Content Strategy for Law Firms
Most law firm websites do not get built all at once. If you work in or run a legal office, you have probably seen how new pages slowly get added as the site grows or as new articles are published.
When that growth happens without much planning behind it, your website can start to feel scattered or disconnected. I work with law firms and legal marketing teams to map out the pages a website should include so the site grows in a way that actually makes sense. If you are planning to expand your website and want help building out the right legal content, whether in a broad sense or in a particular niche, reach out and tell me about your project.
A Lot of Law Firm Websites Grow Without Much Planning
In a lot of firms, decisions about website content happen on the fly. A marketing team may realize a certain topic needs its own page, or an attorney wants to publish an article about a recent case or legal update. Those pages get added when the need comes up, but they are not always part of a larger content plan.
When you step back and plan the structure of your website, it becomes easier to decide what content belongs on the site and how those pages should connect to each other. Research from the Content Marketing Institute has found that organizations with documented content strategies are significantly more likely to report successful marketing outcomes.
The Things a Content Strategy Usually Maps Out
When you start thinking about content strategy for your law firm website, the goal is usually to figure out how information should be organized across the site. Instead of deciding what to publish one page at a time, we step back and look at how the different sections of your website should connect. As we review your website, we will usually start looking at things like:
Reviewing existing website pages
Identifying primary legal services
Mapping the website structure
Identifying gaps where additional pages may help
Outlining topics for future development
When you go through this process, your website starts to develop with more direction behind it. We can add new pages with a better understanding of where they belong and how they relate to the rest of your site.
Looking at How Other Law Firm Websites Are Structured
When we start planning content for your website, it often helps to look at how other law firm websites are organized. Reviewing those sites can show how different firms explain their services online and how they structure their practice areas. As we look through those websites, a few parts of their content usually stand out.
How Other Firms Organize Their Practice Areas
One of the first things we usually look at is how other firms organize their practice area pages. Some firms group related services together, while others create separate pages for each type of case they handle. Looking at those structures can help us think about how your own services might be arranged on your website.
The Topics Other Firms Are Covering
We also spend time looking at the topics other firms cover on their websites. That can include the service pages they publish for different types of cases. It may also include articles that explain legal issues people often search for online. Looking at that content helps us understand the kinds of questions potential clients may already be researching.
Gaps Where Your Website Could Add Useful Information
As we review those websites, we also start to notice places where your own website could add useful information. Sometimes that means covering a legal topic that other firms have not explained very well. Other times it means creating pages that answer questions your potential clients may already be searching for.
What a Law Firm Website Content Plan Might Look Like
When we start planning content for your law firm website, we usually talk through what pages the site should include now and what might be added later. Many firms know they want to expand their websites, but they have not always had a chance to think through what that growth should actually involve. As we look at your website together, your content plan might include things like:
Core practice area pages
Additional pages addressing related legal situations
Location pages for cities served
Blog topics addressing common legal questions
Educational resources for potential clients
Custom content projects for hyper-niche legal topics
Once we talk through the specifics, you can start to see what your website could grow into. From there, we can decide which pages make sense to build first and which topics may come later.
Without a Plan, Websites Can Become Harder to Use
When pages get added to a website one at a time, the site can slowly become harder for visitors to use. Someone might land on a page and not immediately understand how the rest of the site is organized. They may start clicking around trying to find the information they are expecting to see. Research from Google UX studies shows that people often form an impression of a website within seconds of visiting it, which means those first moments can influence whether someone stays on the site or leaves.
That is why it helps to think about how someone might move through your website when they first arrive. When we plan the structure of the site ahead of time, we can make it easier for readers to understand where they are and where to go next if they want to keep learning about a legal issue.
Planning the Website Content Before Writing New Pages
On most law firm website projects, the planning usually happens before any new pages get written. Instead of jumping straight into drafting, we first determine what topics your website should cover and what pages the site actually needs. That step helps define the scope of the project before writing begins.
Once we’ve mapped that out, writing the pages becomes much more straightforward. Each page already has a purpose, so we can focus on explaining the legal issue and how your firm helps people dealing with that situation.
Build a Strong Content Plan for Your Law Firm Website
If you want a more structured approach to the content on your law firm website, I can help with that. I work with law firms and legal marketing teams to map out the pages their websites should include and how those pages should develop as the site grows. If you’d like help building a thoughtful content plan for your website, reach out today to tell me about the project and your goals.