Legal sector
Digital benchmark 2015
The digital performance of thirty of the
leading UK-based law firms, evaluated
and ranked.
Content spotlight
Lawyer-finder tools
Graduate recruitment
Conversion
Calls-to-action & more
Loyalty
Long-term engagement activity
Social media: The content that's
shared the most
Introduction
Executive summary
Methodology
Rankings
Technology
A note about content management systems
Mobile & multi-screen optimisation
Awareness
Search engine results compared
SEO technical performance
Engagement
Visual impact
Segmentation
Content marketing
Site search functions
Usability
TABLE OF CONTENTS
2
3
5
6
10
13
17
10
11
29
32
34
29
31
32
35
38
13
15
17
19
21
24
26
"Firms say they face clients ever
more keen to make savings, as
corporate customers attempt to
recover in the aftermath of recession
and difficult financial conditions. But
the firms are also aware of new
trends that are transforming other
industries beyond the law."
Innovative Lawyers 2014
Financial Times
"A law firm website is now the
essential element of its marketing.
Hinge research showed that 77% of
professional firms generate new
business leads online. 70% of law
firms in another survey said their
website generated new matters."
Larry Bodine
LexisNexis, 2015
INTRODUCTION
DRAW LEGAL SECTOR DIGITAL BENCHMARK
In a highly competitive global market, with the economic recovery
at risk of sputtering out, the mature UK legal market is facing some
severe challenges.
In this climate, a law firm's website is a key asset. Rather than a static brochure, a firm's website should be a dynamic tool for shaping client preference and generating new business.
A third study
Building on expertise gained by contributing to L2's digital reports, and by conducting the well-received 2012 and 2014 Legal Sector Benchmarks, Draw has undertaken a third study to evaluate the websites of 30 of the largest UK-based law firms.
Covering 55 different touchpoints, the findings are summarised in this document. For more detailed information about your firm's ranking, please contact:
Steve Blackman
Director, Draw
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
We're all awash with information. Between the demands of work, the incessant
chatter of social media and the addictive, ubiquitous smartphone, making the
right decisions - knowing where to turn to for advice - can be a difficult,
exhausting process.
In this noisy environment, a law firm's website has an important role; it should be reaching, engaging, informing and reassuring potential, and existing, clients.
However, after examining the websites of 30 leading law firms for this, the third edition of the Draw Legal Sector Digital Benchmark, it's clear that there's lots of progress still to be made.
For leading law firms, excellence should be the norm. Yet only one website in our study reached the "excellent" grade - congratulations to the team behind the Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co website. With "good" grades, the Nabarro website came second, and Norton Rose Fulbright third.
Overall, fourteen websites were judged to be "good", 12 "average" and three "weak".
Of the 30 websites we examined:
• Mobile: Eighteen are optimising for multiple screens, with eleven reaching the "excellent" grade in this category
• SEO: Irwin Mitchell are way out in the lead, with an estimated 901 results on page one of Google UK, up from 513 in 2014.
• SEO: Only five websites reached the "excellent" grade for basic technical search engine optimisation. • Website design: Conventions are changing. Designs that are "big, bold and simple" are increasingly popular.
• Customer segmention: Only Irwin Mitchell and King & Wood Mallesons reached the "excellent" grade. • Content: In our sample, only two websites are using video on their sector pages.
• Content: Firm websites are becoming more visually attractive, with 21 making good use of photography.
• Usability: Only four websites reached the "excellent" grade. There's still too much clutter. • Usability: Wragge & Co's website is the only one to be using the "shrinking" animated navigation bar effectively.
• Website search: Five websites are now offering an auto-complete search function.
BEYOND THE
BROCHURE
THE ROLE OF THE LAW FIRM
WEBSITE IN SHAPING PREFERENCE
• Lawyer-finder tools: One of the strongest elements of these websites, with eight judged to be "excellent" and twelve "good".
• Calls-to-action: Only twelve websites are employing clear calls to action on their pages. • Social proof: Only two 'sites are displaying extensive social proof of their firm's achievements. • Habit-forming activity: No websites reached the "excellent" grade, and only one reached the "good" grade for their long-term engagement activity.
• Personalisation: Only one website - Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer - is using personalisation to slightly customise the user experience.
• Social media: It appears that the legal sector still enjoys talking to itself - broadly, the most shared content from law firm websites is "internal" news.
• Social media: When attempting to engage a general audience on social platforms, topical legal news articles and in-depth reports receive the most shares.
When we place the research results into a simple "path to purchase" model, it's clear that, across the sector, law firm websites are strongest at building awareness and engagement (we awarded many "good" grades in the SEO and content marketing categories, for example).
It's the websites' conversion and loyalty-building activities that are largely undeveloped. Until these issues are addressed, many law firm websites will continue to be suboptimal, they'll remain brochures, rather than dynamic marketing tools that are actively shaping client preference.
Thanks for reading
Just as a website is essential to a modern law firm's communications strategy, situation analysis is invaluable to the construction of that strategy. Enhanced knowledge of the digital competence of the competition reveals insights, that can be turned to a firm's advantage.
We hope that you'll find this report useful,
Ciarán Ryan
Digital strategist
“The Internet has changed everything.
Digital is the technological enabler of
this century. And, in any sector you care
to name, it’s been the lifeblood of
organisations that have embraced it, and
a death sentence for those that haven’t."
Mike Bracken
We're all awash with information. Between the demands of work, the incessant
chatter of social media and the addictive, ubiquitous smartphone, making the
right decisions - knowing where to turn to for advice - can be a difficult,
exhausting process.
In this noisy environment, a law firm's website has an important role; it should be reaching, engaging, informing and reassuring potential, and existing, clients.
However, after examining the websites of 30 leading law firms for this, the third edition of the Draw Legal Sector Digital Benchmark, it's clear that there's lots of progress still to be made.
For leading law firms, excellence should be the norm. Yet only one website in our study reached the "excellent" grade - congratulations to the team behind the Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co website. With "good" grades, the Nabarro website came second, and Norton Rose Fulbright third.
