Point your firm's website in the right direction

It's undoubtedly the case that more and more firms have got with the social media programme. You only need to check their latest website offering to recognise the ubiquitous social media icons, a blog or two and, if you're lucky, a mobile friendly site. Job done you might say. Well, yes and no.

From a putative client's perspective they will be pleased to see that you have at last decided to open up the firm but, if they dig deeper, they will be sorely disappointed with what they find.

For a start, most websites have, at best, undergone a refresh, meaning that a lot of the old content is still hanging about. Indeed, even though the website may look smarter the framework will be very similar - either sector led or services for businesses/individuals. Now you might say, what else to do? Prima facie accept that one size does not fill all. A commercial page/bio can and should look distinct from a private client offering. Equally, you can afford to cut down on the content, particularly if it's unlikely to be updated more than once a year. And if you go down another layer, it's unlikely that many sites have been optimised to be picked up by Google for the material that clients are interested in. In short, the content has been drafted to satisfy the lawyer's needs, and not that of the client.

If you then start picking at the social media platforms things begin to look even more sketchy. Take a firm's blog. In a lot of cases you either don't see the label or, if you do, it is no more than an outlet for firm news. Even those firms who think they are blogging still insist on writing not much more than factual case commentaries. Is it any wonder then that they have zero engagement? Ask yourself, do you seriously expect your clients to share a case report to Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+?

And if you hop over to Twitter, the follower/following numbers tell a sorry tale. The only people that want to follow you, are those that want to sell you something! As for earning attention, gaining mentions or reweets, they seem very hard to come by. In the old days it was easy to brush this aside on the basis that people didn't like to engage with a corporate, but that's just lazy marketing. They will engage if a) you adopt a givers mindset; b) comment or share other people's content; and c) your content is imbued with love and passion. The same can be said for LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube: the content is not being repackaged any differently.

I recognise how easy it is to criticise the efforts of others, particularly those firms who have limited resources and are wrestling with how they continue to serve their clients' needs, but, if anything, this would only serve to drive my focus on creating the most '¨impressive content possible. This might mean only producing one blog post a month but at least you know you can do it. I appreciate that this runs counter to the more is better argument, but I'm convinced that it's a viable option.

The final thing to bear in mind, no matter what the size of the firm, is that while the billable hour still drives advancement and financial gain, you are unlikely to see the sort of firm-wide cooperation essential to develop a meaningful digital presence. The thing is you can't expect marketing or one or two lawyers to constantly pull a rabbit out of a hat. You need as many people as possible to help.

I recognise you may be fed up with me banging the digital drum but done brilliantly it is still the most effective way to differentiate your firm. That and delivering the best service experience in the world. SJ