What Should a Law Firm Website Include? What Brought BMZ Law 40% More Inquiries

When BMZ Law came to us, they wanted one thing: more inquiries. Not a prettier site, not a rebrand. More people filling in the form and picking up the phone. The site we built had clear calls to action and pages written for the clients they wanted to reach, and in their words, "We've seen a 40% increase in inquiries since launching the new site."

Nothing about that site was exotic. It had the parts a small firm's website needs, in the order a potential client meets them. Here is that list, so you can check your own site against it.

1. A homepage that says who you help, in the first sentence

Most law firm homepages open with a photo of a courthouse and the word "Experienced." A potential client arriving from a search wants to know, within a second, whether this firm handles their kind of problem in their area. The first headline should say what the firm does and where: family law in Hamilton County, business law for Indianapolis companies, estate planning for Carmel families. Specific wins.

2. A page for each practice area

A single "Practice Areas" page with a list does two things badly: it ranks for nothing, and it speaks to no one. A separate page for each practice area, written for the person who has that problem, does both well. The estate planning page talks to someone who just had a child or a scare. The business formation page talks to someone with an idea and a question about an LLC. Each page explains what the firm does, how the process works, what it tends to cost and what to do next. This is the single biggest change in most law firm redesigns, and it is where the search traffic comes from.

3. Attorney bios that build trust

Clients hire a person. After the homepage, the attorney pages are usually the most visited on a firm's site, and they are usually the weakest: a stiff headshot, a list of bar admissions and nothing a nervous client can hold on to. A good bio has a real photo taken in your office, a paragraph about the kinds of matters you handle and how you handle them, the credentials, and a direct phone number and email. Clients should finish the page feeling they already know who they are about to call.

4. A consultation request on every page

This is what moved the needle for BMZ Law. Every page needs a clear next step, visible without scrolling, and it needs to be the same step everywhere: a phone number that dials, and a short form that asks for a name, a phone, the type of matter and a few words. Not a twelve field intake form. Not "contact us" buried in the footer. A potential client who has just read your practice area page is at the moment of highest intent, and the form belongs right there.

5. Reviews, within the rules

Most state bar advertising rules allow truthful client testimonials, often with a disclaimer that results vary. Within those rules, reviews are the most persuasive content on the site, because they are the only words a potential client fully believes. Put your Google reviews on the site with the client's own words, and keep asking for them, since the same reviews decide how the firm ranks on the map.

6. An office page with the address, the map and the parking

A potential client searching for a lawyer near them is looking for the map listing and the address. The office page should have the full address, a map, directions, parking and the hours, and it should match the Google Business Profile exactly. A firm with more than one office needs a page for each.

7. Plain language throughout

The site is written for clients, not for other lawyers. Every sentence that a first year associate would understand and a client would not should be rewritten. This is harder than it sounds, which is why most firms benefit from a writer who is not a lawyer, and why copywriting is part of every site we build for a professional practice.

8. Answers to the questions clients ask on the phone

Every firm's front desk hears the same questions: what does a consultation cost, how long does this take, do I need a lawyer for this, what should I bring. Each one belongs on the site, as an FAQ on the relevant practice area page. They save the front desk time, they reassure the client, and they are exactly the questions people type into Google.

9. A site that is fast and works on a phone

A large share of visits to a law firm site are from a phone, often at a stressful moment. The site has to load fast on a cell connection, the number has to be tappable and the form has to be fillable with a thumb. Our free website grader scores any site from 0 to 100 on speed, mobile, SEO and accessibility, and it is a quick way to see where a firm's current site stands.

10. Accessibility

Law firms are visible targets for accessibility complaints, and an accessible site is also simply a better site for older clients and clients with disabilities. Readable contrast, text that can be enlarged, images with descriptions, forms that work with a keyboard. We build this in rather than bolting on a widget, and we explain what the law actually requires in our guide to ADA compliance for a small business website.

What you can leave out

Stock photos of handshakes, gavels and columns. A news section that was last updated three years ago. Legal disclaimers in the body copy where a client is trying to read. An animated homepage. A chatbot nobody staffs. If a part of the site does not help a potential client decide to call, it is in the way.

What it costs and how it runs

A custom site for a small firm starts at $5,000, or the Small Business plan spreads the work over $200 a month with the writing, hosting and ongoing changes included. Most sites launch within 4 to 8 weeks, and if you are replacing an existing site, every old page is redirected so the rankings you have carry over. Our websites for professional services page has more on how we work with firms, and the BMZ Law project is the example we point to first.

If you want the honest assessment of your current site before you decide anything, send us the address. Jason replies in under 24 hours.