Your web site is your introduction to potential clients and opportunity to educate people (potential clients, existing clients, people you meet and jurors).  It should reflect the individuality and strengths of your firm.  If you have a marketing campaign and/or materials you hand out, the site needs to match.

The company that creates your site can be different from the company that hosts your site.  While the two companies can be different, be sure long term maintenance of the site is worked out – you do not want the two companies pointing fingers at each other if a problem occurs.  In addition, consider the long term cost of the site.  At a bare minimum, the site will need to be updated as new browser releases occur. 

There are several possibilities in developing a site, just as there are several possibilities in building a house.  The right solution depends on the needs of your firm.

Custom Site 

Your site looks exactly the way you want it, with all the features you desire.  A custom house can be exactly what you are looking for, but it does mean a higher cost. 

PRO:  Fits your marketing materials, presenting a unified message to clients.

PRO:  Often some features are not available to you unless you select a custom site, for example:  on-line poll, a initial consultation form, news feeds, etc.

PRO:  Because you paid for the site, you own the site and can move it to where ever you would like.  This can reduce your long term cost.

CON:  Price.  This is likely the most expensive option.

CON:  This may require more of your time than the other options, particularly if the company developing your site does not have a process to maximize productivity.

CON:  Some companies restrict the amount of changes you can ask for.  So you may end up with something that you do not like, but paid a high price for.

CON:  Some custom sites look very much like a template (except for the price).  Be sure the company building your site takes into consideration your marketing materials, company image and the message you want to deliver.

TIP:  While you can have someone develop your site separately from the hosting company, it means you would need to deal with two companies.  One-stop-shopping could reduce the amount of time you devote to it for the setup and long term maintenance, but you will want to find the right one-stop-shopping.

Template Site 

PRO:  Price.  It is usually much cheaper than a custom site and sometimes comes with the bells-and-whistles you are looking for.

PRO:  Because it is from a template, many of the decisions are already made which saves you time.

PRO:  Long term maintenance is shared with everyone else that is using the template, which reduces cost.

CON:  It may not fit with your existing material and give a disjoint or mixed message to potential clients.  Color is especially important – be sure the template you choose has the same colors you use on your other materials (folders, marketing material, letter head, etc).

CON:  It may not have the features you are looking for.  Consider what you want in your web site first; the template might be a perfect fit.

CON:  The firm next door may have the same site.

CON:  There are often limitations on the size of the site.

Semi-Custom! 

Semi-custom combines many of the advantages of a purely custom site and a template.  By starting with a template close to what you want and making adjustments, you get many of the benefits of both options.  It is very much like buying a xxx house, where you have a defined structure, but have a number of choices.

PRO:  Price is moderate.

PRO:  Less of your time is needed to get what you want.

PRO:  Likely to fit with the image of your firm, and match your marketing material.

PRO:  Can get the extra functionality you are looking for without the cost of a custom site.

PRO:  Greater chance of having a site unique to your firm.

PRO:  Most of the maintenance is shared, which reduces the cost.

CON:  May not be exactly what your firm needs.

CON:  There can be limitations on the size of the site, but often that is not the case.

Do It Yourself 

Tools exist to build your firm’s site, or you could learn everything you need to build it.

PRO:  Your firm’s site could end up being exactly what you want, or perhaps as close as you are going to get.

CON:  Time and Cost.  Time is money.  The time you spend building your own site could be used for billable work, networking or getting billable work.

CON:  It is easy to fall into traps, like making it difficult for search engines to find site, ensuring your site works across browsers, not following industry standards that lead to problems.

CON:  With easy to use web site building software, your firm’s site may look just like the next law firm, the dog groomer and pest control.

CON:  Web sites need on-going maintenance (e.g. it no longer works on the new version of Internet Explorer). 

1 Page Site 

Similar to template sites, 1 page (or a few page) sites are a special breed.  These sites often give template options and with only a few pages, choices are limited.  This is like buying a condo – there are not many variations that are possible.

PRO:  Cheap

PRO:  With very limited options, not much time is needed.

PRO:  Long term maintenance is shared.

CON:  It may not fit with your existing material and give a disjoint or mixed message to potential clients.  Color is especially important – be sure the template you choose has the same colors you use on your other materials (folders, marketing material, letter head, etc).

CON:  It may not have the features you are looking for.  Consider what you want in your web site first; the template might be a perfect fit.

CON:  The firm next door may have the same site.

CON:  There are often limitations on the size of the site.

CON:  With very limited space, many of the advantages of having a web site are lost.

Tips 

Regardless of the approach you select for your site, it is wise to consider the following tips:

TIP:  Be sure the site will work on different platforms.  It should work on Internet Explorer (IE) version 6 and 7, and on FireFox (or called Mozilla) version 1 and 2.  Other browsers exist, but most people use one of these two.  Having a beautiful site is useless if people cannot see it.

TIP:  If you see a problem, who will you call to get it fixed, and how much will it cost.

TIP:  Long term maintenance of the site is an issue, be sure it is addressed.

TIP:  If you get an idea on something to add to your site, or you decide the existing text needs to change, how will that be done?  How fast would you need it done?