The Challenge

The law firm’s original website (pictured below) was slow, outdated, and difficult to find on Google.

Despite having the log-in details to the back-end and full ownership of the website, the firm were not able to access it and update the content due to it running on an unsupported PHP version.

In addition, since the website was created and published, it never generated any leads or enquiries for the firm.

Given the website’s overall performance, the partners were not sure whether another investment in the website would bring any return and whether it was worth it.

The main colours that were used in the old design were grey and white with some light gradient. The imagery used was very impersonal and didn’t communicate the firm’s mission and vision well.

The title of the homepage was ‘Bentley Sterling and Co – Go Paperless with us’ which had no relation to the law firm’s services or areas of work.

During the initial audit, our team also found that the website didn’t rank for any keywords. Not even for the firm’s own name. This was a result of a complete lack of on-page SEO (no meta descriptions, missing H1 tags, SEO titles too long or missing, etc.).

The original website also did not comply with the UK GDPR rules. It included a contact form but there was no privacy and cookies policy or information where a visitor could obtain this. (Click here to read more about what information your need to display on your website in our blog).

The site was also missing a page with the firm’s complaints procedure required by the SRA, and fees.

The firm consequently felt that the website didn’t present them as specialist lawyers.

Within the first 7 days of publishing, the new Bentley Sterling & Co Solicitors website started ranking for the name of the firm as well as keywords relevant to a some of their legal services.

As a result, the firm received its first-ever online lead within the first 14 days of the web page’s launch.

The new website looks more professional, features more images and colourful columns with various contact forms.

It is also more environmentally friendly being around 58% cleaner than an average website, producing only 0.75g of CO2 every time a visitor views a page*. This is significant as so far the website has been attracting on average 5 visitors a day since its launch at the end of December 2021**.

The site’s pages have been optimised for search engines – with meta descriptions, SEO titles, keyword-rich URLs, (H1, H2, H3) tags, and image alt tags.

The website loads in under 3 seconds and is full of calls to action prompting prospective clients to contact the firm if they have a legal issue they need help with.

The new website also features a blog that the staff can even update from their mobile devices.

We are currently working together to ensure SRA Transparency. We have promised the firm that any changes relating to the SRA’s requirements will be made free of charge.

* Statistics from Website Carbon Calculator, **As of 1pm, 10/01/2022 **

Following the site’s launch, Joel from the Intellistart team held an hour-long introductory session with Hakan, Jawad, James and Tuhel – the firm’s core team.

He introduced them to their new CMS and a free CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software to help them improve their internal processes and client journey.

Future Plans & Law Firm Marketing

We are in the process of optimising more content for the website to drive more traffic and enquiries for the firm.

We are also preparing to start a pay per click campaign (PPC) soon to promote one of the services in order to bring in additional paid traffic and generate more affordable leads.

At the moment, the firm relies on leads from a CMC which are a lot more costly than PPC-generated leads.