Scientific articles on legal topics. State and law

Firstly, it serves as your personal media where you post your expert articles and share your professional views on various issues.

Secondly, a blog is a platform for posting SEO articles for search engines, with the help of which your website is promoted in search.

The same 90% of lawyers and attorneys are constantly concerned about the question: “How to write articles for your blog?” The following requests are received: “We are actively filling our site with expert and SEO articles, there is a flow of visitors to the site, but they practically don’t read the blog, they just open the site, end up on the blog - and almost immediately close it.”

Are you familiar with this situation?

Oddly enough, the problem lies on the surface: legal texts are written too complicated. And the reader does not want to delve into complex terms and boring articles of laws. And as a result: he simply leaves the site.

Oddly enough, the problem lies on the surface: legal texts are written too complicated. And the reader does not want to delve into complex terms and boring articles of laws. And as a result: he simply leaves the site.

What mistakes do lawyers make in their articles?

There are no universal solutions or templates that will work for everyone in any case. But we can highlight the universal mistakes that lawyers and content managers of law firms make when filling out the blog of a legal website. By getting rid of them, you will increase the quality of articles by an order of magnitude, and as a result, the depth of viewing of your blog.

Almost 90% of lawyers who contact us know that creating a website is not enough, it needs to be developed, promoted in search engines, and also maintain a blog.

A blog helps solve 2 main problems on a website.

Firstly, it serves as your personal media where you post your expert articles and share your professional views on various issues.

Secondly, blog is a platform for posting SEO articles for search engines, with the help of which your website is promoted in search.

The same 90% of lawyers and attorneys are constantly concerned about the question: “How to write articles for your blog?” Requests come in with the following content: “We are actively filling our website with expert and SEO articles, there is a flow of visitors to the site, but they practically don’t read the blog, they just open the site, end up on the blog - and almost immediately close it.”

Are you familiar with this situation?

Oddly enough, the problem lies on the surface: legal texts are written too complicated. And the reader does not want to delve into complex terms and boring articles of laws. And as a result: he simply leaves the site.

What mistakes do lawyers make in their articles?

There are no universal solutions or templates that will work for everyone in any case. But we can highlight the universal mistakes that lawyers and content managers of law firms make when filling out the blog of a legal website. By getting rid of them, you will significantly increase the quality of articles, and as a result, the depth of viewing of your blog.

You are a qualified lawyer who is well versed in your area of ​​expertise. And you, of course, want to show this to your potential and existing clients, so you write articles in purely scientific legal language, interweaving a lot of professional terms. But they don’t read the articles :(

Why? Your audience is not lawyers. Readers simply cannot understand what the article is about and do not want to understand it. References to articles of the law mean nothing to them; the terms are unfamiliar.

How to fix it? Make it a rule that your main task is not just to write an article on a current legal topic, but to provide the reader with a high-quality translation “from legal language to human language.”

2. Dry theory

You wrote the article according to plan: you gave an exhaustive definition of the term; described all aspects covered by a particular area of ​​law; provided links to laws, and also described judicial practice on the issue. But the text did not interest the reader. :(

Why? Despite the abundance of information, the reader does not see a personal approach in such a text. Even if you sifted through a mountain of material to create the most useful informational text, if you didn’t add interesting examples to back it up, it will make people bored.

How to fix? People love facts. Add specific cases, numbers, diagrams and diagrams to the text. The statistics inspire confidence!

Here's an example of what not to do and how to do it:

Fine:“In 2014, there were about 800 divorces for every thousand marriages; in 2015, the number dropped to 735. These encouraging statistics indicate that the number of couples filing for divorce is gradually decreasing.”

Badly:
“The number of couples filing for divorce is gradually decreasing every year.”

3. Little useful information

A long “sheet” of text containing a lot of “water” will not be interesting to the reader. There is no need to try to cover almost all existing areas of law in one article.

Choose specific questions and answer them. And remember that the content of the article must fully correspond to the topic stated in the title.

