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Will law firm websites continue to work in generating business?

Only 14% of people trust advertisers yet 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations. This from Erik Qualman’s new book, Socialnomics.

Per Qualman, consumers want to be listened to and engaged in a dialog and not just hyped at. It no longer matters what you say about yourself. What matters is what others say about you.

Little question law firm websites are advertising. Doesn’t matter if we’re talking a five page website with biographical and contact information for a solo lawyer or a 2,500 page website chock full of articles and alerts for a huge firm. Websites are all about hyping the firm.

Long before we had law firm websites, we got work as lawyers by word of mouth. And after a decade of law firm websites, you’ll still find the better lawyers telling you they get their best work by word of mouth.

One managing partner at a large law firm told me he wasn’t sure his firm, despite a spending a huge sum on its website, ever really generated any business from the website. He told me it was all about relationships with people and word of mouth.

Relationships and word of mouth are exactly what Qualman is talking about. Get those things going for you and are going to have clients coming to you on the recommendation of their peers. Whether it be a consumer, corporate executive, or in-house counsel hiring you, one of the big reasons you get hired is a recommendation from one of their peers.

I am not saying throw out your law firm’s website, but as we move into day and age where the Internet, via social networking and social media, allows lawyers to engage, network, and develop a reputation as a trusted and reliable authority, it seems websites viewed by the public will be increasingly less effective. Agree? Share your comments?

  • http://lifeatthebar.com Julie A. Fleming

    I think that our websites act as our home bases on the internet, much like our offices do offline. While word-of-mouth and social media may be where we get most of our business online, we still need something for potential clients to be linked to where they can find our contact information and read more about our practices.

  • http://kevin.lexblog.com Kevin OKeefe

    Thanks for the comment Julie, I agree with you.
    I often describe websites as our office. But to network with people so as to build relationships and grow business, we need to get out of the office. Social media and social networking is like getting out of the office to press the flesh.

  • http://www.stemlegal.com/ Steve Matthews

    Not less effective at all, just part of a bigger picture. The traffic pattern of – lawyer commentary > credentials viewed on the law firm website > contact form – is just as solid as its ever been.
    You can deliver that same information in other ways now, an ‘about’ page on the blog as an example. But if lawyers choose to continue to showcase that information on a firm website… seems as good a place as any other.
    What *really* kills business, is investing tons of time developing great relationships, and never telling those people what you do for a living.

  • http://solopracticeuniversity.com Susan Cartier Liebel

    I agree with both of you. I call the website the ‘foundational marketing tool from which all else grows.’ it still remains true. If someone hears of you and they can’t find you on the internet with your own personalized presence you are starting below the curb.
    If they find you on other social media platforms but can’t find your ‘office’ it may knock a few points off, too. In this day and age of competition you can’t afford to be without a digital office you control.

  • http://www.thecorporatecounsel.net/blog/index.html Broc Romanek

    As a long-time blogger with a loyal following, I can’t tell you the number of times I speak at a conference and folks come up and talk to me like they know me for years. I get embarrassed thinking that I forgot their name – only to be told that we’ve never met and they’ve read the blog for years.
    Blogging – off of your site – can help you build trust with thousands without ever leaving your office. By the time you leave your office, you can have folks dying to meet you and become your customer. Priming the pump so to speak…