FindLaw Enhanced Blog Post (EBP)

Attorney Information:

• Please reference the listed URL for all information on the attorneys. Special Instructions must always be followed.

Tone/Voice:

• 2nd or 3rd person – “he, she, it, or they, you, your” Just stick with whichever voice you pick throughout the ENTIRE blog post (If your post is second person, begin with the first sentence – i.e., “You and your spouse are a high-income couple…”).
• Use active voice instead of passive voice

Keywords:

• NA

Content Specifications:

UPDATE: Do NOT write about/recommend products (such as software, apps, etc.) for the reader/clients to use for their cases. Blogs should be informational and professional.

At least 300 words of content focused on the topic/source chosen.

• Title should be 65 characters or less, including spaces; title should be engaging and interesting to an end user
• Use headers and bulleted lists that engage the user where appropriate to break up the text visually
  • Sub-headers must be bolded rather than using H1 or H2 header formatting.
  • The first sub-header cannot be used before the second paragraph.
• Use short paragraphs and sentences whenever possible.
• Do not use contractions in legal writing (you’re, you’ve, it’s, he’s, she’s, etc.).
• Headers should be succinct and set accurate expectations for the content that follows
• Natural anchor text that is not an exact match of the destination page
• You can anchor to the source or to a relevant FirmSite page
• Post is sourced
• The best way to do this is to link to the source via an in-line link (anchor text)
• Do not use end punctuation on bullets, except when you are using complete sentences. Use parallel construction – if one item in the list is a complete sentence, they all must be. DO NOT end the post with a bulleted list.

Linking Guidelines:

Link to two sources or two pages from the firm’s website, but do not exceed three links total. Additionally:

• Do not exceed more than two links of one type (e.g., three external source links).
• Do not link in the first line (first sentence) of the post.
• Do not use exact-match phrases as your anchor text to the destination page.
• Do not link to the client’s website within a call to contact an attorney or law firm (i.e., “If you need help filing a claim, you should get in touch with an experienced personal injury attorney.”)
• Links should be intuitive and use synonyms and natural language.
• Link to a source or the client’s website via an in-line link to the content
• Statistics and other facts outside of general legal knowledge must be sourced. You may, but are not required to, link to the source (e.g., “Data from the CPSC shows that…” is acceptable).

DO NOT link to:

• Nolo, Avvo or any other FindLaw competitors
• Another lawyer’s website (watch out for sites that contain lawyer advertisements)
• Any source that would diminish the client’s credibility (e.g., TMZ)
• Any source published before 2014

Saving:

• Fill out the necessary information on the “Edit Content” tab then select “Content Write Complete” from the Status dropdown list and save.

If you have a question on a topic, or are wondering what topic to write about (need ideas), reach out to Beth Wilson.  

Estate Planning (Wills and Trusts)

• Can’t find your mother’s will? Now what?
• When should possessions be placed in a trust?

Bankruptcy and Related Credit Issues

• What if I fail to pay my credit card bill?
• After bankruptcy, is the retirement account safe from creditors?

Family Law

• What does joint custody mean in my state?
• Who pays the mortgage after a divorce?

Immigration Issues

• What is required to get a work visa in the U.S.?
• How to apply for a green card

Criminal Law

• Is bail money returned when the case is over?
• What happens at the first court hearing after charges are filed?

Elder Law

• How to pay for long-term medical care
• What level of care is received in a nursing home?

Employment law

• How to collect unemployment benefits
• What qualifies as a disability under the ADA?

Business Law

• What to do with an untrustworthy business partner
• Should I write a business plan?

Personal Injury (car accidents, medical malpractice, workers’ comp, etc.)

• Where to file suit when the car accident is out of state
• Top 9 reasons motorcycles crash

*More topic ideas can be found through this link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RedkLq2wksTK92ztSaLxlNObmA-ihYhsSIE8oDegCNc/edit

