Law Firm Web Design Trends

Trends come and go, which makes it hard to determine whether a trend will become a permanent fixture or an evanescent fad. We see trends everywhere; from fashion design to car design to architectural design, and yes, to web design.

Web design trends in particular seem to shift at a moments notice, most likely because those trends are relatively quick and easy to implement, compared to other industries that deal in physical objects rather than ones and zeros.

Lawyer websites need to incorporate the trends that are worth following if they want to stay current and appealing. So, what are the latest trends that are worth following? On The Map Marketing knows. Hire us as your law firm digital marketing agency and you can be sure that your lawyer website will be at the forefront of all the latest web design trends.

We get law firm web design. are always on the cutting edge of web design and we pay close attention to the latest emerging trends, particularly the ones that will be most useful for law firms. So, use our skills and you can be sure that your website will be a masterpiece of modern web design.

Big Hero Images

The hero image is the large banner image at the top of a website’s homepage. These have been getting bigger because they have an impressive visual impact. A big hero image immediately captures the attention of anyone who clicks on the site. There are different kinds of hero images that can get them to stick around longer, and perhaps explore the site further.

Static Hero Image – If a website is going to rely on a single image to capture the attention, then it should be something bold and distinctive. A professionally composed photo of the partners or a landmark from the practice area are just a few examples of an attention-getting image.

Carousel – This is an automatically, or manually scrolling, slideshow of different images relevant to your law firm. An automatic scroll will get the visitor to stay and see what is next, while a manual scroll encourages interactivity and user engagement, which keeps visitors interested.

Video – The video can either be a large gif or a video that plays when someone clicks on it. Either one will capture the attention of visitors.

Animation

There are many websites that use animation, however, only some websites use animation correctly. When used properly, animation can provide visual interest to a webpage, and highlight certain aspects of that page. Animations can be used in various subtle ways: They can highlight CTAs (Calls to Action); they can be used for interesting transitions; they can provide visual feedback; they can show which parts of a page are interactive. These are just a few of the many ways animation can add some pizzazz to a webpage.

Optimized Performance

This is as much just plain common sense as it is a lawyer web design trend. You will always want your site to load quickly and be easy to navigate, but many of the new web design trends can impact the performance of a page if they are poorly implemented. A website that loads slowly and runs poorly will always repel visitors, no matter how attractively designed it may be. Regardless of which web design trends are used, the performance of the website should always be the top priority.

Responsive Design

Also known as mobile responsiveness, this is the design ethos which states that a website should be able to be viewed on all devices. The PC is not the only way people browse the web anymore, most people use their smartphones and tablets for that function. So any website that does not provide a good viewing experience on those devices risks losing potential new clients. This is less of a new trend, and more of a continuing one, but it is important enough that it should be reiterated often.

Accessibility

One popular, and important, web design trend is making websites more accessible for people with disabilities. Inclusivity is always a good thing, and a website that caters to a wide variety of users will be more successful than one that doesn’t. The following are some of the conditions that should be addressed in your law firm web design

Color Blindness or Low vision – Strong contrasting colors and visual indicators that do not just rely on color can be helpful to these users.

Blindness or Low Vision – The use of labels for each field in a form is useful for people who use screen readers to help them navigate the web. That is because the reader will announce which field is highlighted at any given moment. The use of good alt text also helps.

Impaired Mobility – Keyboard navigation is a useful feature for these types of users. Using visual indicators to highlight the interactive elements of the webpage is a huge benefit to users with motor impairments. The same goes for putting those interactive elements in a logical order for people who navigate the page using the tab button.

Security

The websites of law firms need to have high security because they are often the targets of hackers looking for sensitive information about the firm’s clients. A security breach can leave the clients’ information exposed, which in turn leaves the firm vulnerable to lawsuits. This means that this is not just a design trend, but an ethical obligation.

In order to protect their clients and their reputation, lawyer websites need to have an SSL certification, which is indicated by the s in the https:// designation at the beginning of the firm’s web address. The SSL certification means that communication between the website and the browser used to access that website is encrypted.

Use The Latest Lawyer Web Design Trends to Better Your Business

All the trends listed here help to make lawyer websites more appealing, easier to navigate, and more accessible to a wider variety of people. Those are all qualities that will get visitors to notice your website and to stay on your website, which increases the chance of those visitors becoming clients.

On The Map Marketing can implement any of those trends into your website to give your law firm the bold web presence it deserves. One of our designs was recently featured in the best legal website design category at DesignRush.