A great law firm website removes guesswork and gets fundamentals right. This checklist covers the essentials every firm needs to turn its website into a trust-building digital asset.
Whether you are a marketing professional at a law firm or a senior partner, I invite you to imagine yourself in the digital shoes of your target audience. When a potential client lands on your firm’s website, do they instantly know what your firm does, what makes it different, and why they should trust your legal experts? Or do they get bored by vague legalese and generic messaging?
Many law firms, in their attempt to chase the fanciest possible version of their site, get distracted from the real purpose of this digital property: to build trust, fast. And trust is not built through design gimmicks.
So here’s a practical checklist to make sure your website supports your firm’s growth and helps build trust with your target audience.
1. Strong positioning
Why should someone choose you over another law firm? This is the single most important question your website should answer. Clear positioning helps differentiate your firm and pre-qualify prospective clients.
2. A clear, authoritative voice
A strong brand voice builds confidence. Don’t try to fit in and sound like every other firm on the market by using generic legal jargon. Communicate your firm’s personality through clear, direct language.
3. A thought leadership section
There are numerous benefits to regularly publishing insights: it showcases your firm’s expertise, improves your site’s visibility in search engines, and, perhaps most importantly, gives prospective clients a sense of how your firm thinks.
4. Easy navigation
Keep your menu simple and intuitive. Don’t overwhelm visitors with too many options. Make it easy to find the most important sections of your site – your services, contact information, and team.
5. Detailed profiles of legal experts
In service-based industries, what you’re really selling is expertise. That expertise lives in your people – your greatest asset.
While listing your legal experts’ qualifications is important, do try to make the profiles a bit less stiff. Perhaps highlight the deals and types of clients each lawyer has the most experience with. Give prospective clients a sense of how they approach their work and what it’s like to engage with this person.
6. Clear practice areas
Don’t bury this information. Make your practice areas front and center, ideally with individual pages explaining how you help clients in each category.
7. Conversion points
Not everyone is ready to contact your firm on their first visit. So give your visitors a low-commitment way to stay connected – e.g., signing up for your newsletter or downloading a helpful guide.
The goal is to build a relationship with that user. Aim to grow your network over time with relevant insights and updates. It’s a way to stay top of mind and gradually convert interest into clients.
8. Social proof
Social proof goes a long way. Even short testimonials (with permission) help validate your firm’s credibility. Another impactful way to display social proof is by highlighting the deals and cases your firm has handled.
9. Mobile-optimized design
Make sure your site looks clean and loads quickly on all devices. Keep in mind that as of 2025, mobile devices account for 63.58% of all website traffic (Source: statcounter).
10. Fast loading
A slow site unnecessarily hurts user experience. It feels outdated and unprofessional. Optimize images, scripts, and hosting to make sure your site loads quickly.
11. Local SEO
A large volume of legal searches is local. Make sure your firm is listed on Google Business Profile. Ensure consistency in your firm’s name, address, and contact information across directories.
12. Accessibility compliance
Design your site with accessibility in mind. This means readable fonts, clear structure (H1, H2, H3 headers), alt text on images, keyboard navigation support, sharp color contrasts, and so on. As of this month, accessibility compliance is mandatory.
13. Privacy policy and disclaimers
These aren't just legal formalities. They build trust, protect your firm, and show that you take compliance seriously.
14. Analytics, tracking, and GDPR compliance
Tools like Google Analytics can provide you with insights on what’s working, what’s not, and where to focus your marketing. Just make sure you’ve set up proper cookie consent and tracking notices to stay compliant with GDPR and other privacy regulations.
15. Secure hosting and backups
Be proactive in protecting your client data and firm’s reputation. Ensure your site is HTTPS-secure, regularly updated, and backed up in case of a crash or hack.
16. Clean, polished design
As mentioned, visual gimmicks don’t do much for trust-building. A clean, well-structured layout, on the other hand, is a must. Use consistent fonts, spacing, and visuals. Avoid clutter. Focus on creating a pleasant, intuitive user experience.
Use this checklist as a foundation and revisit it regularly as your firm grows and changes.
By Saida Ayupova, Founder, Five-o-eight