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?