Over the last ten years, it’s become pretty difficult to find a law firm website that doesn’t contain a blog. Attorneys have finally realized the value of providing good content on a regular basis, but it can be difficult to keep your blog current and interesting in the midst of so much competition. To keep visitors coming back, it’s important to incorporate innovative copy. So, here are some content ideas for keeping your blog interesting and the visitors reading:
How-to
Readers find “how-to” articles extremely useful. Think about a procedure that your clients or readers often ask about and provide them with a bulleted layout of the process.
Interviews
Interviews are a great way to expand your audience, as you attract your regular readers as well as people who are interested in your interviewee. Find a person who is relevant to your practice areas, conduct an in-person or telephone interview, and transcribe it into a blog post. If it’s a particularly long conversation, you can even divide it among several posts.
Lists
If you haven’t noticed, lists have become extremely popular among the abundance of marketing content on the web. This is because blog readers love lists, finding them quick and easy to read. Create lists that speak to your practice area. For example, if you are a divorce attorney, how about a list of 10 tips for better communication with your former spouse. A real estate attorney could create a list of the most common HOA complaints. Lists are often easier to create than a long-form article and you may see increased reader engagement.
Recent News
In this world of 24-hour news cycles, there is always some relevant news for you to explore in your law firm blog. Did the courts recently create significant precedence in your practice area? Write about it. Maybe the state legislature or locality recently passed a law that will affect your readers… You definitely want to explore that in your blog.
Change it up with video
Sometimes it’s good to just switch things up a bit. How about substituting your written blogs with a meaningful video? You can either find a relevant video and embed it in your blog or sit down and make a video of yourself speaking on a topic.
Fact or Fiction
The legal industry is filled with myths and misinformation spread by wanna-be lawyers who usually get it wrong. Use your blog post to address some of these fictitious beliefs and set the record straight.
Repurpose your most popular posts
Don’t dismiss the value in your past posts. If you had a particularly popular post, it can be repurposed to create new ones. Maybe take a different perspective. For example, if you wrote a popular post from the plaintiff’s perspective, try rewriting it from the defendant’s perspective. If readers responded well before, they are likely to respond well again.
Turn one general idea into a series
Take a good idea and create a series of posts on the subject. Break it down into smaller chunks of information and develop each of them into an individual post.
Questions and answers
Questions and answers are another creative way to make posts more interesting and readable. Take a look through comments left on past blogs for inspiration. You can also find common questions on sites like AVVO or LegalZoom. You can even turn it into a Question of the Week, so your readers know to come back weekly for a valuable answer to a question they may have for you.
Behind the Scenes
How about moving away from the legalese and giving your audience a peek behind the scenes. A video of your staff working in the office or a fun question and answer with your firm attorneys can personalize your practice in the eyes of your readers. People like to do business with people they like, so a behind the scenes post may even bring some new clients through the door.
Speaking Engagements
Did you recently speak at your local bar association or take part in a panel discussion regarding a significant issue within your community? Write a blog post about it. Let visitors to your website know what you and your staff are doing outside of the office.
Polls
Create a poll and send it to your email subscribers. Then post and discuss the outcome in a blog post. Poll participants will be excited to see the results.
Guest Blogger
Have you run out of ideas? Why not secure a guest blogger? By asking someone else to write a post relevant to your practice area, you can bring in a fresh perspective while growing your readership. A guest blogger will normally link to your blog on their own site, which attracts their regular readers to your website and blog.
Seasonal Content
Every new season and holiday bring inspiration for blog post ideas. Think about ways to intermingle the season with your practice area. This can be easier for practice areas like family law, where you can use Mother’s Day and Father’s Day to talk about visitation schedules. But it’s also possible to weave these ideas into other areas of law. A tax lawyer can obviously take advantage of tax season. A business lawyer can use the four seasons to talk about reporting and forecasting. Just use a little imagination and you’ll find some viable options for seasonal content.
Case Study
Write a case study about a person or business that benefited from the services of your law firm. Of course, confidentiality must be considered, but if there’s a way to tell the story without disclosing confidential info, a case study can demonstrate the value of your legal services to readers of your blog.
Keeping up with your website blog can be challenging, but a little creativity can go a long way. Try implementing some of these ideas to keep your blog interesting and packed with value for your readers.
