Sometimes, Figuring Out What to Write about is the Hardest Part of Blogging

The benefits of blogging for law firms and lawyers are indisputable. So, now that you’ve set up your site and are ready to go, what are you actually supposed to be writing about? As a practicing attorney, most of your written communication is likely directed at other attorneys and judges, and this is exactly the style of writing that you should avoid when blogging. Remember, you are blogging in an effort to connect with your potential clients, and (perhaps just as importantly) so that your site is noticed by Google and other search engines. For this reason, content that looks like a legal brief or law review article is NOT what you should be posting.

For many people, finding blog topics is harder than putting pen to paper. Here are 40 ideas to get you started generating content for your law firm’s blog

1. Firm news – new hires, case results, office expansions or openings, etc.

2. Local news stories relevant to your practice areas

3. Client FAQs

4. Common legal myths

5. Changes to the law

6. Commentary on current cases

7. Expert interviews

8. Book reviews

9. Multi-part blog series

10. Client guides

11. Solicit questions from current or former clients for a Q&A post

12. Useful online tools for clients

13. Biographical posts

14. “Must Read” list for your potential clients

15. A summary of a CLE you recently attended or presented

16. A summary of another publication of yours (or another attorney at the firm)

17. Glossary of legal terms often used in your practice area

18. Seasonal content

19. “Listicles”

20. Highlight Your Most Popular Posts

21. Expound on Issues Raised in Your Practice Area Pages

22. Look at what people are asking on Quora or Avvo

23. Make Updates to Old Posts

24. Look at What People are Talking about on Reddit

25. Keywordtool.io

26. Answer The Public

27. Look at Google Autocomplete suggestions

28. Legal strategies in particular situations

29. Look at what your competitors are doing

30. Exposes – safety recalls, police corruption

31. Legal tips

32. Upcoming events

33. Invite a guest blogger (obviously not a competitor, but a lawyer in another market or practice area)

34. Hot Button Issues in the Legal Profession

35. Developments in legal technology

36. “How to” posts

37. Posts discussing the risks of DIY in your practice are

38. Review social media comments

39. Create a survey

40. Analysis of recent court decisions

When you are writing for your law firm’s blog, be sure to keep your language natural. If you’ve done some keyword research, write with your target keywords in mind, but do not stuff them into the content in a way that looks “spammy.” If you really want to get technical with it, a keyword density of between one and three percent seems to be ideal, and Google itself recommends that you “focus on creating useful, information-rich content that uses keywords appropriately and in context.”

Remember, Effective Legal Blog Writing Takes Time

If you are a busy practicing attorney, the reality is that regular, effective blogging can easily slip through the cracks. It takes a significant amount of time to come up with a blog topic, write the blog, edit it, optimize it, find appropriate images, and post it onto your site. Fortunately, the professional legal bloggers at Lexicon Legal Content are here to help. We have a team of experienced attorney-writers, and all content is attorney-reviewed before it is delivered to our clients. Call us at 877-486-8123 or contact us online today to learn more about how we as legal blog writers can help your firm reach more people through legal content marketing.