10 commandments of writing legal articles

How can you write articles about law for web portals? This is the most common question among the lawyers who know how important content marketing is nowadays. How to write in an interesting way? How to make yourself well-positioned in Google? How to convert well?

As writing on the internet is becoming more and more popular and each month has new legal portals and blogs debuting, we compiled the best practices that will allow you to shine and set yourself apart from the others.

Here are 10 commandments of writing articles.

Make the titles short and sweet

6 words is the highest (and according to some – the optimal) amount of words your title should have. Journalist old-heads say that the best titles are made of either a single or 2 words. We reckon that internet works a bit differently, though, and having a bit higher word count will work well. Try not to have any questions in the title. Also, don’t mind poking the tiger with a stick (a bit). Provoke and therefore make it clickable.

Your lead needs to be intriguing

This is the part that will decide whether someone will read your article or not. A good lead isn’t an introduction. It delivers the answer, the most crucial piece of information. It sells the case.

From the wide to the narrow scope. Not the other way around

Let’s build upon what the lead delivered. Make it relatable, general and sensible for the business. Such a structure and style allows talking about more and more specific details naturally. Share your knowledge, solve the problem, intrigue – but keep the reader wanting more. This will allow them to think that the case is seemingly simple, but it’d be better to hire a professional to deal with it.

Headers, fool

Often neglected, but so important. The perfect ones – from a recipient’s perspective – feature key phrases. They can help with positioning of your article in search engines. You need to have them featured in the code with H1 or H2 markers. If you have no clue what I’m talking about, talk to your IT person and have your text editing software adjusted, so you don’t have to tinker too much.

Keywords – important, but not key

Their placement influences SEO efforts, as they can improve the placement of your article in Google search results. This doesn’t mean that your article should be filled to the brim with keywords. A Polish proverb translates roughly to “excess isn’t healthy” and it’s relatable in this case. Have too much of them (so-called “keyword stuffing”) and your article will be harder to read and will negatively influence its quality. Google, as a result, could consider it a low value article, as such practices are considered to be among unethical positioning methods. So, instead of earning, you can actually lose by posting such content.

Metatags? Sign me in!

Metatags allow for a lot of great activities. They are pieces of text that aren’t visible to the end user, as they are hidden in the code. You theoretically can feature keywords and content you weren’t brave enough to post in the body of the article there lol

Even though they aren’t extremely important, they do help considerably with indexing and conversions. A well-defined “description” metatag is responsible for how the record is displayed in Google search results and can influence if the recipient will click it.

Feel out the recipient

Consider for whom you write. If you’re about to solve a legal problem, you need to realize who can be affected by it. An article written for a business will be different from one made for a natural person or a clerk in municipal administration. There’s a vast array of industries, issues and perspectives. Match them. However, remember to remain friendly, easily understandable. You won’t be writing to your legal peers in most cases.

Don’t bore people with references to 3rd sources

Featuring many references to legal acts and articles isn’t a great idea. If you’d like to have a, say, businessperson interested in what you have to say, you need to write lightly, without that awkward and pompous legal flair. Don’t require them to do further research and to obtain other sources.

Chip in with sales

Don’t hesitate to mention solutions that exist on the market (i.e. the ones that you offer). Leaving the reference to this for the very end of the article isn’t a good idea. Try to subtly weave your ideas and products into the copy. The best converting articles are the ones that feature the links to services in the blank spaces, in the breaks between sections.

Don’t exaggerate

Keep it short. 1600 words is the absolute maximum, and it equates to, more or less, 7 minutes of reading. That’s what studies say. I have started my day by re-reading this article, how about you? 

Dear lawyer, write and post. This effort will not go to waste.