Blog Topic Ideas for Lawyers and Law Firms
By PaperStreet on February 5, 2013 in Blogging
Attorney-generated content drives new business. Blogging is a particularly effective tool to draw more readers and increase your web presence and authority. Posting new content on a regular basis will help keep your content fresh and boost search rankings.
Don’t know what to write about? Blog posts can cover nearly any topic. Think about what your clients and target readers would want to know. Below are a few ideas to inspire you.
News Items
Tying your blog post to current events, recent developments, trends and news headlines will bring relevance and importance to your message and help draw in readers.
- New court ruling
- New legislation that impacts your practice
- Breaking industry news
- Trends in the law or within your industry/practice area
- New case law or developments in the law
- Headline news that relates to your practice area
- Record court victory or transaction
Don’t know where to find news? Setup a Google Alert with keyword phrases and receive related news via e-mail on a daily basis. Then simply review the news post and prepare your advice or summary with a link back to the original source.
Informative Content
Information that guides and informs the user is one of the most effective ways to expand your readership and increase your authority on the web.
- Case law analysis
- Answers to client questions
- FAQs (these can be broken up by practice area)
- Case studies
- Fee information
- Process pages (for example, steps in the criminal process)
- Statutory analysis (explain what the statute means in lay terms for readers)
- Conference or CLE session summaries
- How-To articles (For example, how to choose a family law attorney)
- Quizzes or tests
- Polls (poll your readers and analyze the results)
- Case law summaries
- Practice area or industry myths
- Legal strategy (for example, potential defenses to a criminal charge)
- Laws (outline the elements of a cause of action, explain the law in layman’s terms,)
- Tips (for example, a DUI firm might offer safe driving tips)
- Reviews
- Expose (for example, safety recalls)
- Tutorials
- Industry predictions
- Links to resources around the web
- Inspirational stories
- Glossary definitions (define a legal term for readers)
Law Firm Announcements
Do you have news within your law firm that you want to share? Feature firm news in a blog post or summarize a press release in your own words and link to the release within your post.
- New attorney
- New practice group
- New office
- Moving office locations
- Recent court win
- Recent deal/transaction/closing
- New technology
- Awards and recognition
- Pro bono and community service activities
- New book, white paper or other publication
- Conference, seminar, CLE or other upcoming event
- Merger, acquisition or partnership
- Promotions
- Practice certification
- Summer associate news
- Hiring announcements
- New product or service offering
In general, keep firm-centric content to a minimum. Although it is easy to generate, it may not be of particular relevance to your clients. Instead, focus on informative content and news.
Showcase Your Expertise
Showcasing the talent within your legal team will help you build trust with your reader and convert readers to clients.
- Case studies
- Attorney and staff spotlights
- Q&A’s
- Success stories
- Recent victories
Upcoming Events
Discuss upcoming events within your law firm, community or industry. In addition to information about when and where, discuss speaker qualifications, event highlights and why readers should attend.
- CLEs
- Seminars
- Conferences
- Webinars
- Podcasts
- Pro bono or community service events
- Special events (for example, new firm opening or client holiday party)
Lists
You can create a list for almost anything. Lists are simple to write and popular with readers.
- Top 5 ways …
- 10 Reasons why…
- Top secrets to…
- 5 Favorite…
- 10 mistakes…
Interviews and Profiles
Interviews are an easy way to create engaging content. You can create an interview series and include a photo of your interviewee to enhance the post.
- Profiles of local judges
- Interviews with industry experts
- Client success profiles
Further Learning
Are you interested in learning more about legal marketing? Head on over to our SEO Guidelines & Best Practices page. Our guide will teach you the do’s and don’ts for law firm SEO along with what we include in our SEO plans.
