This document discusses using blogs to enhance a law firm's online presence. It defines what a blog is and explains how they can be used for search engine optimization, providing constantly updated content, and establishing expertise in areas of law. It provides tips on choosing blogging platforms, selecting authors, identifying the target audience, including multimedia, using keywords, and setting guidelines for firm blogs. Resources for setting up and managing law firm blogs are also mentioned.

1. Blogging for Business Using Web Communication to Enhance Information Delivery Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, PA Exclusively for the use of Partner Firms © Copyright 2009

2. What is a “blog”? a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer; also: the contents of such a site (Merriam-Webster) A Web site providing a variety of different thoughts, opinions, information, and news in a compressed, news journal format. (Hopkins, J)

4. Back to our website Article Archive of Previous Articles Twitter

5. What am I trying to communicate? Expertise Knowledge Areas of specialty and practice Important issues (tort reform, preemption) Taking time to care—charity work and other good contributions to the community

6. Blogging & SEO SEO: Search Engine Optimization What is SEO? the process of increasing the amount of visitors to a Web site by ranking high in the search results of a search engine. The higher a Web site ranks in the results of a search, the greater the chance that that site will be visited by a user.

7. Content Changes to Websites Constant content changes to a website not always practical Blogging serves multiple purposes by presenting content change, marketing, and creation of the firm’s image as an authority Blogging creates an avenue to integrate multi-media into websites

8. Topics & Subjects

9. Authors & Editors A single editor to receive & publish Authors need to have some grounding in the law: lawyers, paralegals, experienced secretaries Authors should be creative and at least “B” writers Avoid too much legalese

10. Who is your audience? Your current clients Prospective clients Other lawyers General public

11. Video as a part of articles

12. Video & the Power of YouTube

13. YouTube

14. Publishing Software WordPress – Free design and publishing Blogger (Google) – Free design and publishing DotNetNuke Tumblr. TypePad Xanga

15. Lawyer Blog Sites for a Fee PaperStreet.com LexBlog: www.lexblog.com Martindale-Hubbel Lawyers.com Justia.com Scorpion.com

16. WordPress.org

17. WordPress Simple Dashboard

18. New Publishing -- WordPress

19. Edit Published Blogs

20. User/Author/Subscriber Interface

21. Google Blogger—It’s Free

24. Keywording a term used as a keyword to retrieve documents in an information system such as a catalog or a search engine Including keywords in blogs, which relate to area of practice Personal injury, attorney, defective product, bad drugs, car wreck, car crash, truck accident, slip & fall, etc…

25. Questions to Ask Who will blog? Will the firm “police” individual lawyer blogs? Who will blog? What motivation or requirement will there be for attorney participation? What is the focus of the blog—its niche subjects?

26. More Questions Does the firm need guidelines for authors? Does the firm need to restrict content? Should editorial restrictions be placed on political, religious, and controversial topics? What blog training should the firm provide?

27. Resources

28. Many on-line Resources