Following my recent video on LinkedIn and Facebook discussing the distinction between blog publications and articles authored by lawyers, a viewer inquired about my perspective on whether a blog should function as an independent site or be integrated within a law firm’s website.
Here’s my quick take—four reasons why legal blogs are more effective when independent.
- Authority & Visibility
- A standalone blog establishes a lawyer (or a small group of lawyers), as thought leaders in their field.
- Search engines favor independent, frequently updated sites with citation generated incoming links over a static website subsection labeled “blog.”
- My blog, Real Lawyers Have Blogs, serves as proof—it has built influence and credibility over time, separate from our corporate site.
- Business Development & Relationship Building
- Lawyers who publish consistently on a dedicated blog become known for their insights, leading to referrals and direct client inquiries.
- Firms with a “blog section” often treat it with less thought—even an afterthought, while independent legal blogs become active thought leadership and engagement hubs.
- Syndication & Reach
- More opportunities for syndication—meaning its content can be distributed, cited, and referenced across multiple platforms by virtue of its thought leadership status. A firm website blog is often viewed as content marketing.
- External blogs can be indexed and cited as standalone legal resources, making them more likely to be referenced by peers, the media, and research platforms.
- Longevity & Ownership
- An independent blog lives beyond a law firm brand or design. It’s a publication.
- Lawyers who move firms retain their blog and audience rather than losing years of reputation-building within a firm’s website. Notwithstanding a lawyer’s move, law firms benefit from the business generated for multiple lawyers by the lawyer while at the firm and from the business generated and retained afterwards.
I guess if you don’t take my word for it look around at the lawyers who have established themselves as the go to lawyer in a niche and the law firms who are investing in thirty or forty separate blog publications for purposes of business development.