Placement of Contact Forms To Get More Clients For Your Law Firm

Once you get people to your website, the entire point is to have them eventually contact you and become your client. Because your law firm needs to connect with potential clients, it makes sense to insert contact forms on your website. Most websites have contact forms scattered strategically throughout the pages, and research suggests that there are optimal places to include contact forms. Wherever you place your contact forms, you want them to be noticed and utilized, so your law firm can gather more prospective clients. Consider the following ideas regarding smart placement of contact forms on your law firm’s website. 

Why Use Contact Forms?

A contact form on your law firm website can serve potential clients in a variety of ways, and here are five essential reasons to use one.

Contact Forms Are Convenient 

Of course you have included your law firm phone number on the website, but if anyone calls after hours, they may or may not leave a message. A contact form makes it easy for prospective clients to contact you any time of day, and you can return inquiries when it is convenient. 

Contact Forms Record Client Interaction

Contact forms make it simple to keep a record of website questions. In turn, this provides your law firm with valuable information regarding common queries or concerns of visitors. Your law firm can use this information when creating future articles or blog posts. 

Contact Forms Gather More Leads

Using contact forms makes it easy for new potential clients to connect with you, since they are easier and quicker than email. 

Contact Forms Build Your Email Marketing List

When an individual fills in a contact form, this is a great opportunity for you to collect their email address, and email is one of the most powerful and inexpensive ways to reach your target audience. 

Contact Forms Reduce Spam Mail

There is always the chance that your law firm email address might be harvested for a spam mailing list, resulting in a security threat for your business. Opting for a contact form instead of a visible email address reduces the risk of spam mail, since your email address is never published on the website. 

Placement of Contact Forms

Experts have devoted time and energy to studying the placement of contact forms on websites. Not surprisingly, there is not one clear answer or rule for all websites, so how do you tell which is right for you? Here are some ideas for inserting contact forms in the locations where it most makes sense, gets them noticed, and maximizes help for potential clients. After trying out different scenarios, you can run A/B tests to determine the contact form placements that provide the best results. 

Above the Fold…or Below

There is an ongoing discussion between tech experts as to whether a contact form should be placed above or below the fold of a webpage. Above the fold refers to the top portion of a webpage, where users do not have to scroll to access it. Interestingly, each website is unique and the ideal spot varies, depending on its target audience. People scroll for different reasons, depending on what content they want to view. Scrolling down the page would be normal if website visitors are viewing information about your services, or reading an informative article. However, general research suggests that placement of contact forms above the fold get noticed and utilized more often than a form placed below the fold. 

Near Your Blog Posts

If your website offers blog posts, your engaged readers may want to offer comments or questions about the content. In this case, it makes sense to display a content form in the middle of, or at the bottom of each blog post. Here, it would be normal to offer further information through a lead magnet or promotion by encouraging the visitor to fill out a contact form.

Attached to Sidebars

Contact forms on sidebars keeps the connection opportunity visible on every page of your website. Placement of contact forms on every sidebar makes them handy no matter where your visitors travel within your site.

Inside a Lightbox

A lightbox is a pop up component that emerges onto the screen when a user interacts with a page. Pressing a “contact us” button can make the lightbox appear, making the form available without cluttering up your website design.

On Various Pages of Your Website

Your Home Page

Sometimes, you would like website visitors to fill out a contact form as soon as possible. This is the case for niche law firms that gather highly targeted traffic, or who require a live contact person to chat with prospective clients. If you offer a contact form early on, tell your readers why they should use the form and what will happen next. Placement of contact forms on the bottom of your home page is logical, because visitors can read your home page information first, and the contact form serves as the page’s call to action.

Your Landing Page

For smart placement of contact forms, your landing page is a typical spot. Placing the contact form on the top right-hand side makes it immediately visible, and research suggests that this placement offers the highest rate of success, however, keep monitoring what works best for your law firm.

