Build Your Intranet First
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By Michael O’Horo Why do so many law firms develop their web sites publicly? Firms publish what are in some instances embarrassingly bad sites--often mere electronic versions of bad brochures--and then improve them slowly in plain view of the companies and decision-makers upon whom they most wish to make a favorable impression. Instead, firms should build an Intranet first. An Intranet is simply a closed-circuit version of an Internet site, accessible only to the firm’s population. By starting with an Intranet, firms can learn all the lessons of this new medium privately, and at the same time address their internal communication problems. Despite the number of law firms that have invested in web sites, many law firm leaders see an Internet site as little more than a static electronic brochure. They don’t see how an Internet presence can help them and they remain skeptical about its importance to law firms. On a broad level, they understand that the Internet cannot be ignored and many, perhaps afraid to appear outdated or miss the trend entirely, have succumbed to the pressure to create a Web site. Yet because they aren’t convinced of its immediate importance, they don’t commit sufficient management support or resources to do it properly. Weaknesses Too many of the resulting sites suffer from unclear goals, poorly defined charters, and lack of direction and strategy. As a result they display many traits cited as weaknesses by web site experts:
The web is a new, emerging medium. Even the savviest corporate marketing and advertising departments have struggled with how to exploit it. It is even more difficult for law firms--marketing novices--to do. Under the best of circumstances it takes time to get it right. Why do it publicly? First-time visitors make decisions about your firm based on the value and currency of your site’s content, appearance, and ease-of-use. By launching an Internet site before you’re ready, you put all the ills of the firm’s web site on display to clients and prospects. Building an Intranet first avoids these pitfalls. You make your mistakes privately. Far more importantly, you can begin addressing your internal communication challenges. Begin With Internal Communication Start with using your Intranet as a way to improve internal communication. Countless law firm surveys show that associates and staff don’t feel well informed about some very important things:
This is also your first opportunity to establish and test inquiry and response handling procedures. How do you acknowledge an inquiry while you go about obtaining a qualified response? Who is best qualified to address the questions raised? How do you get the response back to the inquirer and onto the site to inform other interested visitors? This exercise will begin to create a "How can we use this site to help?" mentality, and begins the process of recognizing everyone in the firm as internal clients, rather than as employees. Once people begin using the site to find answers and understanding, they will suggest additional internal applications, plus ways for the site content to benefit external clients. Develop a Content Process After the initial inflow of articles, cases and other content submissions from lawyers who have a stockpile of such things, and of administrative information to which everyone needs access, new content will slow to a trickle. Whether you have staff with the time and skills or must hire someone, someone must be responsible for continually soliciting and organizing fresh content, and following up on content promises. Over time, you will develop a reliable way to refresh your content, organize it, and keep the site earning repeat visits. With so many internal clients navigating your Intranet, you’ll learn what makes sense and what confuses visitors, what works intuitively and what slows things down. Extend a Successful Site to the Internet After you have a successful Intranet site and proven support procedures, you can extend it to the Internet. Because you have gained valuable knowledge and experience as a site user and can better understand the options they describe, you can make better use of, and extract greater value from, marketing consultants, graphic designers, web developers, or whoever else advises you. You are much better prepared to help them help you create a site that the firm is proud of, that both internal and external clients will find useful and convenient. You will have overcome the content, navigation, and response problems that plague most law firm web sites. Don’t worry about whether or not your site wins design awards. Just remember that form follows function. Define your Internet site’s role in your overall marketing program, then demand a crisp, clean design that captures your firm’s culture and ethos. Just by shifting your viewpoint away from your firm, lawyers, and services to the perspective of the visitor or user, you will have made your site more useful and desirable than most law firm web sites. Say Something That Visitors Care About The message of too many law firm brochures is little more than "Since 1900, our 250 great lawyers have delivered cost-effective, high-quality legal services in 25 practice areas in six offices." Few law firm web sites say much more. Ask yourself why your clients hired you rather than other firms with similar quality, experience, timeliness and cost. Better, take three or four clients to lunch (separately) and ask the same questions. These lunches will be among the most enjoyable you’ll experience. They will also yield the only credible answer to the "Why do they buy?" question, and the essence of what you should say about the firm in any medium or forum. Do movies or stage productions go public before they’ve worked out all the kinks? Of course not, and neither should your web site. It will go through continual refinements and evolution throughout its existence, but your firm would be well served to begin your site’s public life only after a successful Intranet experience. |