Top 5 Tips For Lawyers Who Want to Start a Successful Blog

As an attorney, your blog is a more casual, personal window into your image as a trustworthy and knowledgeable lawyer. You want your image to convey that you are an upstanding member of the legal community and the guru of all legal matters related to your practice area. You know your stuff and your blog only serves to prove it.

5 Tips for a Successful Blog

Tip 1 - Know who your target audience is and what they want to read and tailor your posts accordingly. If your practice area is personal injury, don't bother blogging about the latest state changes to wage laws. Instead, make sure you are informing your clients about local cases similar to theirs.

Tip 2 - Keep your posts short and relevant. Your readers have a relatively short attention-span and they are only going to scan about 100 to 400 words before they decide if the article gives them what they are looking for. Make sure your content is worth reading and to the point.

Tip 3 - Don't just talk at them; give your readers a call-to-action. When your clients are looking for information, they like being given advice on what to do next rather than just a cut-and-dry answer. A legal guru would never just end a blog post! Give your readers information on where to go for more articles, how to order your books, or contact your office.

Tip 4 - Tell some of your "lawyer secrets." Clients love thinking they're getting insider information, and it only serves to boost your image as the lawyer who knows it all.

Tip 5 - Encourage comments and discussion with your readers. Demonstrating to your readers that you are willing to discuss your posts lets them know you actually care about what you are writing and that you value their readership. Pose questions, address problems, and become more than just an author.

How to Syndicate Your Blog

Syndication of your individual posts gets you the most mileage out of a single entry. Each blog post shouldn't just reside on your main blog, but should also appear in newsfeeds (called RSS feeds), on syndication sites like Delicious and Digg, and your social media profiles.

Your blogging software or website manager should be able to handle setting up a RSS feed for your blog posts. Clients can then set notifications so they know when you post new content. The more your blog posts are shared, the more Google notices your content is relevant. Syndication serves two purposes: establishing your image as a source of knowledge, and boosting your search engine rankings. Both positive steps in becoming the legal guru!

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