What Are Legal Blogs? How Important Are Legal Blogs Today?
As everything around us becomes more digitized, the way that consumers treat online material has changed, too. Prior to the Internet, an attorney could attract new clientele by positive word-of-mouth recommendations, feel-good community partnerships, and a solid reputation built around great advertising.
Now, everything is very different.
Not only are businesses and law firms expected to showcase a great online presence, but they must also provide information, keep up online engagement, and be easily searchable. Though this ever-increasing need for engagement may leave some firms feeling like clients demand a lot, rest assured that there are handy ways for your law firm to provide all of these aspects to your clients and potential clientele via one easy platform: the legal blog.
What Are Legal Blogs?
As the name suggests, a legal blog is an online platform specifically designed to provide easy, generalized legal information to the masses online. It serves this purpose by functioning as a place to deliver answers to simple legal questions (obviously a blog can never be too case specific), provide actionable steps toward seeking professional legal advice, and, of course, plug your own firm’s brand.
A great legal blog can also serve as a place to engage with page viewers in the comments section, segway readers to other internal or external content (via linking), and encourage users to interact with your firm’s social media platforms.
How Important Are Legal Blogs Today?
Just how important are legal blogs? Of course, we know that internet users are seeking out more information than ever online, meaning that websites and blogs are increasingly becoming vehicles that drive information and push branding faster than ever.
Blogs are part of that. According to one statistic, internet users consider blogs to be one of the top sources for credible information available online. The most effective blogs, such as video blogs and blogs that heavily engage with members on social media, gain even more online traction.
So, how important is a blog for your website? To put it simply: Very important.
3 Benefits of Having a Legal Blog on Your Firm’s Website
If you’ve decided to host a blog on your firm’s website, it’s important to showcase great content, update your blog regularly, keep your online audience engaged and informed, and post as much evergreen, relevant content as you can. If your blog manages to achieve these things, here are just three of potentially many benefits that your firm’s website can enjoy as a result:
1. Increased Traffic to Your Website
By having a blog featured on your website, you can increase web traffic among potential clients in several dynamic ways. Not only can you create great content which can then be shared to social media, featured on other blogs, or cited by other information sources, but you can also work to develop a reader base that leads to more consistent web page visitors.
Furthermore, featuring helpful content (particularly evergreen content that remains both reliable and current) can be critical for boosting the search engine optimization (SEO) of your firm’s website.
2. More Perceived Credibility among Potential Clients
There’s no denying that websites that showcase a blog, or other platform that offers valuable information to site visitors, is perceived as a more reliable, professional, and trustworthy source. The more consistent, helpful legal content your blog features, the better you’ll be perceived by potential clientele.
This perception, in turn, not only benefits your website traffic, but can also lead to more click conversions, higher search rankings, more business, and a stronger overall marketing scheme in the long term.
3. A Holistic Approach toward Your Advertising
Why work so hard to rank better on search engines without completing all the pieces of your firm’s marketing puzzle? Because your firm’s marketing strategy is optimized when it encompasses multiple layers, don’t neglect the a critical piece of that strategy: content.
Altogether, your marketing should focus on SEO and effective campaigning as well as providing great web and social media content to viewers. Hosting a blog on your firm’s website can help you create a stronger, more holistic marketing plan that can yield better results.
The Advantages of Guest Posts
Now that the benefits of blogging for your firm’s website are clear, creating guest posts for other legal blogs can be an additional blogging aspect to consider.
In essence, guest posts are blog posts written by “guest” authors – for example, attorneys, partners, professional experts, marketers, etc. – and featured on a external website’s own blog. Authoring these guest posts can not only be incredibly beneficial for the attributed writer but also for his or her practice or firm. Here are just a few ways in which creating guest posts can advance your firm’s marketing objectives:
Exposure to a Wider Audience
By being chosen to contribute on another’s blog and submit guest posts, you’re able to share your legal opinions with what’s likely to be a much wider audience than you would normally have when using just your own website. Guest posts can expose your firm to an entirely new, fresh audience (sometimes even on a national or international platform). This, in turn, can lead to more click conversions and the opportunity for your website and social media pages to get even more exposure.
Increased Professional Credibility
Because so many great legal blogs have one priority – your fellow attorney – in mind, authoring a guest post can mean more credibility and respect within the professional community as well. Not only can you boost you and your firm’s reputation through just one stellar contributing post, but you can also widen your circle of professional contacts more easily.
Sharing of Your Firm’s Potential
Simply put, by contributing a guest post wherein you provide your own answers and opinions to relevant legal questions that clients or fellow attorneys are asking, you have the opportunity to share with the world your legal knowledge and expertise. Not only is this beneficial for garnering new clientele, but it can also be professionally advantageous by exposing your work to more peers in the field.
Legal Blogs to Write Guest Posts for
If you’re considering writing a guest blog, here are some of the best legal blogs (which regularly accept contributing posts) to which to submit your work:
1. Law Technology Today
Far and away one of the most influential legal blogs on law, technology, and how the two are becoming increasingly interconnected is Law Technology Today. Not only is its audience expansive, but its content is varied and frequent (averaging about three posts per week) enough that authoring a guest post would be a great opportunity, especially if your practice involves technology.
2. Rocket Lawyer
With over 25,000 Facebook fans and over 12,000 Twitter followers, Rocket Lawyer’s online exposure is profound. With Rocket Lawyer’s express aim to help provide the best, most affordable legal advice to the masses, it’s easy to see why Rocket Lawyer is rising in the ranks as a competitive source of legal information for everyday consumers.
3. Attorney at Work
Attorney at Work is a growing site tailored specifically toward lawyers who seek to develop themselves on all levels – be it professionally, personally, technologically, or broadly within their firm and community. It serves as an excellent resource for attorneys who grapple with common questions that plague every practicing attorney. They specialize in “speaking to the individual lawyer” and helpfully answering common questions.
Ready to Take Your Legal Blog to the Next Step? Contact Us Today
Whether you’re just starting to develop a website or you’ve been online for years, it could be time to consider your firm’s blog. Because blogs can play such a critical role in not only providing your viewers with information, engaging with clients online, and helping your site become more searchable via SEO standards, it’s important to develop a great blog as soon as you can.
At Juris Digital, we have helped countless clients review, update, maintain, and even create their own legal blogs. Whether you simply need a second pair of eyes to review your content or you’d prefer that we create your legal blog’s content for you, we can help.
Not only do we service legal blogs, but we also work extensively with website design, SEO, and social media, so we can ensure your law firm is getting the maximum digital marketing exposure achievable. If you’re ready to advance your firm’s online profile, contact us today.
