Five Unexpected Benefits of Law Firm Content Creation | JD Supra

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By now, I’m sure you’ve heard all about the various benefits that come fromcreating content for your law firm’s website. Your law firm’s content can increase your online presence through SEO, or search engine optimization, and can positively impact your law firm’s digital footprint and website traffic. But there may be even more reasons your law firm should channel its marketing strategy into content creation – and some are less likely than you’d think.

A perhaps not-unexpected but vital result of strong content creation is the way that your marketing campaign can build, establish, and enhance your law firm’s online reputation. After all, the more your law firm demonstrates its expertise throughout the breadth of the internet, the more likely it is that your name will stick with potential clients as a thought leader.

However, it’s worth noting that this reputation-building goes beyond the effects of having a ubiquitous name. There are also hidden SEO benefits to expanding your law firm’s digital footprint with quality content.The more your law firm’s website is linked to reputable, relevant websitesin your legal sphere, the more likely it is that Google will see your law firm as having high value to give to prospective clients. Incorporating content into your marketing campaigns will reinforce to the search engines that your law firm is the best at what it does.

As an attorney, you want to build as much trust as possible with all current and potential clients. A happy consequence of creating valuable content is that in demonstrating depth of knowledge, you create an opportunity for people to see you as a thought leader in your practice areas. As you establish yourself as a leading mind in the field, so too do you create trust with those who come across your content. The more prospective clients believe that you understand their needs, the more likely it is that they will employ your legal services. This trust is especially established when your content provides in-depth, relevant information for free. This demonstrates just how committed your law firm is to sharing and spreading good, reliable help.

In addition to depth of knowledge, you also have the opportunity in your content to demonstrate the personality of your law firm. Depending on your practice area, the compassion a family law attorney demonstrates or the authority with which a business attorney writes will help form trust with clients based on the knowledge that your personality is a right fit for the services offered.

Your reputation as a thought leader doesn’t only affect your client relationships – it also establishes where you stand among your peers. An unexpected bonus of content creation is the way the knowledge and experience expressed in your content marks your place in the legal industry. Your reputation is vital for growth, and as you seek to recruit bright new talent for your law firm, you may find that your blog pieces and posts on social media help your firm to stand out from the crowd of nameless, faceless companies. People want to work for the best, and your thought leadership can be the final factor that shows that you are, indeed, the best at what you do. Whether your new recruits found you through your excellent content or discovered it later when researching your firm, high-quality content can be the final differentiator that makes prospective team members choose to work with you.

Never underestimate the power of a shared link or a viral article. Law firm marketers may find that when sharing quality content on social media or relevant websites, the firm is exposed to an entirely new audience. Your target audience may see a LinkedIn post from a trusted source that shares an interesting piece of content from your firm, and a new working relationship has the possibility to be established. Additionally, creating different types of content that covers niche keywords associated with your practice area will give your law firm new chances to appear when users enter queries on search engines. The more opportunities you create for your law firm to appear and appeal to prospective clients, the more likely it is that clients will come from these new channels.

Allow Different Team Members to Play a Role in Business Development and Client Acquisition

You may find that your law firm would benefit from making content creation a team sport. It’s always a valid choice to have your content come from one specific position with your firm, or even to engage the services of a freelance writer or writing team – all of these options will produce high-quality pieces for your firm. However, when you choose to have all of your attorneys engage in the content creation process, you open up avenues for growth on a business and personal level.

Nobody knows a practice area better than the attorneys who practice it daily (whether a still-green associate or seasoned senior partner), and they bring to the table a depth of knowledge tempered with personal experience and anecdotes that can quickly catch a prospective client’s attention. The impact of gaining clients this way cannot be understated – when your team creates content and shares it on free channels like social media, they’ve played a role in promoting your firm and attracting your target audience without cutting into your marketing budget. The more your firm’s team members share each other’s posts, the greater the reach becomes, and allows your team to play an active role in bringing in new business.

While the core, tried-and-true benefits of content creation will always be constant, there are a myriad of ancillary, happy consequences to be gleaned from content marketing efforts for those trailblazing, opportunistic firms willing to generate them.