Legal marketing can become one of the most profitable ways for Social Security disability advocates and attorneys to sign new clients. From pay-per-click advertising to search engine optimization, there are countless ways to get new visitors to your website. But what happens when a potential Social Security disability lead actually finds your firm’s website? If your website isn’t ready for Social Security claimants, you may be missing out on hundreds of potential clients.

Evaluating your landing pages: Bounce rate

If you have a website for your Social Security firm, you should be using Google Analytics. It’s a free tool from Google that allows you to monitor how many visitors are coming to your site, what pages they’re reading, where in they are visiting from, which browser they’re using, and so much more.

One of the most telling metrics in Google Analytics is the bounce rate. A bounce rate is the percentage of website visitors who visit one page on your website and immediately leave the site without interacting at all. This means they never read a second page, and they never filled out a “Contact Us” form to get in touch with a paralegal from your firm.

A “good” bounce rate is around 25% to 40%, while most websites hover around 50%. If you know your pages typically fall around those percentages, congratulations! You are serving your potential claimants well.

If you find that your bounce rate is 65% or more, your visitors simply are not finding what they are looking for when they reach your page. If you have a high bounce rate, you should evaluate your Social Security firm’s website to see if it’s best suited to help claimants.

Ask yourself a couple of simple questions to determine if you should update your website.

Question #1: Is my website’s content difficult to read?

Disability claimants are typically older than the average Internet user. eGenerationMarketing finds that the average age of our claimants is over 45. The older claimants are, the more challenging it may be for them to read text online. On top of this, many claimants have disabilities that make it difficult to read, such as blindness or an intellectual disability.

If you use small font or similar colors on your firm’s website, your readers may not physically be able to see what is on your website. Consider making the font on your website larger or bold and ensure colors contrast especially in areas where you rely on a call-to-action, such as a “Contact Us” form.

Question #2: Do I use alt text?

When you hover your mouse over an image, the little box of text that pops up is known as alt text. Alt text is an attribute used as an alternative to an image if an image cannot be displayed. Some instances where alt text is used include an error in the image itself, or when a website visitor has a slow Internet connection.

Finally, people with difficulty reading rely heavily on alt text. Screen readers for computers need alt text to read aloud the description of the image, or explain where a link goes if the image includes a hyperlink. If you don’t use alt text on your images, people with poor eyesight may be completely unable to use your website.

Question #3: Is it clear where my hyperlinks are pointing?

Internal linking is very important for any website. It will allow your visitors to navigate to another page that may tempt them in calling your firm or filling out a contact form. Whenever you link to a new page on your site, describe the link instead of simply saying, “click here.” This will allow your visitor to know exactly what page he or she is about to see.

Good description: To see how our firm can help you, contact us today.

No description: To see how our firm can help you, click here.

Again, visibility is important with hyperlinks. If readers cannot see your hyperlinks, they will be unable to navigate to another page. Make sure your hyperlinks are underlined and use a color different than your pages’ background color or the color of the font you normally use. This way, anyone who is colorblind can see a link easily.

Question #4: Do I use simple terminology on my website?

If you are hoping to attract Social Security disability claimants, you should be using a very simple vocabulary to ensure that any visitor will understand the content of your site. Many people with disability benefits are over the age of 60 and may not have gone to college. Others may have been born with a disability such as cerebral palsy or Down syndrome and are unable to read at a high level.

With simple, easy-to-read terminology, any Social Security disability claimant should be able to clearly see how your firm can help them win their claim and get the benefits they need.

Question #5: Is a high bounce rate actually bad for me?

Not every high bounce rate is a bad thing. For example, let’s say you get a lot of traffic to your website’s homepage, and you get a lot of calls from potential claimants. If you find that your visitors have navigated to a page containing your firm’s phone number and immediately took action and called you, this page does not have a “bad” bounce rate. Your content was so compelling that the claimant decided to call you personally instead of reading more content.

You will need to evaluate your law firm’s pages individually to find room for improvement and potential areas where you could convert more Social Security disability leads.