I’ve received several responses to my Day Two: Other Sites post, where I said:

“You can’t really just email bloggers and say “Hey, could you link to my site?â€? It just doesn’t work that way. You need to let your content attract links. “

I take that back and agree: my statement was decidedly shortsighted.

I think when I said that, I had too much of the “old web” perspective in mind. In the late 90s, I was a ‘Web Marketing Specialist” for a software company. My role was to find sites that would link to the company’s site. For six months, I looked around for relevant sites and basically begged the sites to link to us.

And the responses were overwhelmingly negative. While some gave me an outright “no!”, others would send me advertising information. This is one of the main differences between linking on the “old web” and linking on blogs. Companies used to view space on their pages as real estate, attaching a value to anything that took visitors off their site to someplace else. It was their feeling that they spent much time and expense to attract the visitor in the first place, and if they gave reasons for visitors to leave after so much effort, they expected something in return.

But this isn’t true with blogs. Since most blogs consist of a single author, who in many cases is writing about articles from other sites in the first place, the nature of linking has changed dramatically.

This is true especially with blawgs. Many posts are commenting on a case or ruling, and link to sites with official information on said case.

And since blawggers want other blawgs to link to them, it only makes sense that they would give links in exchange. This is no longer a case of valuable page real estate. Instead, it’s a more mutually beneficial relationship.

So forget what I said before. Go ahead and ask for links. The worst thing that could happen is being denied. But even in that case, the blawger you ask has to take notice of your site. And that could lead to a linking relationship down the line.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Yesterday I posted the following in the Blawgers Google Group:

was just wondering what questions or topics you’d be interested in
reading tutorials about. The purpose of my blog is to help answer some
of the questions that bloggers, and more specifically “Blawgers” have.

Right now I know that a lot of blawgers are wondering about promoting
their site, so I’ve been posting about that recently. Another issue
that I found interesting is the idea of blog ownership.

So if there’s some topic you’d be interested in learning more about,
please let me know. I’m hoping to get some good ideas for posts from
this group.

The author of the Law & Justice Blog, Edwin Jacobs gave me some great post ideas including:

• Content- The difference between writing on a blog and in a legal journal.
• Who Are Your Readers?- Sure, you can look at your stats, but that won’t tell you who your readers are. How can you find out more about your readers?
• Ads vs. Content- Where do you draw the line?
• Categories- How to create categories that make sense to your readers
• Blogging in multiple languages- Are there alternatives to maintaining separate blogs for each language?
• Collaborating with Competitors- Is it okay to cooperate with competing firms in your blog (ie linking)?
• Bar Regulations- What bar regulations apply to advertising on your blog?
• Writing Content vs. Linking to others- Many bloggers write little of their own content, and just link to other blogs/sites. Where is the line between being a content source and a pointer?

I think all of these are great topics to write on, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I’d like to tackle one of these each day (starting tonight) in serial form. If anyone else has any suggestions or questions, please feel free to email me, and I’ll be sure to reply.

And I’d like to thank Edwin Jacobs again for his great questions. Hopefully these topics will start some discussion via comments, and everyone can learn from each other.

Popularity: 2% [?]

In my last post, I looked at two different legal blogs to show how two different successful blogs had very different approaches and styles. Today, I’d like to back up a bit and examine the issue of ownership.

I don’t have statistics, but I think it would be fair to say that most blawgs are owned and maintained by individual attorneys. There are others that are owned by firms, and have their attorneys add the content.

So the question is: Who owns the content? In the case of blawgs owned by firms, usually there is a policy in place that explicitly states any articles written by attorneys are property of the firm. Just like an article written for the firm’s web site, the firm owns the article.

But what happens in the case of an attorney-owned blog, updated during working hours? If the attorney owns the blog (and it’s content), but uses the blog as a marketing tool for the firm, does the firm have any ownership? And if that attorney were to leave the firm, does s/he just take his blog to the next firm?

