Internet Newsletter for Lawyers |
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A useful definition of a blog is given by the hosting firm TypePad who describe blogs as "a way
of publishing to the web one idea at a time. By simplifying the process of publishing, letting
authors create posts easily, and making it simple to link to related ideas on the web, blogs make
it easy to update a website while still making sure your words retain a clear, personal voice."
With a blog, it is much easier to put material online (anything between a few words or a long
essay) than to "manage" a website. For example, when you add new material, you do not have
to rearrange the rest of the content - It happens automatically. In addition, you can invite
comments from web users so that they can engage with what you have written online.
The main reason why I blog is that I have a strong interest in current affairs and technology.
Blogging enables me to express my interest. I have only been blogging actively for a couple of
months but my own experience has been that my firm's website has gone up significantly in the
search rankings and I have obtained two new clients.
Another example comes from Mills & Reeve who have a blog called Naked Law
(nakedlaw.typepad.com) written by their technology team. According to Peter Wainman,
blogging enables him and other lawyers to engage with the community and to raise the team's
profile.
There are 2 key packages which you can use to host your blog: Blogger.com
(www.blogger.com) and TypePad (www.typepad.com). Blogger.com is now owned by Google
and its main advantage is that is free and you can set up a blog quite quickly. However, the
quality of templates is only average and if you want to adjust these you have to use HTML code.
TypePad has better templates and you can adjust them further without any knowledge of
HTML. You can also easily analyse how many people have visited your site. Whilst there is a
cost (between £50 and £150 a year) you receive a free 30 day trial.
There is a useful "blog about blogs" by an American marketing professional Emily Robbins (with
comparisons of features) which can be found at blogging.typepad.com.
But take care! There is always a danger that you may write something you later regret. Lawyers
should be tuned to the defamation issues of blogging and sometimes you need to pause, before
you publish. With the nature of blogging, which encourages other users to make comments, you
should always check (and edit) prior to publication.
The RSS formats provide web content or summaries of web content together with links to the
full versions of the content, and other meta-data. This information is delivered as an XML file
called an RSS feed, webfeed, RSS stream, or RSS channel. In addition to facilitating
syndication, RSS allows a website's frequent readers to track updates on the site.
However, not all blogs provide an RSS feed - indeed, I have read that only 10% of blogs do this.
Justin Patten is a solicitor specialising in Intellectual Property and how technology is impacting
business. His weblog is humanlaw.typepad.com.
He also has a more conventional website at
www.human-law.co.uk. He is now podcasting too, from his weblog!
Back to Contents.
Blogging for Lawyers
There are still only a small number of legal blogs which may be partly due to the fact they may
seem rather mysterious. This short article seeks to throw some light on blogs!
By Justin Patten
"Subscription" and RSS
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication or Remote Site Syndication (depending on whom you
ask). This enables Internet users to "subscribe" to websites that have provided RSS feeds,
typically sites that add content regularly.
Email justin@human-law.co.uk.