webpage.

PMP has done extensive research into where users go when they navigate law firm websites and this research informs where we place CTAs on homepages, landing pages and other webpages. The research emphasizes the importance of where elements are placed on a law firm site.

Here are some other best practices when placing your CTAs:

  • Use contrasting colors to help CTAs stand out
  • Consider bolding text on buttons to make it easier to see
  • Make CTAs prominent, in terms of their size; but find a happy medium between being large enough to get attention but not so large it detracts from other important elements
  • Make the CTA appealing visually, but avoid clashing with the website’s color scheme
  • Place CTAs on pages that get the most traffic, especially the homepage, practice area pages and blogs

A/B Test Your CTAs to Find the Ones That Work Best

In some ways there is an art to crafting effective CTAs. However, there is also a lot of science involved. The best way to determine what CTAs work the best is to do A/B testing, where you compare different words and phrases and stick with the text that has the highest conversion rates. Even changing one word could result in a significantly higher conversion rate.

However, this is not something that you can set and forget. In order to maintain high conversion rates, you need to continuously test and refine your CTAs.

The team at PMP has been helping law firms across North America turn website visitors into potential clients for more than 15 years. We know how to craft effective, compelling CTAs to encourage people to take action.

If you are looking to improve conversion rates for your website, contact us to learn how we may be able to help you grow your firm.