Here’s a hypothetical: Attorney Smith has his own blog, which he updates while working at his firm. On his site, he says that it’s his own personal blog, but he also links to his firm, giving his contact information at the firm. His blog becomes very popular, attracting a fairly large, targeted audience. Once in a while, other attorneys at the firm will post an article on the blog that they’ve written.

He even develops a monthly newsletter, which goes out to all the firm’s clients as well as his own mailing list. In addition, anyone who subscribes to his personal newsletter can also be added to the firm’s mailing list if they opt-in.

It’s a win-win situation. The attorney gets more business and the firm gets a bigger mailing list.

But the attorney gets a better offer from another firm and decides to leave. Here are some very important questions to ask in this situation:

1. Does his old firm have the right to keep the mailing list generated by Attorney Smith’s Blog?
2. Can the attorney keep the articles posted by other attorneys?
3. Does the firm have any ownership in the blog, since it was updated during working hours?
4. Can the firm republish articles from the attorney’s blog on their own web site without giving citation to Attorney Smith?

Yes, your firm should consider blawging. But before jumping in, it’s essential to come up with a clear ownership policy.

Related Articles:
The Weblog Question:
People are starting Weblogs in growing numbers, but the owner of the content isn’t always clear

Popularity: 2% [?]

Linked on Blawg: check.
Indexed on Google: check.
Indexed on Technorati: check.
Lots of inbound links: Not yet.

So we’ve got the ball rolling, but need some important inbound links. One of the best ways to accomplish this is by finding extremely popular blogs and trying to get linked from them. Getting links from the big guys is a great goal to have, but first, we need to examine how these blogs developed the following they have.

I’ve mentioned Blawg.com before, and they are the leader in law firm blog directories. And conveniently, they have a list of the 30 Most Popular Blawgs (as measured by clickthroughts). It’s right at the bottom of the home page.

A Tale of Two Blawgs

1. In Search of Perfect Client Service- This blawg, by Patrick Lamb, is his personal blog, and he explicitly states:

“This is a PERSONAL Blog. The ideas and thoughts are mine. It has nothing to do with Butler Rubin Saltarelli & Boyd LLP, which does not control the content.”

He then goes on to explain that he is a partner at the Chicago firm, and explains what he does at the firm. Take a look at his bio. It’s a great bio, loaded with keywords for his firm. And he does it in a way that does not scream out “MARKETING TEXT!!!!”

And interestingly, I can’t find a single link to his firm. He has taken a very different approach from most Blawgs. His approach accomplishes the following:

1. It lets readers know that he’s not just trying to bait them into checking out his firm’s site.
2. It establishes trust
3. It positions the blogger as an expert in his area

Web site visitors are increasingly jaded and suspicious of what they’re reading. We’ve all gone to sites that don’t fulfill their promise to us. They tell us (through search engine descriptions and ads) they’ve got the answer to our questions. But when we arrive, the answer either isn’t there, or we have to go somewhere else to find the answer.

So we’re all suspicious when we land on a page. We’re always questioning the site’s motivation. What are they trying to sell me?

Though this questioning may be an unconscious process, it’s still going on. We are looking for our apprehension to be eased. And when a guy says “This is my personal blog. I own the content, not my firm,” those questions are answered and we feel more comfortable digesting the content.

But don’t get me wrong. He’s not completely distancing himself from his firm…..instead, he’s trying to initiate a more personal relationship. Instead of a link to his firm, he’s got an “Email me” link, which goes to his firm email account. This is a great move, and it cuts out one step in the engagement process.

So to summarize, Lamb’s approach is:
Look at all this great content. I really know my stuff, and I’m not even plugging my firm at all. And if you’ve got some questions, or need some legal help, contact me directly.

2. May it please the court- This blawg takes a drastically different approach. The content is secondary to the bells and whistles. It’s got a Flash header with his firm’s logo in it. It has a left sidebar with the firm’s name and another logo. It’s got a dropdown with links to other sites the firm produces.

And then it’s got ads. Lots of them.
And links. Lots of them.

Again, another successful, popular site, but with a much different message. Instead of the personal feel of In Search of Perfect Client Service, this sites says “I’m professional.”