Example: A reader sees an article on the website “What to do if you didn’t pay enough under compulsory motor liability insurance.” This is his problem and he hopes he has finally found a solution. Starts skimming the text:

definition of compulsory motor liability insurance;
a list of situations when the insurance company may provide payment;
a number of reasons why in such a situation you need the help of a lawyer;
conclusion.

The visitor will immediately close the page without even trying to read the entire article. Why? He no longer saw a real answer to his question, and other information does not interest him at the moment.

How to fix it? The outline of your article should clearly answer the question posed in the title. Offer the reader a clear step-by-step plan of action, and he will decide what to do next - turn to a specialist for help or solve the problem himself. Remember, there is a direct relationship: the more useful information you provide, the higher your expertise in the eyes of a potential client and the more likely it is that he will turn to you.

4. The title of the article is “not catchy”

It is a mistake to think that if your article is purely informational, then it does not matter what the title is. “The reader comes for information, not sensation,” you say. And you will be wrong!

Even the most inconspicuous material, which the user reads only to obtain theoretical information on his problem, must first interest him in something.

Imagine that a person asked Yandex a question and saw two links in the search results:

Who will he go to? Obviously, the choice will fall on the second link, because it transparently promises benefits. Your readers are also looking for clear answers to their questions, and at a good price. :)

So, we have looked at the main mistakes of a legal blog, which sharply reduce the number of views, and, as a result, the overall conversion rate also drops.

The fix for this is actually simple:

• come up with an interesting title;
• make sure that the text is written in accessible language;
• add interesting facts;
• Support the article with examples from personal experience.

Let's look at the basic requirements for a legal article for a blog.

4 steps to a good article for a legal blog

In our work, we analyze the web viewer on legal websites every day and explain user behavior when they choose a lawyer and read his blog articles. In practice, there are 4 main points that you need to pay attention to when writing an article for a blog.

1. Current issues

Remember that you are creating a blog specifically for your readers. And you should write about what will be interesting to them.
Before choosing a topic for an article, analyze:

• What are the pressing issues in my area of ​​expertise today?
• What questions do I get asked more often than others?
• What is discussed in legal forums?

Then, having made a list, choose the most interesting (“hot” topics invariably attract attention) or the most frequently searched (taking into account the “desires” of search engines means increasing the chance of ranking high in search results) and start writing.

2. Living language

Living language is spoken language. These are all those words and phrases that are used to communicate in everyday life, and not in strict lines of documents. Add comparisons and metaphors, abstract and concrete examples to your texts, enrich your articles with literary rather than scientific language.

But the most important thing is to write simply!

"vehicle" - "car";
“Accident” - “accident”;
“residential property” - “housing, apartment, house”, etc.

And don’t think that you won’t be accused of simplifying the material or being unprofessional. On the contrary, readers will be grateful that, finally, among the streams of complex terms on other sites, they have found a place where they write “for the people.”

There are too many sales on the Internet. They sell goods, services, consultations. And users are very tired of this.

Do not add “selling phrases” to all articles, do not offer your services with or without reason, do not use evaluative comparisons (“I am the best”), all this is contrary to the portrait of a professional lawyer and legal ethics. A much more effective method would be to confirm your qualifications with diplomas and certificates, as well as reviews from real clients.

If you write competent and interesting texts, they will prove your awareness and qualifications. Potential clients will get in touch themselves.

Check it out - it works! :)

4. Uniqueness

No one is interested in reading what has already been written in a dozen or even a hundred sources. Moreover, some attentive and caring reader will probably accuse you of rewriting someone else’s material.

What to do? Look for new topics and new approaches to current issues, even if they have been discussed many times.
Where can I get unique material?

1. Give an example from your personal practice.
2. Tell your point of view on a specific problem.
3. Tell the reader what approaches to work you use.

Need to know: Unique content is important not only for the reader, but also for search engines. Smart mechanisms will immediately notice that there are stolen articles on your site, no matter how rude it may sound. Which will lead to the loss of already achieved positions in the search engine results or even ending up in the “black list”.

So how do you write articles for a legal blog so that they are read?