Overall, fourteen websites were judged to be "good", 12 "average" and three "weak".
Of the 30 websites we examined:
• Mobile: Eighteen are optimising for multiple screens, with eleven reaching the "excellent" grade in this category
• SEO: Irwin Mitchell are way out in the lead, with an estimated 901 results on page one of Google UK, up from 513 in 2014.
• SEO: Only five websites reached the "excellent" grade for basic technical search engine optimisation. • Website design: Conventions are changing. Designs that are "big, bold and simple" are increasingly popular.
• Customer segmention: Only Irwin Mitchell and King & Wood Mallesons reached the "excellent" grade. • Content: In our sample, only two websites are using video on their sector pages.
• Content: Firm websites are becoming more visually attractive, with 21 making good use of photography.
• Usability: Only four websites reached the "excellent" grade. There's still too much clutter. • Usability: Wragge & Co's website is the only one to be using the "shrinking" animated navigation bar effectively.
• Lawyer-finder tools: One of the strongest elements of these websites, with eight judged to be "excellent" and twelve "good".
• Calls-to-action: Only twelve websites are employing clear calls to action on their pages. • Social proof: Only two 'sites are displaying extensive social proof of their firm's achievements. • Habit-forming activity: No websites reached the "excellent" grade, and only one reached the "good" grade for their long-term engagement activity.
• Personalisation: Only one website - Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer - is using personalisation to slightly customise the user experience.
• Social media: It appears that the legal sector still enjoys talking to itself - broadly, the most shared content from law firm websites is "internal" news.
• Social media: When attempting to engage a general audience on social platforms, topical legal news articles and in-depth reports receive the most shares.
When we place the research results into a simple "path to purchase" model, it's clear that, across the sector, law firm websites are strongest at building awareness and engagement (we awarded many "good" grades in the SEO and content marketing categories, for example).
It's the websites' conversion and loyalty-building activities that are largely undeveloped. Until these issues are addressed, many law firm websites will continue to be suboptimal, they'll remain brochures, rather than dynamic marketing tools that are actively shaping client preference.
Thanks for reading
Just as a website is essential to a modern law firm's communications strategy, situation analysis is invaluable to the construction of that strategy. Enhanced knowledge of the digital competence of the competition reveals insights, that can be turned to a firm's advantage.
We hope that you'll find this report useful,
Ciarán Ryan
Digital strategist
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
"Mobile has forever changed the
way we live, and it’s forever
changed what we expect of brands.
It’s fractured the consumer journey
into hundreds of real-time,
intent-driven micro-moments. Each
one is a critical opportunity for
brands to shape our decisions and
preferences."
Think With Google
“Your customers are outpacing you
because they’ve formed a giant
network — and you’re going to have
to work like a network yourself to
keep pace with them.”
Adam Pisoni
Scoring system
Independent examination, using 55 questions and touch-points, of 30 of the leading, UK based, law firm websites. Each touch-point is given a score between 0-5 (5 being excellent), totals are then converted into percentages.
80%+
Excellent
79% - 60%
Good59% - 40%
Average< 40%
WeakMETHODOLOGY
Conversion
What steps are the websites taking to convert visitors into customers? Evaluation of
calls-to-action and use of psychological factors.
Technology
Evaluation of mobile & multi-screen optimisation. Examination of responsive design and separate smartphone websites.
Engagement
How are firms attempting to engage their website visitors? Evaluation of visual impact, segmentation, content marketing, site search
function and usability.
Awareness
Are firms preparing their web pages for search engines? Evaluation, from a sample of 100 pages
per website, of SEO technical excellence.
Loyalty
Is there evidence that firms are using the web to build long-term engagement with their clients? Evaluation of the use of habit-forming activity, from the use of sector insights to personalisation and the promotion of newsletters.
Report structure
The report criteria reflects the path-to-purchase journey of a potential client. Simply; awareness, engagement, conversion and loyalty. For this third edition, the criteria questions have been updated yet again, to reflect changing trends, technology and behaviours. Although research by Google tells that us that digital media is changing clients' habits, that "we're all in a state of constant consideration", the path to purchase model is a useful conceit. It places the emphasis on customer impact, and highlights the business benefits that digital communications activity can bring.
RANK COMPANY SCORE DESCRIPTION
1
80%
Excellent
Wragge's website is relatively new, it launched in May 2014. It works well on multiple screen sizes, clearly attempts to segment its visitors and scored top marks for its content marketing and ease of use. As with most law firm websites, its "conversion" and loyalty-building activity would benefit from additional attention.
2
78%
Good
Nabarro's visually distinctive website performs well on mobile phones and scored top marks for its useful lawyer-finder tool and the presentation of its content marketing. It lost a few marks for its overly-subtle new business "conversion" activity - there are few "calls-to-action", for example.
3
77%
Good
An attractive website that scored top marks for its clear usability - its use of a prominent "crumbtrail" works well. It also excels at content marketing and technical search engine optimisation. It lost marks for its uninspiring separate mobile 'site and an internal search function that didn't return relevant results.
4
74.5%
Good
The King & Wood Mallesons website is visually impressive and scored top marks for its audience segmentation efforts and use of inclusive language. However, we found little evidence of attempts at building visitor "loyalty" - on sector pages there are no mentions of a newsletter, for example.
RANK COMPANY SCORE DESCRIPTION 5 6 7 7 9 10 11 12 Clyde & Co Irwin Mitchell
Bird & Bird
Holman Fenwick Willan
DLA Piper DWF Osborne Clarke Pinsent Masons 73% Good 72% Good 71% Good 71% Good 69% Good 67% Good 64% Good 63% Good
The Clyde & Co website scored points for its mobile optimisation, design, usability and useful lawer-finder tool. It lost points for its poor technical search engine optimsation and its efforts at building "loyalty".
The Irwin Mitchell website received top marks for its responsive design, its clear segmentation of visitors and its useful lawyer-finder tool. We could see little evidence of "loyalty" building.
Bird & Bird's website scored highly for its responsive mobile optimisation, its attractive visual appearance and good usability. Average performance across the other categories.
