Canadians’ use of mobile devices to search for lawyers increased by 131% between 2011 and 2012, but are law firm websites keeping up?
LexNetwork, an online marketing service for boutique law firms, recently highlighted the importance of mobile strategy, quoting research from Google which showed that smartphone users were highly likely to make a phone call after searching for a local firm. On an interesting side note, a LexNetwork study discovered that criminal law clients are more likely than others to use mobile devices in their search for a lawyer. Perhaps they were in more of a hurry…
But joking aside, this does raise a valid point: in this digital age, we expect speed and ease of access, particularly when seeking some form of service. A brief search of the Seven Sisters’ websites on an Android phone revealed that only three of the seven have mobile websites, the rest not having moved on from desktop designs. Hitting a desktop website on a smartphone provokes a small sigh at the extra zooming in, the process of scrolling around to different corners, and more time-consuming searches. In the — perhaps urgent — situation of seeking legal advice, speed and ease become paramount.
Despite the obvious marketing campaign from LexNetwork, mobile-optimized websites are a definite asset to lawyers. If firms would like to see an example of such digital efficiency, feel free to explore Precedent’s brand new website, now smartphone friendly.
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