Law firm content marketing: show the expertise

The four kinds of page

• Practice area pages

  The foundation. One page for each kind of work, explaining the problem, how the firm helps and who leads it. Write these first.

• Guides

  A thorough explanation of a process or a regime: how to incorporate a company, how a claim proceeds, what a new law requires. These attract people at the start of a matter.

• Articles and updates

  Shorter pieces on a change in the law, a judgment or a question of the moment. They show that the firm is current.

• Questions and answers

  Direct answers to the questions lawyers hear every week. These match how people search and how AI assistants respond.

Choosing what to write

Start with the questions clients already ask. Ask each lawyer for the five they hear most. That list is better than any research tool, because every item is a real need.

Then look at what people search for in your practice areas and markets, and at which subjects your site does not yet cover. Prefer subjects where the firm has real experience. A page written from experience reads differently from one assembled from other websites, and both readers and search engines can tell.

Write for the client

Lawyers are trained to write for other lawyers. Clients need something else: the answer first, in ordinary words, followed by the detail and the exceptions.

Open with the conclusion. Use short paragraphs and headings that are questions or plain statements. Explain a term the first time you use it. Give an example. Say what the reader should do next.

Do not hide the answer in order to prompt a call. A page that answers the question earns trust, and the reader who needs a lawyer will still need one.

Accuracy and review

A legal page that is wrong is worse than no page. Every piece should be reviewed by a lawyer who practises in the area, and should carry the date it was last checked.

State the jurisdiction clearly. Readers arrive from anywhere, and law that is right in one country is wrong in the next.

Add a short note that the page is general information and not legal advice, and comply with your bar’s rules on communications about legal services.

Structure that helps search and AI

Give each page one subject and a title that states it. Use headings in order. Put a direct, self-contained answer near the top, because that is what search engines show and AI assistants quote.

Link related pages to each other: the practice page to its guides, the guides to the lawyers who wrote them. Name the author and link to their profile. Authorship by an identifiable, qualified person is one of the strongest signals of trust for legal content.

Keep it current

Content decays. Thresholds change, forms are replaced, courts move. Keep a simple list of every substantive page with the date it was last reviewed and the lawyer responsible, and review each at least once a year and whenever the law changes.

Update the existing page; do not publish a new one beside it. One current page is stronger than three versions of different ages.

A realistic routine

For most firms: finish the practice pages, then write one substantial guide per practice area, then publish one piece a month and review older pages on a rota.

Share the writing. One lawyer cannot sustain it alone, and a range of authors shows the depth of the firm. A drafting process helps: the lawyer explains the point in conversation, an editor drafts, the lawyer corrects and approves.

Using AI tools to draft

AI writing tools can help with outlines, first drafts and plain-language editing. They also state things that are false with complete confidence, including law that does not exist.

Use them as an assistant, never as an author. A qualified lawyer must check every statement, and nothing confidential should be entered into a tool that is not approved for it.

What to avoid

• Articles written to a word count, with nothing to say.
• Copying or lightly rewriting other firms’ pages.
• Undated pages on law that changes.
• News about the firm presented as insight.
• Unreviewed AI-generated text.