Blogging may not seem like the number one priority for lawyers and legal professionals. Or perhaps you’re wondering if it’s even necessary to attract people to your site. However, with the right legal blog, this can be extremely advantageous for your search engine result page ranking. Blogging is an effective way to improve your law firm’s SEO and to rank for strategic online searches. With the right keywords, you will be able to put your practice in front of your ideal client and ultimately boost your firm’s revenue.
Although this sounds like a fantastic approach to client outreach, it isn’t as easy as it seems. Writing for a blog requires meticulous planning and content writing. The goal of your blog should be to provide your readers with value, build your firm’s sense of authority, and win over the likes of Google. But, how? In this article, we will outline 5 key tips to help you engage your audience and broaden your firm’s reach.
How to Create a Successful Legal Blog:
The secret to effective online marketing is content. The more content you have, the better your chances are of having your firm recognized by the right people. Writing a “blawg” (law blog) can help provide another platform for you to engage with your audience. On top of this, it also creates shareable content for your other social channels. For example, if you have a LinkedIn account, this is the kind of content you should be sharing.
Without further ado, let’s dive into our top blogging tips.
Blog as Often as You Can
Frequency is your number one friend when it comes to running a successful “blawg”. More content means that there will be an increase of pages available to index on search engines. As a result, this will increase your web traffic and allow for greater inbound client leads.
When it comes to blogging, finding your rhythm is key. Allocating time to write and publish pieces onto your site will help ensure optimal frequency. However, being a lawyer or legal professional doesn’t always allow for extra online marketing activities. If this is the case, there are a number of agencies or freelancers who can create the content for you.
Remember SEO
As we’ve already mentioned, SEO is a huge aspect of running a legal blog. Writing for SEO is what will get your content ranked on search engines. It will also effectively increase your chances of landing a clickthrough and building a potential lead.
Our best SEO tips include:
- Write for keywords
- Incorporate keywords organically
- Using links to organize related content from your page
- Share posts on social media
- Include rich media such as images, infographics, and videos
Write for Thought Leadership
Blogging is a great way to build authority for your brand and gain a competitive advantage. Here you will want to share your insights into current events, popular legal problems, and issues you know that your potential client may be facing. The goal is to build trust through the knowledgeable advice you’re providing for free.
Promote Your Legal Service
Remember, blogging falls under online marketing so it’s important to keep your legal services top of mind. Although the focus of your blog should be on nurturing client relationships, there’s no shame in highlighting your firm’s skills and background. This can easily be done by creating an about section on your blog or by including links to your work.
Another way of promoting your legal service is by writing about your case experience. Writing about certain scenarios, your strategy, and the outcome of your work can showcase what your firm’s really about. Of course, it’s important to restrict personal information here too.
Network Online
If you can’t wait for SEO to work its magic on your blog, there’s always networking and social sharing. The online world is full of forums and discussion boards that are just waiting for your expert advice and input. Posting on these platforms can engage a new range of users and it can help build relationships under an authoritative nature.
We suggest looking at platforms such as Quora, Reddit, Facebook, and LinkedIn for your best chances of getting your content seen. You can also try reaching out to other blogs in the hopes of them publishing one of your pieces.
Legal Blog Inspiration:
Deciding what to actually blog about is one of the biggest challenges that many law firms struggle with, so sometimes a good place to find inspiration is other bloggers. While many law firm blogs focus on their own announcements and legal specialties, others offer an impressive collection of content. On these legal blogs, you can discover educated opinion pieces, legal research materials, and even trending news. To save you some time, we’ve put together a list of top legal blogs to inspire your blog content.
Kirkland & Ellis
As one of the most internationally respected law firms, Kirkland & Ellis operates a stylishly designed blog with a highly functional search interface. Their content is snackable in length and ordered according to “trending topics” — you can find good quality stuff on everything from cybercrime to economic sanctions and tax reform here.
Latham & Watkins
Latham & Watkins runs a whole matrix of a subject- and sector-specific legal blogs on their site. From Middle East developments to environmental law to fintech topics, L&W has an article for it all, making them an excellent one-stop-shop when you’re hunting for legal resources.
Lawyerist.com
Lawyerist is home to the largest online community of solo and small-firm lawyers in the world. Their goal is to help lawyers build better law practices by bringing together a group of innovative lawyers to share ideas, experiments, and best practices.
Above the Law
Above the Law is a legal web site providing news, insights, and opinions on Law firms, Lawyers, Law school, Judges and Courts. It takes a behind-the-scenes look at the world of law. The site provides news about the profession’s most colorful personalities and powerful institutions, as well as original commentary on the latest legal developments.
Law Technology Today
This blog is published by the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center (LTRC) and strives to provide guidance on how to leverage legal technology in a variety of legal practice settings. Look to them for quick legal tech tips, case studies, and a wide range of recommended resources including books, videos, and podcasts.
ABA TECHSHOW
Although the ABA TECHSHOW only happens once a year, the blog is updated frequently. The site features guest authors that provide news and tips about everything from social media marketing for legal professionals to managing cybersecurity and data privacy.
Law.com
Think of Law.com as your all-inclusive legal newspaper. Here you can find trending legal stories, the LegalSpeak podcast, and press releases. Plus, you can access useful tools such as their verdict search, legal dictionary, and legal community directory.
Legal Desire
Legal Desire is a beautifully designed website with a full range of legal news split into in-house and law firm, deals, and analysis sections. It’s also a great resource for those interested in networking with the greater legal community, offering a frequently updated list of legal events to attend. There’s even a section dedicated to job listings if you’re looking for a new opportunity!
At the end of the day, the most important thing is this: what do your clients actually care about. Ask yourself this: what questions do my clients regularly ask me? What do they want to understand?
And write about that!
Of course, you might choose to add podcasts, video, or other media into the mix to keep things interesting – but words are powerful, and it can be good to start there.
Learn More About Amberlo:
Want to learn more about Amberlo and how we can help your law firm? Our team of experts is here to help you make your firm more efficient and better managed. If you have any questions or you’re looking to get in touch, please contact us here.