• Sex crimes – This is just a reminder to never choose a topic that deals with any form of sex crimes. If you ever have a situation where the firm you are writing for only practices in this area, let me know and I will send it back to FindLaw.
• Legal statements/speculation – Please be careful whenever you are making “factual statements”. If you are going to make a statement, do enough research and find a legitimate source to ensure that the factual statement is indeed fact. One specific example to look out for: if a law is passed in one state does not mean that law applies to any other states. A law cannot be stated in a blog written for a Georgia lawyer when the law only applies to Ohio.
• Anchor text/links – Links should never be misleading. If you attach a link to a phrase about wearing seat belts, that link should lead to a page about wearing seat belts. Always make sure that the text you are attaching a link to matches the content on the page the link leads to.
• Call to action – CTAs are discouraged in most situations. They feel that CTAs make these posts feel too much like overt marketing and would like to get away from that.
• Focus on the Positive – Always try to focus on the positive side of a topic to make it easy for these clients to use these blogs to attract more business. For example, instead of writing a blog about what type of debt bankruptcy cannot cover, write about types of debt that bankruptcy CAN cover. Look at the solutions and positive outcomes rather than making any type of statement that might drive away business for these lawyers. With all posts, it is important to avoid making statements that would discourage individuals from seeking legal assistance, particularly in the complicated area of debt relief (i.e., suggesting paying down credit card debt rather than talking about the benefits of filing bankruptcy).
• Post Quality – There have been a few recent trends in quality issues over the start of 2017, here are the four major areas they would like us to work on:
  • Confusing language – Out of place statements (e.g., having the concluding sentence of a paragraph be about something unrelated to the rest of the paragraph or only tangentially related), irrelevant information (e.g. talking about injuries in a post that is focused on fatalities), misused words (e.g., saying “litigation” when the post is about “mediation”), headers that don’t match content, etc.
  • Inaccuracies – Avoid making inaccurate statements. If you are unsure about something, always double check or ask for clarification (e.g. the statement “driving is a right” is inaccurate; driving is a privilege)
  • Timeliness – Write about posts at least one month before the event/season
    • Example: Posts about July 4th should be written by the end of May/first week of June.
    • Example: Upcoming ruling/proposed issues need to stay relevant for at least a month.
    • Example: No posts about court cases with decisions within a month.
  • Linking – Please review the “Examples of Strong Linking” on the “Examples” tab of this style guide. They are from a range of practice areas, and include good examples of linking to relevant sources using strong anchor text. They also link, where appropriate, to internal pages on the firm’s website that match the blog content.
• Controversial Topics – Don’t take a side or make a value judgment on controversial topics. It’s OK to write about immigration, etc., but be sure to not take a stance for or against the issue or individual in question.
• Audience/Client Strategy – Make sure to pay special attention to who the attorney would actually take on as a client. For example, a real estate attorney would not take on real estate agents as clients, instead they would take on normal people like you and me who own property. Make sure you pay close attention in order to write a post that is relevant to the practice area’s audience.
• Sex Crime Topics – Please don’t write about sex crimes, unless there is a specific request to write about a sex crime (statutory rape, rape, pedophilia, etc.), on the intake form. In the case that you do need to write about this topic, you must do so in an informative tone, rather than using the typical “they, you, your” conversational EBP tone. Email the account manager if you have more questions about this.
  • Going forward, EBPs on these topics should adhere to the traditional blog subject matter spec, i.e. more general, informative and not focused on a specific individual.
  • This means avoid “You” language such as “If you have been accused of…”
  • Language that should be avoided completely is any that implies an individual has actually committed one of these crimes and that the attorney will subsequently help “get them out of it.”

Audience:

• Make sure you pay special attention to the audience/persona you are writing for. It’s ok to get pretty specific here. For example, if you have a personal injury attorney, you can write a post catered to the soccer mom with 4 kids who gets in a car accident etc.
• Make sure the persona is relevant to the attorney.  For example, don’t write an article about an outdoor worker getting injured if the attorney doesn’t practice any form of workplace/injury compensation.

Sources:

• Sources should be U.S. only.
• Your main source of information should be the “Request Information” section in the portal. The majority of needed information will be found there.
• Try to only use the client’s website or relevant news sources if you need more information.

Link Shortcut:

• CTRL+C the URL address, highlight the anchor text, CTRL+K, Enter.

Two-Part Blogs:

• In the past, we’ve had the same attorneys every week, so we could plan ahead and write Part 1 of a blog the first week, and Part 2 the following week. Now that our assignments fluctuate so much, that often doesn’t work, and Part 1 ends up being a random floater in the list of posts on the attorney’s site with no follow-up. If you have two assignments by the same attorney in one week, though, two-part posts are still a great idea.
• Two-part blogs can be helpful when you have a great news story about a topic that hasn’t been written about recently. You could do Part 1 on statistics, facts and background for the topic, and then write the news blog as Part 2. Other good ways to use a 2-part blog are when there’s a lot of info and you think you could top 400 words without breaking a sweat, or when you have a topic that easily divides itself into two parts (motorcycle safety in general, and then state helmet laws and why helmets are important). Basically, any time you have two blogs to write for one attorney, use your judgment based on the topic you want to do. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

DUI/DWI http://www.larrymcdougal.com/blog/2015/06/can-i-refuse-to-take-a-breathalyzer-test-in-texas.shtml

Criminal Defense http://www.hindmanlaw.com/blog/2015/06/arrested-for-bringing-medical-marijuana-into-tennessee-your-prescription-wont-provide-a-defense.shtml  

Personal Injury http://www.beeson4law.com/blog/2015/07/5-dog-breeds-commonly-linked-to-serious-bite-injuries.shtml

Family Law http://www.nixlawoffice.com/blog/2015/09/why-every-unmarried-father-in-florida-needs-to-establish-paternity.shtml

Bankruptcy http://www.gipsonandnorman.com/blog/2015/08/the-four-biggest-myths-about-filing-for-bankruptcy.shtml

Workers’ Comp http://www.bosch-law.com/blog/2015/09/a-silica-exposure-crackdown-40-years-in-the-making.shtml

Examples of Strong LInking http://www.attorneyrossi.com/blog/2017/02/three-tips-to-better-ensure-a-successful-iep-meeting.shtml http://www.mbfamilylaw.com/blog/2017/01/is-filing-for-divorce-on-your-january-to-do-list.shtml http://www.vanwagnerlaw.com/blog/2017/02/innocence-lost-3-tips-when-facing-online-character-assassination.shtml http://www.farmerdreiser.com/blog/2017/03/st-patricks-day-celebrations-lead-to-surge-in-drunk-driving-accidents.shtml