Your About Page

Your website visitors use your About Us Page to meet you and find out more about your law firm. After reading, they may have detailed questions, so placement for contact forms here offers them the perfect opportunity to get in touch with you. 

Your Support Page

If visitors are browsing a support page, you already know they are seeking help for a problem, and if the page doesn’t instruct them, it makes sense to include a contact form for more assistance. One way or another, this provides them answers for their specific questions.

Your Contact Page

The most obvious spot for placement of contact forms is your contact page, where users will expect to find it. Along with the contact form, you might consider adding information adjacent to the contact form such as:

• Provide reasons for potential clients to contact you. What benefits await them?
• Tell them when they may expect a response.
• Offer other contact options.
• List your social media platforms, so they can discover more about or contact you in alternate ways.

Your FAQ Page

Potential clients typically have many questions about the legal system and about their specific legal issues. This is why your law firm should have a great FAQ page, and a contact form is an ideal addition here. Anyone who does not receive a satisfying answer to their question will have the opportunity to contact you for reliable assistance with a live person. 

Should Lawyers Have a Contact Form on Their Website?

The primary reason why lawyers have websites is to encourage potential clients to contact them. Contact forms for law firm websites allow this to happen and, while not essential, they maximize your firm’s chances of gaining more clients. Typically, prospective clients may contact a firm by either telephone, email, or via the site’s online form after carefully reviewing the website and seeing what the firm can offer. Some prospective clients prefer reaching out initially via an online form, so not including this option may dissuade some customers from getting in contact. Due to this, the recommended approach is to include a simple, online contact form that potential clients can quickly find.

Tips for Designing Contact Forms for Law Firm Websites

According to Convertica, 67% of visitors abandon online forms. Often, this is due to a poorly designed and complex form. Below, you can see some helpful tips for designing effective contact forms for law firm websites that can prevent potential clients from becoming frustrated and abandoning the form, leading to lost sales.

Include a Call to Action

When creating a contact form, make sure you include a call to action. Here, an effective one outlines why the prospective client can benefit from contacting you and how your firm can resolve their legal issues. You can even add a personal touch here, which can help you to come across as more human to potential clients.

Add All Contact Methods

On your contact form, ensure you add all your firm’s contact methods. This likely includes your law firm’s telephone number, location, and email address. Doing this allows prospective clients to reach out to you via a method that they feel comfortable with, as some individuals may not want to communicate with a law firm via an online contact form.

Keep It Simple

Prospective clients like it when the contact form is simple and quick to complete. Having a straightforward form also means potential clients are less likely to make errors when they fill it out. Consider including only the essential fields in your firm’s contact form, such as the customer’s full name, telephone number, email address, and space for the prospective client to outline their legal problem.

Thank the Customer

After the prospective client completes a contact form on your law firm’s website, it can be highly effective to have a thank you page that automatically presents itself to the customer. By doing this, you can make the customer feel more valued, particularly if you have a system in place that automatically personalizes the page by including the prospective client’s name. Alongside thanking the potential client, consider telling them how long it may take for your firm to reach out to help manage the customer’s expectations.

Apply Consistent Branding

As with your other web pages, make sure your contact form uses the same branding as the rest of your law firm’s website. This includes using the same fonts, tone, voice, and colors that you have applied elsewhere on your site. Doing this helps your contact form look more professional and makes your brand more memorable to potential clients.

How Law Quill Can Help 

The goal of your website is to generate real life connections between potential clients and your law firm. Strategically placed contact forms can promote these valuable connections. Depending on what you offer, the ideal placement of contact forms may vary, so insert them where it makes sense and where they will most assist your visitors. Consistent A/B testing can help you compare options, so keep improving as necessary. 

We are here to help and would welcome the opportunity to visit with you for free regarding your law firm website’s content, and how we can take these tasks off your plate! Schedule a free visit with us by scheduling a quick phone or zoom call at your convenience on our calendar today. You can also email us at support@lawquill.com.