Links, the currency of the web, are endlessly sought after by online marketing professionals and website administrators. You don’t need to know SEO to figure out that writing great content attracts links, not to mention visitors, to your website. Some may think that to get that great content they need to hire the best(aka most expensive) content writer on the market. But the truth is on a small budget one can be very resourceful in putting together great content for your law firm website or blog.
Join the Conversation
Many people labor under the misapprehension that great content has to involve a completely new idea or breaking news. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. The time and effort in trying to do so will leave you exhausted, especially for those who wear many hats when it comes to running a website and a business. The simplest approach anyone can take involves a bit of investigation and some industry knowledge.
The internet is a conversation and the best way to establish your self as a part of the exchange that is happening among those in your area of expertise is to jump in and agree with, disagree with, add to or complicate someone else’s argument.
- Gather the experts and create a resource
If you don’t know already find out who your industry experts are and what publications or blogs are the most popular. Find a topic that has received coverage and response by the industry and gather a list of articles or blog posts on that topic. Write a quick two or three line intro to the topic, list and link to the articles. Summarize each briefly and give the post or page an engaging title such as “Five Articles You Should Read About…” You have now created a useful resource for your readers or website visitors on the topic at hand.
- Add your two cents
You can also take one of the articles you found above, summarize the author’s argument and agree or disagree with what they are. saying. Add an important point that you think they have overlooked. Or you can weigh in on a case, news story, or recent development that relates to your practice area. Give the background and then add your opinion. For example, say you are a firm of Burlington injury attorneys, you could weigh in on the recent reports of judge shortages in Vermont that are forcing retired jurists to return to the bench.
- Bring up old arguments
Another good starting point would be to revisit a topic that was formerly buzz-worthy and provide an update. For instance, say you are a Baltimore personal injury lawyer, and a law was passed a few years ago that had a lot of people buzzing because it restricted the settlement amount one can receive to a maximum amount of dollars. Now that time has passed, it might be worth going back and discussing how the enactment of that law actually played out. You can even piggyback off your own post. If you wrote a post on the topic at the time, you can always create a new post that explains how your predictions were correct or incorrect.
- Give credit where credit is due
As always when you are creating content make sure that you are not plagiarizing or claiming someone else’s idea as your own and always be vigilant about linking back to your sources. Check out the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the US Copyright Office’s guidelines for fair use.
Remember, it doesn’t have to take a lot of time or expense to put together great content. Just as long as you’re an active member on your industry with some know-how, you can put together an original piece that people want to read and link to.
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