Sliding image banners, also called ‘image sliders’ or ‘carousels’, at the top of law firm websites have become one of the most popular site features. They’re sleek, modern, and easy to integrate into nearly any Web site. Everyone is doing it, but should you? Let’s discuss the pros and cons so you can make an educated decision on whether or not a sliding banner is appropriate for your law firm website.

Why Use a Slider On My Law Firm Site?

The general idea behind a slider is to provide several key points that all relate to one another. It’s a great way to clearly display your firm’s ideals. For example, you could highlight the success of your firm on one slide of the slider and your experience on another. You might even include a review from a satisfied client on the third. These three topics all relate to the quality of your firm. They immediately educate potential clients of your firm’s capabilities.

However, all sliding banners are not created equal. There are many ways to add a slider or carousel on your site. Some of them automatically animate after a few seconds, making it difficult to digest all the content. Others have a tabbed navigation at the bottom, giving the user quick access to all the content on your website. For the best user experience, you should always encourage user interaction. This can be accomplished by having navigation built into your slider. According to our analysis on hundreds of law firm sites, we’ve seen more success with a navigation-based slider. Clients will spend more time on your site, leading to more conversions and more business for your firm.

What Are The Benefits to Having Sliders on My Site?

When you have a solid marketing strategy, sliders can provide a clear, effective message. Combined with a striking image, your firm’s objectives and culture are clearly communicated to prospective clients. As mentioned, navigation sliders enhance your brand’s message and provide a great first impression.

Sliders can also be used to highlight timely information on you law firm site. If you are having a big community event or are sponsoring a scholarship competition, you can use this slider to alert your clients. Using powerful headlines and including deadlines create a sense of urgency. After the information is outdated, it is simple to change the slider. A carousel is another great way to provide the engaged user with a large amount of information.

Carousels are located on a key area of your site, so using them to increase brand awareness is a fantastic marketing strategy.

 Can Sliders Diminish the User Experience?

There is such a thing as a bad slider. An example of bad implementation would be to put a different practice area on each slide. This could potentially confuse your client as to what cases you actually handle. Another ineffective strategy is not providing a label for slides in carousel navigation. Without these labels (either arrows or navigation buttons), the visitor will not realize that the slider content will change, hiding valuable content. In this situation, site visitors may even have to wait 15 seconds to reach the third slide. When customers first visit your page, you only have about 3-5 seconds to get their attention. If it takes much longer, users will “bounce” – which means they will leave your site and cost you a possible conversion.

Potential Load Time Issues

With Google’s recent Penguin updates, the load time of a website has become even more important to your search engine rankings. There are several ways you can negatively affect your load time with a poorly executed slider:

• Not optimizing your images to load quickly enough.
• Adding too many scripts to the page for the animation effects.
• Having too many slides.

These are common mistakes when using a slider. In the long run, they will hurt your search engine optimization (SEO), negatively impact your conversions and make a poor first impression with clients.

Watch Out For Spammy Sliders

Another example of what not to do is a sliding banner that resembles an advertisement. Ads make sites look spammy and visitors tend to ignore them. Spending extra time on the design of your banner will ensure it captures the customer’s attention – in a good way! Also, focus on providing solid, relevant content that won’t overwhelm the user. Flashy calls to action and stock images alienate clients, causing them to ignore the ads and leave your site. Poor looking sliders can also cause brand confusion. Do not use a picture that is incompatible with your firm image. Try to avoid copy that overly sells your services. You want clients to trust you, and that starts with a website that’s visually appealing and informative.

Here are some examples of effective navigation-based sliders.

Now let’s recap.

When building a banner slider to maximize conversions, make sure you invite more interaction with carousel navigation. Keep your slides consistent and focused on your law firm’s brand. Your images must be optimized, and you shouldn’t have too many slides. When used effectively, sliders can be a great tool to get clear, concise information to your user.