In the modern age of internet marketing where all the information we could ever need is just a few keystrokes and a search away. The backbone of this modern day miracle is the internet and its contents are web pages and blog posts.
Criminal defense attorneys can greatly benefit by contributing resources and publishing articles on their websites.
In this article, we’re going to go over 13 criminal defense blog topics that are perfect for generating vast quantities of content that will drive more traffic, leads and clients for your firm.
1. Changes in the Law
The law is vibrant and dynamic. It is living and breathing, which means that it is constantly evolving. This alone provides a stream of new blog articles and content ideas for criminal defense lawyers to write about.
For instance, in the area of criminal law, you can write about how a new law will impact arrests and prosecutions in your state. This type of content is beneficial on several fronts, first for prospective clients that have failed to abide by the new law after it has passed as well as being newsworthy at the time it’s being passed. This has the potential added benefits of attracting backlinks to your website and hence building your online authority.
2. Criminal Justice Statistics
When it comes to link building for law firms, compiling and presenting statistics on your website can make for great authority-building content.
State and federal websites already have statistics available. So in order to make your blog content stand out and valuable, it needs to contain some unique elements that make it as or more interesting than the original stats you cite. Compile normalized annual statistical reports into multi-year graphs that show trends or compare your local state statistics with federal and national average reports.
3. News on National Cases and Current Events Related to Criminal Law
An excellent way to attract more attention to your firm’s blog is by covering national criminal cases or events currently in the news and add your own unique angles to your posts.
Write an opinion article about the cases or your take on how the facts and evidence presented to date might impact the case’s outcome. If there is misinformation about the case, then take the opportunity to correct it or present your argument.
4. Newsworthy cases and arrests in your local market and community
Just as there will be cases and arrests that receive national coverage and media attention, the same will occur at the state level and even within the city or county your firm is based. The smaller the geographic area, the less occurrences there will be, but major metropolitan areas as well as the state level could make up a significant portion of your blog’s content.
This is just one blog topic, so develop a blogging strategy that incorporates half a dozen or more topic ideas on this list. That will ensure that you never have to wait to write the next article.
5. Defining legal terminology and its implications
There is so much legal jargon that the public doesn’t understand and may never need to. But when someone is facing criminal charges and either they, a loved one or a friend is researching the topic, they are going to search online for the terminology and what it means in their situation.
This could include broad terms such as warrants, felonies and misdemeanors to more specific terms like disorderly conduct, intoxication, restraining orders and injunctions.
Because the criminal code is divided into state and federal laws, there will be terminology that you can define and explain in articles that can receive both national or state specific web traffic. Be sure to define the scope of your blog and its strategy to make the most out of this topic in your organic traffic acquisition plan.
6. Factors and Evidence that impact Court Proceedings
When someone is facing criminal charges, they’re going to want to conduct research and understand the seriousness of the charges. They will also want to know how to avoid, beat or lower the charges. Publish articles that address these questions and give your visitors solid information about their case. This can include “what is physical possession?” and “how do you prove constructive possession?”
There’s an array of different content ideas around this one type of post topic. Articles in this category can be targeted at a national, state or local level – depending on the article and crime you’re writing about.
7. Answer Criminal Law Questions
Similar to the topic discussed above, there’s a plethora of questions that people are searching for answers to online. Two types of questions we’ve covered so far include factors and evidence as well as defining legal terminology.
However, there is a vast amount of questions being asked by people everyday and a lot of questions they’re seeking answers to. Everything from “what’s the difference between a misdemeanor and a felony” to “how is jail time calculated?” and “can a misdemeanor become a felony?”
Like many other topics discussed, these questions can be scoped to a specific state, such as “Can a felony be reduced to a misdemeanor in Illinois?”
8. Building a Defense for Specific Types of Charges
Some ideas for posts include “Building a Defense for Drug Trafficking Charges” or “How to Defend against Criminal Mischief Charges”. These posts can make for great generators of leads and clients, as they will typically be searched by people looking to hire a defense attorney for their case.
This is a great area to showcase your expertise and detail different angles and approaches to how you would handle particular types of cases. When publishing these types of blog posts, outline the different strategies typically available and when they are applicable.
9. Summarize and Explain Statutes
The criminal code is long and complex to understand. Even the online government websites are difficult for the average person to navigate and digest. Some of it more than others, of course.
Even though all of the chapters and sections are properly linked to, it can be difficult to get crystal clear answers without having to dive down a rabbit hole of different referencing sections and chapters. Make it concise and straightforward for people to understand a particular topic or statute, by including all of the referencing material in the same article, rather than separate web pages.
It’s a best practice to link to the online government statutes, but the best content and user experience is to deliver all of the relevant information to the end-user on one or several pages – instead of several dozen!
10. Overview of the Laws for Specific Types of Crimes in your State
As mentioned earlier, state and federal law websites can be confusing to the average person. Provide a better resource for them by providing overview articles on the laws and types of charges they may face. Once you’ve written the overview articles, you can break them down into more detailed posts, some of which will overlap into other topics we’ve discussed here, such as questions, building a defense and factors/evidence in court proceedings.
When done properly, they can be linked together, keeping visitors on your website and blog for longer, increasing the likelihood of converting them into a lead and potentially a client.
Write information that is easy for the public to understand and digest, while still being thorough and accurate.
11. Write about the Types of Cases You Want
Many criminal defense attorneys will have their own preferences for the types of cases they want to sign up more of and the ones they do not.
If you have an affinity for serious crimes cases, then define those types of cases and scope your blog to topics that specifically address those questions and queries.
This is the best way to attract your ideal clients.
If you do not want to take on DUI cases, then don’t write posts on DUI questions and queries. You will naturally prune out potential traffic and lower quality inquiries by translating your firm’s focus into your blog content.
12. Penalties for Specific Types of Charges
This type of blog post can be published for many categories including misdemeanors, felonies, drug possession and trafficking for different drugs, white collar crimes, firearms charges and more.
Writing about penalties for different types of criminal charges can attract more clients through your blog. It can also make for linkable posts and pages on your website, which can improve your authority. Aim to write these posts at the local level with a primary focus on the state level.
13. Impacts of a Felony on Your Life
Many of the questions that people have regarding their or a loved one’s charges are the consequences and what life will look like after a conviction. People facing charges will seek answers for things such as the impact of a conviction on being able to get a job or have some type of professional license.
These types of questions can be great motivators into hiring an attorney, so publish your knowledge and the facts about living with particular convictions as well as the areas of life they will impact.
Be thorough in your response and answer follow-up questions that you anticipate a client would typically ask after getting the answer to their initial question. By forecasting and anticipating their next follow-ups, you can produce better content than your competition and gain more traffic from Google and other search engines.
