Lawyers.com’s news section lands 1 million views in a month

Ostensibly, that’s a story readers could find basically anywhere. Anthony’s murder trial was a huge news event in 2011, and Anthony remains a public figure because of it. But Lawyers.com, which aims to link subscribing attorneys with potential clients, brought something to its article that other news sources didn’t: an explanation from an attorney of what can and can’t be discharged in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

“It’s a way of not only delivering news, but making it helpful to consumers,” says Larry Bodine, editor-in-chief of Lawyers.com. “The hook is the celebrity, but the story is really the bankruptcy.”

That approach to news has served the site well. In one year, Lawyers.com’s news section has jumped from 20,000 unique visits in a month to about 600,000. It’s all about following the trends, Bodine says.

Content mix

Bodine came to Lawyers.com about two years ago, bringing along his approach to content creation from his experience as the editor of the American Bar Association Journal and a reporter at the New York Daily News and other newspapers.

“It’s run exactly like a newsroom,” he says.