Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%

Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.

Enhancing Your Firm's Web Presence

Your law firm's Web site design has remained static for years. While it may be functional, it's not generating the traffic you originally envisioned, it's not interactive and the overall design is looking a tad dated. You may also not have anyone in-house who can devote the requisite time and effort needed to make the firm's site a productive new business and practice development 24/7/365 marketing tool.

Many law firms still don't understand that a poorly designed Web site can damage the firm's credibility and impair its image. So what's the solution? Seek the services of a Web-crafting firm that will not just be a vendor, but a Web partner and architectural strategist. The Web-crafting firm should first ask senior law firm executives to complete a detailed questionnaire or profile that encompasses these basic elements:

  • Company goals/objectives;
  • How this translates to the firm's Web site, eg, is one goal to provide a service to the firm's existing clients, and if so, how will they learn about the Web site?;
  • What makes your firm's services unique?;
  • How will you measure the success of your site?;
  • Budget and timeline specifications;
  • Details of the firm's existing branding and marketing strategy;
  • Target audience(s);
  • Analysis of your competitors' sites;
  • What services/information will you make available on the site?;
  • How will prospective clients learn about the site?;
  • What will make them decide to visit it initially?;
  • How will you convince them to return to the site?; and
  • Who can they contact for assistance?

After the profile has been completed, the Web-crafting partner will be able to define your firm's immediate goals and present an effective Web site strategy and design. This will also include setting a realistic budget because there are a number of 'back-end' considerations to take into consideration:

  • A purely informational static site with pictures and text is a lot cheaper than a site with dynamic applications such as a client area for secure communications;
  • Two sites may appear identical, but without knowing what has been built on the back-end, it's impossible to identify how much either site cost; and
  • Two sites, identical in function, may have different databases that were selected depending on how many visitors use the site hourly, daily, monthly, etc., the number of servers and how the site is served (eg, is it dedicated or virtual).

Your Web-crafting partner's proposal should include three physical 'deliverables':

  • Specs. These provide a solid report of the decisions that have been made and what will go into your site;
  • Flow Chart. These detail the main sections. In short, it's a sketch that will evolve during the Web site's design/construction; and
  • Schematic Drawing. This outlines how many sections there will be and shows the physical layout of the interface template.

Hopefully, your Web-crafting firm will custom design your Web site, building scripts for newsletters, menu rollovers, and more. Whoever owns the source code for these elements could potentially use it to build other Web sites. While you should reserve the right to access your source code without making subsequent use of it, the legal owner of the source code should be the Web-crafting firm who developed it.

This premium content is locked for Entertainment Law & Finance subscribers only

  • Stay current on the latest information, rulings, regulations, and trends
  • Includes practical, must-have information on copyrights, royalties, AI, and more
  • Tap into expert guidance from top entertainment lawyers and experts

For enterprise-wide or corporate acess, please contact Customer Service at [email protected] or 877-256-2473

Read These Next
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough Image

There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.

Judge Rules Shaquille O'Neal Will Face Securities Lawsuit for Promotion, Sale of NFTs Image

A federal district court in Miami, FL, has ruled that former National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal will have to face a lawsuit over his promotion of unregistered securities in the form of cryptocurrency tokens and that he was a "seller" of these unregistered securities.

Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It Image

Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?

Blockchain Domains: New Developments for Brand Owners Image

Blockchain domain names offer decentralized alternatives to traditional DNS-based domain names, promising enhanced security, privacy and censorship resistance. However, these benefits come with significant challenges, particularly for brand owners seeking to protect their trademarks in these new digital spaces.

Coverage Issues Stemming from Dry Cleaner Contamination Suits Image

In recent years, there has been a growing number of dry cleaners claiming to be "organic," "green," or "eco-friendly." While that may be true with respect to some, many dry cleaners continue to use a cleaning method involving the use of a solvent called perchloroethylene, commonly known as perc. And, there seems to be an increasing number of lawsuits stemming from environmental problems associated with historic dry cleaning operations utilizing this chemical.