Best Law Firm Websites in 2022

Were you looking for a list of the best websites for lawyers in 2022? This is not that post. Wondering what the best websites for attorneys do right in 2022? You’re in the right place.

Why Should a Law Firm Have a Website?

People expect to find information about you and your law firm online. According to the ABA Tech Report 2021, since 2018, the number of law firms that have a website has climbed from 77% to 94% in 2021. Legal websites are the cornerstone of a good web presence. It’s a necessity if you want a competitive law firm—with all opportunities for people to learn about your business. 

Some might argue for other legal marketing tools in place of a law firm website. Blogs, Facebook business pages, and Google business profiles are commonly suggested as replacements for websites. While each of these tools can serve a role in a firm’s digital marketing strategy, none of them can replace a law firm’s website.

What Makes a Good Law Website?

 A “good” law website achieves the goals of communicating with and securing clients. Too many websites are judged from the subjective vantage point of the lawyer, the web design agency, or a website award company. There’s nothing inherently wrong with these approaches; however, the intended goal should not be impressing the lawyer, stroking the ego of the law firm website design company, or winning an award. 

Most lawyers want their websites to achieve a marketing goal. Ideally, to position their legal services to motivate potential clients to find, contact, and hire them.

What is The Goal of a Law Firm Website?

There isn’t a single “correct” goal for a law firm website. However, if you’re going to invest time and money into a website, the goals should be tied to meaningful business objectives. These include:

• Attracting potential clients and converting them into new clients.
• Reducing friction for people seeking your contact information.
• Educating website visitors on your firm’s expertise.
• Answering frequently asked questions (FAQ) about your firm or practice area.

No matter the intended goals for a law firm website, it should be designed to deliver a remarkable user experience to visitors.

How do I Create a Law Office Website?

Creating a law firm website is fairly straightforward if you are somewhat technically inclined. At the most basic level, there are three main components:

• Domain registration – the address where your law firm website can be found.
• Hosting – where your website is housed.
• Content management system (CMS) – the software used to publish your website.

Choosing a domain should not be done flippantly. Your domain will form the first impression for your referrals. It’s likely to appear prominently in various marketing collateral, including business cards and email addresses. When selecting a domain, you should consider:

• Firm name and trade names
• Practice and geographic modifiers
• Competitive landscape
• Availability
• Brand positioning

Avoid economy-class hosting. Choose a reliable host that won’t slow your pages down. Select an experienced, managed WordPress host (WPEngine) if you choose WordPress.

Own your online presence, including your website and content management system. If your law firm website will play a significant role in your online marketing strategy, you should consider the following when choosing a CMS:

• Is the CMS supported by a robust developer community?
• Does it have extensive theme options (free, premium, and custom website templates)?
• Does it have extensive integrations and plugins (extending functionality)?
• Is it highly configurable for search engine optimization (SEO) options?

Ask many questions about how your site will be secured, backed up, and maintained. You should also understand some technical aspects of hosting and CMS options related to user experience (site speed, mobile-friendliness, responsive design, contact form integrations, etc.).

All of these decisions in building a new website will play a vital role in your ability to attract and convert prospective clients.

Should I Create My Law Office Website?

Asked another way, is your time best spent building a website?

Legal marketing is highly competitive. It might be worth hiring an expert who has experience designing and developing websites for lawyers. If you decide to research attorney website companies, here are some questions to ask in pursuit of developing the best law website:

• Do you have experience building law firm websites for practices like mine? There is a big difference between building an estate planning website in a rural area and a personal injury website in New York.
• Can you share examples of law website design projects you’ve completed in the past?
• Can you share some case studies from other sites you’ve built? These should highlight performance metrics like the cost per client acquisition or other business objectives.
• Will I own my domain, content management system, and content? I’d be very wary of companies that license content to you. What happens when you want to make a change?
• Will you optimize my website for search engines? Many law firm web design projects don’t include experienced SEO experts during the design and development phase.

You should also inquire about their knowledge of relevant rules of professional conduct. Marketing a law office is not the same as marketing a pizza shop. Make sure they understand what is allowed from a marketing standpoint in your jurisdiction.

What are Best Practices for Legal Websites?

What works for one law firm website might not work for another. Nonetheless, there are some characteristics that the best law office websites seem to share. Here are a few that I regularly encounter:

• Effectively position the firm’s expertise.
• Communicate the firm’s practice areas.
• Make it easy to find information about the lawyers at the firm.
• Make it easy to see contact information (phone numbers, contact forms, live chat, etc.).
• Publish client testimonials (where permitted).
• Publish content worth consuming, sharing, and linking. 
• Integrate various media formats (imagery, video, animations, audio, etc.).
• Have pages that load in about a second.
• Meet accessibility standards.
• Render correctly across devices (desktops, smartphones, and tablets).
• Have clear calls to action (CTA).
• Integrate social media.

Positioning Your Law Firm’s Website

The most crucial aspect of building a law firm website or marketing a law firm is positioning. You should know who you help, how you help them, and how you are uniquely qualified to help.

Many law firms miss this key concept. They tend to focus their marketing efforts on their experience, how hard they fight, and the practice areas they generally serve. While these points are important, they don’t help the firm stand out. Everyone has over a hundred years of combined experience, fights hard, and lists their practice areas.

You are not your target audience. If you don’t research your life-legal issues, use the target audience’s language, or consider how they look for lawyers, why build a website?

Good websites for attorneys start by listing aspects of your practice that are truly unique. Maybe you’re one of the only firms that can offer a free consultation or competitive pricing advantage. Perhaps you have had some unique life experience that is more likely to resonate with your target audience. Maybe you have a passion or share an affinity that is more likely to spark some emotion with your next client. 

People hire lawyers, not logos. They hire people they know, like, and above all, trust. Help your audience know you better. Build a website that showcases why you do what you do, how you do it, and why no one else can be you. Build your law firm website with that in mind, and it will deliver on your firm’s business objectives.

Need help with your website? Let MyCase assist you. 

Gyi Tsakalakis helps lawyers grow their practices online. As a non-practicing lawyer, Gyi is familiar with the unique considerations of ethically and effectively marketing a law practice online. He founded AttorneySync to provide lawyers with more effective, transparent, and accountable digital legal marketing results. He proudly serves as a Co-Chair of ABATECHSHOW 2023 and hopes to see you there. He is passionate about Michigan football, coffee, and stoicism.