By bbr

At bbr marketing, we spend a good deal of time talking about ways to make your company website a fun and useful place to visit for your clients and the rest of the browsing community.

We offer suggestions of what to do (and what not to do) in our blog posts and we constantly guide clients to create pleasant and effective web spaces. Imagine our delight, then, upon learning that no less than two of our clients’ beautiful new websites are among those selected as contenders for ‘Best Law Firm Website of 2012’ by Lawyerist.com, which hosts an annual competition.

The nominated sites vary in style and tone, from the comic book-inspired to more traditional sites loaded with information and links. What these sites all have in common is a great design that expresses the personality of the firm, a layout that lets users find what they need quickly, readable well-proofed copy, carefully chosen images that match the page and a wonderful sense of style.

The huge variation between sites demonstrates that you don’t have to follow anyone else’s idea of what your site ‘should’ look like. You can utilize all kinds of themes and different ideas in expressing your brand’s differentiators to come up with a unique and enjoyable site. Starting from scratch or using a template can both be fine options. Some great sites are very simple, with few colors and little or no animation. Others may be complex works of art and design.

The key lies in the user’s experience. Will someone who visits for the first time be able to find the necessary information or get lost in a sea of bad links and industry lingo? Do the graphics add to a sense of competence, personality and fun or do they induce eye-rolling with their use of cliché stock images? Are the pages organized well? Is there information about how to contact the company for people who prefer phone, email or social media interaction? Do the things that make your company stand out show in your words and pictures? Do you have 10,000 words that would be more helpful if simplified and reduced to only 1000? How does the site make visitors feel?

When you’re in the mood, take a look at the nominees and see what you think. Watch how they vary and look for the ways they’re the same. Which ones do you like best? Notice that you’ll gravitate to one or two for no particular reason, and others for reasons you can articulate. That’s okay – tastes vary even among sites (or any art form) that are all of high quality.

You might observe things that you’d like to incorporate in your own firm’s site. We’ll be happy to help you with that, or to provide ideas of our own. We’d love it if you’d take a minute to vote for your favorite site. We’d love it even more if your favorite happens to be one of those that we helped design.

In any case, sincere congratulations to all of the firms these great websites represent and to our wonderful clients who made the list, Stanton Law and Wallack Law. We’re proud to be a part of your business and a partner in your site’s success!