Database-Driven Spurs on Web Site growth, success

by Micah Buchdahl

From the IMA Archives -- 2001
The Model T was a great car, I'm sure. Black and white once was the norm for television set purchases. And old-fashioned, static HTML (Hypertext Mark-up language) was once the rage in the development of web sites. Like all products, time allows for stronger features and components to take hold. I love my Mazda 626, my 32-inch, picture-in-picture color TV, and my database-driven web site. Only the best--provided it is cost and time-efficient.

Moving from an HTML site to a database-driven one is the first step in a law firm's move to the next-generation of Internet business development. Web technologies now allow for a site to be built and updated, on the fly, through the use of databases and a control center, making a web site more successful, with more content, which is better displayed, searched, and formatted for the firm and the end-user audience.

What is wrong with a static, HTML site?

Ye Olde Fashioned Web Site came with a few areas of difficulties. For starters, many developers and providers retained control of a site for updating and maintenance. Most attorneys and firms preferred this method a few years ago. You did not have the staff, time or patience to learn HTML coding, figure out how to update a site through FTP (file transfer protocol) or try and find all the places on a site where a change needed to be recorded. There was also the necessity to wait for a provider to make the updates. Invariably, the update would end up somewhere other than the intended spot, with a typographical or grammatical error that was missed in earlier proofreading. Thus, another wait for changes to be made, and posted. The "news" often seemed stale by the time it appeared on the site.

There is rarely a time that a web site is built, and minutes after release, you are not second-guessing some decisions. Immediately, you think about changing the navigation, adding a section, moving a section, or changing the format of content. This often involved timely and costly recoding and reconfiguration of a site, not to mention having to recreate pages and sections of content virtually from scratch.

One of the most powerful tools on a good site is the ability to search for specific information. Often, on larger sites, you want to contain a search to a particular section of the site, or the entire site itself. Most HTML sites are limited in the variety of ways to conduct searches, and the results are not very helpful. The easier it is to search, the better for the end-user. Of course, everyone always is concerned with how a site can be searched from external search engines, which often look at that HTML. A good db-driven solution not only improves metatagging, but also enhances it.

Finally, is the issue of making wholesale changes to a site, such as changing a phone number everywhere it appears, or removing everything referring to that rebellious associate you just fired. Alternatively, taking information that appears in one fashion or format in one part of a web site, and displaying differently in another, without a do-over.

Do not get me wrong. There are situations in which a static site accomplishes everything a firm needs. If you make virtually no changes to your web site, and it is more of an electronic brochure, your site may suit you just fine. A solo or small firm that does not intend on making significant changes, or have the site be a central piece of your marketing efforts, can have a strong, professional HTML site. However, you should not expect a site that remains static content-wise to become a book marked destination. The key is content, and the key to moving from HTML to DB is adding, editing, displaying and improving content in the best way possible.

What makes a db-driven site so great?

For starters, the cost of database-driven web sites has fallen dramatically over the last year. Two years ago, it was mainly in the hands of those with deep pockets. Today, it is a cost-effective solution for firms of all size and budget. There are numerous types of databases that can feed a web site. I recommend that it is a db specifically built and developed for web site and Internet purposes, as opposed to a db used at the firm for primarily non-web purposes.

What seems like a million years ago (it is close to ten which is a million in Internet years), my former employer launched West Legal Directory, the first on-line legal directory of its kind. At the time, it was actually a Westlaw database put on the web. The database for search results, display of information, updating and functionality was not built for the Internet. At the time, it was advanced. However, as the web matured, it became necessary to rebuild it in a manner where the goal was effectiveness on an Internet browser, for a World Wide Web audience. Today, WLD embraces some of the necessary tools and functionality because it is built for the web. The concept holds true today for some law firm db-driven sites that clearly are using the wrong kind of db to produce and display content. While it might seem easier to take an existing database, and have it pump content to the web site, often you are giving up important functions for the Internet audience.

Instant Gratification!

A good db-driven site offers firms the ultimate luxury instant gratification. For the Webmaster doing the updating and for the attorney looking to see if his or her article is up yet. "Yo, Webmaster, I was just on our web site, and my seminar is not yet listed," phones the senior partner. "Hey, clown, you e-mailed me that update five minutes ago," imagines the troubled but silent staffer. Today, that update can be posted via a control center, in a minute or two. Better yet, the Webmaster can provide other personnel with the ability to input content or make updates, while still controlling publishing and reviewing rights. Someone in a satellite office can post all of that office's changes without taking away the ultimate publishing rights from the person in charge of the site. Human Resources can post changes to a job bank without having to harass someone in the marketing department. A control center should also be the point of reference for accessing traffic reports and contacting your developer for more sophisticated changes to a site.

Besides no longer having to depend on others to make a site change, or spend time converting content to HTML and posting where appropriate, a db-driven site allows for rich text editing, making your content easier to configure changes in fonts, color, italics, highlighting or adding hypertext links. When all you want to do is post a few sentences of "What's New", it can be typed directly into the control center. This is all referred to in the business as WYSIWYG (sounds like whissiwig editing) what you see is what you get!

One of the most dynamic features of a database-driven site is the ability to change the way content appears, with little difficulty. Today, you want your biography to have a resume look. Click. Tomorrow, you want it in a narrative format. Click. All partners one way. All associates another. Click. Click. Content can also be repurposed in different areas of a site, for different displays or purposes. Often firms want a "site within a site" with a different graphic design, navigation or limit access of sections to a password-protected section. The flexibility to handle these components is now far superior, and often involves just some change in coding.

All content should be searchable in a number of fashions. If I want to look up the word "antitrust" or "Ford Motor" and limit the search to newsletters or practice area descriptions or biographies, that can be done. Some dbs offer "related content" features, that intuitively places all aspects of a topic in one place, often creating mini-web sites for each practice area or office location. With "related content", the dbs know where things should be displayed. If I go to "Health Care Law," it knows to also show me all related information in other sections of the site, such as attorney listings, upcoming seminars, newsletters and appropriate office locations. The "tagging" that goes around content, determines where things should be displayed, but also creates metatags for each piece of content, making it easier for external search engines to find, as well as on-site visitors.

Another of the hot trends this year is the ability for an end-user to have a site customized for his or her preferences (see www.faegre.com). This is accomplished by displaying content from the databases that you have requested. These same databases also feed dynamic, well-organized e-mail newsletters that can be sent out in text or HTML format. Make no mistake; HTML is still viable, but enhanced through the use of database technology.

As is the case with most technologies, newer "versions" of database-driven solutions are constantly being released, with improved features and functionality. Be sure you have access to these upgrades. By updating your site through a third-party ASP (application service provider), rather than buying hardware and software that may require costly upgrades, ask whether you will be getting stronger components down the line as part of your web site development program.