Despite what many marketers might have you believe, blogging is not dead – not even close. Blogging is still one of the best tools a business has for generating organic traffic, drumming up engagement, and improving customer retention.

 

And blogging works for law firms as well. Law firms can use blogging to share business updates, grow an email list, demonstrate thought leadership, and – yes – even attract new clients.

 

In this guide, we’re talking all about how to grow your law firm blog. We’ll share loads of tips for how to improve your blog’s SEO and draw in more clients!

What is a Blog, Really?

A blog is more than just a medium for sharing your thoughts with the online world – a common misconception. No, a blog is really a digital tool that people and businesses can use to generate traffic, grow an online community, attract customers, and so much more.

 

A blog is usually a scrolling feed of posts on your website. And while you may post on your blog once in a while, many law firms aren’t taking full advantage of the benefits a blog can bring for their business. 

The (Many) Perks of Blogging for Law Firms

There are many benefits to keeping up with your law firm blog. It’s not just for optics! Having an active blog is a great way to increase traffic and capture the attention of potential clients.

 

Here are just a few of the (many) benefits of blogging for law firms:

 

• Client education: Many people are confused about (or unaware) of their legal rights, or the intricacies of the legal process. You can use your blog to educate new and potential clients, helping them make informed decisions regarding their case.
• Thought leadership: Blogging gives you a platform for showcasing your knowledge, sharing expertise, and demonstrating thought leadership. This can set you apart from your competitors and build trust with potential clients. 
• Organic traffic: Updating your blog with relevant content can boost your website's search engine rankings, making it easier for potential clients to find you online.
• Build loyalty: Foster a sense of loyalty with existing clients by sharing valuable, easy-to-understand insights regarding legal issues, processes, and solutions.
• Lead generation: A well-written blog can act as a magnet for attracting potential clients. When readers find the content useful, they're more likely to reach out to work with you.
• Networking opportunities: Great blog content can get picked up by other publications and legal professionals, landing you speaking engagements, networking opportunities, referrals, and more.
• Social media content: Blog articles can be repurposed and shared on social media, driving even more traffic back to your law firm's website.
• Brand identity: Blogging allows you to control your brand narrative, showcase your firm’s values, and talk about the topics that matter most to your audience.
• Ethical fulfillment: Many jurisdictions encourage attorneys to provide public education. Blogging can be a way to fulfill this legal ethical obligation.

6 Tips for Growing Your Law Firm Blog

Ready to grow your law firm blog? If so, you’ll want to incorporate these tips. Learn more about SEO, audience engagement, copywriting, and more to see better results from your blog. 

1. Set your blogging goals

Don’t skip this step! Many business owners jump into blogging without setting specific goals, which is a surefire way to end up burning out or getting frustrated that you aren’t seeing “results”.

 

You have to define what “results” means for you. Do you want more organic traffic? More form fills on your website? More shares on social media? Setting your goals matters!

 

There are other types of goals you can set as well. For example, you might set a goal to:

 

• Post on your blog once per week
• Land a guest posting opportunity on another legal blog
• Generate 10 new backlinks to your website 
• Feature an industry leader on your blog
• Learn how to create engaging blog graphics
• Establish a social media sharing strategy for your blog

 

No matter the objective, it can be helpful to set goals because it will help you 1) determine the next steps you need to take, 2) recognize your wins along the way, 3) set a clear measure of success, and 4) stay motivated to keep blogging.

 

So, think about why blogging is important for your law firm and what you want to accomplish with your blogging strategy.

 

Brad Koffel had this to say about his law firm’s blogging strategy:

 

“At the top of the funnel are potential consumers of legal services who are doing their own research or they are simply interested in a topic. At the bottom of the funnel are prospective clients who are ready to retain a lawyer. Part of my firm’s DNA is offering valuable, timely experience-based information to these folks. At the very minimum we’ve helped someone without investing any additional labor or overhead. At the maximum, it generates a lead to our intake specialists while reinforcing our firm as a statewide leader in criminal defense.”

2. Find your brand voice

Don’t be like every other law firm blog out there. Instead, figure out what makes your law firm unique and how to incorporate that identity into your blog content.

 

For example, your law firm may be “small town” status and family-owned. Your blog should likely convey, then, a sense of familiarity, trust, and support.

