Personal websites are one thing – they have a tremendous amount of freedom of expression, content, and format. Professional websites – sites that promote things like corporations, lawyers, doctors, or things like that – have a different tack they need to take concerning blogging and social media.

To prevent the worlds of the amateur and the professional from colliding on line, here are five observational tips to make sure your website stays up to snuff: think about how lawyers promote, think about how doctors present themselves, consider how technology and communication are changing, think of how different people perceive things nowadays, and think about transparency and trust.

Think About the Lawyers

Lawyers have a tough job of it on the Internet, to try to get their selling points across. A cross-reference to problems lawyers have will give you the very basics of why it’s tough for them to compete against each other. If you’re in this group – don’t believe the hype, and instead go for the techniques that are proven to work despite what so-called ‘common sense’ might tell you or your law firm.

Think About the Doctors

Doctors also have a tough time competing on their various websites. Scan though medical websites and you’ll see a lot of common themes, and a lot of bad practices. Depending on the money medical institutions are willing to pay for web work, there is a lot left to be desired. Quality does not necessarily just come from cost though – quality is probably more about a relationship to experience in the past, and communicating goals effectively through personalized writing.

Think About How Communication Is Changing

The way people are communicating is changing the way professional websites are set up. Look at advances in cell phone technology. The mobility of accurate information is allowing people to use resources in a brand new way, and professionals are going to have to jump on that bandwagon to find out how to use that to their advantage, rather than rallying against it.

Think About How People Are Changing

People are changing in their views about professionals as well. Consider the fact that many more people are taking the law into their own hands to keep costs down. Or that self-treatment is becoming a more viable option. The quality of a professional website or blog can either alleviate the fears that people have about services, or they can make them worse. Which side of the equation will you be on?

Think About Transparency and Trust

Transparency and trust are going to be the two primary issues when it comes down to the effectiveness of your website. By using blogging and social media to your advantage as a professional, you’ll be inserting yourself into a very important conversation, and thus keep yourself competitive.

Originally posted on August 5, 2015 @ 2:52 am