One of the most effective online marketing tools is a relevant and authoritative blog that’s loaded with useful information directed to potential clients in need of your services. Creating and maintaining a law firm blog can have a significant impact on your firm’s bottom line by:
- Driving traffic to your website
- Increasing your search engine ranking
- Positioning your firm as an industry leader
- Developing client relationships
Though it can be a powerful marketing asset, writing an engaging, informative blog on a consistent basis can be a challenge.
Time Factor
Odds are, finding an hour to focus on a post for your firm’s blog in the midst of a busy week is pretty difficult. While you may have a large staff, their days are likely just as frantic as yours. Still, it’s important and should be a marketing priority. Consistency is what ensures you’re able to be found in the countless search engine rankings. Blogging once every few months isn’t likely to serve your purpose since it won’t be highly ranked and your potential clients won’t be able to find you. Posting at least once a week will deliver different –and favorable – results.
Solution: Block out some time on your calendar specifically for writing your posts, just as you would for any other important appointment. Once written, posts can be pre-scheduled to post on the day/time that you prefer.
Finding the Right Voice
There has to be a “happy medium” in the writing. If it’s too technical or is filled with legalese, you won’t be able to hold your prospect’s attention long enough for her to schedule a consultation. It’s about clarity. You know the various laws, appeals to overturn them and the “legal jargon” that make them applicable to what your practice offers; don’t allow your message to get lost in the legal fray.
On the other side of the coin, a tone that’s too casual suggests flippancy and won’t advance your goal of becoming the authoritative voice in your area of practice.
Solution: Ask any experienced blogger about finding the right balance and you’ll likely learn that he’s actually writing an imaginary conversation. An edit after they’ve finished the writing aspect gives them the opportunity to reword a sentence or two or eliminate any redundant information. The conversational tone that they’ve transitioned into their writing keeps their readers plugged in.
If you’re still unsure of the right style to use, search for other blogs that you find informative and enjoyable, then emulate their style.
Doing What Works
Here’s where the real challenges of legal blogging come into play. It’s also one of the more frustrating aspects for many bloggers. Keeping up with the algorithms of the search engines, working to ensure Google finds and ranks your content, and understanding the role of keywords (and why they’re less important today than they were as recently as a year ago) seems impossible.
With such frequent updates, you’re likely left wondering if some new algorithm change that you weren’t aware of is negatively impacting your website and blog.
Solution: Make use of some of the great resources that are available. There are some informative blogs which you can subscribe to in order to stay abreast of all of the changes in the search industry, such as Moz and Search Engine Watch. There are also some tools and plug-ins that you can implement in order to get the most SEO benefit from your blog.
While publishing an engaging blog consistently is a commitment of your resources, it’s well worth the effort. Blogging can generate good quality leads for law firms at a much lower cost than traditional outbound marketing methods. According to a recent Hubspot study, firms that publish at least 15 blogs per month get five times more traffic than those that don’t blog. Firms that blog once or twice per month generate 70 percent more leads than those who don’t blog at all. Is your firm leveraging the power of a blog?
Rita Chaires
Director, Web and Online Marketing Services
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (858) 453-2128
www.aaepa.com
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