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Well, perhaps it’s not THE argument, but here’s a twist. Recently, a client stumbled upon my Florida probate law blog, WeProbateFlorida.com which was recently transformed from a standard, ho-hum static website to a dynamic, blog based site.
After roaming around the site for a moment, I got an email through the contact form which essentially said (paraphrased), “Not sure if your site is just informational, but do you have a normal site with information about your practice?”
This took me back a bit. Instantly, I pulled up the site and browsed around to see if there was anything about the site that was perhaps disorienting or otherwise confusing to the “average” web surfer.
Was I on the verge of a legitimate argument AGAINST blogging?
Blogs have a different look and feel. If you could print your entire blog, it’d just be analogous to roll of paper with story after story after story. And unless your site visitor knows that you have a handy search feature, he or she might find the site frustrating to sort through.
Let’s face it. Not EVERYONE knows what a blog is. Go poll 10 random people and ask them if they truly understand the difference between a website and a blog.
Yes, you’re trying to put out some good content. Yes, you’re trying to rank higher on Google. But your ultimate goal is increasing the conversion rate from “prospective client” to “client frantically emailing you, thirsty for more information”! Ain’t it though?
So I urge you to take a step back and put yourself in a prospective client’s shoes. You know your own blog all too well, so perhaps you might want to have a few friends or colleagues critique your blog. (Don’t ask another blogger for a critique – fellow bloggers are all too familiar with the unique blog layout and format and can’t give you a “layperson’s” perspective.)
Ask them the following questions:
- What’s your first impression of the site? (Is it attractive? Anything in particular that draws your attention?)
- Are there any elements of the site that distract you?
- Do the articles interest you or are you more interested in finding out what the person behind the site has to offer you?
- Do you find the layout of the site to be “comfortable” or “too busy”?
- Do you find that it is easy to navigate around the site?
Remember, the web is about speed, efficiency and accessibility of information.
Are you burying your true skill or service in a mountain of content that might lose or confuse prospective clients?
No, I’m not about to stop blogging. The SEO results have been staggering (I’ll be discussing this more in an upcoming post.) It’s still the easiest way to publish new content without knowing much HTML and heck, even if visitors are confused, at least I can be glad that they found me in the first place via my SEO efforts.
But let’s not forget that we’re trying to convert readers to clients! Not just spew off at the keyboard.
Just some food for thought.
Related posts:
I am new to the world of blogging. I just had my first webpage and have not started yet; however, here are some observations I have made that may help others in this field Keep it simple, give clients information about you, your skills, years of practice, areas of practice, and provide avenue for them to have easy access to you. In my years of practice, since 1994, I have discovered that clients are looking for competent and affordable hourly rates. Clients are coming to us to take care of the legal problems they have, some may want to know the law in detail, others do not. Tailor the blog to both groups. Those who want to know legal info., link to statutes and rules. And, for those who just want to have the old fashion relationship with their lawyer, just tell them what you need to do to accomplish their goal. Just food for thought.