The Unpopular Position

by

I have an opinion. It’s controversial. It’s definitely the minority position. It will undoubtedly subject me to ridicule amongst my peers. And it may even cost me some business. Nevertheless, I can’t shake myself from it.

No matter how much I read what “the experts” have to say, I keep reaching the same conclusion:

Your law firm website and blog should be used to get business from search engines.

Yes, that just happened. Deal with it.

It seems to me that everywhere I surf, there is yet another expert talking about using their blog to build relationships, grow their professional network, and “connect”.

Now don’t get me wrong. Using a blog for those purposes is EXCELLENT. I completely agree. Growing your readership and connecting with other legal professionals is an invaluable part of generating more business. It will help you grow your referral network, position you as an expert in your niche practice areas, and may even help you get media exposure.

All I’m saying is that there is an additional benefit to having a blog. That benefit is getting found in search engines by prospective clients.

Let’s take a criminal defense blog for example. If well-written, frequently updated, interesting, etc, it will probably gain some amount of readership. And who is that readership likely to be? Mostly, it will be other blogging criminal defense lawyers, maybe some legal scholars, perhaps a couple folks who are just really interested in criminal legal topics. And yes, some of those consistent readers may refer a case to you or even retain your services because they respect you as knowledgeable on criminal law.

But there is another group of people that will find the blog. These people really aren’t all that interested in staying up-to-date on all the latest criminal defense legal issues, news, etc. They don’t use “blog readers”. They’re not “following you on twitter”. In fact, most of these people don’t even know what the word “blog” means. However, they do know another word. That word is “google”.

These folks use the internet in a much different way than you might. A way that is much more familiar to them. They use it like a yellow book. They know that they can find something (like a local law firm) by “googling it”.

And so, if your law firm website and/or blog appears in those results, there is a chance that they will visit your site, call your phone number, or take some other action to move closer to becoming a client of your firm.

Just my opinion.

, is co-founder of AttorneySync.
"Properly marketing a law firm online is about producing relevant content that helps a prospective client understand your expertise and how you are able to help them. Finally, it’s about getting that content found by the people you are trying to help."
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