If you’re an accountant, solicitor or professional service business owner, then your website plays a crucial role in helping you get new clients. Your website is more than just a brochure for your business. It’s a tool to help you win the right clients, and help them along their journey to becoming a client.
What’s the best way to ensure your website is doing its job? Make sure it has these components:
1. Easy navigation
When someone visits your website, it’s essential they know hot to navigate it and find the information they need. This means that you need to have a clear hierarchy for how your website’s content is organised, and all of this should be visible from the home page or other pages.
Another consideration is that navigation should be easy to use. You don’t want visitors having difficulty moving between pages because they get lost in a maze of links or drop-down menus or other confusing configurations.
Navigation should also be consistent across all pages. This means visitors know exactly where they are at any given time (and don’t have to keep flipping back through their browser tabs). Finally, you might think about updating and changing site navigation over time as new content and features become available.
2. Fresh content and information
Fresh, relevant and accurate content is key to keeping users coming back. It’s also a really useful boost for search engine optimisation (SEO) and google rankings. Make sure that you keep your articles easy to find by placing them in an obvious place on your homepage.
One of the easiest ways to add information to your website is through a blog. You (or your team) can write articles that relevant to your industry and your potential clients. You can also add information in different formats include reports, video or podcasts. The best type of content either answers questions your audience might have, or relates to regular search terms. Examples might include ‘Do I have to pay tax on my second income?’ or ‘New business checklist’.
If you add topical blogs and content regularly, you’re more likely to attract more visitors in the long term.
3. Meet the team page
You want your website to be a reflection of who you are and what you offer, so it’s important to introduce everyone involved in your business. The easiest way to do this is through a ‘Meet the team’ page.
When people visit your site and read about the team, they can put a face to a name offering their services. This helps to bring a human element to your professional service business, and gives your team a chance to raise a profile. You should list the names, roles, contact details and event the social media profiles of all members of staff. You could also include a brief description of each person’s skillset – maybe even what makes them unique!
You can also include their office location if you work across multiple sites and what they like to do for fun outside the office. All of this helps to add a personal touch to your business.
4. How to work with you page
How can a potential client understand what it’s like to work with you? Often potential clients are getting in touch because they have a financial or legal issue, so reassurance and transparency is key. You want to make the process of engaging with you as easy and simple as possible for your visitors.
This is where your ‘How to work us’ comes in. Here, you’ll want to describe, step by step, the process of working with you, including any free consultations or calls before they sign up. This helps to educate your potential clients about the process, and also avoid any surprises. They’ll feel empowered, and you will save time having to explain your process over and over again.
With high charge rates for professional practice firms, let visitors know what to expect before they’re expected to part with any money. They will thank you for this!
5. Clear call to action
What do you want your visitors to do when they visit your website? For most professional service firms, they want their visitors to get in contact. If you’re running a specific event, you may want them to register. Or if you’ve released a new report or guide, you may want them to download the document. This is where a call to action (CTA) becomes essential.
A CTA is a simple, direct request for the visitor to take a specific action. A CTA can be a button or link that says something like ‘Click here’ or simply ‘book now.’ The language should be clear, concise and easy to complete.
CTAs are placed near the top of your page and repeated throughout your site so visitors can find them easily when they’re ready to get in touch.
Conclusion
Remember, a website isn’t your brochure! Your website is a dynamic tool designed to help you win and convert new clients. These five things will help make your website be as effective as possible, and every professional service website should have them.
By following this advice, you can ensure the best possible user experience for both potential and current clients looking for your services.
If you would like more information about any of these topics or your own website, please contact us today!