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Law Firm Website, 7 Mistakes That Cost You Clients

Most law firm websites are well made and still lose clients. Usually in the same seven places, and none of them has anything to do with design.

3 min read

Law firm websites rarely fail because of design. They fail in seven places that have to do with structure and language, and almost all of them can be fixed in a manageable amount of time.

Mistake 1, all practice areas on one page

The most expensive mistake. A page headed “Our areas of practice” with eight bullet points competes for not a single one of those areas.

Clients search for their problem. Someone searching “lawyer dismissal deadline” does not find a catch-all page, they find a page about protection against dismissal. Google can only rank what has its own address.

The fix: One page per practice area, each with text that describes the typical client situation. That is work, about a day per area, and it has a stronger effect than anything else on this list.

Mistake 2, the firm talks about itself

“The firm was founded in 1998 and advises clients nationwide on all matters of business law.” That is correct, true and of no interest to a person with a problem.

The fix: The first paragraph of every page describes the client’s situation. The firm’s history belongs on the “About us” page, where it fits and gets read.

Mistake 3, no deadlines mentioned

In many areas of law, deadlines decide whether anything can still be done at all. In Germany that means three weeks for a claim against dismissal, one month for a civil appeal, two weeks for an objection.

If you state that deadline on the practice area page, you give the visitor a reason to call now instead of tomorrow. If you leave it out, you lose them to the firm that states it.

The fix: The deadline in the top third of the page, clearly visible, with a note on when it starts to run.

Mistake 4, the phone number is out of reach

Many clients search on their phone, often in the evening. If the phone number only appears after two screens or cannot be tapped to dial, the person calls the next firm.

The fix: The phone number in the header, dialable with one tap on a phone. That is a ten-minute change.

Mistake 5, stock photos instead of people

Scales, a gavel, a section sign, a stack of books. These images appear on thousands of law firm websites and say nothing.

Clients hire people. A portrait of each lawyer, real and current, is stronger than any symbolic image.

The fix: One photo shoot for the whole firm, €300 to €800, lasts for years.

Mistake 6, not a word about costs

Worry about unpredictable costs keeps more people from calling than any other reason. Almost no law firm website addresses it.

The fix: A paragraph that explains how billing works, what an initial consultation costs and when the RVG, Germany’s statutory fee scale for lawyers, applies. Fixed prices are not necessary, transparency about the system is.

“We represent you in interim relief proceedings” is precise and incomprehensible to the person searching. They do not know that this is exactly their situation.

The fix: Name the legal term and explain it in half a sentence. That helps the reader and your visibility at the same time, because clients search in everyday language.

The order

If you cannot do everything at once, go in this order.

  1. Make the phone number reachable, ten minutes
  2. Write the paragraph on costs, one hour
  3. Add deadlines to the most important practice area pages, one morning
  4. Separate pages per practice area, one day per area
  5. Photo shoot, when the budget is there

The first three points take half a day and fix most of the problem.

Further reading

The complete structure is in the guide on how to build a law firm website, and the numbers are in law firm website cost. All law firm website templates come with separate practice area pages and profiles already built in.

Frequently asked questions

All practice areas on one page. That way the firm competes for none of them, because Google can only rank what has its own address, and clients search for their problem, not for the firm.

Most of them in a few hours. Creating separate practice area pages takes longer, about a day per area including the text, but it has the strongest effect of all seven points.

Fixed prices rarely, but an explanation of billing almost always. A paragraph on the RVG (Germany's statutory fee scale for lawyers), hourly rates and what an initial consultation costs removes the biggest uncertainty and filters out enquiries that are not a fit.

Only with someone clearly responsible for it. A blog with three posts from 2024 does more harm than good. If you want to write, the time is better spent on thorough practice area pages that keep getting found.

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