What a lawyer website needs: pages, words and photos

A lawyer's website is usually read by someone with a problem: an accident, an arrest, a divorce, a parent's estate, a business dispute. They want to know quickly whether you handle their kind of matter, who the lawyer is, what the first conversation involves, and how to reach you. The core pages are practice areas, attorney profiles, how a consultation works, contact and office details. Keep the words plain and calm, and follow your state bar's advertising rules.

What people with a legal problem check first

Most visitors are stressed and short on time. Some are reading at night after a bad day. They look for:

• Do you handle my kind of case? Practice areas named in everyday words.
• Are you near me, and licensed in my state?
• Who will I talk to? The lawyer's name, face and background.
• What happens first? Whether the first consultation is free, how long it takes, whether it is by phone or in person.
• How do you charge? Hourly, flat fee, contingency, or a mix.
• How do I reach you, and how fast will I hear back?

The first screen of your home page should answer the first and last: "Family law and estate planning in Dayton. Call or send a short message for a consultation." A tappable phone number sits right beside it.

The pages a law firm site needs

Home

Your firm name, your town, the main areas you practice, and the ways to get in touch. A photo of the attorney or attorneys, a short welcome in plain language, and a few lines on how you work with clients.

Practice areas

One page for each area you handle, in words clients use. "Car accidents" before "personal injury"; "Wills and trusts" before "estate planning"; "DUI" next to "OWI" if your state uses the second term. For each page:

• Who you help and with what kinds of matters.
• What the process usually looks like, in a few steps.
• Common questions clients ask in a first call.
• How fees typically work for that kind of matter.
• A clear way to get in touch.

Avoid giving legal advice on these pages. Explain the process in general terms and say that every situation is different. Writing a page for each service explains how to keep these pages distinct from each other.

Attorney profiles

Clients hire a person. Each attorney deserves a page with:

• A recent, natural photo.
• Bar admissions, with the states and federal courts.
• Law school and year, and other education.
• Years in practice and the kinds of matters they handle.
• Board certification, if they hold it, named exactly as the certifying body names it.
• Professional memberships, briefly.
• A short personal paragraph: why they practice this kind of law, where they grew up, what they do outside work.

If you have paralegals and staff who talk to clients, introduce them too. Clients often speak with them more than with the attorney.

Your first consultation

A short page that removes the fear of the first call:

1. How to request a consultation.
2. Whether it is free or paid, and how long it lasts.
3. Whether it is by phone, video or in the office.
4. What to bring: documents, letters, court papers, a timeline of events.
5. What you will cover and what happens next.

Say plainly that a consultation does not create an attorney-client relationship until you both agree to it in writing, if that is how you work.

Fees

You do not have to publish rates, but explain how you charge: contingency for injury cases, flat fees for wills or simple matters, hourly with a retainer for litigation and family law. A plain explanation reassures people who fear the bill more than the case.

Office and contact

Address, parking, which floor, hours, phone, and a contact form. If you meet clients in more than one location, list each with its own details.

Bar rules on advertising

Your website is lawyer advertising, and every state has rules about it, based on but not identical to the American Bar Association's Model Rules. Common areas to check with your state bar before you publish:

• "Specialist" and "expert". Many states restrict these words unless you are certified by an approved body.
• Past results. Some states require a disclaimer that past results do not guarantee a similar outcome, or limit how results may be presented.
• Testimonials and reviews. Some states have specific rules on client testimonials.
• Labels. Some states require pages to be labeled as attorney advertising, or to name the attorney responsible for the content.
• Photos and dramatizations. Rules may apply to actors or staged scenes.

Your state bar's ethics office or website usually has guidance, and many offer an ethics hotline. When in doubt, ask before you publish.

Photos that work

• Real photos of each attorney, taken recently.
• Your actual office: the front door, the conference room where clients meet.
• The building or street, so clients find you.

Skip gavels, scales of justice, stacks of law books and courthouse columns. Every law firm site has them, and they make a firm look distant. A warm, ordinary photo of the lawyer listening to someone across a table tells a stressed client more.

What to leave off

• Words like "aggressive" and "ruthless" unless they truly fit your practice and your clients want that. Most clients in family, estate or elder law want calm, not a fight.
• Long articles that read as legal advice, especially without dates. The law changes, and an old article can mislead.
• Practice areas you rarely handle. A long list looks unfocused and draws calls you will turn away.
• Big promises. "We win" or "maximum compensation" can run against advertising rules and set unrealistic hopes.
• Chat widgets that collect case details before anyone has checked for conflicts.

An intake path that respects confidentiality

Your contact form is where the first real information arrives. Keep it short and careful:

• Ask for name, phone, email, the type of matter, the county, and a brief description.
• Add a plain note above the message box: "Please do not send confidential details here. Sending this form does not make us your lawyers. We will contact you to check for conflicts first."
• Say when you will reply: "We return calls and messages within one business day."
• For urgent matters, such as an arrest or a court date this week, say to call rather than use the form, and make the phone number tappable on every page.

If you offer online scheduling for consultations, link to it clearly. Test the form and make sure messages reach someone every business day; where contact form messages go explains how to check. Keep your firm's name, address and phone the same on your site and your Google Business Profile, so clients do not drive to an old office.

What to do this week

• Put your practice areas, town and phone number on the first screen of your home page.
• Rewrite your practice area names in the words clients use.
• Update each attorney profile with a recent photo and bar admissions.
• Write a short "Your first consultation" page.
• Add the confidentiality note to your contact form and review your pages against your state bar's advertising rules.

If your firm's site is dated or hard to read on a phone, you can see it rebuilt first and decide with the result in front of you. For the photos, using your own photos instead of stock photos has practical tips.