The estimates vary, but it is safe to say that more than 50% of Internet searches are now being made on mobile devices. So, if a potential client is searching for an attorney on their smart phone and you win the search results derby, don’t throw away your victory by frustrating the client’s desire to contact you.
Most clients won’t even try to submit a question by email using their cell phone, both because the contact forms are too small and the question is usually too long to one or two-finger type. Rather, the potential client is holding a phone in their hand, and will use that device to — surprise! — call you.
That is easily done if your telephone number is prominently displayed on the page, and even easier if it is clickable. The Safari browser on the iPhone is smart enough to recognize a telephone number and will make it clickable, but there is a simple way to make your phone number clickable on all devices, regardless of the browser being used.
Add this simple bit of HTML code where you want your clickable telephone number to appear:
<a href=”tel:1-714-954-0700“>1-714-954-0700</a>
I used my firm’s phone number in the example so that if cut and paste it into your website but forget to change it to your number, then I will get all your potential client calls. I am SUCH an evil genius.
I don’t like the the look of the “1” in front of the phone number, and the first number is what actually tells the phone what to dial, so I use:
<a href=”tel:1-714-954-0700“> (714) 954-0700</a> (Oops, I did it again.)
Now when the client sees your phone number, they can just tap it to call you. Don’t make them look for it! Display your phone number prominently above the fold.
Incidentally, the phone number will also appear as a clickable hyperlink when someone is looking at your website on their computer. Nothing to avoid that, but it’s no big deal. If they click on the telephone number thinking it leads to some secret place, nothing happens.
Go to my Internet Defamation Blog on your computer and smartphone to see how this all looks. While you are visiting on your smartphone, also note the mobile theme. Users expect mobile themes, and if they encounter a standard webpage, most won’t bother to squint and will leave. There are many free WordPress plug-ins that automatically convert your site into a mobile site. My favorite is WPtouch Mobile. Go to YourOwnLawFirm.com on your mobile device to see this plug-in in action.