 

Alternatively, your law firm may be high-charged, corporate, and ambitious. With that, your blog content might sound more direct and energetic.

 

Revisit your law firm’s mission statement (if you have one) or otherwise think about what makes your firm different from your competitors. Then, determine what you want your brand voice to sound like: corporate, friendly, professional, funny, animated, compassionate, etc.

 

Once you’ve established your brand voice, this will be the guidepost for crafting blog content that’s on-brand and suited for your target audience. It will help you stand out from other firms and build trust with potential clients, who come to know what makes your brand unique.

 

If you’re not great at writing, consider having someone on your team write the content or work with an experienced copywriter who can capture your brand’s voice in your blog.

 

Attorney Digger Earles has seen blogging pay off for his law firm in terms of SEO and conversions:

 

“We feature a combination of firm news and blog posts about specific issues people might experience after they have been injured. The blog posts targeting specific queries draw people to the website, and our firm news converts them when they are doing research on us, deciding between us and other law firms. Also, our domain ranking has consistently been higher than ever over the past month or so, at 36. We were averaging 31/32 in 2022."

3. Create a blogging plan

“Winging it” when it comes to your blog can lead to you wasting time (or money) creating content that doesn’t generate any results. While sometimes you get lucky, the best way to create consistent, traffic-generating content is to make a plan.

 

This starts with conducting keyword research to determine what topics your audience is searching for, relevant to your areas of expertise. 

 

Tools like Semrush.com and Ahrefs.com allow you to search for topics, find relevant keywords, and see the search volume and competition level for each. For most firms, going after low competition, mid-to-high volume keywords is a safe bet.

 

Then, once you have a few select topics, you can line them up to create your blogging schedule.

 

For example, say you determine that you want to target the keywords “how to contest a will”, “file for child custody California”, “calculate child support payments”, and “legal rights of grandparents”. These keywords could be used for the following blog topics:

• “How to Contest a Will and Testament - 5 Steps”
• “4 Steps to Filing for Child Custody in California”
• “How to Calculate Child Support Payments”
• “Legal Rights of Grandparents in California: What You Need to Know”

 

Once you’ve established your target keywords and the associated blog titles, you can create a blogging schedule. This will vary depending on your bandwidth to create new content.

 

Here’s how one law firm is growing their blog by keeping up with a consistent schedule:

 

“To make DiBella Law Office's blog a powerful lead generation tool we try to maintain a consistent posting schedule, promote it through various channels, and incorporate lead generation forms to capture visitor information. We try to showcase our firm's expertise and engage with readers. We use our blog to try to establish trust, credibility, and a strong online presence, ultimately generating valuable leads in the legal industry.” – Chris DiBella, DiBella Law Office

 

Conducting keyword research before writing new posts will allow you to target topics that potential clients are actively searching for in Google. Then, with blogging SEO, you can attract these users and drive more potential clients to your website.

4. Implement blogging SEO best practices

You don’t have to be a law firm SEO expert to drive more traffic to your blog. All you need to do is implement the basics to ensure your blog posts are capable of being crawled and indexed by search engines. 

 

When writing and optimizing a blog posts, here are the steps you should follow:

 

• Craft a compelling title that includes your target keyword (or a close variation) to improve rankings and entice clicks
• Write high-quality content that thoroughly covers your target topic and provides value to your audience
• Organize your content with headings (H1, H2s, H3s, and H4s) to make your content easy to “scan” and “read” by search engines and users
• Include relevant images, graphics, and/or videos to increase engagement
• Add internal links to related content (blog posts or pages) on your website
• Add external links to related (authoritative) sources, publications, or articles
• Include a concise yet descriptive meta description that explains what your blog post is about
• Add social sharing buttons to encourage readers to share your content on X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.
• Proofread and edit your content for grammar, spelling, and tone of voice
• Use a succinct but descriptive URL, ideally without “stop” words (e.g. “of”, “and”, “the”)

 

Of course, there are many more strategies for improving your law firm’s SEO, such as mobile optimization, Featured Snippets, and local optimization, so be sure to check out additional resources to support your overall strategy.

