In this day and age, your Web site needs to be an effective tool in your legal marketing arsenal. And as I have commented before, it should definitely be more than a glorified brochure, and not come across like yada, yada, yada.

Fred Faulkner, the webmaster of the American Bar Association, on his From the 21st Floor blog lists five things you can do to guarantee that your Web Site will be unsuccessful. They are worth taking to heart, and include:

5. Put IT in charge of content and design of Web site,
 
4. Make sure site is stale and static like your brochure,

3. Have firm managers that don’t “get it” when it comes to recognizing the value in improving your web site,

2. No centralized control, thus allowing inconsistancy when it comes to the design and content of different parts of the site, and

1. Failing to understand your site’s audience, and how they interact with your brand and firm.

So, how can you avoid Fred’s pitfalls? Other than avoiding the above, ask your clients and others:

• What they like about your site
• What they don’t like about it
• What should be added or deleted
• How should you otherwise change it to make it more meaningful so they will come back often