Net Q & A

Question of the Month: July 2003

From an Internet discussion group: >In my experience Weblogs are detrimental to a professional website and will not attract the visitors that you want. They tend to give the impression that the site is amateurish and this detracts from the serious nature of the business you wish to conduct.<

Put more concisely: "Do blogs look unprofessional on law firm web sites?"

The blog is just a tool. A powerful tool in the right hands, but just a tool. If you put amateurish things on it, it will make an amateurish impression. On the other hand, if you are one of those people who can consistently come up with high quality material, there are a number of technical and other advantages of blogs that can leverage your input and make it much more successful than would otherwise be expected.

As I've said elsewhere, I don't think most lawyer blogs will be successful. There are a number of reasons for this, including the fact that most lawyers aren't well suited to present themselves effectively in this format. The vast majority of lawyers either:

1. Lack the writing ability. Blogs will work best with a much different
   approach than the "whereas, ipso facto, mumbo jumbo" style most lawyers are used to;
2. Have insufficient time to invest;
3. Are unsuited to blogging by personality; or
4. All of the above.

I predict we'll see something like this:

Jerry Lawson