Ashtons Legal wins award for best website

Ashtons Legal has won the LawNet 2012 award for best website just five months after the website was launched. It was particularly commended by the judges for ease of navigation by users and up-to-date content.

LawNet is a national network of over 60 independent law firms who are committed to rigorous quality standards and best practice. The prestigious LawNet awards are judged not by lawyers but by relevant external specialists. The website award this year was judged by marketing practitioners with a national reputation in the legal sector.

The LawNet 2012 award winners were announced on Friday 9 November at an awards ceremony in Kenilworth, Warwickshire. Ashtons Legal also received ‘highly commended’ for our submission for ‘Excellence in Risk Management and Compliance’.

This website – www.ashtonkcj.co.uk – was launched in July this year and was built to replace an interim site which was put in place following our merger in October 2011. Vicki Clover, Communications Manager at Ashtons Legal, worked closely with Norwich based web design agency, NetMatters to launch the site.

The website has been built to ensure an excellent user experience, with improved navigation, regularly updated content and ensuring that the site is as interactive as possible, through the use of online enquiry forms, event bookings and payments, questionnaires, photos and videos.

We have developed three separate online sites which are accessible from the main website, including an online conveyancing tracking service. A mobile version of the site was also developed, recognising that more and more people browse the web via mobile devises.

As well as the above, the award also recognised that the website has been designed with search engines in mind. We have worked with a local Ipswich based firm, iMarketing, to maximise our Search Engine Optimisation and have increased our presence on social media channels to support this work.

Ashtons Legal CEO, Simon Smith, said: “Congratulations to the Business Development team and to the staff who have supported them with this initiative. Well done also to our Risk and Compliance team for their tireless work. These achievements, together with our recent successes in the Legal 500 and Chambers rankings, demonstrate our commitment to excellence and the positive direction in which the firm is moving, just over a year on from our merger.”