Most Law Firms have websites, however most Law Firms do not have blogs.  I’ve gone over a few of the benefits of why it’s a good idea for professionals to embrace the social web, but this post is all about the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) benefits of operating a Law Blog.

Having a website with great keyword dense content for your area of practice is only one part of the equation when it comes to getting great Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo search engine love.  Having a blog offers much more value for the following reasons:

Fresh Content

Law Blogs have fresh content, and Google, along with other blog focused search engines will know this.  Fresh content also gives people a reason for coming back to your website on a regular basis.  These people, along with other websites and bloggers will have fresh content to link to on your site.  Since Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo use inbound links as a sort of voting system this will in turn give you more and more search engine ranking.  This is a great thing!  The more links your website gets the better as it will help push your site up in the search results for the keywords you focus on.

Keyword Density and Local Search

I mentioned keyword focus in the last point on fresh content, but I want to drive this one home.  Having a blog allows you to focus on not only, for example, “Personal Injury Law”, but also focus on your geographic target market.  So if your practice is in the Toronto or Hamilton areas, make sure you mention that on your blog and website.  People searching for “Personal Injury Lawyer in Hamilton” are going to wind up finding you if you focus on this.

Blog Only Search Engines & Indexes

Social Media experts and internet savvy users know about these types of websites and services.  It’s not just about Google Blog Search.  There are others who were around before Google Blog Search, like Technorati.com that provide great platforms for publishing your blog feed to the world in the appropriate categories.  Millions of people use these other services to find blogs that interest them.