Does it feel like your law firm’s blogs are missing something? Has your site’s bounce rate bounced a bit too high? Of the many reasons that we post content on our sites, one of the most important is to hold onto a user’s attention. Great content can do that as well as so much else. Good content, however, isn’t just in the writing. Below are some things I keep in mind when I sit down to write lawyer SEO marketing blogs, city pages, service pages, and more.
None of these tips have anything to do with writing exactly. I’m not making any comment here about your authority, your knowledge of the law you practice, or anything like that. Rather, these are some things that I’ve picked up as I’ve gone through my career as a writer for our many law firm clients.
These can work for any lawyer, yes, but they can also apply to just about anyone creating written content in any industry.
Blank Space is a Boon
Which of these looks better:
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
Or:
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
– Both are nonsense, of course. They’re Lorem Ipsum. However, one is a lot easier to read, isn’t it? The second is easier on the eyes. The content is the same. But, it feels like less of a chore to read it, doesn’t it?
How This Relates to Your Writing
This can make your writing so much easier to read. No matter what kind of content you’re creating, shorter paragraphs are beneficial.
Remember: a strong majority of the people coming to your site don’t know that much about the law. They may already be wary of “legalese.” So, when they see a big block of text, they may just close your page entirely.
As you may have noticed, unless I’m trying to fit a keyword into the first paragraph, I try to keep every paragraph to four lines or less.
Having smaller, easier-to-digest paragraphs is one more way that you can better engage your users. This doesn’t mean you’re “dumbing down” your content. Not in the slightest. It just means that you’re creating it in such a way that it can be easily consumed by your audience.
More Words Has to Equal More Value
If you’ve been writing content online for a while, then you know that the word count for how long something should be to rank online is seemingly always changing. One day, it’s 500 words, the next, 800, then 1200, and now up to 1800 or more. That’s fine. Nothing wrong with having longer pieces of content. That said, every piece of content should provide value.
Too often, when writers see that a piece of writing should be 1800 words or something, they just load it with nonsense. Some even stuff a bunch of AI into it, like a suitcase in a heist movie where there’s blank pieces of paper underneath a few dollar bills.
This won’t help you with anyone: Google or your users.
Instead, the key to writing longer pieces is to have more to say. When I have something longer to write, I don’t tend to spend more time writing. Rather, I spend more time researching ahead of time.
An Example From My Work
We have a great attorney and a good man who’s been a client of ours for a long time: Belal Hamideh. The time came recently for me to add more words to one of his pages, one about Wrongful Death cases, to make it meet modern standards.
I didn’t just sit down and start writing about wrongful death. Neither did I ask some AI: “Tell me about wrongful death cases.”
Instead, I looked at his page. Then, I researched wrongful death. I specifically noted aspects of the law that weren’t currently covered on his page. Also: I looked for what could be fleshed out that was already there.
That took longer than the actual writing did. Why? Because from doing all of that research, the writing was a breeze. It was easy to sit down and add those new parts because I knew exactly what I was talking about.
Lawyer SEO Marketing Content and Beyond
As you’ve probably surmised at this point, all of the tips I mentioned above are not exclusive to lawyers. You can use this in all of your written content, regardless of what industry you’re in. I certainly use everything I’ve said above for all of our clients.
What’s great about working for an agency, like I do, is that I’m not doing this by myself. I’m part of a team. Our team has web designers, SEO strategists, videographers, podcast hosts, and so many others.
To see how we can help your law firm to reach more of your clients (or more of your customers to find your business) schedule a free consultation with us through our site or by calling.