A website with a stylish responsive design and, unusually for the legal sector, it reached the "good" grade for loyalty-building activity - including the use of a visually interesting news ticker and the promotion of an app. An "excellent" grade for the website's visual design, lawyer-finder tool and multi-screen optimisation. However, clear "calls-to-action" are absent in the sector pages.
Top marks for the website's multi-screen optimisation, bold responsive visual design and easy-to-understand people finder tool. Unconventional page structures make parts of the website difficult to navigate.
Osborne Clarke's website benefits from a stylish responsive design. It's also one the few to display a Twitter feed on the side of its pages. Points lost for little evidence of "conversion" activity.
The Pinsent Masons website reached the "excellent" grade for its friendly lawyer finder tool and for search engine optimisation. Lost marks for pages without descriptive headlines, prompting visitor uncertainty.
13
Overall ranking: 80%+ Excellent, 79% - 60% Good, 59% - 40% Average, <40% Weak
Macfarlanes 62%
Good
A website with a "good" lawyer-finder tool, client segmentation and content marketing. Little evidence of loyalty-building variable rewards such as relevant sector news.
RANK COMPANY SCORE DESCRIPTION 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Hogan Lovells Eversheds
Herbert Smith Freehills
Linklaters
Allen & Overy
Kennedys
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Berwin Leighton Paisner
61% Good 60% Good 58% Average 57% Average 56% Average 55.5% Average 54.5% Average 54% Average
Hogan Lovells' website won "good" grades for its visual design, segmentation efforts and comprehensive people-finder tool. Points lost for underwhelming content marketing. Awarded an "excellent grade for its responsive design. However, the website's search function did not return relevant results in our tests and we found little evidence of client segmentation. An attractive website design, that, unfortunately, does not resize for mobile phone screens. Marks lost for an underwhelming graduate recruitment website and a weak internal search function. The Linklaters' website received "good" grades for its desktop design and easy-to-understand lawyer finder tool. The lack of responsive design or a stylish separate mobile 'site cost it points.
Allen & Overy's website won points for its usability, lawyer-finder tool and technical search engine optimisation. Absent "conversion" activity, website does not resize for multiple screen sizes. Good grades for content marketing, its "desktop" design and usability. Underwhelming graduate recruitment, conversion and loyalty-building activity. Austere mobile presence.
The Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer website reached the "good" grade for its lawyer finder tool and responsive design. Weak technical search engine optimisation, conversion and loyalty activity. The BLP website won points for its content marketing and "desktop" usability. However, the website does not re-size for mobile, and there is little emphasis placed on audience segmentation.
22 CMS 53%
Average
An excellent, if spare, separate mobile website. A "good" grade for technical SEO. Unusually, points lost for an unfriendly lawyer-finder tool. Little evidence of loyalty-building activity.
RANK COMPANY SCORE DESCRIPTION 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Taylor Wessing Clifford Chance
Slaughter and May
Withers
Simmons & Simmons
DAC Beachcroft Addleshaw Goddard 49% Average 48% Average 47% Average 45.5% Average 44.5% Average 38% Weak 36% Weak
Points awarded for the website's straightforward people-finder tool and for its content-offering. The internal search function was "weak" in our tests and there's an absence of activity that would encourage return visits.
The 'site structure is simple, with a clear conceptual model - and it even animates the transition between pages. However, the website is not optimised for mobile and there's little evidence of content marketing.
A high score for technical search engine optimistion, and the "average" grade reached for conversion activity. The website's search function is weak and it is not optimised for mobile and multiple screen sizes.
A "good" grade for the website's usability and its people-finder tool. The homepage is still hampered by the large empty space at its centre and the website is not optimised for mobiles. Uninspiring careers section. The people-finder tool is useful and the website does offer some visitor segmentation. Website design looks a little "dated", and it is not optimised for mobile. Internal search function is "weak".
The website reached its only "good" grade for technical SEO. Website is not optimised for mobile and there's little evidence of segmentation. The trainee career pages are basic.
A "good" grade for the presentation of its content on the website sector pages. However, the website is not optimised for mobile, the graduate recruitment pages are underwhelming and technical SEO is "weak".
30
Overall ranking: 80%+ Excellent, 60% - 70% Good, 40% - 59% Average, <40% Weak
Ashurst 34.5%
Weak
Ashurst's website scored points for "desktop" usability, but it is not optimised for mobiles. There's little evidence of content marketing, technical SEO or loyalty-building activity.
TECHNOLOGY:
A NOTE ABOUT CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Of the 15 law firms in our study that use easily identifiable content
management and web management tools, it's noteworthy that a wide number
of products are in use in the sector. Bespoke content management systems are
still prevalent.
Drupal
ExpressionEngine
iAPPS
Interwoven TeamSite
Kentico
Microsoft Office SharePoint
Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010
Sitecore CMS
TYPO3
Umbraco
Ashurst
Clyde & Co
CMS
Eversheds
Wragge Lawrence
Graham & Co
Linklaters
Allen & Overy
Bird & Bird
Herbert Smith Freehills
Irwin Mitchell
King & Wood Mallesons
Simmons & Simmons
Taylor Wessing
Macfarlanes
Nabarro
TECHNOLOGY:
MOBILE & MULTI-SCREEN OPTIMISATION
"57% of users won't recommend a
business with a poorly designed
mobile site, and 40% have turned to a
competitor's site after a bad mobile
experience"
Google - The Mobile Playbook
"Adapting to the screen is only the first
frontier of a new, responsive web.
Today, users expect online experiences
that not only respond to what device
they're using, but also their location,
time of day, what they’ve already read,
and events happening in real time."
Dan Gardner and Mike Treff, Fast Company
The UK legal sector's digital communications are not yet fully 'mobile-first', but progress is being made. In the first edition of this benchmark report (2012), of 30 leading law firms, five were optimising their websites for mobile. By 2014, that number had risen to ten. In 2015, 18 of 30 leading law firms are optimising their digital content for mobile screens.
