Your Website is Your Best Media Resource

A client recently discovered a news article inaccurately described the firm and what it offers its clients. It was obvious the firm’s spokesperson was focused more on providing answers to the reporter’s questions than worrying about what information the reporter was going to use to describe the firm. What is a busy reporter to do but turn to the firm’s website to get that information? If your website does not accurately reflect or represent what your firm does, you have missed another opportunity to set it straight.

How can you prevent this from happening to your firm?

1. Create a website boilerplate. All law firms use boilerplate for news releases. This is a brief, detailed paragraph highlighting the positive attributes of a firm. It acts like an elevator pitch for the firm.

2. Place the boilerplate in multiple places and where it can be easily found. Many times law firms place the boilerplate in a section of the website that is hard to find or completely absent from the news section where most reporters will turn to find the firm’s background. If the media is forced to search your site for this language, they will often use what they find first – news has been written about your firm in the past by colleagues or competitors, or your About Us section that includes a long history of the firm, where it was founded and your service offerings.

3. Make your newsroom a real resource for reporters. Many law firms don’t take advantage of their newsroom web page. Don’t just post articles your attorneys have been quoted in or post news releases about new hires and Law360 awards. Use this page to communicate important information about the firm the media might need. This is also a good place to put your social media links – LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook etc.

Bottom line: You can’t rely on the interviewee to remember to tell the reporter about the firm nor can you expect the reporter to call or email the PR or marketing department to check on their facts. We have to do the work for the media.

Where is your boilerplate?