Three Reasons to Add FAQs to Your Law Firm Website

The theme of providing useful resources to your potential customers as a great way to market your legal services has come up repeatedly as of late. In our recent post on usability, it was discussed how using “search personas” when creating content for your website can help ensure that a website provides the information for which potential clients are looking.  And posts on educational marketing and the value of blogging both championed the idea that you can establish customer loyalty and win potential business by “giving knowledge away.”

These are all a great segue to the discussion as to why you should consider including frequently asked questions on your site. Here are three reasons why FAQs are a smart addition to a law firm website.

1. The FAQ  format makes content easy to read and digest. Especially when it comes to the law, non-lawyers (aka the majority of your potential clients) can be easily intimidated or put off by what they may perceive as dense pages of “legalese”. A question and answer format keep the tone informal and the content easy to read.  Take for example these New Jersey medical malpractice lawyers, instead of a long article on the ins and outs of medical malpractice, they have chosen to introduce the topic by answering a few top-level questions about malpractice.

2. FAQs, if done correctly, can provide the information people want to find. As mentioned above, the recent post on usability stressed the importance of providing your website visitors with the information they expect and want to find on your site.  FAQs if done correctly can do just that.  You can probably rattle off without thinking the questions that clients ask most often when they first call or contact you. Why not put those questions on your site, to begin with?

When compiling your FAQs you should also consider these other sources

• Talk to the person or persons who answer your office phone. Those who answer your phone and handle reception will know for sure the types of questions people have when they first reach out to you.  Check out the FAQ page found on the website of these Orlando probate attorneys. They use the format to answer questions about their area practice but they also use it to explain to potential clients that they do not provide free consultations and why. This is obviously a question they must get often and including an explanation on their FAQ page is one way to nip a potential miscommunication in the bud.

• Consider past “Contact Us” submissions. If you have a contact form on your site, look at past contact form submissions to see what people are asking when they email you.

• Look at your website traffic data.  Take a look particularly at any long-tailed queries in the keyword phrase data. Also, if you have an internal search box check those searches for hints on what people want to know when they visit your website.

3. FAQS are an easy inexpensive, quick and easy addition to your website. Last but not least, FAQs are an easy and cheap way to expand your website and make it a more robust and effective resource for your visitors.  Like the suggestions above show, you most likely have the content at your fingertips and the form requires brevity so there is no need to take the time to write a long involved article.