Of these 18, ten have reached our "excellent" grade. Clyde & Co, Osborne Clarke, Nabarro, and Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co's responsive websites are especially attractive. However, many of the separate mobile websites in use are beginning to look a little austere and uninspiring.
The 18 firms that are optimising their digital content for mobiles, are:
Bird & Bird Clyde & Co CMS DLA Piper DWF Eversheds Holman Fenwick Willan Irwin Mitchell Nabarro Osborne Clarke Wragge & Co Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer King & Wood Mallesons Macfarlanes Hogan Lovells Kennedys Norton Rose Fulbright Linklaters Multi-screen optimisation excellence. Use of responsive design? Separate mobile site?
According to respected mobile analyst Benedict Evans:
" ...instead of thinking about the constraints of mobile - of the
things you can't do because the screen is smaller and there's no
keyboard - we should rather think of the PC as having the basic,
cut-down, limited version of the internet, because it only has the
web. It's the mobile that has the whole internet".
TECHNOLOGY:
MOBILE & MULTI-SCREEN OPTIMISATION
Three of the best mobile websites
Wragge Lawrence
Graham & Co
For millions of us, typing, or even speaking,
queries into a search engine is a frequent,
near-automatic activity. The law firm websites
that appear at the top of Google's listings will
find themselves in front of potential clients.
Choice of business lawyer will always be influenced by personal recommendation and professional reputation, but search engines do have a place in raising awareness of a firm's activities and expertise.
By our calculations, the firms with the most "organic" results on page one of Google UK are; Irwin Mitchell, Allen & Overy, Eversheds and Berwin Leighton Paisner. Irwin Mitchell is way out in the lead with an estimated 901 results on page one of Google UK, up from 513 in 2014. If we were to attempt to purchase "single clicks" of these first page results as Google adverts, Irwin Mitchell is, again,in the lead (with its personal law focus) and results valued at $37183. Next in line is Allen & Overy with results valued at $458, then it's Eversheds - $354, and BLP in fourth place with results valued at $353.
Firms that are not optimising their websites for search engines are not managing their reputations effectively.
The chart on the next page reveals the firms that are frequently appearing on the front page of Google.co.uk, and the value of their page one results.
"Search engines have become an
indispensable part of the consumer’s
decision-making and buying process,
which means that organic search is
important for every business. Being
visible in Google and other search
engines matters because that’s where
most searchers go to look for things —
and where most traffic to your website
will come from. Organic search connects
you with buyers."
Trond Lyngbø, Search Engine Land, 2015
"Because the top 4 positions on average
receive 83% of organic clicks, focusing
on improving the factors within your
control to increase your SERP will likely
improve your CTR as well.”
Matthew Capala, 2014
AWARENESS:
SEARCH ENGINE RESULTS COMPARED
Irwin Mitchell Allen & Overy Eversheds Berwin Leighton Paisner
Pinsent Masons Norton Rose Fulbright
Linklaters Nabarro Taylor Wessing Ashurst Osborne Clarke DAC Beachcroft DLA Piper Simmons & Simmons
Bird & Bird Wragge & Co Addleshaw Goddard
DWF CMS Slaughter and May Herbert Smith Freehills
Hogan Lovells Holman Fenwick Willan
Clifford Chance Withers Macfarlanes
Kennedys King & Wood Mallesons Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
$37,183 $458 $354 $353 $349 $286 $255 $239 $209 $177 $164 $148 $144 $121 $118 $105 $104 $103 $79 $71 $58 $57 $57 $54 $41 $35 $34 $33 $23 65/901 13/185 12/169 7/130 5/181 33/279 32/202 4/73 20/179 3/104 12/198 2/28 38/176 1/39 4/79 2/52 3/65 17/90 17/87 4/58 23/104 5/60 3/29 4/60 1/33 1/15 3/21 1/31 38/136
Estimated cost to buy the total single clicks of their page
one terms, as Google adverts
Number of results on page one (positions 1-10) of Google UK, May 2015 How many results at position one, page one of Google UK, May 2015?
AWARENESS:
SEO TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE
"Irwin Mitchell's main website has been
de-listed from Google searches,
apparently as a penalty for breaking
guidelines on linking from
external sites."
Legal Week, 2014
"Semantic search is Google's growing
ability to make associations between
things in ways that come closer to
how we humans make such
connections. When you ask me, "How
do I get to Market Street?" I might
hand you a bus schedule. I know that
the bus schedule might contain the
best solution to your problem, even
though your question did not contain
the words "bus" or "schedule"."
Mark Traphagen, SEO consultant, 2014
Google is growing smarter. After investing in
artificial intelligence computing, its search
engine's ability to find and promote high quality,
relevant, content has improved. The Panda and
Penguin updates to its search algorithm have
proved costly to businesses (such as Irwin
Mitchell) that did not play by Google's rules.
Getting the technical basics right will greatly increase your firm’s visibility
on the Google search engine. Websites should demonstrate
"technical SEO excellence" and display the trust signals that Google
recognises.
Of the 30 websites in our study, only King & Wood Mallesons, Norton Rose Fulbright, Pinsent Masons, Slaughter and May and Taylor Wessing reached the "excellent" grade in technical SEO. We examined more than 3000 pages, and, for example, of the 30 law firm websites, only eight 'sites are using metadescriptions correctly and 17 are employing descriptive H1 tags. More positively, 28 websites are using title tags correctly and 21 are displaying social share buttons - up from 19 in 2014.
AWARENESS:
SEO TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE
King & Wood Mallesons Norton Rose Fulbright
Pinsent Masons Slaughter and May
Taylor Wessing Allen & Overy
Bird & Bird CMS DAC Beachcroft
DWF Herbert Smith Freehills Holman Fenwick Willan
Irwin Mitchell Nabarro Withers Wragge & Co Berwin Leighton Paisner
DLA Piper Eversheds Hogan Lovells Kennedys Macfarlanes Osborne Clarke Simmons & Simmons
Clifford Chance Clyde & Co Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Linklaters
ENGAGEMENT:
VISUAL IMPACT
"Beauty slips through the
door of our rational
thought and gets us to see
the world differently".
