8 steps for creating a winning website

Arnold Bloch Leibler recently won the design category in the Legal Website Awards 2017. Marketing and business development manager Aleks Czerwinski tells ALMJ editor Cameron Cooper how the firm approached the redesign; discusses the impact (including a 400 per cent increase in the number of visits to the news/insights section; see table at the end of the story) and outlines the factors that other firms could consider when revamping their web presence.

1. Determine the rationale for the redesign

“Redoing our website was a long overdue project, with the previous site being more than 13 years old. The former site was built on an outdated platform and it had a dated look and feel, and it was really not representative of the Arnold Bloch Leibler brand at all. So we thought we’d leap ahead and take it to the next level and have it for the next 10 years and build on it as we need to. It’s crucial to have a good website – it’s a virtual shopfront.”

2. Choose a reputable digital agency and CMS platform

“We spoke to six agencies initially and ended up choosing Melbourne-based agency Get Started. Our new site is on a Kentico content management system (CMS) platform, which has the potential for functionality that we don’t need at this stage, including e-commerce capabilities and personalisation (for example, content can change, depending on a user’s preferences). But we liked the fact that the platform has the flexibility to add to the site if we need to do so in the future. Given that we have a small team, we also wanted a CMS that would allow us to update content quickly and easily. We publish a lot of content – often three pieces a day ranging from a transaction announcement to an opinion piece or an article talking about a legal development. So we needed to be able to turn that around really quickly and we’ve been able to do that. We also engaged an agency to assist us in setting up our Google Analytics account to ensure we are tracking how our site is performing.”

3. Set clear marketing objectives

“Our old site was very static and, considering our marketing and business development objectives, we wanted a new website that enabled us to promote our firm’s thought-leadership credentials and share meaningful insights with our audiences, particularly when combined with our social channels and direct mail campaigns. A lot of traffic to our new site – about 40 per cent – comes from social media through LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. As important as design is, the content side is a bigger priority for us and we do get great engagement. We wanted a website that showed we are on top of market developments, that we are active, and that showed off the work we do and the type of clients we work with. We also are very active in a number of community causes such as indigenous affairs so, for example, we upload a lot of content from our senior partner, Mark Leibler, related to reconciliation and the issue of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander constitutional recognition. Another aspect that’s very different from the previous site is that we showcase what it’s like to work at ABL and give more of an insight into life at our firm. We’ve achieved that through the use of professional photography that captures our firm and its people. We do use some stock images, but the key areas of our site feature real photos of our people and the spaces we work in.”

4. Make sure the site is readable and easy to navigate

“One of the reasons we won the award is because the site is easy to navigate and users can quickly find the key areas. We considered these things very closely when designing the site. Another important aspect is that the website is fully responsive on mobile devices – that’s crucial because we’ve seen a big increase in the number of users viewing the website on tablets and mobiles.”

5. Monitor social media platforms

“Monitoring social media comments is more of an issue for business-to-consumer businesses because you can have disgruntled consumers who aren’t afraid to voice their opinions. In the professional services sphere it’s less likely that you’ll get Twitter trolls. Significantly, we’ve actually been surprised to see that clients advocate for us on social media, so our social media presence has been more of a positive than a potential negative.”

6. Consider the broader effects of a strong website

“We launched the website in May last year and we still get comments about it from partners and other lawyers and staff. There’s a sense of pride because the site is more reflective of the ABL brand and it showcases our people and our expertise in a much more positive light. It’s also had the effect of lawyers writing more content and sharing that content with their clients. They’re also more active on their social media platforms, so it’s had a lot of positives externally and internally. From a recruitment perspective, there’s also been a great response. When we’ve been interviewing for clerks and graduates, the website comes up as something that they find impressive and it has encouraged them to investigate working at the firm. We also get a lot of enquiries through the website, some of which are genuine business leads.”

7. Select a steering committee to help drive the project

“Completion of the website took about eight months from when we started speaking to agencies. It was quite an intense eight months. One of the things that really helped us was having a steering committee made up of members of the firm at all levels of seniority and from different departments, including fee-earners from different practice areas and IT, HR and other support services. The committee was engaged throughout the various stages of the design and functionality reviews.”

8. Pay attention to your budget

“With budgets, the key is to be clear on the scope upfront and make sure you have a very detailed discussion with your agency to make sure everything is covered. You should also look at the timeline and what’s involved and ask about any possible additional costs outside of the scope. Making sure the agency has a dedicated account manager or producer who is very transparent is also important. And don’t be afraid to check in and ask where things are at – you don’t want any surprises. The other thing is to consider ongoing maintenance of the website and what you may want to do in the future and factoring that into the budget as well.”

The results for Arnold Bloch Leibler

(Statistical comparisons are for May 1, 2016, to July 31, 2017, for the new website versus January 30, 2015, to April 30, 2016, for the old site)

Traffic

• More visitors are coming to the ABL site – sessions have increased by 32 per cent
• Visitors are spending longer on the site – the average session duration has increased by 17 per cent
• Visitors are returning to the site more frequently – the number of sessions from return visitors has increased by 7 per cent
• Users are finding what they need more easily – the bounce rate on the home page has decreased by 19 per cent; and page views per session have decreased by 21 per cent
• More people are finding ABL’s contact details – views of the contact page have increased by 60 per cent

Content

The news/insights section is popular

• There has been a 409 per cent increase in the number of visits to the news/insights section
• There has been a 992 per cent increase in the number of users entering directly on the news/insights section
• This content has been particularly popular across social networks, with 40 per cent of all visits coming from social.

People and referrals

• More visitors are learning about the ABL team – the ‘People’ page views have increased by 13 per cent
• More third-party sites are referring visitors to ABL – referral traffic has increased by 32 per cent.