Online newspapers show lawyers the way

Lawyers have much to learn from online newspapers who are attracting more and more readers by adopting Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, RSS, and podcasts.

From Nielsen//NetRatings:

• Q4 online newspaper readership during 2006 reached a record 57.6 million monthly unique visitors, the most since the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) started recording the data 3 years ago.
• October 2006 saw a peak of 58.7 million visitors.
• The numbers of visitors to newspaper’s blogs rose by 210 percent in December, 2006, compared with the same period in 2005, accounting for 13 percent of overall site traffic for the month.
• Q4 saw more than 36 percent of all internet users visiting online newspapers, with visit durations lasting around 43 minutes a month.

It’s called adapting. Newspapers are doing so by necessity. They need to stop the revenue declines. Adapting to innovative online technologies has been the answer.

Law firms, by and large, suck at adapting to new marketing technologies. However, those firms which break away from websites, email newsletters, and the like by adopting new marketing technologies such as blogs and RSS will find themselves ahead of the game.