social media for law firms Archives

The promotion of blogposts after publication is important for law firms so they can maximize their ability to generate new clients and build more brand awareness. Blogposts by Yelena Petic on Vez Digital blog and Josh Slone on ContentScale blog provide very helpful information about how firms might promote blogposts to generate more return on investment from blogging. I have utilized some of the information in those posts while compiling the following list of how to promote blogposts:

Utilize a good blogging platform

Utilizing a blogging platform that is designed to host and support blogs is essential to the success of a law firm blog. You should ensure the blog is capable of loading quickly on desktop or mobile. Further, the design of the site should make it easy to read.

Search engine optimization (SEO)

While law firms should prioritize content of high relevance to key audiences, search engine optimization (SEO) is something that can help a blog appear higher in internet search results. Therefore, it’s wise to use keywords in titles and meta descriptions to help your blog rank higher.

Proofread after publishing

Blogging is often conducted under tight deadlines, so it is important to double check the text for mistakes after publishing. Also make sure there is a call to action in each post. Hoping a reader will contact you? Place a contact form somewhere in the post.

Post to social media

After publishing each blogpost, post those articles to your active social media profiles and relevant social media groups. Law firms should not only maintain relevant social media profiles – they should engage with followers and build relationships on these profiles and in these groups as well.

Leverage relationships with industry influencers

Law firms should build relationships with industry influencers who may be more inclined to share your blogposts when published. These influencer relationships can and should include guest posting, joint events, and more. By doing this, law firms can leverage the networks of influencers they work with to amplify the reach of their blogposts and blog.

Email posts to subscribers

Email subscribers are usually the most interested in your content and your services – and therefore should be the first to receive your blogposts when published. Most blogging platforms have a built-in subscriber email distribution function. Make sure to cultivate subscribers by prominently placing a subscription sign up form on your blog.

Build internal and external links to your posts

Link building is an effective way to help search engines know that your blog is credible and should rank highly. You can, for example, create links from popular older posts to new posts to help increase the likelihood they will rank more highly in search results. Also, by creating superb content others will cite it and link to it, which will also help you in search results.

Repurpose or syndicate blog content

Repurposing content is an excellent way to save time and increase the reach of your posts, even long after they have been initially published. For example, utilizing blog content as scripts for video and audio, or in ebooks, or by creating excerpts from the posts for new social media channels or groups you’ve recently discovered – or sending to new potential clients as a part of your business development efforts.

Utilize blogposts in the business development process

One of the best uses for blogposts is to contact potential clients and invite those potential clients to discuss how you may be able to help them – while including a link to a post you have written with them in mind. A more advanced way to produce blogposts is to publish about specific needs specific clients may have – and have that sort of publishing serve as the primary anchor guiding your content creation.

Turn your blog into a lead generator

These are just some of the things law firms can do to promote blogposts in anticipation of publishing and after publishing. By doing this a blogger can become an active lead generator for the firm they blog for.

If you would like to discuss how I can help your law firm establish and/or maintain a law blog, please contact me.

Law firms can build more awareness of their firms, practice specialisms and specialist attorneys by maintaining a consistent updated blog. And that increased awareness is likely to result in more potential client inquiries and more new client engagements.

Blogs help law firms generate more clients

As the blog of legal technology company Clio has detailed (citing an American Bar Association study), 60% of law firms with more than 100 lawyers maintain blogs – and 37% of all law firms do. Notably, 34% of firms with blogs report that they have been signed by new clients because of their blogging. Clio also cites Kevin O’Keefe, CEO of LexBlog, who explains that blogs build law firm authority and reputation. But to stand out among a sea of blogs, he advises firms to focus their blogging on specific legal niches. Importantly, he also explains that firms should not use their blog as a megaphone to shout the merits of their firm. Instead, law blogs should provide useful information that is enjoyable to read.

Law firms often face challenges when trying to blog consistently

One crucial element of successful blogging, according to the Clio blogpost, is consistency. In my experience of helping law firms establish and maintain law blogs — consistency is the greatest challenge law firms face in maintaining a blog. I’ve seen many law firm blogs that are not updated regularly. And the branded social media profiles firms use to amplify their blog content are also on too many occasions inactive or abandoned. This is a huge error by law firms — and one which can be corrected by working with a professional writer, editor and blogger with solid experience in legal services blogging, social media, and business development.

What law firms lose when they don’t regularly update their blogs

Looking more closely at what law firms lose by not blogging consistently – (something AIContentfy has blogged about) is instructive: The trust they have built with their readers, the expanded brand awareness that a blog delivers, the increased ability to be found in internet search results, the additional readers attracted by regular content, and the relevance of the firm as a thought leader with the general counsel, other law firms, and legal media. These are major losses which can and should be avoided by firms with a serious interest in generating new business.

Law firms are understandably challenged for time in efforts to maintain a blog consistently. Law firms should therefore seriously consider working with a professional legal services sector-focused writer and blogger to help them achieve those goals.

For more information about how your firm can work with me to help you maintain a consistently updated law blog, please contact me.