Have you ever tried to read legal documents while trying to understand what you’re reading? Unless you have some sort of legal background or have received a lot of legal background in your life, a lot of the legal verbiage is going to seem foreign to you. This is a reason why many legal firms hire a professional to do their legal copywriting. Almost everyone in business today has a website. While some websites are owned by individuals or small businesses capable of doing their own copywriting, seldom can the same be said for law firms.
While law firms usually consist of very intelligent attorneys knowledgeable of the law, they usually have little skill in content or legal copywriting so they hire a professional legal copywriter. While most copywriting requires typical writing skills, legal copywriting requires much more. Not only do you have to be able to write good content but you also must have some knowledge of the law as well as the law firm and what is necessary for their website.
· Must be able to cite relevant law
· Must effectively detail the credentials of the law firm
· Describe areas where the attorneys practice law
· Must possess good SEO copywriting skills
· Produce legal website content with relevant keywords and keyword phrases
· Make sure the language is clear and concise so it can be read and understood by all
· Must be able to turn complex subjects into a simple and easy-to-read form
· Must know the target market of the particular attorney or law firm
· Must be able to work independently with minimal supervision
To be effective and successful at legal copywriting, an individual must have an eye for detail and clarity as well as making the language as concise as possible. While the legal copywriter should have a grasp of legal terminology, as little legal jargon as possible should be used when transferring onto the site. The content that’s going onto the website will have legal jargon in it but will be worded as such so that the typical online visitor can easily read and understand what they’re reading.
Keywords and keyword phrases are an important part of any type of copywriting and are especially essential with legal copywriting. Proper use of SEO copywriting can make all the difference between good and great legal copywriting, as well as drawing the maximum amount of traffic to the site.
When doing legal copywriting, it’s also important that the website content matches the individual law firm as well as the type of attorneys they happen to be (plaintiff or defense attorney). In addition, the website for an individual attorney is going to differ from a large law firm. A lot of this type of knowledge will come from legal copywriting experience while a lot of it will come from having a basic knowledge of some aspects of the legal firm and law in general. Legal copywriting is not only an opportunity for a promising career but is also a very exciting one.