The Business of Branding: The Need for a Services-to-Business Website Model

Do a search on “services-to-business website strategy” and guess what you'll find? Not much. In fact, there is very little information out there related to developing and designing websites for service-industry professionals trying to reach businesses. Add the word “professional” before services and the results are almost the same. Law firms and other professional service organizations continue to base their website strategy on a Business-to-Business (B2B) model when, instead, we should develop a “Services-to-Business” website model and content strategy. We should develop a more meaningful form of information architecture that fosters and helps professional service firms build richer relationships with their target audiences through their websites.

A Quick History Lesson

In the early '90s, when law firms first began to develop websites, the rush to secure a presence on the Web was so fast and furious that most firms used the only marketing materials they had on hand for the content of their website ' brochures. As a result, most early law firm websites had an internal focus that primarily conveyed information about the capabilities of the firm and its attorneys, as opposed to what knowledge they offered clients regarding specific industries and how it benefitted them. At this stage, everyone believed that brochures had been doing a good job of communicating to prospective clients what a law firm could provide a client in terms of capabilities and services. (Most in-house counsel would confess that they tossed most of these brochures away). In the early years of online marketing, the focus was more on reaching new clients as opposed to growing the firm's current client relationships.

Fast-forward to today's legal market ' one defined by law firm mergers and dissolutions, more lateral hires at the partner level and a greater need for specialization from clients. In this new market paradigm, the traditional, internally-focused “about us” and “practice areas” are no longer as relevant as they used to be. Add to that a generational shift that has placed greater influence with younger buyers of legal services that are comfortable using online tools like social media and mobile devices to search the Web, and the once casual Web user has become a savvy Web user that looks beyond the glimmer of a beautifully designed website to identify the firms that have become the go-to “thought leaders” in that client's industry. Now we begin to see a whole new need for a “services-to-business” website model.

Jeff Roberts, President and Creative Director of Moir' Marketing Partners, recently wrote that: “What we know now about website design compared to a few years ago is that more focus is given to user experience, not owner experience. Seems obvious, right? You may say, 'of course I care what my targeted audience wants,' but your actions say, 'I'm spending a small fortune on my new website, so I'm going to tell them what I want.' You certainly have every right to think that, but if you want to achieve both, you're going to have to forget what you think you know about websites.” In short, law firms need to stop thinking about the importance of principally conveying what they do and start demonstrating to current and prospective clients what they know about their clients' businesses and industries, and how their services and approaches can benefit those clients.

Provide More Client-Focused Experiences

Although law firms have faced increased pressure from clients before, the current economic environment has reinforced the need for firms to develop new approaches for “client-focused content” for their websites. In-house counsel, corporate legal departments and business owners are demanding more industry knowledge from the firms they retain in order to provide them with information regarding industry trends. Visitors to your website perceive this as the ability of your firm to provide them with greater efficiency based on the firm's or attorneys' experience in their area of business. Case studies about how your firm has worked with other clients also provide valuable insight as to how your firm might assist a client in avoiding legal issues or how to best mitigate their exposure. All of this client-focused content is now an essential part of most law firm websites.

Law firms are finding that if they're to remain competitive, they must improve their website's information architecture and content strategy so that they can provide a more “client-focused experience” to the visitors coming to their websites. This is happening at every level of the profession, no matter how large or small the law firm may be. Web users are now searching much more specific issues and topics. This has only added pressure on the firm to make it much easier for Web searchers to quickly find specific information on a legal issue or topic that their target audience(s) may be searching for. The more specific information a website user can find related to the legal issue they may be facing, the better it is for the firm that has published that information.

Content Strategy and Information Architecture

A content strategy is the roadmap of a website. It helps those working on the design and development of a website to think through all the possible ways to convey information in a way that will resonate with their intended target audiences.

Sometimes, the marriage of content strategy and user experience can be a complex issue. In the case of law firm websites, it forces those designated to design and build a website to create a site that is intuitive, usable, functional and meaningful to visit. The content strategist is focused on what the target audience needs and what they seek. It's important to understand and direct what each visitor will find and digest in terms of content. Look at each target audience your firm is trying to reach and ask what the firm's website goals are for each of these target groups. What do you want the Web visitors to know and to walk away with? When content strategy and user experience work in concert, it can elevate your website to a higher level, making it a more informative and usable site.

Making the Shift from a B-to-B Website Strategy

Most B2B sites emphasize internally focused design and information and fail to answer customers' main questions or concerns. This blocks a prospect's or existing client's path as they search for law firms to place on their shortlist.

These law firms haven't realized that the Web has reversed the service provider-client relationship. Most online interactions are demand-driven: you either give people what they want or watch as they abandon your site for a competitor's site that does.

Here are a few tips I suggest you consider when redesigning your firm's website that will make it more user friendly and more service-to-business oriented.