I got a question yesterday from a lawyer who did not have a website for his firm, and was thinking about doing it on his own. But he was intimidated about getting started, and how much work it is do develop quality content.
Specifically, he got the impression from one of the big legal marketing companies he’d spoken with that if he didn’t have a fully-formed, large, content rich site when he launched, he would be “penalized”, and it would be somehow worse than doing nothing.
But that is just not true. Yes, developing a great site can be a daunting task. But starting small is completely fine, and if you are doing it all on your own, it makes complete sense.
What is true, is that there can take a while for a site, even a good one, to gain traction in the search engines. But if you have 3 decent pages of good content, then get them up on the web! There is no time like the present.
And as the site ages, Google will gradually recognize your site as a legitimate resource. Which means content you add later will have more credibility, and rank faster.
A slow rollout of even a page a month is not a bad idea if that’s all you think you can handle. Or just write an occasional blog post on a topical subject relevant to your practice.
The key is, that whatever you publish, make it a worthwhile, and unique.
Don’t Create Filler Pages
What you don’t want to do is create a lot of very repetitive pages with only a few sentences or a paragraph that is unique, and the rest is boilerplate filler. That is a waste of time, and Google will potentially penalize or devalue your entire site.
And certainly don’t put up 50 bank pages with a one line subject, and Coming Soon! Wait until you’ve got something written to actually post it.
Do It Now!
WordPress and other content management systems make it easy for non-techy people to build their own sites. A little DIY hustle and a lot of passion can be surprisingly effective.
Sure, there are pitfalls, and mistakes you may make. Getting some SEO advice from someone you trust can be invaluable. But something is always better than nothing.
