Too Much Spam?

by Mike Hoffman | June 8, 2017

Spam

Spam is a four-letter word, and for good reason: it’s a pain. And if you’re trying to run a lean, mean intake department at your law firm, sorting through spam form submissions can get under your skin. Recently, our Interactive team received client feedback that boils down to this question: what can be done to eliminate spam form submissions on the sites we handle?

Our stance on the issue is simple: conversion-focused legal websites benefit from reducing barriers to form submission. In other words, we’ll work to block your spam, as long as it doesn’t hurt your conversions.

A Barrier Can’t Choose Who It Blocks.

Blocking spammers relies on outsmarting the “robot” scripts that target web forms. On event ticketing sites, for example, you’ve most likely witnessed tools like Captcha, the gatekeeper step that requires you to identify certain types of pictures before proceeding with your purchase. Sounds great, right!? Not in every case.

Remember, ticket sales is a high-volume business. Are you getting so many inquiries that you can afford to lose a few quality leads in a spam filter?

In our experience, every roadblock to filling out a form lessens the chances of a potential form submission. This includes some of our basic practices, like reducing the number of form fields to the bare minimum needed, and clearly marking buttons to show users what they can expect to happen.

With tools such as Captcha in place, you’re adding a layer that may drive potential clients to other, easier-to-use attorney websites. But that’s not to say Captcha and other verification methods can’t be useful. As spammers evolve (and they do!), our team is ready to explore ways that technology like this can benefit our clients with the least possible impact on form submissions.

Getting Tough Behind the Scenes

One step we can take behind the scenes is authentication. Our development team is constantly working on ways we can prevent spammers from submitting forms that don’t help your firm. Letters in a phone number field? Flagged. No “@“ in an email field? Also flagged.

We’ve also taken other, more technical steps, but the goal is always to get the best possible leads to your intake department and block the robot submissions most likely to clutter your inbox.

Weighing Case Leads vs. Firm Resources

At cj, we know you’re busy running your firm, and we understand that spam form submissions take time away from helping people who can benefit from your knowledge. Our advice to you is this: weigh the cost of losing potential leads against the drain on your firm’s resources.

We monitor spam form submissions across all of our Interactive client sites, and we want to know if you feel the number of spam submissions received by your firm is becoming a problem. We succeed when you succeed, and we’re ready to help you come up with a solution that balances the needs of your firm with an effective path for conversion for your users.

We’re Here to Help.

For more information about steps we’ve taken to reduce spam or to learn about additional steps we can take, leave a comment below or contact one of our Client Services representatives today.