 

Here’s what these attorneys had to share about how blogging has benefited their businesses:

 

“At Vaughan & Vaughan we believe the answer to this question is pretty simple. As we approach every interaction, whether online, during a free consultation, or as we work on a case, we focus on providing real value in our services.” – Charles Vaughan, Vaughan & Vaughan

 

“Our blog emphasizes educational content tailored to Personal Injury cases, particularly for Georgia, empowering our audience with the knowledge needed for informed decisions. By addressing concerns and offering localized insights, we build trust and confidence, increasing conversion rates as potential clients feel better prepared to engage with our firm.” – Jody David, John Foy

 

“Blogging has helped enhance our firm's online presence and credibility by providing valuable legal insights and information to our potential clients. It also helped establish our firm as an authority in our field, helping to attract and retain clients seeking our legal services.” – Michael Simmrin, Simmrin Law Group

 

“Blogging has been instrumental in helping my law firm reach a wider audience and connect with potential clients. By sharing informative articles and legal expertise, we've not only established ourselves as trusted authorities in our field but also fostered meaningful relationships with individuals seeking our legal services.” – Bob Goldwater, Birth Injury Lawyers Group

5. Promote your content on other platforms

While your goal may be to drive more organic traffic from search engines, why wait for this traffic when you could get traffic from other platforms as well? It’s best to have a social media sharing strategy so you can also get traffic from X, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook.

 

You can use graphic design tools like Canva.com to create custom graphics to share alongside your blog post on social media. You can even write your social media captions in advance, or use AI tools like ChatGPT to write social media copy for you!

 

When sharing your blog posts on social media, be sure to include an attention-grabbing caption and relevant hashtags. 

 

Here’s an example of a social media caption for a law firm blog post:

 

"Navigating child custody laws can be complex and emotional. Dive into our latest blog post to demystify the process and know your rights as a parent. ✒️📖 #ChildCustody #FamilyLawInsights Click the link in our bio to read more about it!"

6. Push your blog posts out to your email list

Another way to promote your blog is to share your latest posts out to your email list.

 

If you don’t already have an email list – don’t worry. You can also use your blog to GROW your email list by embedding an email signup form within your blog posts.

 

If you do have an email list, then you can use an email marketing tool like MailerLite to design email templates, write your email copy, schedule your emails, and check subscribes/unsubscribes. You can add links to your most recent blog posts, directing more users to your website.

 

You can also generate blog post ideas directly from your audience. Simply send out an email to your list asking subscribers what topics they care about or what questions they have. You can then turn these ideas into new blog posts!

 

Attorney Tom Anelli at DWI Tom uses his blog to speak to the interests of his target audience: 

 

“I use blog posts to generate leads by knowing my audience and addressing their specific concerns with helpful content. I also select blog topics that are likely to engage comments and respond quickly, and in the past, I’ve offered free resources (like eBooks or guides) which require my readers to provide their contact information.”

 

Feel free to use this email template to generate more blog post ideas:

“Subject: We Want to Hear From You!

 

Dear [Recipient's Name],

 

I hope this email finds you well. At [Law Firm's Name], we're constantly looking for ways to better serve our community and valued clients like you.

 

Our blog has always been a platform where we aim to provide insights, answer pressing questions, and shed light on the many facets of the legal world. As we plan our content for the upcoming months, we want to ensure it's not only informative but also relevant to your needs.

 

And that's where you come in!

 

We would love to hear from you about the topics, questions, or legal issues you're most curious about. Whether it's a deep dive into a specific law, tips for navigating certain legal processes, or just general legal advice, your input will be invaluable in guiding our content creation.

 

Kindly reply to this email with any suggestions or topics you'd like us to cover. Your feedback is the cornerstone of our commitment to continuous learning and sharing.

 

Thank you for being an essential part of the [Law Firm's Name] community. We eagerly await your insights!

 

[Your Name]

[Law Firm's Name]”

Make Your Law Firm Blog Work for You

Your law firm’s blog is a powerful tool for generating more organic traffic and leads. With SEO, you can capture the attention of people who are already searching for services like yours. With social media and email, you can drive more users to your blog and even attract new clients.

 

If you’re not keeping up with your blog, you may be missing out on more traffic and potential clients. By implementing a blogging plan, you can focus on creating better content (quality over quantity) and start seeing better results from your efforts. 

 

It’s time to use your blog to grow your business. Implement the tips above to get more traffic, boost engagement, increase your authority, and draw in more clients!