Mastering the Art of Blogging: Key Insights and Strategies for Lawyers from Orbit Media’s Annual Blogger Survey

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Effectively-written (and promoted) weblog posts can assist herald new purchasers for years. Ruth Carter analyzes Orbit Media’s annual blogger survey for ideas that will help you grasp the artwork of running a blog.

One of many takeaway messages I received from Content material Advertising World was nearly all of efficient advertising and marketing is content material advertising and marketing. Probably the most efficient methods for content material advertising and marketing is to have a weblog.

I can attest to this. I fell off the running a blog horse and have barely revealed a weblog publish in years, however my posts are nonetheless getting me enterprise. Up to now month, I’ve had at the very least three potential purchasers contact me about serving to them transfer their company from California to Arizona based mostly on a weblog publish I wrote.

Running a blog is a advertising and marketing tactic the place, in case you create efficient content material, you’ll be able to create as soon as and proceed bringing in enterprise for years.

Orbit Media’s Running a blog Survey: 10 Years of Outcomes

If running a blog is a part of your advertising and marketing technique for 2024, it is advisable to see Orbit Media’s 2023 Running a blog Statistics: 10 years of Traits and Insights from 1,000+ Bloggers. That is the tenth version of its annual blogger survey that exhibits what kinds of weblog posts are yielding the very best outcomes for corporations.

The survey exhibits that running a blog continues to be an efficient advertising and marketing technique. Simply over one in 4 bloggers reported “sturdy outcomes” from their weblog. (In fact, the definition of “outcomes” varies from blogger to blogger, nevertheless it was good to see that individuals who weblog are getting constructive outcomes from their efforts.)

(For recommendation on create weblog posts which might be helpful for purchasers whereas retaining your web optimization tight, learn “Greatest Practices for Your Regulation Agency Weblog,” by David Arato.)

It’s Official: Making Time to Weblog is Arduous

The battle is actual: half of the respondents reported that they battle to search out time to write down weblog posts.

Full disclosure: I used to be one of many respondents to this survey, and I listed this as one among my greatest challenges as a blogger. It’s even onerous to make time to write down my column for Lawyer at Work. Many because of the AAW editors for being affected person and understanding with me.

On common, in keeping with this survey, a weblog publish takes just below 4 hours to write down. That’s half a workday! In case you invoice $300 per hour, that’s $1,200 of consumer work you’re not doing. Nonetheless, if that one publish will get you six purchasers a yr, who every want $1,000 price of price, the upfront price of your time is nicely price it in the long term.

And I’m nonetheless a proponent that the lawyer who wrote the weblog publish that introduced within the consumer ought to get a minimize of the revenue from the work, even when they don’t work on the matter in query.

Moreover, the survey outcomes present that investing extra time in content material creation produces stronger outcomes. Thus, when you find yourself brainstorming what to write down about, or sitting right down to put fingers to keyboard, give attention to creating high quality content material and the outcomes you need will come.

(Caught? Learn “Unlock Author’s Block: Content material Advertising Ideas.”)

How Lengthy Ought to Every Weblog Publish Be?

The survey confirmed that almost all weblog posts are between 500 and 1,500 phrases lengthy, with the common being 1,427 phrases. Bloggers whose typical posts have been longer have been extra more likely to report “sturdy outcomes” from their blogs. 12 months after yr, this is likely one of the strongest correlations in Orbit Media’s examine.

This is sensible from a authorized running a blog perspective. When you will have “cornerstone” posts that present a complete overview of a subject, it must be longer to cowl the scope, and since you will have offered a lot worth to the reader, they are going to be extra more likely to need to rent you.

How Ceaselessly Ought to You Publish Weblog Posts?

Individuals who reported running a blog every day and a number of occasions per week reported the very best outcomes; nevertheless, in case you are each lawyer and marketer in your agency, that will not be possible. Creating and publishing content material on a weekly foundation yielded good outcomes, too.

