A survey published yesterday in the US stated that of the top AMLaw200 law firms in the US (similar here to our Legal 500) 61% or 122 were using blogs as part of their marketing mix. This was a significant 215% increase from August 2007 when the first survey was undertaken by LexBlog.
There has been a 27% increase in law firms’ blogging in the last 7 months alone. And this does not include the hundreds of sole practitioners and small firms who have seen blogging as a legitimate and fast track way to raise their profile and draw potential new clients to their firms. At the beginning of 2010, Delia Venables, through her solicitors and legal resources website, counted some 90 or so solicitors or solicitor firms with blogs in the UK The number by my anecdotal research is growing steadily; more and more solicitors are seeing the benefit of the social media world of which blogging is a significant part.
The internet is changing the way legal firms and their services are marketed: a law firm website must now be at the core of all marketing activity both on and off line. You may not need to be reminded, but it is nevertheless worth emphasising that what Google (and other search engines) require is relevant content and new content and lots of it.
A blog is the least complicated way of adding content to a website. Once the page is indexed by Google, it becomes a new page on your website. The more pages indexed, the more chance that your firm will get found. Getting found is now the holy grail of websites: it’s no longer who you know, but what people now know about you.
A blog as part of your internet strategy will let clients and potential clients; Know you exist; Know who you are; Know what you do and (by way of blogging) Know you’re good at itYour website and your blog allow potential client to trust you and make contact. You will be short listed or preselected by what your website says about you and your skills as a lawyer and a communicator.
Once contact has been made, the rest is up to your sales and marketing skills to turn that lead into a client. Universally, you will find solicitors who blog are amazed at how effective blogging is at attracting clients. Please contact 360 Legal Group for more information on blogging and social media.
