Why You Should Have a Law Blog
When it comes to marketing your law practice, maximizing use of the various online outlets can help you get more clients. Law blogs, in particular, are a crucial element of any business development plan.
If you’re new to the blogging world, you may not be quite sure of what a blog actually is or how it differs from a traditional website. So, let’s start with a definition.
The word “blog” is short for “weblog,” and is a website that contains a chronological “log” of opinions, ideas, information or commentary on an almost any imaginable subject. The term “blawg” is a combination of the words “law” and “blog” and represents a law related weblog typically written by legal professionals.
Law related blogs first began to hit the scene around 2002, publishing commentary on a wide range of legal topics. If a subject involves the law, chances are that someone is blogging about it.
Lawyers and legal professionals are taking advantage of the blog platform because it can be a successful addition to their overall marketing and professional development plan. In particular, blogs have become extremely popular for at least three good reasons.
1. Blogs Can Help Establish Your Expertise
A blog can give you a place on the Internet that reflects you, your accomplishments and your interest. And because of their ease of use, you can publish news and events in your practice area as quickly as you can write an e-mail. All you do is write a title, write the body of your message and then hit the publish button.
Additionally, blogs open up your professional network. You become visible to other lawyers across the nation, which can open up referral and collaborative opportunities.
2. Blogs are Popular with the Search Engines
Search engines love blogs. Because they are frequently updated, search engines typically list them very high in their search results. This means that blogs are likely to get more traffic than traditional sites because more people can find them quickly and easily in search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN.
3. Blogs are Interactive
Most blogs have comments enabled, allowing readers to express their own thoughts on a particular blog post. When other people “join the conversation,” you can end up with a very exciting collection of thoughts from people all over the world.
As you can see, blogs can be a useful marketing tool. If you’re contemplating a blog for your law practice, now’s the time to get started. According to an ABA Journal report in 2008, only 8% of the lawyers surveyed are blogging. This means you can position yourself and establish your credibility in your practice area before your competitors do.
