Calls to Action, an important part of your website's copy, often are what makes or breaks it. While there is much more to writing an exceptional copy, it is these calls to action that make your visitors get in touch with you or hire you.
The most common call-to-action in a law firm's website is to schedule a consultation, fill a contact form, sign up for an email list, or download an ebook.
While the website's content shows a lawyer's qualifications, experience, and problem-solving skills, a CTA is what entices a prospect to pick up the phone and share their data with you.
There are a lot of factors when it comes to creating a copy that encourages clients to go through with the conversion process. In this post, we'll talk about how law firms can create an effective call-to-action:
1. Create a sense of urgency
When you tell someone to do something now because it is a limited offer or it is only available for a particular amount of time, you're creating a sense of urgency. This is something that a lot of people couldn't resist.
Here are some effective ways to do this:
- Place the word “Now” to subscribe or download links
- Put a closing time or date for particular events like webinars
- Mention the word “Limited Offer”
- Say that the user can “reap the benefits today”
Words like limited, now, and today encourages the passive reader to take action.
2. Say what will happen next
Have you ever started an online transaction, such as signing up or registering, only to stop halfway because you're not quite sure what will happen next?
It's a very frustrating experience, which eventually leads to the site abandonment.
Make sure that your CTA and the next processes should communicate to users what's coming next, and what you'll do with the data. That way, you can set expectations accordingly.
Focus on your CTA's value by clearly communicating what the prospect should expect after filling up a form, or calling your firm. Will you reply with an email or a call? If that's the case, when will they likely hear from you? When a prospect requests for a consultation, tell them what's the initial meeting all about.
3. Tell the benefits
According to a Facebook advertising agencies list, “Your website copy should be all about your audience. The language that you use in your CTA isn't an exception. When you talk about your qualifications, explain in greater detail how will your qualifications help solve people's problems.”
For instance, a special needs planning lawyer has decades of experience, helping parents plan for the care of their children with disabilities. They need to feature this experience. The benefits parents will get when working closely with the firm is to secure a more meaningful and secure future for their child.
4. Keep it short and simple
The type of language that you use is important. Similarly, it's overall length is crucial as well.
No one wants to browse your site if it looks like a dissertation to read. Instead, people prefer to “snack” on content, their attention shifting from one bite to the next. That's why it's crucial that you encapsulate your objective in a CTA button with as few words as possible.
Aim to keep your CTA copy below 150 characters. But still, finding the ideal length for your site's CTA might take time.
5. Show your clear purpose
If you want your audience to take action, be clear and specific on what you want them to do, as well as why they should do it.
Just placing your phone number on the top right of your site or contact us page doesn't tell the user what to do. Although not having these on your site is a terrible idea, it's not a solid call-to-action that compels visitors to click.
So do you want your prospects to contact best bus accident attorney? Do you want them to download your latest ebook? Or you want to fill more detailed information online first before contacting you? Think about the things that you want to happen.
6. Choose the right words
Whether or not your firm offers free consultations, most likely, one of your goals is to entice people to set up a consultation with you. A lot of law firms use the word “consultation” somewhere in their calls-to-action.
However, from a non-lawyer perspective, the term consultation comes across an intimidating. People don't understand what's involved in a consultation. As a result, it hinders them from responding to your CTA when you use that kind of language.
Similarly, retail businesses have received the same backlash when using the term “quote.”
Why? Well, in reality, people associate these words as long and complicated processes, which can be inconvenient for them.
For lawyers, also consider a consultation-based language with more direct appeals. For instance, the phrase “Talk to an attorney now” decreases any kind of hesitation and improves conversions.
But take note that the effectiveness of this tactic still depends on your audience. For instance, business clients are more familiar with this phrase “Schedule a Consultation.” Therefore, it's vital to test it out and see what works for you.
7. Make it easy to understand
A lot of marketers make the mistake of filling their sites with beautiful phrases and flowery words. While this leads to a refined design and several marketing slogans, it doesn't make much sense.
To be specific, you need to include descriptive keywords that are related to your CTA's purpose. Go for terms that are easy to understand, and has a positive effect on your site's SEO.
8. Use the right size, colors, and placement
Ideally, you want your call to action to stand out. You can achieve this with three elements ‒ size, colors, and placement.
You may consider placing your CTAs on the following area on your site:
- Above the fold: Ideally, you should have at least one call to action that's above the fold. Meaning, your CTA is highly visible to your audience, without having them scroll down the page.
- Place the offer on multiple pages: You need to have a call-to-action on your homepage. However, keep in mind that people will arrive on your site using multiple entry points. So, you should place the offer on all your site's pages. That way, if someone visits one of your articles instead of your homepage, you still have the chance of presenting them your services.
- Incorporated into the copy: A CTA that's relevant with your content is a highly efficient way to boost your conversions. If your offer is more segmented and personalized to fit users, the higher the chances that they will convert. For example, you have a blog. Why not incorporate your CTA at the end of the article? Make sure that it's relevant for your readers.
9. Give multiple methods of contact
Not everyone will reach your law firm in the same way. Therefore, it's essential that you give your prospective clients more than one way to contact you.
Some people would want to contact you through live chat or email. These buttons should be placed on your site permanently. Be clear on what it does.
Over to You
It's crucial to note that all of these are just suggestions and not universal. Only through constant testing, that you'll be able to know better how your audience responds to different variations of your CTAs, even if you have followed all the best practices
Remember that your call-to-action is the most important copy of your site. Although these may seem very short words or phrases, it convinces people to act. But always keep in mind that it should never come off as manipulative to your prospects.
That's why your CTAs should be carefully planned and tested so that you can produce better results for your firm in the long run.