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10-Step Checklist for Starting Your Law Blog and Working with Legal Blog Writers

10-Step Checklist for Starting Your Law Blog and Working with Legal Blog Writers

The benefits of starting a blog for a law firm or legal business bear repeating, even if you’ve heard them before (and you probably have). By now, you understand how blogging helps grow the chances of getting discovered through online search for any business. You’re well aware of how it builds trust with readers. You know how a blog helps position you (or, if you’re a marketer, your client) as an authority in any industry. A blog can play a hugely instrumental role in the first part of the sales journey: (Via Hubspot) As a result of its ability to attract prospects, it can help grow your business, too. Just look at this case study from Jeff Bullas to see five great examples of blogging success, including companies like Etsy and OptinMonster. The benefits of blogging can’t be disputed. In fact, you’re probably ready to get going with a law blog right this second. After all, the sooner you begin, the sooner you can reap the rewards. But where to begin? If you need a little push making the first move toward content marketing success with a law blog, you’re in the right place. These tips for starting a blog with legal blog writers will show you how it’s done. How to Position a Law Business for Success with a Blog and Legal Blog Writers The first must for starting a law blog? Hire the right writing talent! 1. Hire Legal Blog Writers! A blog can’t be successful without good writing talent behind it. You can’t just hire any writer, either. You’re working within a niche industry. Useful, thorough, factually accurate blogs about legal topics require expert knowledge. You need writers who are up to the task. Generally, you won’t find these types of writers at a content mill. If you do end up hiring cheap services, it’ll leave you with cheap, inaccurate filler blogs that provide no value for your audience. Bottom line: If you want a good legal blog, one that does everything you need it to do for successful content marketing and SEO, you need higher-level writers who know their way around legal topics. You gotta hire and invest in expert legal blog writers. For inspiration, here’s what a great law blog looks like: The Startup Law Blog is a perfect example of a blog with solid writing and expert knowledge behind it. It also gets tons of engagement! For proof, look at how many comments a recent post got: 2. Don’t Give Legal Advice Lawyers and law firms need to tread carefully when posting online and blogging. There are ethical lines you should not cross to avoid misleading readers. The American Bar Association has outlined general guidelines to follow when posting online. One biggie is to know the distinction between offering legal information and giving legal advice. Legal advice is specific and relates to the information and circumstances of an individual case. Legal information, on the other hand, is general, hypothetical, and can be applied to lots of different cases. To avoid ethical tangles, you should stick to the latter in your blog posts. Here’s where hiring an expert legal blog writer can save you – they’ll know this distinction inside-out and can make clear statements in posts about it. They’ll let the reader know the information is general and not intended as legal advice. 3. Keep the Language General and the Tone Approachable It could be easy to forget who you’re writing for and include legal-speak in your blog posts. This is a big no-no. For one, your audience is probably much more general than you think. You’ll mainly be talking to people who have been searching the web for basic information and explanations about legal topics. These people won’t have any legal training. This means you need to keep your language general. Don’t include legal jargon (unless you’re willing to define it in plain terms), and explain basic concepts in a down-to-earth way. Otherwise, you may turn visitors away. 4. Focus on Quality and Usefulness It can be hard to come up with a steady stream of blog topics, but there are always two keys to keep in mind for subject matter. Focus on providing quality and usefulness to your readers. What does quality look like? Clear, easy-to-read text with good grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Ideas are broken up into short paragraphs for maximum readability. The blog is organized with headers and subheaders. One idea flows logically into the next, and the next, and so on. What does usefulness look like? The topic is one that would interest your target audience. The blog features enlightening or practical information – it speaks to your readers’ lives, concerns, or pain points. The blog is written in a relatable, understandable, clear tone. It’s factually accurate. The blog is timely, or better yet, timeless (it will still be good information a week from now, a month from now, or six months to a year from now). Quality and usefulness are two universal aspects that should apply to every single blog you write, no matter the topic. If you phone it in, your readers will know, and they’ll stop caring. 5. Write to Your Target Audience With a blog, you can’t write to the entire world at large. First of all, that’s impossible. Second of all, if you tried to do that, you would end up with something way, way too general to be useful. You need to have an audience in mind when you write in order for your content to be effective and serve its purpose. What’s that purpose? Helping people find answers you can provide. You can’t help everyone, though. You can, however, help the people your professional law services target. Plus, this kind of targeting helps your business and your blog tie together seamlessly. If you haven’t found your target audience yet, you need to get going on market research. Only then will you understand who to address in your blog posts. Need legal … Read more