Top Lawyer Coach, LLC

Blogging Demands Creativity and Consistency.

Have you launched a law blog yet?

If not, then it's time to join the fray.

According to the ABA Journal, there are more than 3,000 legal blogs out there in cyberspace. Some are good enough for a mention in the ABA Blawg 100, others are not.

If you're struggling with your own legal blog, consider this: just like traditional legal writing, blogging demands creativity and consistency.

Here are five tips for a successful legal blog.

1. Be realistic.

Generally, bloggers start out with high hopes of generating a lot of new business. But the truth is, it takes hard work to make a blog stand out among thousands. Getting new business and promoting a practice are good reasons to start, but successful blogging sustained over a period of time requires another reason

Lawyers should blog because they want to do it. Blog to write! Think about it. Spending 10 minutes writing a blog post about a recent case may be quite pleasant - even therapeutic - after spending hours on a brief or contract.

2. Be consistent.

Once the blog is launched, lawyers need to post REGULARLY - almost daily! Consistent posting will help bloggers develop a following. When a blog goes idle, it slips from readers' mind almost overnight.

3. Pinpoint your target audience.

Legal bloggers tend to gear their content to specific reader groups. They identify these groups by tuning into their reader comments and analyzing their site traffic. Comments and inbound links generally reflect a blog's audience, giving the author a sense of who is reading the posts.

Keep in mind that once the blog has a following, many readers will syndicate the blog posts -- receive them by e-mail -- rather than visit the site. Consistent posting keeps syndicated readers interested, preventing them from unsubscribing from the syndication feed.

Learn how to review the site's statistics: hits, page views, syndication reads and so on. This information shows the size of the audience and the most popular posts on the blog. The author can use this information to tailor future posts to match readers' interests.

4. Advertise.

Get the name of the blog out there. If your firm or company allows you to do so, put a link to your blog on its main Web site. Find blogs on similar topics or blogs by colleagues and acquaintances, then offer to exchange links. Embed a link to the blog in the signature block of your e-mail messages.

5. Be personable.

Blog posts should be easy to read and personable. Legal blog writers should ditch their traditional lawyer voice for an informal one. Keep sentences and paragraphs short, and consider writing in the first person. And do not use typical legal phrases like "pursuant to" or "whereas." A blog should show the personality of the lawyer - so, it's also okay to be funny.

Just like any social media marketing campaign, blogging success won't happen overnight. It takes hard work and diligence to make a blog connect with readers.

And remember, blogging should be a pleasure - not a pain.

A happy blogger is a successful blogger!