Should I change the name of my law blog?
That’s the question I received this morning from a lawyer who’s been blogging for a couple years on a pretty sophisticated business and regulatory niche.
She was concerned that the name may be too constraining with the word legal in it. Her blogging covered policy and business matters other than just the law.
She was also concerned that because of the way her blog title was framed as reporting the news her attendance at networking events where “reporters” were not permitted was causing problems. Yes, her profile and following had reached the level where she was looked at as providing news, insight, and commentary with her blog.
I advised not changing the name of the blog for a few reasons.
First, the name of your law blog will not make or break what you’re trying to accomplish with your blog – that’s building a reputation as a “go-to” lawyer and building relationships that lead to new business.
Real and authentic engagement with your target audience by strategically listening to sources and subjects via a RSS reader is the key, not the name of your blog.
Elevating your blog from reporting the law in a bone dry fashion (she was not blogging like that) to the point where it’s part of a conversation by listening and then referencing what others are writing is much more important than the name of your blog.
Second, the name of the blog should be in harmony with the url for your blog. The url being the “www.mylawblog.com.”
Change the name of your law blog and you ought to change the url of your blog. Otherwise it can look like you are gaming Google. Google does not like to be gamed.
Blogging for a period of time gives you an aged url with Google and that’s an advantage in search. Though you can change your url and map your page urls to your new url, you will see a drop in search for at least a period of time.
Third, names that include attorney or lawyer, which she was considering using, are inappropriate for a blog. Your blog is about the niche subject, not an attorney or lawyer.
Just as you don’t see books titled with the word “author” in the title or law journals with the phrase “law professor” in it, you should not see a blog with the word “lawyer” in the title.
Blogs with words such as “lawyer,” “attorney,” or “law firm” in the title tend to by blogs from lawyers looking to spam the search engines as opposed to reputation and relationship builders.
They want any incoming links to the blog to include such words and for the url to include such words. That way they’ll appear higher in search for something like “De Moines Divorce Lawyer.”
That’s great for search but it makes you look foolish if you are trying to build a reputation and relationships. Try getting other bloggers and reporters to cite your blog when it has such a title.
In addition, bloggers who blog well and engage other bloggers and influencers do very well in search. In fact, better than the lawyers gaming search.
Stick with your blog’s name unless it poses a big problem. A big problem would be if you’re blogging on a new area of the law or changing firms and the name of your blog included the firm name (not a wise idea either).
Be proud of your blog name. The blog is you, what you stand for, and your passion. Your blog is more than a name.
Heck, my blog is titled “Real Lawyers Have Blogs.” How dumb is that?
I cannot tell you how many times I wished I titled my blog differently, especially back in the day when I was wigged out about search.
But Real Lawyers Have Blogs, RLHB as I now refer to it on occasion, has grown on me – and I believe others in our profession.
I started with that name in my 40’s and I’ll still have it when I am 65.
Go for it in your blogging. Don’t worry about that name.