http://www.paperstreet.com/blog/606

In short, every client is different. It does not always require a unique brand and domain to make them successful.

The true power of the blog is the voice of its author. Are they saying something interesting? Is it insightful? If so, the blog will succeed no matter its location, style or brand.

PS: Sorry for the late approval, it was the weekend and I was with the kids.

Even having said that, I see more SEO advantages to having a blog on a separate domain anyway. The blog is going to be one heck of an important site in Google’s eyes because of its substantive info (not promotionally copy ala website), regular updates, and incoming links. The link from the blog to the website is one of the most valuable links you’re website is going to have. Plus in Google, with a blog on a totally separate domain, both the blog and website can appear in search results, something much less likely to occur in the way you’re advising.

Most important though is to think of the way the best lawyers have gotten their work over the years. Did the best lawyers get their work out of the yellow pages and TV? No. Even as a plaintiff’s a personal injury myself for 17 years and spending a ton on yellow pages, TV, and the like, I got my best work by word of mouth. I got my work because other lawyers, doctors, and the public saw me as a good lawyer with a great team and with a passion for what I did.

Being at the top of the search results for location and what you do as a lawyer is increasingly becoming like running the largest ad in the yellow pages or the most TV ads. A word of mouth generated reputation on the Internet for lawyers is now as powerful, if not more powerful, than an offline word of mouth reputation.

Word of mouth is generated with a blog far, far greater when the law blog is away from the website. It shows your audience you are nor afraid to enter into a conversation and to share of yourself without saying see how great I am, see my 1-800 phone number, etc. Fact is blogs inside a website get cited a lot less than blogs outside a website free of all the marketing spin. Law blogs outside a website are far more likely to be referenced in social media (twitter etc) and have their contact syndicated to major news sources such as the WSJ and the New York Times.

And as far as value, being referenced on other blogs, in the media, and across social media is 50 times more powerful for a lawyer marketing than high SEO. Who am I more likely to hire, a lawyer #1 at Google for Tampa Personal Injury Law or a lawyer whose name I search at Google and find all types of references to what she’s written by thought leaders and media? SEO is great, and good blogs will dominate Google. But strong references to what I am saying, a tacit endorsement of me as an authority, is much more valuable.

As far as complimentary branding and info on the lawyer and their services, it’s all there on a well designed and architected blog. All with further linking on to a website. Sure, there’s a ton of a law blogs that do not do this branding right. That’s a reflection of many people saying you can do a blog yourself or at little or no expense.

A lawyer’s most important investment is the investment they make in themselves. An investment that makes certain that the public, referral sources, bloggers, conference coordinators, and the media see the lawyer as a thought leader in their field – see the lawyer as a reliable and trusted authority in the lawyer’s area of expertise.

Realizing that investment doesn’t come because all a lawyers energy and money goes into a website, chasing SEO, and pinching pennies when it comes to a blog, something much more powerful in creating a word of mouth reputation than a website alone.