The correct answer is extremely simple: write easily and clearly. Look at your texts critically: if a 10-year-old child understands the content, then any of your readers will understand it.

But in no case exaggerate, do not turn “simple” into “primitive”!

• chew on the terms in more detail;
• ask the reader a question or add dialogue;
• focus attention with subheadings and information blocks;
• emphasize the importance of the problem for ordinary people, not lawyers;
• indicate what questions you are asked most often;
• give examples from practice.

And don’t be afraid to add a healthy dose of humor to your articles; this will immediately “humanize” the dry legal text!

And in the next article we will offer you a detailed plan for creating a cool legal article. Stay in touch!

1. Topic

Your clients are primarily interested in two questions:

1. How to solve a problem using your knowledge (for example, what to do if you are evicted from your apartment)?
2. How to avoid problems in the future (for example, how a company can avoid liability for tax violations).

These are the most universal and pressing topics to which you can devote your publications.

Here are some more ideas

Did an interesting incident happen in practice? Describe it.
Have there been changes in legislation? Inform clients. What questions do clients most often ask you? What problems do you solve most effectively? Tell us about them. An excellent topic for writing articles - frequently asked questions: " My clients often ask me..."

Remember! Nobody will read lengthy articles on legal topics.

2. Volume

Post small ones. Modern clients are too lazy to read, so the maximum publication size is 1.5 pages.

3. Style

The most common mistake lawyers make is complex academic texts. Colleagues reason like this: I’m a lawyer, I studied at the university for 5 years, I’ve had practice for 15 years, I just have to reflect all this in the article.

1. Write in simple, understandable language ,
   not primitive, but simple. “Two citizens committed an accident while driving while intoxicated...” sounds much worse than "Drunk man 30 years old on blackToyotaLandCruiser crashed into redFerrariwith a drunk 20-year-old blonde driving..." We are not writing a protocol, but an article that should be popular with our clients.
2. Avoid Legal Terms
   (if you still use it, be sure to decrypt it), complex revolutions .
3. Do not use references to regulations. The abundance of links and numbers makes it difficult to understand.
4. Address the reader and use dialogue. This will help you revive the text and make the information easier to perceive. “Dmitry, how can I use dialogues?” - lawyers ask me. - “About what I did right now.”

Remember! Your clients are NOT LAWYERS, they do not have the knowledge and experience that you have. Your clients have the legal right not to understand the law, so they are your clients.

The intricacies of the country’s legislation are sometimes difficult to understand even for professional lawyers, not to mention their clients. Legal articles, which are written by practicing specialists in order to simply and clearly explain certain legal issues to clients, are intended to translate the complex language of documents and laws into “human” language.

Legal articles: current topics

In the field of jurisprudence, it is simply impossible to be a general specialist - there are too many areas of law and nuances in them. Therefore, lawyers who care about the quality of their services always choose only a few (or even one) areas of their activity. And within the framework of their chosen specialization, they write informational and expert legal articles on the most relevant topics and on the most frequently asked questions. For example, lawyers from the YuriCom company share with readers their experience in the field of:

1. Debt collection.
2. Administrative disputes.
3. Corporate disputes.
4. Disputes regarding government procurement.
5. Contractual disputes.

Legal articles: how to figure out the problem yourself

It's no secret that not all law firms on the legal market. services are equally honest towards their clients, who can be divided into two groups:

1. Those who do not understand the topic at all. These are clients who have nothing to do with jurisprudence and are not ready or do not want to delve into anything.
2. Those who want to delve into the problem themselves. These are clients who are trying, first of all, to independently understand the essence of the problem that has arisen and ways to solve it, studying the relevant materials.

Obviously, the first category of clients is much more vulnerable to fraudsters than the second. People who are not legally literate can easily give false arguments and references to non-existent laws. While with those who have prepared in advance and studied the issue, this will no longer be possible.

In order not to be deceived and to find a reputable specialist, you must first of all learn at least superficially about your problem from the point of view of law and legislation. This will be helped by expert legal articles that explain in simple and understandable language the nuances of current legislation and examine the most common situations and problems in various areas of law.