A person who lands on a law firm’s website is rarely browsing. Something happened. A crash on Route 19, a DUI, a divorce, a will that needs writing before a surgery. They are on their phone comparing three firms in Washington County and they will call one. Here is what decides which.
One page per thing you actually do
A firm that does personal injury, family law, estate planning and criminal defence needs four pages, one each, written for the person with that problem. Not one “practice areas” page with four paragraphs. The person with the DUI wants to read about DUIs, what happens at the courthouse on West Beau Street, what the timelines look like, and what it costs to talk to you. Everything else on that page is noise.
A face, a name, and how to reach them
Every attorney gets a real photo, a plain two paragraph bio, and a direct way to make contact. Not a photo in front of law books. A photo of a person someone could imagine sitting across a desk from. If the firm is one attorney, say so and make that a strength. Plenty of clients in Washington, Canonsburg and Peters Township would rather deal with one lawyer who answers than a firm where they never meet the partner.
Say what the first conversation costs
If the consultation is free, say it on every page. If it is not, say what it costs. If it depends on the matter, say that and give the range. Silence on this one point loses more calls than any design choice.
How to talk about results, carefully
Pennsylvania’s Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 7.1 in particular, prohibit communications that are false or misleading, which is where “we win” language and cherry picked settlement figures get firms into trouble. Talk about experience, about the kinds of matters you handle, about how you work. Client testimonials are allowed with care. Specific dollar results generally need context that a website cannot give. Check with the Disciplinary Board’s guidance before publishing anything that could read as a guarantee. A website that is careful about this reads as more trustworthy, not less.
Answer the questions people are afraid to ask
A short questions section on each practice page. Will I have to go to court? How long does this take? What if I cannot afford it? Do I need a lawyer for this at all? Answering the last one honestly, including the times the answer is no, builds more trust than anything else on the site and tends to be what an AI search summary quotes.
The form and the phone
A phone number that dials on tap, at the top of every page. A contact form that asks for name, phone, and a sentence about the matter, and that a human reads within the hour during business days. A note on the form saying that sending it does not create an attorney client relationship, because it does not, and because the careful client is looking for that sentence.
What the site should not do
Autoplay a video. Use stock photos of a gavel. Bury the phone number under a hero image. Have a blog with two posts from 2021. Claim to be “the best” or “specialists” unless the certification behind the word exists. Say nothing about cost.
A law firm’s website is a quieter thing than most. It does not need to sell. It needs to make a worried person feel that they have found someone competent who will talk to them straight. That is a writing problem more than a design problem, and it is the part we spend the most time on.