Writing a Law Article vs. a Law Blog Post: 5 Key Differences

When you're a law student, you quickly learn that writing is a big part of the job. Lawyers are often required to write legal articles, briefs, and more. However, they don't cover all types of writing in law school. For example, in the world of online writing, many lawyers often wonder: what's the difference between writing a law article vs writing a law blog post? To help clarify, we will discuss the 5 key differences between these two types of legal writing, so you can get it right the first time.

1) Intent

A major difference between law articles and law blog posts is the intent behind them. A blog post, while it may be informative, is usually primarily written for marketing or SEO purposes. For example, the more blog posts you have on your site, the more likely people are to find your website through a search engine. 

On the other hand, a law article is generally meant to be used as a resource or reference on a particular legal topic. It's meant to convey practical, detailed knowledge that may be really useful to your audience.

2) Authority

Since they are often meant to be used as resources, law articles carry more authority than law blog posts. This means they require research and references from credible sources, and may even contain some legalese. Legal articles are meant to show that you really know what you're talking about, and while your blog posts should be accurate, they don't need to be quite as formal.

3) Value

The useful, informative nature of law articles means they're often more valuable than your average blog post. See, useful content is more likely to be rewarded by search engine algorithms, which means your law article is more likely to end up with a higher SEO ranking than a single blog post on the same topic.

Not only that, but visitors who have found your article especially informative are often more likely to return to your website and use it as a resource. For example, if they trust your knowledge, they may spend more time on your site, recommend it to friends, or even fill out a contact form. A blog post that just touches on the topic doesn't necessarily have that same effect.

4) Credibility

Since blog posts are usually associated with marketing, visitors tend to be a little bit wary of their claims, especially if they include a link to their services. Are you really trying to impart useful information or simply sell your services? It can be hard to tell.

Articles, on the other hand, don't tend to leave people second-guessing their intent. They appear to be solely for the purpose of informing their audience, which makes them seem more credible. This more indirect approach to marketing often makes writing articles more effective.

5) Opinion

Interesting, legal content writing can be quite different from normal content writing. For example, unlike non-legal blog posts, legal ones don't usually contain opinions. And, in contrast to non-legal articles, legal ones can contain an opinion, especially when written for non-commercial or academic purposes.

The main reason that blog posts don't contain legal opinions is that they're exclusively posted online, and it can be ethically dangerous to give an opinion on a law firm's website. So, if you happen to have an article containing an opinion, save it for an off-site opportunity.

Looking for some legal blog posts or other content for your site? Contact Legal Verb today to discuss your needs!