The legal sector is experiencing a wave of technological upgrades in its day-to-day operations. With digital experiences becoming the crucial parameter for business growth, owning a highly functional and secure website is paramount for every business, including the legal services industry. Law firm websites must be secure, easy to navigate and provide information quickly and easily, for instance, booking attorneys, lawsuits and documents preparation and filing or seeking legal advice.

To meet the demands of clients and stay at par with the market competition, legal businesses need an open-source Content Management System (CMS). Drupal and WordPress are two of the most popular CMS platforms that organizations use to digitally meet their audience. These CMSs have a pivotal role in shaping a brand’s digital identity by helping them manage, create, edit, and organize content and depending upon the complexity of law firm websites, Drupal is a preferred choice over WordPress.

Drupal is used by some of the world's largest and most successful law firms like YG law firms among many others. When compared on parameters such as security, flexibility and scalability, Drupal is placed above WordPress.

Explore how effective strategies can help law firms evolve in this digital ecosystem.

Drupal is considered a popular choice for any legal business because it offers features that are specifically designed for legal websites, such as attorney profiles, case studies, and legal news and insights. Drupal CMS has multiple internal modules to create secure client portals and manage legal documents, without any need for external plugins

If you think it is the right time to move your law firm website to Drupal, read this blog for insights to make your legal website more customer friendly.

How to migrate from WordPress to Drupal?

Migrating from WordPress to Drupal for a law firm website can be intimidating and complex, but by following the five steps below, law firms can ensure successful WordPress Drupal migration:

Step 1 - Planning and assessment

• Assess your current website- Begin by thoroughly evaluating your existing WordPress website. Identify all the content, including pages, posts, images, videos, and any custom functionality. For instance, count the number of blog posts, practice area pages, attorney profiles, and other content items.


• Set clear goals- Determine what you want to improve in your current website- site performance, search rankings, user experience, or content organization.


• Select a migration method - Research and evaluate different migration methods and tools available for moving content from WordPress to Drupal. These methods include migrate module in Drupal that can be used for migrating content from various sources like WordPress, contributed modules like ‘WordPress Migrate’, third-party tools designed for WordPress Drupal migration or custom development when dealing with unique content structures for vast website needs. Similarly, you must also consider factors like data complexity, budget, resources, expertise and timeline before finalizing.


• Choose Drupal modules- Identify Drupal modules that will replace WordPress plugins and meet your website's requirements, like choosing the paragraphs module for flexible content layout control.

Step 2 - Content migration

• Export WordPress content- Begin the content migration process by exporting your WordPress content using a dedicated WordPress migration plugin. This plugin will convert your WordPress content into a format compatible with Drupal, such as XML or JSON.


• Import content into Drupal- Leverage Drupal's core capabilities or utilize contributed modules like Migrate or Migrate Drupal to import the prepared content from WordPress. These tools provide the necessary infrastructure to streamline the migration process, ensuring a smoother transition.


• Ensure data integrity- Carefully validate content during the migration process to ensure that it is accurately transferred. To perform effective verification, begin by creating a comprehensive content mapping document that outlines the correspondence between WordPress and Drupal structures. You can also conduct meticulous spot checks on a sample set of content, including text, formatting, images, and metadata. Perform cross-browser and mobile responsiveness testing to guarantee a consistent user experience.

Step 3- Functionality and integration

• Recreate functionality- Rebuild any custom functionality or features you had on your WordPress site using Drupal's contributed modules or custom development. For example, you can develop a custom contact form with advanced client intake options.


• Integrate third-party tools- Ensure that any third-party integrations, such as Client Relationship Management (CRM), Document Management Systems or appointment scheduling tools, are properly integrated into your Drupal website. You can integrate these tools and access the API documentation provided by these tools to understand how to connect them to your Drupal site. Create necessary API credentials, such as keys or tokens, as per the third-party tool's requirements. Further, you must explore Drupal's extensive library of contributed modules and install the one(s) suited for your chosen integration.

Step 4- Updating and optimization

• Install the latest Drupal security patches- Drupal releases security patches regularly with the help of its highly supportive Drupal community. It is important to install the latest security patches to protect your Drupal site from security vulnerabilities.


• Update your Drupal modules and themes- Drupal modules and themes are constantly being updated with new features and bug fixes. It is important to update your Drupal modules and themes to keep your Drupal site up-to-date and secure.


• Configure your Drupal site for performance- Drupal is an immensely powerful CMS, but it can be slow if it is not configured correctly. There are several things you can do to optimize your Drupal site for performance, such as using caching and compressing your images.

In addition to the above, it is also important to ensure that your Drupal site is compliant with all relevant laws and regulations, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Unlock the key to enhance the performance of your Law firm website

Step 5 – Testing and launching new Drupal site

Once you have updated and optimized your Drupal site, you are all set for the launch! But you must test your site thoroughly and check if all links are working.

• Testing phase- Conduct thorough testing of your new Drupal website to identify and fix any issues, including broken links, layout problems, or functionality errors.


• Performance optimization- Optimize the website's performance, including page load times, by implementing caching and other best practices. You can enable Drupal's caching mechanisms to reduce server response times.


• SEO considerations- Pay attention to SEO by setting up proper redirects from old WordPress URLs to new Drupal URLs and optimizing meta tags and content for search engines.

Optimize your new Drupal site using these SEO best practices.

Why is Drupal a popular choice for law firms?

Law firms have a vast content structure and require an intricate way to share all the information on their website. With the help of Drupal modules that are specially curated, law firms can create a website that can share diverse information and provide easy navigation. Here are a few requirements that law firms have, and Drupal helps to fulfil them:

• Attorney profiles- The Drupal Profile module allows configurable user profiles that helps law firms to create and manage attorney profiles in a structured and easy-to-use way. Attorney profiles can include information such as education, experience, awards, and practice areas of different attorneys.


• Case studies- Law firms need to create and manage case studies to help clients with informative content. The Case Study Drupal module helps firms manage and publish case studies efficiently. Case studies can include information such as the facts of the case, the legal issues involved, and the outcome of the case.


• Legal news and insights- The Drupal module News and Blog allows law firms to publish legal news and insights on their websites. This can help law firms to establish themselves as thought leaders in their field and to attract new clients.


• Client portals- Client is your king and its crucial for firms to create secure client portals where clients can access their case files, communicate with their attorneys, and pay their bills online. The Client Portal module helps law firms to serve customer expectations and deliver exceptional digital experience.


• Legal document management- Law firms are continuously dealing with sensitive and confidential legal documents and it's crucial for clients to feel secure when sharing their information online. The Document Management Drupal module allows law firms to manage their legal documents in a centralized and secure location. This can help law firms to save time and money, and to improve their efficiency.

A detailed comprehensive guide curated to learn all about a seamless WordPress to Drupal migration process.

Conclusion

To harness the power of this digital evolution, having a high-functioning and secure website is now paramount for legal services. Drupal's appeal to law firms lies in its ability to align with customer expectations and business goals. The tailored modules for attorney profiles, case studies, legal news or client portals make Drupal the optimal choice for crafting a digital experience that resonates with clients and establishes law firms as thought leaders in their field.

One pivotal aspect of this digital journey is WordPress Drupal migration. From meticulous planning and content assessment to functionality integration and site optimization, this journey is marked by careful consideration and precision by our experts. Altudo, a certified Drupal partner is well-known for its vast Drupal service offerings. Our many years of migration services experience lead us forward to continuously provide your business with digital growth and fulfill goals.

If you want to give your website the ultimate transition and the digital experience an uplift, opt for Drupal CMS. Connect with our experts at marketing@altudo.com and plan your migration journey seamlessly.