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Twenty reasons your law blogs belong outside your law firm website

August 26, 2016

There was a time when everyone knew, and agreed, a law blog did not belong inside a law firm’s website. It was common sense.

Today, we’re getting a lot of questions at LexBlog about whether a law firm should put their blogs inside a website.

Some of that is caused by website developers and marketing agencies, whose founders and principals have never blogged to build their reputation or relationships, advising law firms to put their blogs inside their website. Dion Algeri (@DionAlgeri) of Great Jakes, who builds some pretty nice law firm websites, even wrote there is not a single compelling reason for a law blog to live apart from a website.

Add to the confusion that some law firms are chasing website traffic as a measure of a return on investment for lawyers blogging, as opposed to measuring success by an increase in revenue.

I sat down with a mind map and quickly came up with twenty reasons — in addition to common sense — that a law blog does not belong inside a law firm’s website. The list is not perfect, I did it on a 30 minute ferry ride in one morning. I’ll follow with more on many of the points.

  1. Mantle of expertise that comes with independent publication. Like authoring a book, a good independent blog gives a lawyer instant credibility.
  2. 86% of people do not trust advertising, a website is advertising. A law firm website is important, but it’s advertising. A blog is a publication offering insight and commentary.
  3. Fuels passion for publishing. Good blogging in a niche you enjoy is fun, rewarding, the source of positive feedback and a door to meeting countless people. You don’t stop doing what you enjoy. You get better at it.
  4. Guest posts. Ask an influential person in your niche to write a piece for your law firm website. Kind of silly. Easy to do with a recognized blog.
  5. Interviews. As a blogger, it’s a snap to send three or four questions to an influencer or someone you want to engage and post the answers to your blog. Not with a website.
  6. ‘Must have publication.’ When was the last time you heard an industry leader, in-house counsel, agency head, judge, reporter or blogger say that’s a must read law firm website?
  7. Shared on social media. Content moves socially today from person to person via established trust as much as content is viewed via search or being pushed at people. Niche blog posts are much more likely to be shared than website content labeled a blog.
  8. Clients hire lawyers, not law firms. Lawyers get known for their experience, knowledge and influence. Lawyers’ names get built via blogs that become known publications, not content in a website.
  9. Search engine performance on subject. Blogs outside websites are out performing similar content published inside a website.
  10. Focus on purpose. Firms who blog outside their websites are focused on a strategy of establishing ‘go-to’ lawyers on niches, building out relationships and growing revenue. Such firms are not distracted by measurements, that though applicable to other products and services, are not applicable to a law firm.
  11. Drive more traffic. If it’s traffic you’re after, the total web traffic from a law firm’s good blogs and their website will be greater than a website’s traffic, including their blogs buried inside.
  12. Revenue. I have yet to hear from any lawyer or law firm that they are realizing millions of dollars a year in increased revenue by virtue of the relationships and reputation built by blogs inside a website. I have heard it countless times from lawyers and law firms whose blogs are outside a website.
  13. Keeping lawyers. Tell a good lawyer realizing a name and revenue from blogging that you are pulling their blog inside a website, they will leave the firm. You’ll not attract lawyers with a book of business built through networking online that includes blogging by having blogs in a website.
  14. Long term brand and relationships. Firms who have staked a claim in blogging are building a name for the long haul. Their lawyers are building relationships that will last a lifetime. Websites don’t do that.
  15. Citations. Good blogs get cited by other blogs, reporters and courts. I won’t live long enough to see a court cite a law firm website as authority.
  16. Position lawyer as authority elsewhere online and offline. Blogging lawyers who are regularly cited and whose commentary is regularly shared establish themselves as trusted and reliable authorities. They become known irrespective of their blog. The ability to accomplish this is severely linited by blogging in a website.
  17. Incorporate blog posts on website. Independent blog posts are easy to reference on a website. RSS feeds enable blog titles, post titles and excerpts to be displayed anywhere on a website, including a lawyer’s bio page, a practice group page, a news section or a home page
  18. Easy up and down. Independent blog publications can be launched quickly, at little cost, even in a matter of days. Website development often costs more and moves slower.
  19. Lawyers stop posting. Blogs, especially those inside inside a website, can become stale. An independent blog can be taken down and archived immediately. Stale blogs remaining on a website for an extended time are a problem.
  20. Publishing technology. Good blog publishing technology and software is constantly being upgraded. Upgrades are being made and features are being added seamlessly without disruption many times a year. Website technology is often outdated, is not built for publishing, and is usually only updated when a new website design is done.

Confusion is ramapant among Internet marketing today. It’s easy to get lost.

I hope lawyers, law firms and marketing professionals find this list helpful. I look forward to the ensuing discussion – here and on other social media.

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