Law blog design matters
David Peralty, Head of Marketing at Splashpress Media, asks readers at The Blog Herald if it's important to have a powerful, beautiful or striking blog design when presenting what he describes as the ‘whole package’ in blogging.
The responses from readers were striking. Professional blog design was viewed as a necessity, especially when blogging as a professional, like you as a lawyer.
- Since the reader needs to be convinced to subscribe your blog, design is a very important matter. Looking at it from the readers point of view, “If you had to choose between two mobile phones with exactly the same features with one being stylish and the other looking like the work of an amateur - which would you choose?” Design is added value with the result being more than the sum of its parts - design supports content and the other way round.
- If it is meant for commercial purpose, graphics play a big role.
- Though I may read blog posts in a newsreader, I need to come to the blog to subscribe, where if it looks good, I subscribe.
- Design matters to me when I read blogs. I generally read posts in my feed reader, but for two exceptions, one being to click through and read the posts directly on sites with great designs.
- As a designer, there’s no way I’d tell you design doesn’t matter. Think of it this way: A car’s purpose is to take you somewhere. But would you buy a rusted old car instead of a shiny new Prius?
- Think of it from a reader’s perspective. If I click on your blog and am put off by the overall look and feel of your site, I won’t return or subscribe. Content rules, yes, especially for your RSS readers, but design is like the PR guy who’s trying to get you to visit.
- It’s like judging a book by its cover. It could be either crap or a wonderful story inside, but if the cover doesn’t catch my attention, I’m not going to pick it up in the first place. When I’m flipping through random sites or clicking through links of links of links…..I skim right by those that don’t look great. I have to actually force myself to skim through text on blogs, for example, that are hosted on Blogger and use one of the default templates…and still have the random default spots unfilled like “put links here” and “This is your about me section,” etc.
- I just spent about $5,000 to upgrade Smallbiztechnology.com’s interface and move to Movable type - one of the best investments I’ve done! Traffic is up and more!
- The user experience is primarily made up of four factors: branding, usability, functionality andcontent. Independently, none of these factors make for a positive user experience; however, together, these factors are the main ingredients for the blog’s success.
One of the driving forces in starting LexBlog 4 years ago was that my personal blog design sucked. I was afraid that lawyers and law firms were finding me on the net. For every person who contacted me about Internet legal marketing because they found my blog, I figured three would not call me because of my amateur presentation. Having practiced law for 17 years, I knew one of the requirements of being a professional was appearing professional. Looks mattered.
You may be getting traffic and callers with your TypePad, Blogger, or WordPress template blog. But who's not subscribing? Who's not calling because of the less than professional image you're presenting? It may be that the better clients are looking elsewhere. As a lawyer trying to further enhance your reputation and grow your business, that's a gamble you can ill afford.