Sarah Lewis, Du Bois Fellow,
Harvard University, 2014
Website design category conventions in the legal
sector are changing. Designs that are "big, bold
and simple" are increasingly popular. The change
is partly due to the technical challenge of making
desktop designs touch-friendly and responsive to
multiple screen sizes.
Our judgements on visual impact are guided by Google research that reveals:
• Users make snap judgements about whether they'll trust a website, "first impressions can be formed very quickly, based on whatever information is available within the first 39 milliseconds." • Familiarity of design is reassuring, "it can be assumed that there may be... a preference for prototypical websites".
• Simplicity is important too, "websites of high visual complexity lead to a more negative first impression than websites of medium or low complexity".
The line mentioning "preference for prototypical websites" is especially important. As more leading law firms adopt responsive "big, bold and simple" website designs, this style becomes prototypical, and therefore trustworthy. If the research is to believed, this means that the firm websites that do not obey the new "responsive design" category conventions will eventually appear less trustworthy to potential clients.
We've awarded ten websites an "excellent" grade for visual impact. They are: Bird & Bird, Clyde & Co, DLA Piper, DWF, Herbert Smith Freehills, Kennedys, King & Wood Mallesons, Nabarro, Norton Rose Fulbright and Osborne Clarke.
"Adapting to the screen is only the first
frontier of a new, responsive web.
Today, users expect online experiences
that not only respond to what device
they're using, but also their location,
time of day, what they’ve already read,
and events happening in real time."
Three visually impressive law firm
websites
ENGAGEMENT:
VISUAL IMPACT
ENGAGEMENT:
SEGMENTATION
"When done well, website segmentation
can increase website visitor engagement,
differentiate your brand from its
competitors, and improve inbound
marketing effectiveness by prompting
visitors to explore beyond the
home page."
Tien Anh Nguyen, OpenView
Law firms can use website segmentation to
simplify their visitors' journeys, improving the
effectiveness of the firm's communications.
Encouraging visitors to self-select by challenge, role or industry can make a
website more engaging, as visitors appreciate online experiences that can
anticipate and serve their needs.
We looked for evidence of clear segmentation on firms' website homepages - especially around geography, client problem, or industry sector.
Only Irwin Mitchell and King & Wood Mallesons reached the "excellent" grade.
Irwin Mitchell were the only firm in our study to segment by "most visited" Business Service. King & Wood Mallesons won points for placing a dropdown menu bearing the inclusive phrase "My business sector is..." top and centre of their homepage. When segmenting by geography, King & Wood Mallesons use the words "Your location" - another inclusive - audience focused phrase. In contrast, most law firm website homepages are still dominated by self-referential content, their headings peppered with "our", "us", we".
"Most companies segment their markets by customer demographics or product characteristics and differentiate their offerings by adding features and functions. But the consumer has a different view of the marketplace. He simply has a job to be done and is seeking to “hire” the best product or service to do it. Marketers must adopt that perspective." Clayton M. Christensen
"Because the top 4 positions on average
receive 83% of organic clicks, focusing
on improving the factors within your
control to increase your SERP will likely
improve your CTR as well.”
ENGAGEMENT:
SEGMENTATION
Irwin Mitchell King & Wood Mallesons
Allen & Overy Clyde & Co
DLA Piper
Herbert Smith Freehills Hogan Lovells
Linklaters Macfarlanes Norton Rose Fulbright
Pinsent Masons Simmons & Simmons
Taylor Wessing Wragge & Co
Bird & Bird Holman Fenwick Willan
Nabarro Addleshaw Goddard
Ashurst Berwin Leighton Paisner
Clifford Chance CMS DWF
Eversheds Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Kennedys Osborne Clarke Slaughter and May
ENGAGEMENT:
CONTENT MARKETING
"...branded content works best when
brands put the needs of their readers
ahead of their own, usually by
removing themselves from the story
entirely. That, however, is a tough sell
for most marketers, which are used
to operating in “campaign mode,”
which involves talking about
themselves almost exclusively."
"Today’s consumers have the ability
to influence their peers directly. By
inviting them onto your properties
and showing them how much they’re
valued, you’re enabling them to
become advocates for your business."
Ricardo Bilton
Digiday
Jordan Kretchmer
Livefyre, 2015
When properly presented, documented expertise
can become content marketing - engaging and
eventually converting website visitors into
clients.
While evaluating the content marketing on the sector pages of the 30
firms in our study, we examined a number of elements, including:
text article presentation, use of photography and video and reliance
on .pdf documents.
Five websites reached the "excellent" grade in this category; Clyde & Co,
DWF, Norton Rose Fulbright, Nabarro and Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co.
Eighteen of the 30 websites in our study are clearly linking to rich evidence of expertise, 21 are making good use of photography and 23 have structured their articles for ease of comprehension. Twenty three are also acknowledging their social media pages, by linking to them from their websites - this is up from 21 in 2014.
However, in our sample, only two of the 30 websites, Eversheds and Norton Rose Fulbright, are using video on their sector pages.
Over to Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg speaking at a conference in March 2015:
"There’s a clear technology trend enabling people to share richer and richer content. Five years ago, most content on Facebook was text. Now it’s photos. Fast forward five years and it will be video. After that, it will be immersive content like virtual reality."
ENGAGEMENT:
CONTENT MARKETING
Clyde & Co DWF Norton Rose Fulbright
Wragge & Co Nabarro Addleshaw Goddard Berwin Leighton Paisner
DLA Piper Eversheds Holman Fenwick Willan
Kennedys King & Wood Mallesons
Macfarlanes Osborne Clarke
Taylor Wessing Allen & Overy
Bird & Bird DAC Beachcroft Herbert Smith Freehills
Irwin Mitchell Linklaters Pinsent Masons Slaughter and May
Clifford Chance CMS
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Hogan Lovells Simmons & Simmons
Norton Rose Fulbright's
ENGAGEMENT:
CONTENT MARKETING
Clearly structured pages
Irwin Mitchell's
Good use of photography
King & Wood Mallesons
"Amazon’s recommendation
engine is the amalgamation of
positive user experiences – one
that Google strives to impersonate
by interpreting intent of
contextual search query cues."
