It’s fair to say that opinions about mobile phones can be divided but the business benefits of going mobile are undisputable says Ciara Sarkar from mmadigital in her  latest blog post

Recently Ofcom announced that 58 per cent of the UK population has a smartphone and1.2 billion people access the web from their mobile (Trinity Digital Marketing). Clearly, mobile is growing faster and faster, so how can law firms capitalise on the mobile revolution?

Why your firm should be going mobile

Simply put, every law firm should be accessible whilst people, your future clients, are on the move.The concept of waiting to get home to shop online or research the latest products has long gone. Think about how you access information on a daily basis yourself. Chances are you are usually looking on your mobile or tablet as you wait for a train or get a cab across town.

In fact, you might be one of the 75 per cent  surveyed by wtop.com who admit to surfing the web while on the toilet.  Each and every one of those people taking a moment to pass the time on the web could be searching for legal services. Each and every one of them could be a potential client who gives up trying to navigate your website, which is not designed to be seen on their device, and ends up instructing a competitor.

Are you already mobile?

Grab your smartphone or tablet and load up your site. What do you see? Are you still waiting for it to load? Is it only loading certain information? Have you already lost your patience? Well, imagine what it is like for your clients. They load up your website and are left with a half loaded page that freezes their screen. 

This is where mobile responsive web design comes in. This is the technology that enables your site to load quickly and effectively across all mobile platforms. Whether your client is using a blackberry, an iPad, a PC or a laptop, the website will adapt to fit the screen that they are using. 

Failing to have a mobile responsive website means that your site is not user friendly. Mobile users don’t have patience. If they can’t find what they are looking for in a matter of seconds then they will head to the next place. You could be losing valuable business by simply not adapting to your clients’ needs.

There has been a lot of talk in the past few years about law firms finding innovative new ways to deliver legal services, long may that continue but having a mobile responsive website is no longer about being ahead of the curve, it’s about bringing your firm up-to-date. People are tech-savvy, they know what they should see, how your site should work and where the relevant information is.  According to Google, 61% of users won’t go back to a website if they have had a bad mobile experience. If you are not mobile friendly then you will be the law firm left behind. 

How to get moving

If you really want to get moving then there are ways you can get started without too much difficulty. Have a look at your website as it is now. Be really honest, is everything on your home page really necessary? Could you remove a few blocks of text or maybe move that video that starts playing automatically to another area? Have a chat with your webhosts and find out if you’re on the best bandwidth package for your needs. Maybe you’ve increased traffic since you launched your website and it’s time for an upgrade?

If you’ve been thinking about refreshing your website for a while, this could be the moment where you do that and ensure it’s launched with mobile optimisation.

Getting optimised

Of course this will only take you so far and if you do want to make sure your current website is fully optimised for mobile use then you may need external help from a digital agency. Naturally you may be wary of what they can offer so make sure they have a good track record with easy to find testimonials from previous clients.

Does their blog talk about mobile? What does their own site look like on your smartphone or tablet, and how approachable are they? They should be able to show that they know what they are talking about and understand your needs too, they should be able to offer you advice on what is happening in the mobile world at the moment and how it affects your business. The digital world changes at a faster pace than most industries, so your digital agency should really have its finger on the pulse.

It’s time to get moving, it’s time to get mobile.

Ciara Sarkar is content manager with mmadigital