“Write about contracts in June” won’t tell a solo lawyer what to work on when Tuesday fills up with client calls. A useful calendar entry names the client question, the intended reader, who owns the piece, and when it needs another look. That gives you a publishing plan without letting routine client work crowd out important updates.
Start with the work your practice wants to serve
List your practice areas and the clients you can realistically help before choosing topics. A lawyer building a small-business practice might separate company formation, routine contract work, and employment questions. Clients bring different concerns to each, and some information will need more frequent checking. Writing about every legal issue creates more to maintain and may bring in inquiries outside your intended practice.
Start with questions you hear in consultations, intake calls, and emails, leaving out identifying details. Where do people hesitate? They may be unsure what a consultation covers, what documents to bring, or whether to book a virtual meeting or an office appointment. Those questions often make better website topics than an overview of an entire field.
Keep service descriptions separate from answers to recurring questions. A practice-area page should say what work you undertake, who it may suit, and how to contact you. An article can take on a narrower question, such as how a small-business owner might prepare for a first contract review. Give each page its own job rather than repeating the same explanation on both.
Build a small, durable topic list
Keep a running topic bank so you aren’t starting from a blank page each month. Label each idea with the client need, the page’s purpose, and how likely its information is to become outdated. Then pick topics you have time to draft and review.
- First-contact questions: What happens during an initial meeting? How are fees discussed? What should a prospective client prepare?
- Service questions: What does a contract review generally involve? When might a client need advice rather than a document template?
- Practical decisions: When might an in-person meeting help? What information should a founder gather before seeking advice?
- Time-sensitive information: Procedures, deadlines, filing requirements, and legal changes that need closer monitoring.
Keep prioritization simple. Start with questions clients ask repeatedly, topics tied closely to your services, and pages you can explain accurately without revealing client information. A recent legal development may deserve attention, but it also needs someone responsible for reviewing it and a plan for updates. If you can’t maintain it, publish a more durable explanation first.
Give every calendar entry enough detail to be usable
A spreadsheet or shared document is enough for most small practices. Someone opening it a month later should be able to tell what happens next. For each proposed page, record:
- Working title and reader: for example, “Preparing for a first business-contract consultation,” aimed at an owner who has received a draft agreement.
- Specific question answered: one sentence to keep the draft from turning into a general legal primer.
- Purpose and destination: whether it’s a service page, FAQ, or article, and which relevant service page a reader should be able to find from it.
- Owner and stages: who drafts it, checks legal accuracy, approves it, and publishes it.
- Dates: a realistic draft date, publication date, and review date or trigger.
- Risk notes: jurisdictional limits, confidentiality concerns, or statements likely to change.
The review field makes this more than a posting schedule. An article on what to bring to an appointment may need only occasional checking. A page about a filing deadline or a new rule may need attention much sooner, as well as whenever the rule changes. Base the review timing on the claims in the page, rather than giving every page the same interval.
Plan for the hours you actually have
One well-maintained article a month may serve clients better than four rushed posts followed by silence. Allow time for outlining, drafting, legal review, editing, publishing, and later maintenance. If you share an office or work with an assistant, assign tasks that fit each person’s role. A non-lawyer can track dates or format a draft; a qualified lawyer should check substantive legal statements before publication.
Leave room for interruptions. A client deadline may push back an article, while a significant change in the law may need attention first. Mark entries “planned,” “in progress,” “awaiting review,” “published,” or “paused.” A delayed draft stays visible without being mistaken for something ready to post.
Match the format to the question
Some questions need only a short FAQ answer. Information about scope and fees may belong on a service page. Use a longer article when readers need examples, distinctions, or a sequence of steps. The aim is to answer the question responsibly, not to make every topic into a full-length post.
“Do you offer virtual consultations?” belongs on a contact or consultation page, where people can find the answer and you can keep it current. “How should a business owner prepare for a virtual contract-review meeting?” could support an article on organizing documents, deciding who should attend, and sharing sensitive files securely. Neither page should suggest that a virtual meeting suits every matter.
Social posts can direct people to a useful website page, but they don’t replace keeping that page current. If your fee explanation changes, check scheduled posts that mention it. Track the connection in your calendar so an outdated claim doesn’t keep circulating across channels.
Set an accuracy and ethics check before publication
Legal content can mislead when it’s read outside its original context. State the jurisdiction and intended audience where they matter. Distinguish general information from advice on someone’s specific facts, avoid promising outcomes, and check the professional advertising rules that apply to your practice. Get appropriate permission before using a client example or testimonial; changing a name alone may not protect confidentiality.
Take the same care with fees. You can explain common billing arrangements and questions to ask before agreeing to representation, but don’t hide exclusions or suggest a fixed price when the scope varies. Check stated rates, consultation policies, office locations, and availability against how you currently work. Legal and tax information on a website is no substitute for advice from a qualified professional about a particular situation. Check current legislation and applicable rules before publishing or revising it.
Maintain pages using signals, not just dates
Give every important page a review date, plus triggers for checking it sooner. A change in a statute, court process, professional rule, service offering, fee policy, or office arrangement may affect several pages. Keep a short inventory of published URLs or page titles beside the calendar so you can find related material quickly.
When reviewing a page, ask whether its answer still fits clients’ needs, whether a claim needs a current source, and whether the next step is clear. Repeated misunderstandings in prospective-client inquiries are a reason to revise the relevant page. Website data may tell you whether a page gets visits, but low traffic alone isn’t a reason to discard essential client information. Record when you checked the page and what you changed—even if you decided to leave it alone.
At your next planning session, put one existing page on the calendar alongside one new topic. If your consultation page shows an old office address, correct it and check the appointment FAQ too. Give both checks an owner and a due date before assigning the next article.
