BVWire got the following response from David Freedman, Editor of NACVA’s The Value Examiner, in response to its item last week noting that few BV firms update their websites frequently. Thanks, David.

In your April 20 issue, you summarized BVR’s survey which found that most firms with websites are not actively updating them. "This tends to reduce the likelihood that these web sites will come up in natural search results in Google," you wrote.

Then you "suggest" that BV firms receive relatively little new business through their websites…this suggestion seems to assume that new business can be derived through websites only as a result of search engine results. This assumption is absolutely the wrong message to send to firms. In fact, the most important function of a website is to showcase the professionals' expertise and build trust. In some cases, websites saturated with SEO techniques (e.g., keyword density and gratuitous blog posting) come across as callow and untrustworthy.