Do I need a website?

You could have a practice website up and running by this evening.  But do you need one? That depends on your business model, your appetite for technology and the amount of time you have available to maintain it.

“We are happy in proportion to the things we can do without.” Henry David Thoreau

Will you love your website?

Like people, websites flourish when they are loved. Without regular attention, a website will languish, forlorn and lonely, and eventually die a slow and expensive death.

Before I stretch the analogy too far, here are the yes, no and maybe considerations for investing in a practice-specific website.

Yes. You need a website

If you’re a sole practitioner, the owner of an alternative business structure or you operate as an BSB-authorised entity, a website can help you grow your practice.

Why? Because the various components of your marketing system need somewhere to slot together. The best place is inside a website.

If you’re delivering work and generating clients yourself, a website can automate the early stages of your client relationships and save you time setting up client meetings at a stage that’s too early in your sales cycle. 

Even if you have physical offices your website acts as your shop window to allow clients to see at a glance what you offer.

If you decide to build a website to support your practice, spend some time thinking through what it needs to do for you. Is it a brochure? An on-line booking facility? Do you want to sell a service online, such as fixed-price mediation? Is it the repository of your expertise?

Website tinkering will quickly detract your time from fee-earning activities. Get clear on its purpose and build it with the outcome in mind.

No. You don’t need a website

If you’re a tenant in a Chambers whose website displays your CV, your contact details and has a page where you can publish your expertise, you probably don’t need a practice website.

Putting up your own website could send a contradictory message about your relationship with your Chambers and your clients might want to know why you’ve decided to position yourself on the outside.  Certainly, you can expect an awkward conversation with your Chambers marketing manager about branding.

Consider as well that a proportion of your Chambers fees is allocated to marketing. The Chambers website is one component of the wider strategy. If you decide to create your own website you’ll have to accept that you’re going to pay twice for marketing.

Another consideration relates to rankings in the search engines. Your own website will compete directly with your Chambers site in Google for your name and job title.  You can achieve a higher ranking than your Chambers website but it will take an extraordinary amount of work in terms of content creation and optimisation.

That’s time you could spend earning fees.

Maybe you need a website

Here are three scenarios where a website might help you grow your practice.

1. You’re a commercial barrister in a set known for something else, like employment. You’re going to have to work hard to bring in clients against your Chambers brand. A personal website could support your commercial work without creating a conflict with your Chambers.
2. You have a particular niche that resides within the practice areas for which your Chambers is known. Let’s say European Sanctions Regimes is your thing and your set is known for its expertise in International Law.  A simple website can spotlight your expertise without creating a conflict with your Chambers positioning.
3. Your charisma, expertise and brainpower overshadows your Chambers and all its Members.  In which case fill your boots.  Build not just a website but a whole brand around your name and plan a spin-off for next year.

Try using LinkedIn instead 

LinkedIn can function as your personal website. Use it to test your commitment to content creation and increase your level of comfort of being visible online. 

Commit to posting at least one piece of engaging and original content every week for the next three months. Track engagement using the LinkedIn analytics tools and measure the number of new contacts you make in that time.

Then decide whether you need a website.

Need some help deciding?

Website building is easy; ask any ten-year-old. The difficult part is getting the website to work for you.  

If you’d like a review of your website, or a conversation about whether you need one, book a 30-minute call with me here.

For more information about how to use LinkedIn to raise your profile, connect with clients and grow your practice, take a look at this list of 21 ways to use LinkedIn to grow your practice.  

By Heidi Smith
Creator of Jurilogical.com