It’s Not Just a Soapbox: Why Your Firm Needs a Blawg

Who are you?

As a potential client navigates the internet looking for an attorney, it’s a question that you’re going to need to answer. Since 2014, when a Thompson-Reuters and FindLaw.com study found the most popular way to find an attorney was to use a search engine, the apple carts have been flipping. Firms that have not previously had much of a presence find themselves scrambling to catch up with such consumer trends like mobile search – which FindLaw found generated 31 percent of law firm related traffic – and people using map apps or sites to find law offices near them. What potential clients want to know in this brave, new, mobile world is simple:

“Who are you? Tell me, because I need to know.”

Clients want more than a quarter page ad in the yellow pages, they want to understand who they might be hiring. They want to know what your former clients think. They want to see success and failures, and how you handled them. They want to get to know you. In the digital age, the relationship begins in the pixels of Yelp and Facebook – two big influencers in terms of purchasing decisions. But that’s not going to be the thing that moves a potential client off the fence and into your office. That’s going to rest on what you can tell them about yourself, and that means a blog – or blawg, as they are sometimes called.

Why have a blawg?

1. It shows that you are knowledgeable and passionate about what you do, and that you are a leader in the market.
2. It gives the reader a sense of your personality, demonstrates that you can explain complex legal concepts in straightforward language.
3. When coordinating a blog with a Facebook page or LinkedIn page, you can reach even more influencers with your message.

The main challenges of keeping a blawg are updating consistently, providing fresh content, and writing what people who are not attorneys want to read. Don’t wait for big rulings or newsworthy events, update a minimum of once per week with a solid 500 word article on your area of expertise. Also, don’t be afraid of a little humor or pop culture; you want to be approachable, but at the same time show yourself to be a highly skilled professional. If that sounds like a balancing act, a marketing professional can help you to fine-tune all the aspects of your marketing to bring your customer facing portals into a working whole.

Introducing your brand to potential clients is one of the biggest steps you can take to make the small law firm profitable, and keep a steady flow of clients coming through the door. By reaching out to people who might not even know they need a lawyer, or don’t need one just yet. You need not only to interest people in what you have to day, you have to say it in a way that is uniquely your own.

About 4 Step Studio

4 Step Studio is an online marketing agency that specializes in website design and redesign, SEO, social media and more. Our team of experts focuses on helping small business get found online, while educating them on what will make them successful in the digital world. To learn more about what we can do for you, visit our website at www.4StepStudio.com