Ask ten small law firms what their website should include and you will get ten lists of pages. Ask their customers and you get a much shorter answer: what you do, where you work, what it costs and how to reach you. This guide fills in the detail behind that short answer.
Start with the questions individuals and small business owners facing a specific legal event are asking
Before a single page is designed, list the searches that bring people to a law firm: things like conveyancer [your suburb] fixed fee, family lawyer near me and wills and power of attorney lawyer. These searches are usually made by someone comparing two or three businesses. The site has to make the comparison easy: what you do, what it costs, why you are the safer choice. Every page that follows should answer one of those questions directly.
The pages that do the work
A legal practice website does not need twenty pages. It needs these, done properly:
- a homepage that says what you do, where you work and how to contact you without scrolling
- a services page or section covering conveyancing and property law, wills and estate planning, family law and small business contracts
- a contact page with phone, email, hours and a map
- a page per practice area written for a worried person, not a colleague
- a fees page distinguishing fixed-fee matters from hourly work
- a 'what happens first' page describing the first appointment
If you are starting with a one-page site, fold the first three into sections and add the others as separate pages when there is something specific to say.
Trust signals small law firms cannot skip
People are about to let you into their home, their business or their finances, and they are deciding from a screen. The details that reassure them are specific: practising certificates and the state law society, fixed fees where you can offer them, plain-English explanations of each process and the people: names, photos and areas of practice. Put them where they are seen — near the top of the page and again beside the contact form — rather than buried in an about page.
Prices, or at least the shape of them
Fixed fees for conveyancing and simple wills should be on the site. For hourly matters, explain how estimates and cost agreements work. Missing prices do not make you look premium; they make people assume you are the most expensive option and move on.
Photos that prove you are real
For a law firm, the right photos are the solicitors themselves in the office; avoid gavels and scales of justice, which mean nothing to clients. Stock imagery is recognised instantly and quietly undermines everything else on the page. Shoot on a phone in good light, keep the framing simple, and compress the files before uploading so the site stays fast.
One clear next step
Decide what you want a visitor to do and make it the most obvious thing on every page. For most small law firms that means 'request a call back' with a short form asking what the matter is about. One primary action beats four competing buttons.
A ten-minute self-check
- Open the site on a phone and time how long it takes to find your phone number and the suburbs you serve.
- Search conveyancer [your suburb] fixed fee and see whether the page that appears answers that question.
- Count the stock photos and plan to replace them with your own.
- