Advertising Expert Says Law Firms Should Expand to Mobile

Tanner Jones, of Consultwebs.com, Inc., says that law firms should research how consumers are buying their gifts during the holiday season. The reason for this is that the firms will be able to acquire more clients. Jones was referencing a Boston Globe report about IBM Corp. data that shows close to 11 percent of United States citizens used their iPads, iPhones, or other mobile devices and smartphones to find shopping bargains. The report also said that close to 6.6 percent of those people made purchases on their mobile devices during this year’s cyber Monday. According to the Globe, those percentages almost doubled from 2010.

“There’s no reason to believe this consumer trend won’t continue or hit an even faster growth rate in 2012,” says Jones, who is the marketing director for Consultwebs.com. “This has huge implications for anyone advertising on the Internet, including law firms. As Americans increase their mobile Internet usage, their expectations will increase. In order to compete in their market for clients, law firms will need to meet the demand for instant information, mobile-friendly designs and local search results.”

According to research performed by the legal marketing firm, visitors to client websites on mobile devices increased double from 2009 to 2010. The numbers doubled again in 2011. The data also shows that there have been five times more mobile visitors to client websites this year than in the year 2009.

“We estimate that between 8 to 12 percent of visitors to a law firm’s website are using mobile devices, which is a healthy percentage of a firm’s overall site traffic,” Jones says. “The question that lawyers need to ask is, ‘What are these visitors seeing?’ Is the site causing them to stay and learn more about our law firm, or is it causing them to leave immediately?’”

Jones also points out that 27 percent of respondents to theYouGov.com survey claims they would not stay on a website or return to the website if it did not appear or load properly on their mobile device.

“Mobile users are typically prepared to make fewer clicks than people accessing the Internet from a PC, and their patience for unformatted websites runs thin,” he says. “That’s why law firms need to focus on producing mobile sites that have a fast load time, easy navigation and graphics that will draw users in.”
Law firms that operate without mobile websites should consider developing one very soon, according to Jones, and PRWeb. His company, Consultwebs.com, has seen an increase in demand for law firm mobile websites.

“Developing and maintaining a traditional website is still very important, but it’s clear that we’re entering a new phase – the mobile phase,” Jones says. “Our goal is to help law firms stay ahead of the curve.”