Let’s face it: Being a bankruptcy lawyer is an honorable profession. It calls for persistence, hard work and dedication to assist those who need help getting out of debt or safeguarding their properties from creditors.
As a bankruptcy lawyer, you should not neglect the internet as a promotional tool to get more clients. In fact, your web presence should be one of your top priorities in marketing your practice because almost 75 percent of all bankruptcy cases are filed through referrals.
Why Is Bankruptcy Lawyer Web Design Important?
To get more clients from the internet you need a good online presence which includes having a website that loads quickly and can be indexed high by search engines such as Google, Yahoo! and MSN. Even if someone does not have access to these mainstream search engines his or her chances of finding you online are still high because there are other search engines that target specific niche markets.
Currently, the internet is overpopulated with many good web designers and SEO professionals who can promise you guaranteed results for your business; however, as a bankruptcy lawyer, you should know what to look for before hiring them.
10 tips to help you choose the best bankruptcy lawyer web design firm and market your website:
1. Ask for samples of previous work as well as their portfolio. You may visit their websites or call smaller companies to ask if they can send sample copies via email or mail service providers such as FedEx and UPS. This will give you an idea of how professional they are and how much work goes into building a good site from scratch. Also, this will give you a chance to know how fast their turnaround time is.
2. Ask for actual price quotes from different companies. Get different quotes from at least three or more web design firms then compare the prices that you have received with the service they are offering. Do not just base your decision on the lowest offer because there could be hidden costs that may not be covered in their pricing scheme such as hosting, domain name registration and maintenance fees. Also, check if they charge extra for email accounts and website updates
3. Check what guarantees they can offer if any. It is advisable to work with an SEO expert who offers no less than a 90 percent guaranteed ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs). They should also guarantee first page rankings in major search engines such as Yahoo!, Google and MSN.
4. Ask about their refund policy if you should choose to cancel the contract for any reason.
5. Check the background of the web design firm and determine if they have a good reputation in your chosen industry. The last thing you want is to hire an expert who lacks experience and expertise in your type of business or worse, has bad moral character which will reflect badly on your image. You can ask colleagues or people in your area who recommend bankruptcy lawyers to refer you to companies that would give you great deals on web design services.
6. If possible, get referrals from previous clients so that it will be easier for you to know these companies are really like when dealing with them.
7. Ask for a legal contract in writing so that you can know what to expect in terms of deadlines, project rates and the scope of work involved. It would also be nice if you can negotiate some provisions just in case something happens that requires changes or revisions to the project.
8. Most importantly, trust your instinct when hiring someone especially an individual who will handle sensitive information about your practice such as trade secrets (i.e., how bankruptcy cases are handled). You may want to consider asking for their license number and check it up if necessary before signing any agreement/contract with them to protect yourself legally should anything happen later on down the line.
9. Find out which technologies they use; ask them about their code of conduct and the general rules that they follow. For example, a professional website design firm should always use valid XHTML/CSS code which is compliant with all web standards.
10. Last but not least, ask for complete contact information so that you can get in touch with them easily irrespective of location (e.g., phone number, address).
Time To Hire A Bankruptcy Lawyer Web Designer!
Hiring an SEO company will be the most challenging task if you are new to bankruptcy law or even if you have been practicing for some time now; however, it is still possible as long as you know what to look out for when hiring an expert to design your company’s website and optimize its content online . It would be nice to share this article with other bankruptcy lawyers who need help with building their web presence as well as those who are into search engine optimization (SEO).
Thank you for reading our Bankruptcy Lawyer Web Design guide. Let us know if you have any questions!