Sometimes ads make a blog look more serious and more importantly, legitimate. It can give the unconscious impression: “Wow, law.com advertises on this guy’s blog? It must be good!”

And unlike Lamb’s blog, which is his own, this blog is property of the Williams Law Firm. They tell us this on the bottom of every page. So we know that this is a firm’s site, and it reflects the firm’s message.

Above the footer, there are links to the firm’s overview, philosophy, practice areas, and range of services.

Conclusion:
These are two of the most popuar legal blogs out there, and they are almost direct opposites. I’m not saying one is better than the other….not at all. Instead, I’m just pointing out that there’s not one cookie-cutter approach to having a successful legal blog.
Though it may seem like an intangible detail, really think about what your blog is telling your visitor. Is your blog giving the message you’re hoping to give?

Popularity: 2% [?]

Yesterday MassLawBlog was added to Blawg. Excellent!

One of the main reasons I really wanted to get listed on Blawg is that Blawg’s PageRank is 6/10.

Let me explain: Google ranks web sites with their PageRank algorithm. From their site:

PageRank Technology: PageRank performs an objective measurement of the importance of web pages by solving an equation of more than 500 million variables and 2 billion terms. Instead of counting direct links, PageRank interprets a link from Page A to Page B as a vote for Page B by Page A. PageRank then assesses a page’s importance by the number of votes it receives.

In short, Google checks to see how many pages link to your site (the more the better). Then, they take it a step further and look at how “important” the sites are that link to you. So, if you have 100 links from sites that have a page rank of 0, it doesn’t help as much as having 10 links from sites with ranks of 6 or 7. You can see a page’s rank if you have the Google Toolbar.

And Google is a little bit confused as to how to rank blogs. Since they just released BlogSearch, they may be able to assign separate ranks to blogs and sites, but for now, every site and blog has a page rank.

Right now, MassLawBlog.com has a page rank of zero. But, to be fair, the site hasn’t been around long, and only has a few inbound links.

On a side note, Google’s page that explains PageRank technology has a Page Rank of 7/10. I would think it should be higher….?

Summary: When you’re looking for sites to link to you, pay attention to their page rank. If you can land a link from a high-ranked site, it’s a very good thing.

P.S.- And yes, this blog has a page rank of zero…..I’m working on that!

Popularity: 10% [?]

The second day of promoting the mass law blog is dedicated to other law firm related sites. There’s some give and take here.

The Goal: Get other sites to link to MassLawBlog.com

You can’t really just email bloggers and say “Hey, could you link to my site?” It just doesn’t work that way. You need to let your content attract links. But there are some other ways to get other bloggers to notice your site.

1. Link to them- By nature Bloggers are ego driven. That’s not a value judgement, it’s just a simple fact. Why have a site if you don’t want people to read your work and like it? With this said, I’d say 90% of bloggers check their stats. Whether they are using a free service like StatCounter or are using log analysis software, bloggers look to see who’s coming to their site…..and where they’re coming from.

When bloggers look at their referrer log, they often check out sites that send them traffic. And sometimes, they’ll link back to that site. Sure, it’s a longshot, but it’s worth doing.

In addition, most blogging software products have TrackBack. So bloggers can easily see sites linking to them. Which leads me to my next point….

2. Leave comments- When a blog allows comments, they usually have a URL field. This allows you to both leave a comment and a link to your own blog. This is HUGE. But you have to be careful here. You have to leave quality comments, or you’ll either be banned, or worse, you’ll get a bad reputation.

So find blogs that have relevant content, and leave a comment. Not only will you appease someone’s ego, (which may, in turn, get them to link to your blog sitewide) you’ll also have a small link to your site. By small, I mean that you’ll have one single link, attached to your comment. So it’s not something that is easy to find, or viewable on the main page, but it is a link nonetheless.

Summary:
When you’re trying to get links to your blog, the normal approach of asking for a link isn’t necessary. Instead, you can use commenting (but not comment spam) to your advantage.

Popularity: 5% [?]