Developing a content calendar is an essential part of having an effective blog for your law firm. A content calendar allows you to plan out your blog posts in advance and create a consistent publishing schedule that keeps your readers engaged.
Why You Need a Content Calendar
Having a content calendar for your law blog provides several benefits:
- Keeps you organized. A calendar allows you to map out posts weeks or months in advance so you always know what topics you need to be writing about. This organization helps ensure you don’t miss deadlines or draw blanks on what to write.
- Creates consistency. Posting on a regular cadence through a planned calendar helps build trust and loyalty with your audience. Readers will come to expect new content from you on a certain day and be more likely to return.
- Maximizes impact. A planned calendar allows you to map posts to maximize reach and align with topics that are timely and relevant. You can publish content when you know your audience will be most engaged.
- Saves time. Advance planning means you won’t have to scramble to come up with topic ideas or waste time deciding what to write about. The direction will already be laid out.
- Allows collaboration. A shared calendar makes it easy for legal blog writing services and in-house writers to collaborate and assign posts according to their expertise.
Steps for Creating a Law Blog Content Calendar
Follow these steps to develop a successful content calendar:
1. Establish Your Publishing Cadence
First, decide how often you will publish blog content. This will likely depend on your available time and resources. Common cadences for law firm blogs are 1-2 times per week or 2-3 times per month.
Whatever you choose, be sure it is a schedule you can stick to consistently over the long term.
2. Brainstorm Topic Ideas
Next, spend time brainstorming a master list of blog post topic ideas. These could include:
- Explanations of specific laws
- Overviews of legal processes
- Personal injury case studies
- Law firm announcements
- Legal industry news
- Law practice tips
- Q&A posts addressing common client questions
Look at trending topics in your practice area, seasonality, awareness dates, and client questions. Build a large bank of ideas to pull from when populating your calendar.
3. Map Out Posts
Now, you can start slotting planned post topics and publication dates onto your calendar.
Aim to plan at least two months in advance. You can use a simple Word document, Excel spreadsheet, or online editorial calendar software.
When mapping out posts:
- Vary post formats (advice, case studies, Q&As, etc.)
- Mix up topic areas to appeal to a broad audience
- Align relevant posts to seasons, events, or observances
- Include evergreen content that will always be useful
- Sprinkle in promotional posts about your firm’s achievements
Balance timely content with evergreen posts that continue performing over years.
4. Assign Authors
With your calendar complete, you can now delegate writing assignments to freelancers or staff.
Try to match post topics with individual expertise. This allows authors to write confidently and authoritatively on what they know best.
Give authors adequate lead time to research and write quality content. You may assign pieces 1-2 months out.
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5. Promote and Repurpose Content
Once your calendar is scheduled and written, put effort into promotion.
You can tease upcoming posts on social media to build anticipation. When published, posts should be shared across all your platforms. Look for opportunities to break posts into smaller pieces of content that can be repurposed and spread further.
Analyze performance to see which topics and post types resonate best with your readers. Let this inform how you adjust your future calendar.
6. Review and Revise
Take time every few months to review your calendar and make changes as needed. You may need to reschedule posts if timelines shift.
Monitor analytics to see which topics are performing best. Look for gaps where readers want more information. Remove any underperforming topics from repeats.
Add fresh ideas that reflect new trends, laws, current events, and feedback from clients. Continually review and update your calendar to keep providing maximum value.
The Benefits of Outsourcing Content Creation
Creating helpful, engaging content requires significant effort and time. For busy law firms, outsourcing blog content production can relieve some of the burden.
Legal content marketing services have teams dedicated solely to producing high-quality articles for law firms. They have systems to efficiently manage drafting, approving, and publishing content mapped to law firm calendars and strategies.
The right blog content provider does the heavy lifting of research, writing, promotion, and analytics. This saves lawyers time while ensuring blogs stay fed with optimized content.
Focus your limited bandwidth on high-value legal work while leaving content creation to specialized professionals. With an expert content partner filling your calendar, you can rest assured your blog will publish reliably and achieve its business goals.
Choosing the Right Content Partner
Not all legal content companies are created equal. You want to carefully vet and select legal blog writers who offer the expertise, quality, and reliability you need. Here are factors to look for:
- Industry experience – Preferably years writing specifically for law firms. Look for insight into the challenges lawyers face.
- SEO skills – Posts should optimize organic search visibility through keyword integration.
- Creativity – Look for variety in angles, formats, and content presentation beyond basic blog articles.
- Personalized approach – The provider should take time to understand your firm’s specific goals and audience.
- Scalable services – As your needs grow, your partner should have systems and staff to match your volume.
- Proactive communication – Timely and clear communication ensures you stay aligned throughout the relationship.
Vetting providers thoroughly on the front end ensures you get a long-term content marketing partner who delivers consistent value and becomes an extension of your team.
Conclusion
Staying consistent with fresh, valuable blog content is challenging but incredibly beneficial for law firms. A strategic content calendar keeps your pipeline filled with relevant topics optimized to help and attract clients.
Make the investment to plan your law blog editorial calendar diligently and execute it across your writers. With a steady stream of quality content, you can build authority, improve search visibility, and keep readers coming back.
