The ABC’s of Writing Winning Law Firm Headlines

Content is more important than ever. If you can’t engage, you can’t win with marketing in today’s landscape. Successful content marketing begins with the headline. Think of how many pieces of content you make time to read, simply because of the headline. The opposite is also true. If you don’t immediately see the value to you summed up in a short, catchy phrase you more than likely skip those articles. Here are the ABC’s of writing impactful law firm headlines that will get your content noticed.

A is for Ask

Posing a question is one of the oldest tricks in the book – for good reason. Readers are immediately engaged if they feel like they can learn an answer to a question they’ve wondered about before. In addition to the tactic of asking a question as a headline itself, asking staff or clients for ideas about what’s on their minds can garner some attention-getting headlines too. For example, instead of a headline that simply states a new tax law you could ask your audience “Are You Ready for the New Tax Law This Season?” Questions like this catch a reader’s attention and makes them wonder – am I ready?

As another angle, you might consider asking a client for permission to share some information on a particular trial or issue. Sharing a success story is always going to interest prospects – but you need to have permission from those involved, first.

B is for Beg and Borrow

There will be many times in the world of content marketing where you will need to get inspiration for ideas. Create headlines around current events, hot topics, newsworthy reports, or famous figures in the media. Follow your competitors on social and find out what is being talked about and what seems to resonate based on comments and shares. Resources like Twitter and Reddit can help you to understand what is jumping out at people or what is currently trending. For example, if your law firm specializes in matrimonial law, celebrity splits are always an easy way to incorporate high profile names and high search volume keywords into your content. Borrow from topics you discover and create your own posts around them – along with great headlines. Items like quotes, lists, infographics, and how-tos commonly make for noticeable headlines. What is happening around you that can lead to an interesting “Best of…” list headline? Heard any great quotes lately that you can use to draw in readers? Just be sure to source and cite properly.

C is for Compel

Naturally, you want your headline to draw the reader into your content piece. That means you need to compel them to do something. There are a few key phrases or words that help to accomplish that more than others. For one thing, try starting with a verb. Verbs lend a sense of urgency and make the reader feel like there is something they can actually do immediately. The word “you” is often used in great headlines. When people feel you are speaking directly to them, they are more likely to find your content valuable. You might also be surprised to learn that mistakes are incredibly intriguing as well. People are eager to learn how they can avoid common pitfalls like problems that lawyers have encountered in the past with other clients. Craft a headline around avoiding worrisome mistakes and it’s likely to get noticed. Just like calls to action that are so important to use on your website – call your audience to click through to your article by compelling them to take action right away.

Takeaway

Beyond just establishing thought leadership and informing potential clients, content marketing is largely about driving new and returning traffic to your law firm’s site. However, in order to do this effectively in the sea of content online, you must write compelling headlines for your blogs and articles. If you’re still stumped, just ask us for some ideas – we love to help law firms create compelling content that resonates.