Website development
Getting cookie consent right
One could be forgiven for thinking that knowing how to comply with a legal obligation that has been in place for nearly a decade would be clear cut. However, widespread practice tells us that this is far from the truth. In November 2009, as part of wider reforms to the European telecommunications regulatory framework, the […]
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Optimising your images to rank well
The way in which we search for images is evolving and changing, and Google has announced that image search is a big topic in the search engine optimisation community. Once upon a time we would search for images primarily for the purpose of copying and pasting an appropriate image into our presentations or documents. We […]
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The ultimate law firm website checklist
It’s all about the first impression. For most potential clients, your website is your shopfront. Does it belong on Oxford street or skid row? This guide will help you find out. Step 1 – Google your firm The first step is to search for your firm in Google (I’m sure you don’t need a step-by-step […]
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Why have multiple websites?
Businesses large and small often use more than one website, for various reasons. We take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of this approach and its impact on your SEO efforts. Businesses with multiple websites come in several forms. They might be massive international companies, where the separate domains serve totally different business functions. […]
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When and how to use 301 redirects
301 redirects are a way of ensuring online traffic gets sent to the most up-to-date version of a URL. For example, if you delete a page on a website and your customers try to access that page and it’s no longer there, they get an error message, which isn’t a great user experience, right? So, […]
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Do I still need to use the www in URLs?
The answer to this question is, of course, “It depends.” It depends on the context. First, let’s get some terminology out of the way. We are all familiar with a domain name, like example.com. The bit in front of a domain name, www or whatever, is a subdomain. The domain name without any prefix is […]
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A GDPR impact assessment for websites
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect in 25 May 2018. It replaces the Data Protection Directive (implemented in the UK as the Data Protection Act 1998). This document addresses GDPR with the narrow focus of websites. For a broader discussion on the impact of GDPR on law firms, you might like to […]
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Solicitors providing free content on their websites
Many solicitors provide free legal information on their websites. Is this good marketing or just giving away valuable information? I maintain a section on my website called Free Legal Information for Individuals provided by Firms of Solicitors at www.venables.co.uk/individtopics.htm. This covers accidents, benefits, business, car crime, consumer, conveyancing, crime, divorce, death (probate, wills etc), debt, […]
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How not to commission a website
Recently, I met a barrister who was handling a case where a website project had gone badly wrong, losing significant sales for the customer who had commissioned it. After comparing war stories, we concluded that a lot more websites go awry than one might realise and that it might be worth sharing some of the […]
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Take care when users post on your website
One of the decisions that website owners often need to make these days is whether to allow people to add comments or other content to their website. Of itself, this isn’t a legal issue, but a decision to allow comments or other user content on a website does give rise to legal considerations. These considerations […]
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Getting to know Google Analytics
Creating a website for your firm or chambers demands time, patience and persistence. You have to get the right structure, with easy navigation, straightforward calls to action and compelling content. Even when the site is fully operational, it is no time to sit back and enjoy your handiwork. You need to know if the site […]
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Working on the web
I have been working on the web for a long time. I set up my first website in the 1990s and my membership site, Landlord Law, which I set up in 2001, is my main source of income now. So what have I learned over the years? And how can my experience help you? Being […]
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