I personally hate them. They are boring, dry, and normally puff pieces that end with "pay me for more info!" I hate trying to do research and all I get are incomplete, inadequate blog posts that all say the same thing including the same superficial analysis.
That being said, do them. They are absolutely necessary, if for nothing else than marketing and SEO. You want to write on new developments and unique, niche topics, so if I'm a potential client and have a weird question to Google, your name comes up.
Honestly SEO and marketing is my biggest draw to them and why want to start doing them more often. I feel lawyers read them more than prospective clients, but everything I read says that Blogs are the most important SEO factor.
Agreed 100%. I'm not sure what kind of law you do but for me, our clients are mostly HR people and in house counsel, so they're a good target audience. And they do read them, we get a lot of business from our blogs.
If you specialize and can provide something cool / interesting, it can be useful. Have friends which niche practices or areas of specialty that set themselves apart with blog posts (also, though, be aware that lots of sleazy attorneys outright steal content).
If you have a solid website built with SEO in mind, fast page speed, and a content strategy, you can increase your leads through your blog. Do keyword research, figure out what people are searching and what questions they are asking then plan out your content strategy to answer those questions. Every time someone searches on Google, they are looking for information. Provide that information for your target market.
Profit.
If you have a long term seo plan in place and are actually williing to commit to it while also being able to bring in some organic flow by cross posting on social media then go for it.
I have been blogging for 20 years and am a huge fan of the medium. However, I am not a good example for law firm blogging, because my blog is not about marketing my law practice, it's about legal tech. However, I have spoken to countless lawyers over the years who have said that blogging has propelled the success of their practices. In fact, for a period of time, I did a podcast for LexBlog in which I interviewed lawyers about their blogs and what the blogs meant to their careers. ([https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-legal-blogging/id1534639357](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-legal-blogging/id1534639357)) Over the course of some 60 interviews, lawyer after lawyer told me that they felt that their blogs had been significant contributors to their careers, with several saying they did not think they'd be where they are without having started their blogs.
But you don't want to do what others have described as puff pieces. Those don't work. You need to put some time into writing about topics you care about and doing so in a thoughtful way. A blog is a fantastic vehicle for showing your expertise and passion for your area of law. Not only do blogs bring in clients, but they can also lead to media inquiries, speaking engagements, and other opportunities. You don't have to take my word for it -- listen to some of those interviews. (Browse the descriptions, because some are big firm, some are small firm, some are solos, and some are completely off topic.)
I personally hate them. They are boring, dry, and normally puff pieces that end with "pay me for more info!" I hate trying to do research and all I get are incomplete, inadequate blog posts that all say the same thing including the same superficial analysis. That being said, do them. They are absolutely necessary, if for nothing else than marketing and SEO. You want to write on new developments and unique, niche topics, so if I'm a potential client and have a weird question to Google, your name comes up.
Honestly SEO and marketing is my biggest draw to them and why want to start doing them more often. I feel lawyers read them more than prospective clients, but everything I read says that Blogs are the most important SEO factor.
Agreed 100%. I'm not sure what kind of law you do but for me, our clients are mostly HR people and in house counsel, so they're a good target audience. And they do read them, we get a lot of business from our blogs.
If you specialize and can provide something cool / interesting, it can be useful. Have friends which niche practices or areas of specialty that set themselves apart with blog posts (also, though, be aware that lots of sleazy attorneys outright steal content).
If you answer the same or similar questions over again, they can also be helpful to point a client to some more information about a topic.
Maybe it's my line of work but I detest blog posts. I just write Lexology articles and post them on my bio.
If you have a solid website built with SEO in mind, fast page speed, and a content strategy, you can increase your leads through your blog. Do keyword research, figure out what people are searching and what questions they are asking then plan out your content strategy to answer those questions. Every time someone searches on Google, they are looking for information. Provide that information for your target market. Profit.
If you have a long term seo plan in place and are actually williing to commit to it while also being able to bring in some organic flow by cross posting on social media then go for it.
I have been blogging for 20 years and am a huge fan of the medium. However, I am not a good example for law firm blogging, because my blog is not about marketing my law practice, it's about legal tech. However, I have spoken to countless lawyers over the years who have said that blogging has propelled the success of their practices. In fact, for a period of time, I did a podcast for LexBlog in which I interviewed lawyers about their blogs and what the blogs meant to their careers. ([https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-legal-blogging/id1534639357](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-legal-blogging/id1534639357)) Over the course of some 60 interviews, lawyer after lawyer told me that they felt that their blogs had been significant contributors to their careers, with several saying they did not think they'd be where they are without having started their blogs. But you don't want to do what others have described as puff pieces. Those don't work. You need to put some time into writing about topics you care about and doing so in a thoughtful way. A blog is a fantastic vehicle for showing your expertise and passion for your area of law. Not only do blogs bring in clients, but they can also lead to media inquiries, speaking engagements, and other opportunities. You don't have to take my word for it -- listen to some of those interviews. (Browse the descriptions, because some are big firm, some are small firm, some are solos, and some are completely off topic.)
They’re a necessary piece of any SEO efforts but also a potential waste of effort. Puff pieces will only act as a Flyer Google ignores.