Talking for myself, creating and publishing a weblog publish as soon as per week is a considerable problem. One of many benefits legal professionals have with regards to advertising and marketing is that almost all different legal professionals suck at it. Releasing a brand new weblog publish every week will put you forward of most of your counterparts and provide you with a bonus in natural search outcomes.

Extra Visuals = Higher Outcomes

Nobody desires to learn a wall of textual content. I groan internally when a potential consumer sends me a novel of an e-mail as an alternative of the Reader’s Digest overview of their state of affairs. The identical is true in your viewers. You want visuals (photos and movies) to interrupt up the textual content of your weblog posts into digestible chunks. Moreover, your visuals ought to improve the general story you might be telling.

The survey outcomes mirror this. Bloggers who added many photos and embedded movies to their posts have been way more more likely to report success.

That is significantly true for longer posts. You want extra visuals to interrupt up the textual content to maintain your viewers’s eyes from glazing over.

Sure, this implies it is advisable to dedicate time to discovering or creating photos and movies to incorporate along with your posts or coordinating with a 3rd get together to do that for you. That is additionally partially why it takes almost 4 hours to write down a weblog publish.

What About Utilizing AI to Write Weblog Posts?

Synthetic intelligence (AI) can create generic content material inside seconds, however that might not result in sturdy outcomes out of your weblog as a result of AI can’t create content material that differentiates you from the pack. Your distinctive voice, insights and tales will try this.

That being mentioned, 65% of respondents reported utilizing AI to various levels. Listed here are the highest 3 ways bloggers use AI:

43% use AI to generate concepts

29% use AI to write down headlines

28% use AI to write down outlines

Full Disclosure: I used ChatGPT to assist me write the headline for this publish.

The fourth hottest manner bloggers use AI is to revise what they’ve written. Earlier this yr, I used a few of its strategies once I wanted an out-of-office message that made me sound like a sassy evil villain. That received me plenty of constructive responses from purchasers and opposing counsel who appreciated my non-boring auto-reply.

It’s greatest to consider AI as an intern. It will probably assist you, however it could’t substitute you.

Thus far, the analysis exhibits that bloggers who use AI usually are not extra profitable than different bloggers. Nonetheless, since AI is comparatively new, we’ll see if this adjustments in future editions of this survey.

Running a blog Does Not Finish When You Hit “Publish”

Certainly one of Orbit Media Co-Founder Andy Crestodina’s greatest sayings is, “The very best content material doesn’t win; the best-promoted content material wins.” It’s not sufficient to create high quality content material.

Posting hyperlinks to posts on social media, sharing them through e-mail advertising and marketing, and utilizing search engine marketing (web optimization) are the commonest methods bloggers promote their work. These choices are often free or comparatively cost-effective.

Bloggers who pay extra consideration to key phrases are additionally extra more likely to report success. Keep in mind, your key phrases are the phrases your viewers is searching for, not essentially the legalese we use.

I additionally need to promote the effectiveness of web optimization for legal professionals. Most potential purchasers don’t want us day-after-day. We have to be simply discovered once they do want us. A well-written weblog publish utilizing key phrases and tags can present a prospect that you just perceive and can assist with their downside. They may resolve in the event that they such as you from what they’ll glean about your character out of your writing fashion. Consequently, once they contact you, they’re already able to signal an engagement settlement.

One other factor you are able to do after you hit “publish” is replace older posts. You’ll be able to revise the textual content to make it extra reader-friendly, replace out-of-date data, and add visuals. Updating older posts may additionally assist your web site with its rankings in search engine outcomes. When you find yourself creating your content material calendar, carve out time to look again at beforehand revealed posts to see how one can enhance them.

For tips about writing evergreen content material, learn “Compounding Returns for Content material: An Evergreen Technique.”

Running a blog is Arduous Work, However It’s Value It

I’m not going to sugar-coat it. Running a blog is tough work. It wants as a lot thoughtfulness because the work we do for our purchasers. When executed successfully, it may be the driving pressure that constantly brings new enterprise to your desk. I hope the insights from Orbit Media’s Running a blog Survey assist you fine-tune your running a blog technique this yr.