If you don’t have a Website the good news is that there is help. There are solutions available that will allow you to make a reasonable investment that will produce a professional website for your firm. We say “reasonable” because you can spend as little or as much as you want, though “reasonable” will provide you the best middle of the road solution possible. Unfortunately, in the web design world, how much you pay does not necessarily determine how good your website will be.
Professional Solutions. There are a number of firms that will design, build, and host your Website for you. These firms have content management and design systems in place that will give you a user friendly Web interface and a professional design. Some of them will even help develop content for your Website through third party services. Companies like Justia, FindWeb’s FirmMarketing, and ConsultWebs provide solutions that build Web firm websites as well as blog integration if desired. Using services such as these will also ensure clients that their sites are search engine optimized, which will help with other organic searches if potential clients don’t use a narrower local search tool.
Do-It-Yourself Solutions. Some might be intimidated by the costs to build and maintain a Website. If the costs are too high for your marketing budget, there are ways you can build your own firm Website. Many Web hosting companies have solutions that will allow you to build a Website in a template environment. Companies like Dreamhost, 1 & 1, and Hostway offer gererous hosting plans that offer a variety of technical options for your Website. Other solutions include purchasing a professional Website template from websites like Template Monster and then customizing it with your firm’s information.
The downside to these solutions is that you will have to dig into HTML code to customize the content and the look and feel of the site, and you will have to learn about search engine optimization. Remember, what might seem cheaper on your checkbook doesn’t always mean it is cheaper overall. If you build your own website, you are taking time away from doing other important tasks such as billing hours. Building your own website is not a task that you can accomplish effectively overnight. Utilizing professionals with well documented skills and expertise is in website development may be worth the money to avoid the headaches associated with getting the right hosting package, customizing templates, or fixing errors.
