Tip: Gavels are not used in Canadian Courts.
Don't use them on your web site.
Vintage Look
Web fashions change often and quickly. If your site looks like it is old or old fashioned your prospects will not waste time on it.
Errors and Broken Links 404 errors
Bad Grammar, Spelling mistakes, Broken links are the kiss of death
HOW CAN YOUR CLIENTS TRUST YOU IF THEY CAN'T TRUST YOUR LEGAL PRACTICE WEBSITE?
Bad Design
Think about highway billboards. A billboard has 2 or 3 seconds to get the message across. Web sites are similar.
A busy, confusing, or cluttered website with a poor feel will chase your prospects to your competitors. You should ask them for a commission since you are sending them your clients.
Content Content and Content is Vital.
Does your website have fresh, useful, accurate, informative and interesting content? If it doesn't your prospect will judge the site and you as not worth the bother
These are just a few of the important considerations in web site construction. Be informative, Be Accurate, Be Honest, Be Up to date,
That is not as easy as it sounds. It can be very tricky filling even a few web pages with useful information about you and your practice.
Poor Navigation
3 seconds (5 and more is really pushing it) is the most you are going to get says Google when it comes to visitor attention span. If your prospect does not instantly see what they are looking for, they are gone.
Testimonials Matter
Client testimonials and reviews are valuable if you want to build client trust. Better a few honest testimonials than fakes. People can spot the fakes and if your testimonials are fake, so are you.
No testimonial? Ask your clients for one. Most are happy to comply.
What is Your Point?
Information clutter with no focus point, is common. How easy or difficult is it for a client to find what s/he wants in your busy page?
Keep it simple, keep it sweet, and keep it short always. Clients can click on bullet points to get more information if they want it, but the ten second attention span is gone. Today people have about a 2 second attention span. They want an instant answer NOW and often don't care about the reasons or background.
Update frequently.
The search engines penalize sites that are old and have not been updated recently. Your site design has to have new and fresh content often.