C.C. Holland shares some tips on how to build a better law blog. He suggests putting passion into the work, and committing for the long haul.
Lawyers should join the conversation with other bloggers and know their audience.
She also suggests using your own name wherever possible to build up credibility, and group blogs should still develop individual personalities.
Finally, she provides 10 concise tips on how to make your blog better.
1. Make sure your blog has an RSS feed to allow for subscriptions.
2. Encourage feedback and conversation by inviting people to comment — and by responding. Promote participation by putting up polls and surveys.
3. Use a clean, professional design and template. Minimize noisy add-ons and widgets. And when possible, customize it so you don’t look like everyone else out there.
4. Don’t overdo promotional copy. Instead, link to your bio from an “About” button.
5. Use (non-copyrighted) images whenever possible. The Web is a visual medium and you might as well make use of that. Sites like iStockphoto will sell you a royalty-free image for as little as $1. Others, like Stock.Xchng provide free photos.
6. Get familiar with Movable Type, WordPress or other software — or hire someone to produce your blog for you, if you don’t have the time.
7. Track your traffic. This lets you know how you’re doing overall and which posts strike a chord with your audience. Free tools like Google Analytics can do this for you.
8. Keep posts short and sweet. Your blog isn’t the place for long-winded discourse. Make your points — and move on.
9. Take control of your blog and make it a courteous place for informed discourse. Forget about First Amendment rights [For our purposes the equivalent of 2(b) Charter rights in Canada] and don’t allow visitors to post inflammatory, hateful or obscene comments, either in response to your writing or to other comments.
10. Link to others. This gives your readers more resources, extends the conversation to other bloggers, and helps make you more visible in the blogosphere.
