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Company: Latimer Hinks Solicitors
Project: Judith's Divorce Blog

http://www.judithsdivorceblog.blogspot.com

Dates: Jun 2007 to Dec 2009

How did the project start?

I specialise in divorce which is a difficult area of work to promote as finding a receptive audience is never easy. After all, would be divorcees aren’t going to congregate together for a leaflet drop or mass public handshake. The web is, therefore, an obvious platform and blogging seems to fit the bill especially as it allows the opportunity to present an expert yet approachable and friendly image.

What options did you consider?

Networking sites like Linked-in or specialist divorce question and answer sites such as Wikivorce from where we could hopefully drive interest to the firm’s website. Blogging however is much more personal and, dare I say it, fun!

What help and expertise did you receive?

None. It has been a steep learning curve for our marketing executive, Andrea Tobin, and myself. I use Blogspot which is itself user friendly and we have become widget and social bookmarking geeks as well as much more aware of the techniques necessary to drive traffic to the site, making use of services like Analytics and Feedburner to measure our efforts.

Did you face any challenges or learn any lessons?

There are a number of very good family law blogs out there so in some ways the challenge was to come up with something unique which I like to think I have done. The blog describes itself as comprising reflections and emotions associated with divorce as perceived by an experienced divorce practitioner but perhaps presented from a slightly different, frequently fictional, angle and intermingled with press releases and campaign material issued by Resolution. Unlike many legal blogs, it is not intended to advise on the law and it has been a challenge to do this whilst still retaining an appeal for the reader.

What are the outcomes and how has it improved your business?

Clients have commented how they enjoy reading it and how it puts much of what they are going through into perspective. Our search engine rating has improved significantly, visitors have linked through to the firm’s website and new business and publicity have been generated as a result. For instance the Journal and Northern Echo websites both feature links to Judith’s Divorce blog.

What are your plans for the future?

To keep blogging, now I’ve discovered my creative side!