P.J. Fusco
writing about the increasing sophistication of website search engines
Conditioned by their experiences using the Google and Amazon search engines,
clients are accustomed to quick, accurate responses to their queries. It's
increasingly expected that websites will assist visitors in their quest for
information.
According to Roo Reynolds at the award-winning Gov.uk, a good internal search
engine will:
• Help more people find what they want using search • Always return the most relevant results
• Avoid forcing users to understand the internal structure of the site • Allow users to control their results
• Give results that feel familiar to users and don’t deviate from established models of what search looks like
We tested the accuracy of internal search engines by typing in various queries. Of the 30 websites in the study, 20 returned accurate results when we typed in "graduate recruitment", and 16 websites returned accurate results to the query "IP lawyer".
The number of websites offering an auto-complete search function (technology that can suggest relevant results) is also increasing year-on-year. In 2015, five websites are employing auto-complete technology, up from a single website in 2012. The five are: DLA Piper, Nabarro, DWF, Holman Fenwick Willan and King & Wood Mallesons.
ENGAGEMENT:
SITE SEARCH FUNCTION
Clifford Chance DLA Piper
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Nabarro
Wragge & Co Allen & Overy Berwin Leighton Paisner
Bird & Bird DWF Hogan Lovells Holman Fenwick Willan
Irwin Mitchell Kennedys King & Wood Mallesons
Linklaters Macfarlanes Norton Rose Fulbright
Pinsent Masons Withers Addleshaw Goddard Ashurst Clyde & Co CMS DAC Beachcroft Eversheds Herbert Smith Freehills
Osborne Clarke Simmons & Simmons
Slaughter and May Taylor Wessing
Search function score, out of 5
ENGAGEMENT:
USABILITY
"If your UX asks the user to make choices,
for example, even if those choices are
both clear and useful, the act of deciding
is a cognitive drain. And not just while
they're deciding... even after we choose,
an unconscious cognitive background
thread is slowly consuming/leaking
resources, "Was that the right choice?"
Kathy Sierra
Usability expert
"A system reflects the organisational
structure that built it".
Melvin Conway
Computer scientistLarge law firms are complex, political, organisations, so it's perhaps inevitable
that, over time, their websites begin to reflect that complexity. Unfortunately
when a large website begins to resemble the internal organisational structure
of the business that it is representing, it's detrimental to the user experience.
Or, in other words, websites that are difficult to navigate frustrate your potential clients - and send them off to seek out rival firms.
When evaluating the usability of law firm websites, we were looking for a clear conceptual model, persistent navigation, lack of ambiguity and clarity of purpose.
This year we've been able to award "excellent" grades for usability to the websites of Clifford Chance, Clyde & Co, Norton Rose Fulbright and Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co.
Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co website won points for using the "shrinking" animated navigation bar that that persists on screen while scrolling. DLA Piper's website navigation also "shrinks" but it's mildly annoying to use - the click-able navigation labels disappear when the page is scrolled.
Bruce Tognazzini, usability consultant: "The World Wide Web, for all its pretty screens and fancy buttons, is, in effect, an invisible navigation space. True, you can always see the specific page you are on, but you cannot see anything of the vast space between pages.
"Once users reach our applications, we must take care to reduce navigation to a minimum and make that navigation that is left clear and natural. Present the illusion that users are always in the same place, with the work brought to them. This not only eliminates the need for maps and other navigational aids, it offers users a greater sense of mastery and autonomy."
ENGAGEMENT:
USABILITY
Clifford Chance Clyde & Co Norton Rose Fulbright
Wragge & Co Allen & Overy Ashurst Berwin Leighton Paisner
Bird & Bird Eversheds Herbert Smith Freehills Holman Fenwick Willan
Irwin Mitchell Kennedyst King & Wood Mallesons
Nabarro Osborne Clarke Withers Addleshaw Goddard CMS DAC Beachcroft DLA Piper Hogan Lovells Linklaters Macfarlanes Simmons & Simmons
Slaughter and May Taylor Wessing
DWF
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Pinsent Masons
Usabilty score, out of 5
Wragge's
ENGAGEMENT:
USABILITY
Clifford Chance's website animates the transition between pages
Clifford Chance
A distinct "crumb-trail" bar on the Norton Rose Fulbright website
Norton Rose Fulbright
CONTENT SPOTLIGHT:
LAWYER FINDER TOOL
Clyde & Co DLA Piper DWF Irwin Mitchell Nabarro Osborne Clarke Pinsent Masons Wragge & Co Allen & Overy Freshfields Bruckhaus DeringerHerbert Smith Freehills Hogan Lovells Holman Fenwick Willan King & Wood Mallesons
Linklaters Macfarlanes Norton Rose Fulbright Simmons & Simmons
Taylor Wessing Withers Ashurst Berwin Leighton Paisner
Bird & Bird Clifford Chance DAC Beachcroft Kennedys Addleshaw Goddard CMS Eversheds
Lawyer finder tools are an essential part of law firm websites. Connecting the website visitor to the relevant expert should be a friction-less experience.
All 30 websites in our study employ a lawyer finder tool. The eight "excellent" tools belong to the Clyde & Co, DLA Piper, DWF, Irwin Mitchell, Nabarro, Osborne Clarke, Pinsent Masons and Wragge & Co websites.
Eighteen tools offer useful filtering functions - up from 13 in 2014.
Nabarro
CONTENT SPOTLIGHT:
LAWYER FINDER TOOL
Makes it easier to search for a Lawyer
DWF
Connects to a visitor's Linkedin network
Freshfields Bruckhaus
Deringer
Nabarro's lawyer finder tool is easy to use and stylishPinsent Masons
CONTENT SPOTLIGHT:
GRADUATE RECUITMENT
Holman Fenwick Willan
Linklaters
Competition is fierce for the best trainees, so many law firms fund separate graduate recruitment websites, designed specifically for students.
CONVERSION:
CALLS-TO-ACTION & MORE
"We prefer to say “yes” to
those we know and like."
