Blogging is quite an old school art form in today’s digital society. It’s been around for a while and seems like it should be part of a bygone era, but there are so many reasons why you shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss it. Many legal firms don’t make the time to craft blog posts regularly, but they are a massively important weapon in your arsenal. Here’s a few reasons why you should implement blogging as part of your legal content strategy.
1) SEO Gains
Who doesn’t want more people visiting their website? Well that’s what blogging can give you consistently and organically. SEO is a major part of any legal content strategy. If it isn’t part of yours, you seriously need to start investigating how it can be implemented. Relevance and recency are a few of the top drivers of Google’s search algorithm, so capitalising on these drivers will put you closer to the top of the search list. Blogging is a consistent way to develop new, informative, and relevant content. Write about recent trends in law, any new developments in technology that have impacted the legal industry, or ask your audience what they would like to see as an example. Any rich new content indexed by Google will boost your SEO and rankings.
Blogging also presents the opportunity to interlink your page, directing google and your audience to various landing pages packed with information, or adding a ‘call to action’ to drive new leads. Why wouldn’t you want to boost your rankings on certain pages, as Google will recognise that individual sites are pointing towards 1 specific one. Guest blogging is also an opportunity to generate far more inbound links, demonstrating to search engines that your site is trustworthy.
Oh. and the next time you want to go surfing in Hawaii for 2 weeks, your blog will still be there generating traffic. It doesn’t only draw people in for the first few days, before all traffic ceases to exist. It will keep generating organic traffic for as long as someone is searching on Google, so forever basically…
2) Attracting New Clients
Producing content consistently will mean over time you’re building a library of legal information. The SEO benefits of your content library will be evident in Google analytics, but fundamentally, people visit your site. Not only will blogging develop your audience’s understanding on certain topics, but your expansive knowledge base means that potential new clients will see you as a reliable and trustworthy partner in the legal industry. Your visibility and credibility will increase exponentially. It opens the doors to new clients as well as developing relationships with existing ones.
3) Building Relationships
Blogging is a great way to build relationships and trust. Naturally, blogging encourages discourse, whether in the comments section or on social media, so it is a great way to nurture new leads. Opening a blog to comments will allow you to converse directly on a variety of topics and answer any questions that someone may have. Asking your audience what they want to see means you can answer very specific questions, or craft blogs about specific subjects that have been requested.
New clients looking to hire a solicitor will research ahead of time, so being responsive and reliable will put you at the forefront of someone’s mind.
4) Establishing Your Firm as a Thought Leader
It may sound cliche, but blogging really can help establish you as a leader in the legal field. Though your primary goal may be to bring in new clients, establishing and publishing your expertise online will bring in a wide audience of people. Those who aren’t clients may be journalists or event hosts looking for experts to attend events/interviews. Building a network of contacts off your blog will help to establish yourself above your competition as a thought leader in the legal sector which will only improve your reputation!
5) Cost Effective Content & Advertising
Blogging is a cheap way to advertise. TV ads and billboards are expensive, but running a website and blog is cheap. Yes, it may not bring results as immediately as a TV ad campaign starring George Clooney, but over time it will bring a sustainable source of organic traffic straight to you. You can also kill 2 birds with 1 stone and repurpose blog content on your social media as well, sharing engaging content with your audience! Creating short snippets and infographics from your blog content is a great way to get shares on different social media platforms.
Blogging for Law Firms
If you’re thinking about blogging as an option, there are so many topics that clients and prospects are looking to find out about. You can write general legal summaries and guides, explain courtroom etiquette to unknowing persons, give advice, summarise or comment on news, offer up case studies, or share information about any partners or charities you work with! There’s plenty to get you started, and plenty of ideas you can gain from asking your audience.
A blog can harness so much unused potential for your law firm. You gain valuable content and resources for new and existing clients, helping to build and maintain strong relationships. There are SEO benefits like improved visibility and rankings, which will bring increased organic traffic and help boost you as a thought leader and expert in your field. And finally, you get a cost effective and sustainable source of advertising, with free social media content to share to your hearts delight! Oh, and with your competition not doing anything similar, you get all of this without anyone else getting a slice of the pie too! A no brainer!
