Must-Have Website Features for Attorneys

Websites have gone from something nice for attorneys to have, to an essential tool for firms of every size. The first meaningful contact a prospective client has with your firm is likely to be through your website, whether they were searching online for an attorney or checking out your firm after it was recommended to them. 

In other words, your website is often what creates a visitor’s first impression of your firm—and you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Think of your website as an ambassador for your firm. By equipping it properly, you give it the tools it needs to attract your practice’s target clients with your law firm. 

What does it mean to equip your website to do its job well? Let’s take a look at some of the must have website features for a law firm. But first, let’s consider how and why those features add value to your website.

What Are the Essential Elements of a Good Website Design?

It should go without saying, but your website isn’t about you; it’s about your audience, especially prospective clients. It’s important to frame the discussion of law firm website must-have features through the lens of client needs. 

Diego Aguirre, Creative Director at The Modern Firm, observes that a good way to approach a discussion of the essential elements of an attorney website design is to look first at what a prospective client is looking for from a website, then to consider what features might best respond to that. 

In general, Diego notes, some of the things people wonder about when they come to a law firm website are:

• Credibility. Is this law firm legitimate, reputable, and effective?

• Peace of Mind. Can this law firm give me peace about the outcome of my legal matter and the legal process? Is it easy to work with them, or frustrating?

• Authority. Is this law firm a knowledgeable authority in their practice area? Can I trust their advice?

• Relatability. Does this lawyer or team make me feel seen, heard, and understood as a person? Do they feel authentic and genuine to me?

Law firm website visitors may not explicitly articulate these things. But when they visit a website that responds to these needs, they are more likely to have a positive user experience. The good news is that there are many website features that give visitors a positive first impression of your law firm. 

What Features Matter Most on Attorney Websites

Having the latest bells and whistles on your website may look cool and even signal that your law firm is cutting-edge. But if they don’t meet your users’ basic needs, like the ones above, they won’t convert visitors into clients. Here are some of the top features for attorney websites.

A Well-Designed Hero Section

The hero section is the large, prominent area at the top of the website’s homepage. It’s typically the first thing a visitor sees when they land there. Diego likens the hero section on a website to a billboard on a highway, or a full-page magazine ad. It’s valuable real estate, and you should use it to your firm’s best advantage.

Some lawyers feel like the hero section is too much space and want to do away with it; others want to stuff it with content, given its prominent location. A cluttered hero section can overwhelm website visitors and create the sense that working with your firm will be a chaotic experience. 

Diego advises that the hero section is the first place to establish and deliver on the firm’s brand promise. That can be done with a bold headline or tagline, perhaps a subheadline, a call-to-action, and carefully-selected visuals that build credibility and trust. 

Meaningful Attorney Profiles

Attorney profiles are some of the most-visited pages on law firm websites, and for good reason. They showcase a lawyer’s accomplishments and knowledge, as well humanize the attorney—especially important in consumer-facing practices like family law, personal injury, and estate planning. Don’t make the mistake of thinking your profile is a throwaway page; it’s a golden opportunity to connect with clients.

Because they are so powerful in establishing attorneys as credible authorities and trustworthy advisors, there are very few law firm websites that don’t feature attorney biographies. In practices where support staff have a lot of client contact, it is often helpful to have staff profiles on the website, too; they help clients feel that they know who they will be working with. Remember that people hire people–not resumes or skill sets.

Social Proof

Your website, naturally, talks about what your law firm does well. That’s to be expected, and for that reason, readers are likely to take its claims with a grain of salt. But the good things other people say about you—now, that’s a different story. That is social proof, and it makes visitors to your website think, “If this person trusts this attorney, maybe I can too.”

The internet has made it easier than ever to learn what other people think of goods and services they have used, and most of us turn to reviews before making a purchasing decision—especially when that decision is high-stakes and there’s no opportunity to “try before you buy.” Sharing social proof on your website—like client testimonials (including video testimonials) and Google reviews—helps prospective clients see themselves in your previous satisfied clients, and imagine that you will be able to help them, too. 

Substantive Practice Area Pages

Most people looking at attorney websites want to know, above all else, whether that law firm can help them resolve a concern. A well-crafted practice area page answers that question. It makes clear what services the firm offers, and can explain why a visitor might choose this particular law firm over others. A prospective client should be able to look at a practice area page and see their needs reflected there. 

A solid practice area page has a clear and specific page title to establish relevance, speaks to the client’s pain points, shows how the firm can help, and offers clear next steps, including a call to action.

Calls to Action

You might think that if someone is visiting a law firm website, their natural next action would be to keep reading, and ultimately, contact the firm. But more often than you’d imagine, they need to be guided to do so.

Calls to action, or CTAs, are the guides that encourage visitors to do certain things on your website: learn more about your services, download valuable resources, or schedule a consultation. Remember: people visiting a law firm website are often worried about what to do next. By providing clear, well-placed CTAs, your attorney website removes ambiguity and helps visitors feel confident about next steps.

Common calls to action for law for websites include “Schedule a free consultation” or “Download our free ebook.” Practice area pages should almost always have a CTA at their conclusion.

Sound Content Strategy

As mentioned above, credibility and authority are important to law firm website visitors. One great way to establish yourself as a trustworthy resource is to provide useful content for your readers. Your practice area pages are one part of that strategy. 

Another critical part of your content strategy is your blog. A well-designed blog gives your readers information on subjects that are of interest to them, while also allowing you to showcase your in-depth knowledge of your areas of practice. Articles might include recent legal developments or new case law, FAQs about your practice areas, success stories or case studies, or simply helpful tips, such as “Talking to Your Kids About Divorce” or “ How to Prepare for a Meeting with an Estate Planning Attorney.”

As we often say at The Modern Firm, "Content is king." It's not enough just to have content on your website: it needs to be original, relevant, engaging, and build trust by showing visitors that you have the skill and knowledge to help them with their problems.

Mobile Responsive Design

More than ever, visitors come to attorney websites from mobile devices like phones and tablets. If your website is difficult to use on those devices, users may not stick around long enough to find out how you can help them. Mobile responsive design ensures that your website looks and functions properly from any device, making users’ lives a little easier, and subtly signaling to them that working with your law firm will do the same.

Convenient Contact Options

If you have created a website that is engaging, easy to use, and useful to your visitors, you have gone a long way toward meeting those basic needs listed above. When there’s nothing left for the user to do but contact you, push the ball across the goal line by making it easier for them to do just that. 

As Diego Aguirre points out, “It's a really good practice to account for as many types of behaviors of website consumption. Not everybody consumes websites the same way, especially if you're dealing with a multi-generational audience.” Some people prefer the immediate response of a phone call. Others are hesitant to discuss their concerns on the phone, and prefer the ease of a webform. Others don’t trust forms, and are more comfortable with email. Still others prefer live chat.

If you are able to make multiple contact options available and easy to use, your website visitors are more likely to take that final step and reach out to you.

Setting Your Website Up for Success with The Modern Firm

You have something unique to offer the people considering your services. Your attorney website should be a conduit that makes it easier for them to learn about them and get them. If your site could use a little help maximizing some of these law firm website must-have features, or you’d just like to learn more about small changes that can make a big impact on your site, let’s touch base.