"People decide what’s
appropriate for them to do
in a situation by examining
and following what others
are doing."
Peep Laja
Conversion expertConversion rate optimisation is often cited as
the number one priority for digital marketers.
When we examined how the 30 websites in our study are
attempting to turn visitors into customers, we looked beyond
buttons and gadgets, to search for evidence of psychological
factors such as the use of reciprocity, social proof and "liking".
Only the Norton Rose Fulbright website reached the "good" grade for its conversion efforts - they're one of the few websites to clearly list their "Awards & recognition".
Twelve websites are employing clear calls to action on their pages and only two are displaying extensive social proof of their firm's achievements. When we look across the sector's websites, it's striking how little we hear from clients.
CONVERSION:
CALLS-TO-ACTION & MORE
Norton Rose Fulbright Berwin Leighton Paisner
Bird & Bird Clyde & Co Eversheds Herbert Smith Freehills
Hogan Lovells Irwin Mitchell King & Wood Mallesons
Linklaters Pinsent Masons Slaughter and May
Wragge & Co Addleshaw Goddard
Ashurst CMS DWF
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Macfarlanes
Nabarro Simmons & Simmons
Taylor Wessing Withers Clifford Chance DAC Beachcroft
DLA Piper Holman Fenwick Willan
Kennedys Osborne Clarke
Allen & Overy
Irwin Mitchell
CONVERSION:
CALLS-TO-ACTION & MORE
Bird & Bird's "Talk to an expert" box slides out from the side of the page
Bird & Bird
Clyde & Co place a "Get in touch" form at the bottom of their pages
Clyde & Co
"Amazon is a prime example of how to
personalise the web experience... It’s
unlikely that any two people will see the
same Amazon homepage as the content
is tailored based on previous
purchase behaviour."
David Moth
Econsultancy"Brand loyalty is how we escape decision
fatigue... With the proliferation of online
services and globalizing markets, our
options have multiplied rapidly, and it’s
wearing us out... Once we believe that our
values and choices align, we’re happy to
leave choices to the brand that’s earned
our trust, and shift some of the burden
off our own shoulders."
Chris Butler
Fast Company
Loyal clients are valuable clients - it is often
cheaper to keep a customer than it is to attract
a new one.
When evaluating the efforts of law firm to build online "loyalty" among
website visitors, we looked for a variety of habit-forming elements that
encourage return visits and on-going engagement.
Across the 30 sites in our study, none reached the "excellent" grade, with only Holman Fenwick Willan judged to be "good" for their long-term engagement activity.
Compelling sector news is a good reason for clients to return to law firm websites, and 16 'sites are presenting sector news effectively - up from eight in 2014.
However, only four websites are making it easy to sign up for newsletters and only one website - Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer - is using personalisation to slightly customise the user experience by displaying visitors' LinkedIn connections.
Intelligent personalisation of the user experience, currently most popular with e-commerce websites, will offer law firms a competitive advantage.
As Gerry McGovern, a user experience expert, has written: "Customers expect that you know them. They don’t want to keep entering their name and telephone number when they know you already have it. They expect that you know what they bought last year. They want appropriate recommendations. They’re not necessarily looking for a relationship from you, but they do expect convenience, ease-of-use."
Holman Fenwick Willan Allen & Overy Berwin Leighton Paisner
Bird & Bird Nabarro Norton Rose Fulbright
Pinsent Masons DLA Piper DWF Eversheds Hogan Lovells Osborne Clarke Slaughter and May
Wragge & Co Clifford Chance
Clyde & Co CMS DAC Beachcroft Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Herbert Smith Freehills Irwin Mitchell
Kennedys King & Wood Mallesons
Macfarlanes Simmons & Simmons
Withers Addleshaw Goddard
Ashurst
Loyalty activity, scored out of 5
Wragge Lawrence Graham
Bird & Bird display relevant Tweets and sector news on their sector pages
Bird & Bird
Holman Fenwick Willan promote their Maritime Emergency Response App across their website
Holman Fenwick Willan
Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co's pages display prominent subscribe buttons
"Your social following is the result of your
audience, not the cause. Look at every individual
or company that has a large social following... They
do interesting things. That’s why people follow
them. So focus on your work first, then your social
strategy."
Andrianes Pinantoan
Consultant"Our social feeds act as our de facto home page.
People are now accustomed to social content feeds
being their entry point to the web, rather than
static homepages or search engines. We keep up to
date with the world through a prism of what our
friends and news outlets we trust are talking
about."
"No matter how hard advertising tries, it can never
really equal the conviction of a message
communicated by a friend who
understands your interests"
Jordan Kretchmer
Wall blogAs use of social media is now widespread, firms that can engage an
audience on Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook can drive loyalty, advocacy
and keep their brands front-of-mind. However, social sharing doesn't
happen by accident, a message, or content is required to provoke a
reaction. Law firms routinely generate a lot of content, but not all of it
travels easily across the social networks.
After examining the most shared content from thirty leading law firms, over the last 12 months, we've seen patterns of activity emerge.
Briefly:
• A Bird & Bird article on cloud computing and privacy is most shared piece of content over the last 12 months (1935 shares).
• Legal content is shared mostly by members of the legal profession - the sector likes to talk to itself.
• Legal content is shared mostly on LinkedIn, with Twitter a distant second.
• Not suprisingly, content chosen to be shared by law professionals differs to the types of content shared by a broader audience.
