I want to get a website for my law firm (or a law blog). And I will, just as soon as I can get it designed.
How many times do I hear this each day? Well, I heard it twice yesterday alone.
It’s “Ed Norton Syndrome,” a phrase I picked up from my wife some years ago. It relates to Art Carney’s character in The Honeymooners. Norton would engage in a long-winded ritual of physical tics to clear his head and get ready to tackle a task, and that ritual would continue until Ralph blew up in frustration. It was funny on TV, but in the world of law firm marketing it has the effect of leaving money on the table. A lot of it.
So here is my pearl of wisdom for you:
In legal marketing, sometimes good enough is good enough.
Let me explain before I’m accused of throwing money at everything that passes under my nose. If you take 10 minutes to buy a domain name, set up hosting and do a one-click installation of WordPress you can be up and running on a blog or “regular” website in no time flat. Once launched, you can start adding content that will resonate with your target market and build traffic to the site.
The site may not be pretty, but there are some damn good ones out there that aren’t pretty yet they get the job done. The first job is traffic, the way that searchers “vote with their mouse” regarding which sites are worthy of higher search rankings. These votes are an integral part of search engine optimization, not to mention getting new clients in the door.
On the flip side, let’s say you decide to go with one of those hyper-expensive companies that will design a slick looking website or blog for you. If you do it before there’s any content, all you’re really doing is painting the house before the foundation is built. Nobody cares if a blog or website is pretty – if nobody visits, it’s a tremendous waste of money.
So it’s your choice – do you go out of pocket for a pretty site that gets no traffic, or do you take those first steps and get something – anything of value – online? Do you plant your flag and claim your spot, or do you worry about cosmetics?
I’m not saying that cosmetics don’t matter. They do. The look and feel of your website or blog highlights who you are, and tells your story visually. It should represent professionalism, dignity, grace, intelligence and empathy. By all means, spend some bucks on the cosmetics – but if you’re waiting for the paint to dry before laying the foundation you’re going to end up sitting on the sidelines while the world passes you by.
This is great advice. Content gets more traffic than design. Gotta build that foundation.
This is great advice. Content gets more traffic than design. Gotta build that foundation.
As usual, Jay cuts through the bovine excrement with aplomb.
As I tell my clients, "Google can't judge aesthetics." Google doesn't know the difference between an ugly site and a pretty one – but what it DOES know is which ones have a lot of content with relevant keywords. Go ahead and get that "ugly" or "plain" WordPress site up there and start adding content – get a jump on Google's indexing while waiting around on your designer. This means YOU have to do some work – can't just write a check and forget about it.
Perfectionism is just another form of procrastination.
Well-written (read: interesting and easy to understand) content and keywords get you top-ranked search results with the robot. At that point, a well-designed, easy to navigate, aesthetically pleasing site helps keep the humans there long enough to make a decision to hire you once they've arrived.
Finally, to quote Chris Pearson, "When branding is involved, there are no 'small jobs.'" Before branding, know thyself and thy client.
As usual, Jay cuts through the bovine excrement with aplomb.
As I tell my clients, “Google can’t judge aesthetics.” Google doesn’t know the difference between an ugly site and a pretty one – but what it DOES know is which ones have a lot of content with relevant keywords. Go ahead and get that “ugly” or “plain” WordPress site up there and start adding content – get a jump on Google’s indexing while waiting around on your designer. This means YOU have to do some work – can’t just write a check and forget about it.
Perfectionism is just another form of procrastination.
Well-written (read: interesting and easy to understand) content and keywords get you top-ranked search results with the robot. At that point, a well-designed, easy to navigate, aesthetically pleasing site helps keep the humans there long enough to make a decision to hire you once they’ve arrived.
Finally, to quote Chris Pearson, “When branding is involved, there are no ‘small jobs.’” Before branding, know thyself and thy client.