Prospective clients search for you online every day. However, rather than typing your name into the search bar, they are looking for someone with the answers to their questions. Their decision to hire an attorney depends on whether they like and trust them. Today, most legal clients initiate contact with attorneys based on information they can find online.
Think of it this way: If you wanted to buy high-end furniture, you would research your options online. You may be concerned about the price, durability, and sustainability. Finding a company with excellent reviews impresses you. But then you learn that the business provides a traceable history of its product, and that intrigues you. However, reading their blog and seeing the extensive information on caring for the furniture convinces you to purchase the item. You are ready to spend money on their product because you trust them.
Similarly, prospective clients need to find your law firm, but more importantly, they want to trust you. Thankfully, you can use the versatility of the written word to build relationships with readers you have never met.
Legal content planning and skilled writing are essential to reaching your target audience. The rest of this article discusses the steps involved in writing legal marketing content.
Mastering the Art of Legal Content Writing
If you provide the right content, clients will find you, feel connected to you, and want to work with you. For every blog post, white paper, practice area page, or social media post you intend to create, consider the following steps to ensure your efforts pay.
Pick a Specific Audience
Legal content writing is more effective when it targets a specific audience. As a lawyer, you are a storehouse of information. However, for marketing purposes, you want to address your ideal client. Think about the person you would like to represent. What questions would they have? Are they worried more about the financial aspect of the case or their reputation?
If you have a broad audience—including lawyers, clients, paralegals, and others—you should consider grouping the content based on the target audiences. For example, you could have a resource blog for lawyers and another targeting the average consumer. Legal content written for clients will look different than legal content created for other legal professionals.
Your practice area in law determines your target audience. For example, if you practice family law, your content should focus on that and not the outcome of personal injury lawsuits. Similarly, an employment attorney will not focus their content on debt-collection lawsuits. Also, it is crucial to localize your content to the needs of people in your geographical location so the prospects can feel connected to you.
Understand Your Clients’ Needs
Next, research your audience to determine what matters most to them. Address their pain points. Clients leave traces of their concerns all over the internet. You can look for questions they search on Google and the topics they discuss on Quora and Reddit. Also, spend time understanding your current clients’ concerns. Then, invest in answering their questions in your content.
Remember, your clients are not professionals in your field, so you should speak to them in a conversational manner. Use everyday language to explain complex legal processes and assure them of your empathy. Consider such factors as age, economic status, level of education, and values to determine your tone and language.
Your willingness to provide informative legal content demonstrates your expertise in the field and builds trust, making clients want to work with you. Legal content planning ensures you’re remaining near the top of the SERPs for the questions your potential clients are asking.
Many potential clients find facing a legal challenge stressful. Before they commit to using your legal services, they want to feel a sense of relationship and trust. Compelling blogs and well-crafted service area pages are the gateway to establishing those relationships before a client makes an initial inquiry. Develop a signature tone and use wording to introduce yourself to them. Staying consistent with your tone communicates to them the type of person you are.
Write for Search Engines
No matter how informative your legal writing is, it will disappear under the billions of published web pages if you don’t optimize it. Instead, follow SEO (search engine optimization) best practices. Optimize your content by incorporating keywords that make it easy for search engines to find and suggest your website. Using long-tail keywords lets you capture the questions clients are typing into search engines.
SEO may require time to master, but once you do, you will convert prospects into clients faster. You may need to invest in SEO tools to check your content before publishing. This is why many firms rely on skilled legal content creators, such as Write Solutions Pro. As an attorney, your time is valuable, so investing time in learning and staying abreast of everything involved in SEO may not be the wisest use of your time. At Write Solutions Pro, we can help create fresh content or revive your dormant blog so readers can find it.
AI-generated content may seem like a cheap and easy solution. However, Google rewards original and authoritative content. Even the best AI can’t replace the human touch in creating engaging, original, and authoritative content. Content produced solely by AI can result in flagging and prevent Google from bringing it up for readers.
Publish Content Consistently
Once you gain an audience, they will keep coming for more. Publishing regularly, on a predictable schedule, is the best way to keep your returning readers informed and new ones impressed. You may start by publishing biweekly and increase the content gradually until you find a workable schedule.
Another reason for regular posts is that laws and legal procedures change often. It’s crucial to provide your audience with up-to-date information. Whether it’s updating old content or crafting new blog posts and service area pages, your punctuality establishes your ongoing authority as an expert in the industry.
Should You Outsource Legal Content Writing?
You may consider hiring a legal content writer if:
- Your team is too busy to take on additional workloads.
- You want someone to create legal content strategies that include recurring monthly or weekly content.
- You need someone with experience in legal content writing who understands the law and can explain legalese in a relatable manner.
- You want to focus on growing your firm in other ways while outsourcing content writing.
Whatever your reason for outsourcing legal content, ensure you find a professional writer. They should understand the legal environment, the tone you want for your law firm, and your target audience.
Hiring an inexperienced writer can result in legal breaches. For example, some freelance writers may not understand that according to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 1.4:(b), it may be unethical to guarantee a case outcome. However, a seasoned content writer knows how to use alternative wording to build your clientele’s confidence in your abilities without crossing the line of promised results.
Legal content writing is an essential part of marketing your law practice. While social media provides an avenue to interact with your clientele, prospects often require more in-depth information. They want to understand how you can help them and if you genuinely care about their pain points.
Applying the points discussed here should kick-start your legal content writing strategy. Remember, you can outsource professional legal writers when necessary. At Write Solutions Pro, we specialize in getting to know our clients. We craft custom content that helps build a brand voice for law firms. This content drives engagement and establishes authority.
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