Legal sector professionals share these stories, from law firm websites, the most: • Industry awards
• New offices • Partner promotions • Job opportunities • Firm mergers • New internal processes
The general audience (potential clients etc), share these stories, from law firm websites, the most:
• Topical news articles
• Pieces of "big content", in-depth reports, especially about M&A
• Coverage of events. Tip: Reconsider deleting pages about events once they are over - consider redirecting the traffic
• Sector thought leadership / opinion pieces
LOYALTY:
THE LAW FIRM CONTENT THAT'S MOST SHARED ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Bird & Bird Irwin Mitchell Osborne Clarke Linklaters Allen & Overy Clyde & Co DWF CMS Hogan Lovells DLA Piper Eversheds
Herbert Smith Freehills Ashurst
Norton Rose Fulbright Clifford Chance
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Taylor Wessing
Simmons & Simmons Nabarro
Addleshaw Goddard DAC Beachcroft Kennedys
King & Wood Mallesons Berwin Leighton Paisner Wragge & Co
Pinsent Masons Withers
Holman Fenwick Willan Macfarlanes Slaughter and May
Title of the most shared piece of content from each law firm Law firm Thought leadership Competition Award Jobs Jobs
New office opening New office opening Award
Award / celebration Merger of law firm News - new internal process Event
Jobs
Merger of law firm News
News
New office opening Award
New office opening Jobs Award Jobs News Jobs - graduates Jobs - graduates Event Award Award News Jobs Cloud computing and privacy series
Design For Life | Irwin Mitchell
Osborne Clarke awarded 'law firm of the year' 2015 Linklaters elects 23 new partners
Commitment to diversity and continued investment From 0-100 staff in two years
DWF opens in Dubai CMS leads the pack
Hogan Lovells Celebrates 5th Anniversary DLA Piper and Davis finalize combination in Canada Eversheds launches innovative tool
Employment, Pensions and Incentives Ashurst appoints 20 to partnership
Norton Rose Fulbright expands its footprint in Africa 2014 set to be the strongest year for global M&A Update on Iran negotiations
Taylor Wessing announces opening of two US offices TMT Team Wins Another Industry Award
Nabarro London New HQ 18 new partner promotions
DAC Beachcroft Named 'Legal Advisors Of The Year' Kennedys promotes four to partner
Australian Federal Budget 2015-16 Graduate Law Recruitment Scheme Dubai competition
Pinsent Masons Annual Regulatory Conference 2014 Private Wealth Team of the Year at The Lawyer Awards Amanda Davidson awarded the Order of Australia Disguised management fees - HMRC guidance published Slaughter and May : Applicant Portal : Home
2 408 6 0 4 0 69 0 0 0 0 1 7 46 18 0 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 119 83 3 0 0 0 22 Content topic category
Total shares (over the last 12
months)
Facebook shares Google plus shares Twitter shares Linkedin shares
1 6 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 15 1360 80 11 21 19 49 38 2 36 5 4 0 33 42 7 26 14 25 0 12 4 1 76 34 13 1 5 2 0 1917 113 1248 749 734 735 575 625 630 581 460 441 399 323 323 337 309 293 260 280 254 217 211 2 0 83 97 78 35 0 1935 1887 1338 760 759 754 693 664 632 617 465 446 406 402 383 344 337 307 285 284 267 221 212 197 117 103 98 83 37 22
LOYALTY:
THE LAW FIRM CONTENT THAT'S MOST SHARED ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Bird & Bird Irwin Mitchell Clyde & Co Allen & Overy DLA Piper
Herbert Smith Freehills Clifford Chance Norton Rose Fulbright Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Osborne Clarke
Eversheds Linklaters Hogan Lovells DWF
King & Wood Mallesons Addleshaw Goddard Nabarro CMS Kennedys Wragge & Co Pinsent Masons Simmons & Simmons Taylor Wessing Withers
Holman Fenwick Willan Berwin Leighton Paisner DAC Beachcroft Macfarlanes
Title of the most shared piece of "general interest" content from each law firm Law firm
Thought leadership Competition news Report - construction Thought leadership section Event
Event
News - business - M&A Report - topical News - Nuclear article Thought leadership - M&A Report - M&A - big content Report
Event News - verdict News
Event about a report Infographic Report - M&A - News Report - guide - big content News Event Thought leadership Report Thought leadership Report - briefing News - video on oil News - Employment News
Cloud computing and privacy series Design For Life | Irwin Mitchell
Global trends in construction dispute resolution The Big Think
Global privacy seminar, discussion and reception Employment, Pensions and Incentives 2014 set to be the strongest year for global M&A A global guide to Whistleblowing laws Update on Iran negotiations
Representations and warranties in private M&A Global M&A report - Streamling for success Year in Review 2014 and Year to Come 2015 Global Energy Summit 2015
Costs awarded in The Hut Group Ltd Australian Federal Budget 2015-16 Retail's Digital Future Seminar
Pick n Mix 2015 - trends in UK real estate 2015 Sellers taking on less risk in European M&A UK claims handling guide
Court of Appeal confirms no English celebrity image right Pinsent Masons Annual Regulatory Conference 2014 Passmore on Privilege: a blog
Cyber Risks - a review of cyber liability issues Transatlantic Thoughts
The UK's Anti-corruption Plan, under the UK Bribery Act Oil prices and what this means for dispute resolution Collective redundancy consultation
Disguised management fees - HMRC guidance published
2 408 0 3 0 1 18 8 0 2 3 0 18 0 0 5 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Content topic category
Total shares (over the last 12
months)
Facebook shares Google plus shares Twitter shares Linkedin shares
1 6 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 15 1360 8 29 4 4 42 72 7 13 7 1 12 10 1 41 22 25 7 13 13 6 28 2 2 2 2 2 1917 113 583 552 514 441 323 294 337 326 312 294 208 225 211 159 172 165 162 102 83 93 64 85 78 59 49 35 1935 1887 591 584 518 446 383 375 344 342 322 295 238 236 212 205 194 190 169 117 103 99 93 87 80 61 51 37 BROADLY FILTERED TO EXCLUDE THE CONTENT TYPES SHARED MOSTLY BY MEMBERS OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION
LOYALTY:
THE TOP THREE MOST SHARED PIECES OF LAW FIRM WEBSITE CONTENT
The top three most shared pieces of law
firm website content, on social media,
1st Floor, Building 1/2 The Leathermarket Weston Street London SE1 3ET t +44 (0)20 7407 7666 [email protected]
QUESTIONS? COMMENTS?
How to reach us:
Draw is a digital agency with offices in London. We exist to provide unparalleled value to our clients through a rigorous, client-tailored planning processand world-class creative.
