Law Firm Website Content: What to Write on Every Page

Short answer: Law firm website content should tell a prospective client, in their own words, what you handle, where you practice, who the attorneys are and what to do next. The pages that carry it are the homepage, one page per practice area, attorney bios, a short contact and intake page, location pages for the places you serve, and an FAQ. Every word is attorney advertising, so it has to be accurate, specific and reviewed against your state bar's rules before it goes live.

What content does a law firm website need?

A law firm website needs content on eight kinds of pages, and each one answers a different question a prospective client has. Leaving one out leaves a question unanswered at the exact moment someone is deciding whether to call.

Structure matters as much as the words. Our guide to practice area pages that rank covers how to split services into pages that search engines and clients can both follow.

What should a law firm homepage say?

A law firm homepage should say, in the first screen, what kind of legal problems the firm handles, where it practices and how to get in touch. Visitors arrive from a search, a referral or a business card, and they decide within seconds whether they are in the right place.

• A headline that names the client's problem, not the firm's history. "Hurt in a Houston car accident?" does more work than "Excellence since 1998."
• Every practice area, each linking to its own page, so visitors can sort themselves in one click.
• Location and jurisdiction, stated plainly: the city, the county and the state where the attorneys are admitted.
• A phone number and one clear next step, repeated as the page scrolls.
• Proof your state allows, such as credentials, reviews or results with the disclaimers your bar requires.

How do you write a practice-area page?

Write a practice-area page by answering the client's main question in the first paragraph, then walking through the situation, the process, the cost and the next step. One page should cover one legal problem, such as DUI defense or child custody, because each is a different search made by a different person.

1. Answer first. Open with two or three sentences that define the problem and say how the firm helps.
2. Say who it is for. Name the situations the page covers, in the words clients actually use.
3. Explain the process. What happens after they call, and what the stages of the matter usually look like.
4. Talk about fees. Flat fee, hourly or contingency, and what that means in practice.
5. Answer the common questions. Five to eight short FAQs, each answered in its first sentence.
6. End with one call to action. A phone number and a short form, nothing competing with them.

Our personal injury lawyer website design page lists the pages a PI firm typically needs, and every law firm web design project we build starts from that kind of map.

What should an attorney bio include?

An attorney bio should include the attorney's bar admissions, education, the kinds of matters they handle and a real, recent photograph. Clients read bios to decide who they will trust with their problem, so a four-line bio with a stock headshot wastes one of the most important pages on the site.

• Bar admissions and the courts the attorney appears in.
• Education, written plainly, without Latin honors doing all the work.
• Experience described as the kinds of cases or deals handled, without promising outcomes.
• Certifications only where they are real: ABA Model Rule 7.2(c) lets a lawyer claim to be a certified specialist only when certified by an approved organization that is clearly named.
• A short personal note and a direct way to reach the attorney.

How long should law firm website content be?

Law firm website content should be as long as it takes to answer the visitor's question completely, and no longer. Google says plainly that it has no preferred word count, and that it rewards content created primarily for people rather than to manipulate search rankings.

In practice, a homepage is short and easy to scan, a practice-area page needs enough depth to cover the situation, the process, the fees and the common questions, and a guide like this one runs longer because it answers several related questions in one place.

Who should write law firm website content?

Law firm website content can be drafted by a professional writer, but a lawyer at the firm must review and approve it, because the lawyer answers for what the website says. ABA Model Rule 5.3 makes lawyers responsible for making reasonable efforts to ensure that nonlawyers who help them, including outside writers and agencies, act in a way that fits the lawyer's professional obligations.

AI tools can help with a first draft. Google's guidance is that appropriate use of AI is not against its guidelines when the result is helpful and accurate, but local law, deadlines, fees and every claim still need a lawyer's review before anything is published.

Which advertising rules apply to law firm website content?

Every page of a law firm website is a communication about the lawyer's services, so ABA Model Rule 7.1 and your state's version of it apply: nothing on the site may be false or misleading. Three points catch most firms out.

• Results need context. Past verdicts and settlements usually need a notice that they do not guarantee a similar outcome.
• Restricted words. Specialist and expert are limited in most states unless the lawyer holds a recognized certification.
• A responsible lawyer. Model Rule 7.2(d) requires the name and contact information of at least one lawyer or law firm responsible for the content.

The full page-by-page checklist is in our guide to attorney advertising rules for law firm websites.

What are the most common law firm website content mistakes?

The most common law firm website content mistake is writing about the firm instead of the client's problem. Most of the others follow from it.

• One combined services page instead of a page per practice area.
• Generic copy that could belong to any firm in any state.
• No fee information at all, which leaves visitors guessing and leaving.
• Stock photos instead of the real attorneys.
• Contact forms that ask for case details before a conflict check.

Our guide to what makes a good law firm website covers the design side of the same problems.

How LawFirmWebAgency handles law firm website content

LawFirmWebAgency drafts the content for every page as part of the build, starting from a practice-area map your firm approves, and checks the copy against your state bar's advertising rules before launch. Your firm reviews and signs off every page. A complete site costs a fixed $2,995, or $3,995 with branding, and typically goes live in 7 days. See our law firm web design service for everything that is included.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Confirm current rules with your state bar.

Sources

• Google Search Central: Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content
• Google Search Central Blog: Google Search's guidance about AI-generated content (2023)
• American Bar Association: Model Rules of Professional Conduct