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Setting Up A Website And Business Email Address For Your Law Firm
(Current as of August 2020)
Every law firm today should have a website. In addition to being a powerful market tool, a website lends your law firm credibility, and helps establish trust with your potential client base.
Consider the following scenario:
After hearing about your firm from a friend, a potential client Googles your name, hoping to learn a bit more about you before calling for an initial consultation. The search comes back empty. The potential client then Googles the name of another referral she received, and finds a simple web page with the lawyer’s picture, a brief summary of the lawyer’s experience, and a short list of favorable outcomes the lawyer has achieved for former clients.
Now put yourself in the potential client’s shoes for a moment. Which lawyer would you be more inclined to call?
There are four basic steps you’ll need to take to create an online presence when starting your law firm: (i) pick a domain name; (ii) create a website; (iii) host the website; and (iv) create a business email account.
Picking A Domain Name
The first step to creating an online presence for your law firm is to secure a domain name, also known as a web address or URL (i.e. www.yourdomain.com). The ideal domain name will be short, easy to remember, and easy to spell and type. To that end, you’ll want to avoid using domain names with hyphens (i.e. www.my-law-office.com), which can get complicated to remember and ultimately lead to confusion with other web addresses.
Just as with your law firm’s name (and any other communications regarding a lawyer’s services), your firm’s domain name can’t be false or misleading. Additionally, many states have specific ethical requirements when it comes to the use of domain names that don’t contain the name of the lawyer or firm. For example, to use a domain name like www.employmentlawyer.com, some states might require you to display certain identifying information on each page of your website. Before settling on a web address, be sure to check your state’s ethical guidance.
GoDaddy is a popular domain registrar you can use to check domain name availability and register your firm’s web address. Alternatively, if you’re planning on designing your own website (more on this below), many website building and hosting services offer domain registration as part of a web hosting package.
Creating A Website
After choosing a domain name, you’ll need to design your website. You can either create a website yourself, or hire a design firm or freelancer to create one for you.
Designing A Website On Your Own Using A Template And Site Builder. Even without any prior design or technical experience, it’s easier than ever to create a polished website on your own. There are plenty of intuitive website building products that offer professionally designed templates, combined with user-friendly interfaces, that you can use to input customized content about your firm (attorney bios, head shots, areas of specialization, contact information, etc.).
Squarespace and Wix are two popular do-it-yourself website site builders with customizable law firm templates.
Hiring A Web Design Professional. If you don’t have the time or inclination to create your own website, you can also find a design firm or freelancer to create one for you. Much like lawyers, professional web designers run the gamut in terms of skill and pricing. Before hiring one, you’ll want to view some sample work they’ve done, and make sure the price they’re quoting is within your budget. You’ll also want to ask whether they can set up your site so that you can easily make certain routine edits (changes to attorney bios, blog posts, etc.) on your own after they’re done. If not, you’ll be locked into paying a web designer each time you want something changed on your site.
Hosting Your Website
Once your site is designed, it needs to be hosted on a server to become accessible on the internet. For a typical small firm website that doesn’t generate heavy traffic, a shared hosting solution (where your site shares server space with many other sites) will be just fine. If you’re using a website builder like Squarespace or Wix, they also offer shared web hosting plans on a monthly or annual basis.
Creating A Business Email Account
Finally, you’ll want to set up a business email address using your domain name (i.e. yourname@yourdomain.com). A business email address at your own domain name is an easy way to project a professional image, strengthen your brand, and build credibility with clients. Most web hosting companies and domain registrars offer business email addresses as an add-on service (which you can typically integrate with Microsoft Outlook or your email manager of choice).
OTHER ARTICLES ON THE LAW FIRM LAUNCHPAD:
Choosing A Business Entity Structure
Getting An Employer Identification Number (EIN)
Getting A Business Credit Card
Opening Law Firm Bank Accounts
Buying Legal Malpractice Insurance
Assessing Your Furniture And Office Supply Needs
Setting Up Internet, Phone, and Fax
Assessing Your Computer And Technology Hardware Needs
Assessing Your Software Solutions Needs
Fortifying Your Electronic Data Security