Blogging for lawyers: a key element of law firm marketing
Blogging for lawyers is an essential element of any law firm’s marketing strategy. Legal blogs generate website traffic and often rank highly in search engine results pages. Blogging allows lawyers to drill down into specific topics and provide insights that may engage visitors into fruitful consultations.
Most lawyers consider themselves good writers and good talkers. Still, writing a successful blog can be a struggle in creativity and time management. But there’s a blog payoff in the world of content marketing, which is producing excellent website content that potential legal clients are looking for.
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A lot of lawyers are already blogging: 37% of law firms have a blog going, according to the 2022 American Bar Association’s tech survey. And 34% of large firms with blogs say clients have retained their services directly or indirectly due to blogs.
We wonder: What’s stopping the other 63% of law firms from blogging?
What if someone could write blogs for you?
We’ve ghostwritten blogs for professionals for more than 20 years. We’re also thrilled if lawyers produce their own blogs and we provide some editing, search engine optimization (SEO), and website formatting. It’s part of our legal marketing program – with a growth guaranteed.
What makes a good lawyer blog? It should be a conversation with potential or existing legal clients that shows off lawyers’ expertise in their field of practice. It should also have the potential to bring in new clients, as should most efforts that go into a law firm’s website.
As content marketing, a lawyer blog should …
- Answer common questions clients have about the firm’s focus area and give insights on the ins and outs of a topic – share some savvy. By sharing expertise and insights on legal issues, attorneys can establish themselves as a trusted authority in their field and build credibility with potential clients.
- Boost SEO. Search engines love fresh, relevant content. By optimizing blog content for search engines, blogging is a great way to keep a website up-to-date and improve search engine rankings.
- Have potential to drive traffic to the website. By creating valuable, SEO-rich content that people want to read and share, lawyers can drive more traffic to their website and generate new leads for the business.
- Help your firm stand out from the competition. Blogging can help attorneys differentiate themselves from their competitors by providing unique insights and perspectives on legal issues that their clients may not find elsewhere.
- Be appealing and interesting to increase readership. Blogs can showcase an author’s personality, even wit and playfulness. What decreases interest and promotes an exit are legal jargon and complex concepts.
All of the above can attract potential clients. They are looking for info from an authoritative source. So give them factual information about specific legal issues and concerns. A good legal blog educates.
Those receiving that free education are prone to selecting the provider to represent them. People appreciate good information on topics they are searching for. That appreciation translates to a boost to the blogging lawyer’s reputation.
How to pick legal blog topic ideas
Potential clients do not want to read about academic legal issues or philosophy of law. They likely won’t understand it and don’t really want to. Potential clients are more attuned to TV broadcasts, magazine style service pieces and entertainment news. That’s the style part of blogging – not that a lawyer needs to sound like an “Entertainment Tonight” anchor.
Most lawyers already know great blog ideas: The questions their clients are already asking about. Other sources are news headlines, though these are often fast-moving targets. If a celebrity is involved in a messy divorce, a divorce lawyer might tee up a blog on child custody using the celeb’s custody battle as a jumping off point.
Another way for a legal blog to ride a popular wave would be to point out some law practice fallacies on TV shows like “Your Honor,” “Accused” or “The Lincoln Lawyer.” Could be fun, and a great way to express an opinion.
Being opinionated is the sweet spot of lawyer blogging
Facts and insights are good for blogs, but a blogging lawyer shouldn’t hold back what she or he thinks. Opinion is the magic ingredient in blogs. Legal bloggers should take some chances and not always play it safe.
Of course, there are practical limits to that. Facts and sound data should be the foundation of an opinion. But lawyer bloggers should share what they think. They know how to make a good case for their opinions.
Lawyer blog FAQ
How often should a lawyer write a blog?
Some people think they have to feed a blog regularly, like weekly. That’s not the case. We recommend a minimum of one blog every other month for a law firm. Different lawyers can contribute to the blog. When the mood strikes a lawyer to get her or his thoughts out on a topic, that is a good time to blog.
Is it a good idea to vlog?
Most definitely. A vlog is a video blog and these are very popular – and pretty easy to do. Have a smartphone and an idea? All set. A script is not needed but may be helpful. A vlog posted with a transcript is in a good position to get a lot of traffic, and vlogs are great social media shares.
How long should a blog be?
Ideally, however long it takes to convey the blog’s point. We recommend the blog length be from 600-2,000 words. Google rewards length to a certain extent and penalizes for too few words.
Is blog SEO an issue?
You bet. Blog SEO will make or break its success, as in being viewed by the people (including potential clients) you want to see it. Blog SEO begins with the topic, which should be a well-searched term. That’s not always possible, but we employ a variety of SEO practices to help a blog perform at its best.
How does Vanguard’s blog ghostwriting work?
Writing a good blog can be a challenge, requiring creativity and time management skills that many lawyers may not have. That’s where a professional marketing agency comes in. We have over 20 years of experience across business types and sizes.
- Our writers come up with a blog topic working with the firm’s representative, who provides insights on tone and the firm’s angle on the content.
- We do additional research and write a draft with professional editing and proofreading to ensure that content is error-free and polished.
- The lawyer client reviews it, making any edits and adding needed context.
- The blog post is promoted through social media and other channels.
- We provide regular reporting on traffic and engagement metrics to help measure the success of content.
Get your legal blog on with the Vanguard difference
- A growth guarantee of 15%-30% in year one – just like we’ve successfully provided in healthcare marketing.
- A 20-plus-year track record in meeting the guarantee for doctors.
- A CEO who’s a law school graduate.
- We offer not just “SEO,” which can mean different things to different people, but content marketing produced by competent professional writers, who are hard to come across.
- A turnkey, fully integrated program that includes social media, online reputation management, public/media relations, and more.
Start the conversation below: let’s talk blog strategy.