How to Build a Law Firm Website
Whether you’re starting a business, writing a contract, or handling a personal matter, finding a lawyer can be an intimidating prospect. That’s why thoughtful web design is so crucial for law firms and legal professionals. When stress is high and confusion is likely, great design is essential—a good user experience (UX) can make the difference between landing customers and losing them.
The central challenge of building legal websites is striking the right balance between authority and ease. As a web designer, you want to signal your client’s expertise without overwhelming potential customers. Great legal websites do this masterfully, assuring visitors they’re in good hands. Using sleek design, clear language, and thoughtful cues, they shepherd customers through the process of hiring a lawyer, from discovery to consultation to retainer.
Design for trust and authority
There’s a time and place for bold typography and playful animation. But professionalism is nonnegotiable in the legal field. Your goal isn’t to demonstrate your boldest artistic vision as a designer—it’s to help your legal clients retain loyal customers. The best legal websites signal authority, balancing high-end design with thoughtful restraint.
Favor clean designs that feel professional but unintimidating. Stick to simple layouts, sleek typefaces, streamlined palettes, and keep clutter to a minimum. Legal matters are high-stakes situations, liable to make customers feel stressed or confused. So cut the fluff and put them at ease. Establish clear visual hierarchy so customers always know where to look, and avoid distracting design choices that, while impressive, might keep them from successfully hiring legal help.
Help visitors get to know your client with a welcoming about page. Discuss their areas of expertise, elaborate on their experience, and clarify why someone would want to work with them. Then add a human touch with a great headshot and a few fun facts. Ensure everything is written in clear, concise language. While legalese may sound authoritative, it’s apt to confuse potential customers, so work with your client to translate legal jargon into everyday language.
Back up your client’s biography with social proof, like testimonials, certifications, and accomplishments. If happy customers have left them rave reviews, prominently showcase them on their website (with proper permission). Likewise, display any awards or certifications your client has earned. When permitted, call out specific accomplishments—cases they’ve won, judgments they’ve obtained, patents they’ve filed, or articles they’ve published. These details help your client build credibility while giving visitors a better sense of who they are.
Simplify next steps
Clear calls to action are essential in any industry, but they’re especially important in law. Many people have never hired a lawyer before and aren’t sure what it entails. Great legal websites preempt this confusion, offering a seamless user experience that clarifies next steps at every turn.
Once you’ve introduced potential customers to your client, help them get in touch. Include basic contact information—a phone number and email address—on your client’s about page. Consider adding a contact form to capture even more information. Using custom form fields, you can elicit specifics about why someone is reaching out. Include a dropdown menu of general legal issues, and ask the visitor which ones they need help with. Even basic information can help your client show up to their consultation more prepared.
Remember that customer journeys aren’t always linear. Website visitors may jump between the homepage, about page, blog posts, and more, so ensure your client’s contact information is readily available across the website. Create a contact page with a phone number, email address, contact form, address, and map block. Link the contact page on the website footer so it’s easily accessible from every page. You can also update your client’s Business Information settings to display their contact information and business hours on a mobile information bar at the bottom of mobile device screens.
As a web designer, your goal is to help your legal client retain customers. So reduce friction wherever you can with Acuity Scheduling, which eliminates back-and-forth emails by inviting website visitors to skip straight to booking a consultation with your client. Encourage visitors to use this feature by adding “book a consultation” buttons everywhere you’ve shared contact information. And create a custom intake form to gather the details your client needs to make their initial consultation a success.
Create a thoughtful marketing strategy
Legal web design is about so much more than sleek layouts and seamless navigation. Strong content is essential for creating a great UX. The right content marketing strategy can help your client engage prospective customers, build authority in their field, and reach a wider audience of people interested in their services.
Many legal professionals are already in the habit of creating content. If your client likes to appear on podcasts, write about recent decisions, or teach continued legal education (CLE) courses, showcase that on their website. You can also invite them to demonstrate their expertise through a blog. Do keyword research to identify trending topics and FAQs, and create a content calendar for your client to follow. You can offer this as an ongoing service, checking in periodically to vet the blog’s performance and recommend new subjects for your client to cover.
This approach not only builds credibility with potential customers, but it’s also great for search engine optimization (SEO). Following SEO best practices—optimizing page titles, adding hyperlinks, and regularly updating content—is essential for modern web designers. You can use Squarespace’s built-in AI visibility and SEO tools to audit your client’s website, ensuring you’ve seized every opportunity to increase their reach.
Keep in mind that many law firms are local businesses, so you’ll want to update your client’s Google Business profile, use location-specific keywords, and adhere to other local SEO guidelines. This will help your client show up when people search for lawyers in specific fields or cities. Whether someone has a niche query (“divorce lawyers near me”) or a general FAQ (“how to file a patent”), you want them to find your client and realize they’re the perfect fit.
Streamline your client’s business
Thinking beyond the website is a great way to diversify your web design services and scale your web design business. Focus on your client’s big-picture needs: they want to land and retain customers. Building a great legal website helps them do that, but there are countless other ways to add value.
Consider the entire UX of your client’s business. Customer journeys may start on the website, but they’ll eventually involve in-person meetings and complex contracts. Use Squarespace Invoicing to simplify the payment process by automating recurring bills (great for attorneys on retainer), streamlining receipts, and compiling customer information. You can also create invoices that align with your client’s visual brand, signaling care and consistency through every touchpoint.
Building long-term customer relationships is essential in any business. Once your client has done the hard work of landing a customer, use Email Campaigns to keep them engaged. Share legal news, firm announcements, industry updates, and more. A thoughtfully timed check-in can motivate customers to reach out, generating new business for your client.
Building a website for a lawyer or law firm
As a web designer, your ability to help law firms and legal professionals goes beyond clean layouts, clear typography, and dazzling visuals. Sophisticated branding and user-friendly design are imperative. By enabling supportive features like Acuity Scheduling, Email Campaigns, and Squarespace Invoicing, you can streamline your client’s operations and add real value to their business. Case closed!
Want more?
Check out Squarespace Circle, Squarespace’s program for professional designers and web design agencies. Along with exclusive content, discounts, and other perks, Circle brings professionals together from across the globe to exchange advice while connecting with new clients and collaborators.
