Is Your Website Mobile-Friendly?

Sally Consumer is an active user of the Internet. She uses it to find coffee shops, restaurants, doctors and lawyers. More often than not, her searches take place on her phone or her tablet. If your website or blog loads slowly, doesn’t fit the smaller screen forcing Sally to pinch or zoom in order to read the content, she will move on to a more responsive or mobile friendly website.

Google has long been aware of Sally’s search habits and has decreed that its search robots will include a website’s “mobile-friendliness” as a ranking signal. This means that site pages that can’t fit comfortably on the smaller screens will see a downgrade in ranking.

How do I know if my website is mobile-friendly?Ever efficient Google has created a website where you can enter your webpage URL (Uniform Resource Locator) or web address to test it. Find and click on the Mobile-Friendly Test, enter your web address and you will quickly know the results. If you fail the test, contact your web developer or website host to find out how to make your website responsive or mobile friendly.

What is a mobile-friendly design?


A mobile-friendly website is one that is designed to work the same way across all devices. A website with no usability concerns regardless of whether it’s being viewed on a phone, tablet or laptop is mobile friendly. If your website, like most law firm websites, is basic with few navigation drop-downs and no animation, it may pass the test.  The key features of a mobile-friendly website are:

1. Static content that doesn’t change, 
2. Simplified navigation,
3. Images display smaller, and it’s
4. Not reliant on a particular operating system to work properly.

What about a responsive design?

A responsive website is one that changes based on Sally Consumer’s needs and the device she’s using to conduct her search. With responsive design, text and images change from, for example, a three-column layout to a single column display. Unnecessary images are hidden so they don’t compete with the more important information on the smaller display.

The key features of a responsive website are:

• Content changes, 
• Abbreviated navigation, 
• Improved images, and it’s
• Reliant on a particular operating system to work properly. 

Which do I need? 

A simplified mobile friendly site will give you a consistent website experience across all devices. If you don’t have a large mobile audience (less than 35%), your site is simple with mostly text and images and your picture sizes are small, allowing for quick loading, a mobile-friendly site is for you.

Consider a responsive site if more than 35% of your web traffic is on mobile devices, your website content is complex or has features that are difficult to use on a phone or tablet or you want your website to appear up-to-date longer. Be aware that a responsive design takes expertise, proper planning and a larger budget.

Sally Consumer is in a hurry. She wants to solve her problems now. She will quickly pass by websites that load slowly and are hard to navigate on her phone or tablet. To be sure your website is the one she picks, test it for mobile-friendliness and make any necessary adjustments.

Non-traditional Lawyers Need a Web Presence

Sally is enjoying a quiet evening meal at her favorite restaurant with her law school roommate, Scott. In law school, both studied hard, were on law review and graduated in the top 10% of their class. After graduation, however, they took different paths to the practice of law. Sally is a shareholder in her small law firm practicing Elder Law while Scott, whose family had long been in the Military, is a JAG lawyer.

 

Over coffee, the conversation turns to marketing.

“We spend a lot of time and money on our website, blog and social media,” said Sally. “I need to update my blog tonight.”

“I’m glad I don’t need to do any marketing,” said Scott.

“I’m not sure about that,” said Sally. “What if you decide to leave the Military? No one will know you exist.”

Sally is right. Scott like the many other lawyers who turn from a traditional practice to use their skills in such establishments as the government--federal, state and local, the judiciary--judge, magistrate, clerk, legislature, house counsel for corporations or academia, still need to consider maintaining an Internet presence. 

Why do you or other non-traditional lawyers like Scott need an online presence?

An on-line presence in the form of a profile, a website or a stop on the social media thoroughfare is as necessary for non-traditional lawyers as it is for lawyers working as solos or in a law firm. It isn’t only consumers who search for lawyers on the web; other lawyers also read those profiles.

Scott can establish relationships and connections that would otherwise be unworkable because of distance and time. These are lawyers you can meet only through e-mail or text or, perhaps, a short telephone call. Those associations can be as strong and as important to your career as ones established face-to-face at networking functions.

Lawyers can use the knowledge gained in other fields to make a career change. A lawyer working for a governmental agency today can establish connections and soon be practicing for a law firm in their government relations department. Legal publishing experience, for example, could lead to consulting on copyright and drafting contracts with agents and publishers. Managing an international non-profit would be helpful if you wanted to practice in International Law. Retired judges often turn to mediation and arbitration.

These movements from traditional to non-traditional legal careers and back again will only be successful if the world knows that you’re out there. And the easiest and least costly way to become known is through an on-line presence. Using social media, LinkedIn and developing a website, you can network within the legal field as well as market your practice to potential clients. 

A legal career, whether traditional or non-traditional, can last 20, 30, 40 or more years. It can take many twists and turns as you travel along. Using the Internet to establish relationships with other lawyers can lead to exciting possibilities and help with transitions.

Is Voice Search in Your Future?

I received the Amazon Echo Dot for my birthday. It is a hands-free, voice-controlled device that uses Alexa to play music, answer questions or read the news. There is some setting up to do, which I have not yet completed, so I use her to tell me the weather and play music. However, I am not alone in using a voice controlled device to find information.

Many of you use some form of an intelligent personal assistant, such as Siri, Google Now or Cortana, available on your mobile devices, to quickly find information. Voice search is the fastest growing type of search. It’s faster, hands-free and allows you to multi-task. According to Google’s latest survey, 41% of adults use voice search on a daily basis, while 55% of teenagers--your future clients—use it on their mobile devices.

Thanks to technology voice search has improved. The current speech recognition word error rate is as low as 8%. And, voice understanding, a search that responds by interpreting the meaning and context behind the words, is also improving.

What does voice search mean for law firms?

First, realize that those using voice search tend to ask for the information in the form of “who, what, where, when, why or how” questions. Second, the asker uses a conversational tone such as “What lawyer in my area writes wills?”

For you, that means the content on your website should focus on answering the questions your potential clients are asking. The better you’re able to answer those questions, the better chance you have to be returned in the search engines. Think about the questions you’re asked when meeting with clients, or at a Rotary luncheon or a Bar Association Event and write content that answers those questions.

Your content should be written in a conversational tone, using active verbs, ordinary not legal vocabulary and presented in an easy to read format. Using the Frequently Asked Questions format is effective. For example, if you’re a family law attorney practicing in Michigan, you can choose topics such as “Can a single person adopt a child in Michigan? Or “How do courts decide custody?” Or, “6 things to know about divorcing in Michigan.”

How does voice search affect SEO (Search Engine Optimization)?

SEO is the process of using strategies and techniques to obtain a high-ranking placement in the search results. Those strategies include great content, easy to navigate sites and use of keywords to identify your topic. Experts recommend that your blog use long-tail keywords such as Traverse City Family Law Lawyer or Michigan DUI Lawyer. In other words, phrases that will answer the questions: “What family law lawyers practice in Traverse City?” Or, “What lawyers in Michigan defend DUI?”

The face of searching is changing and evolving. Use all the available information about how your clients find you and the questions they ask to keep current. Doing so will bring your website and this age-old legal profession into the future.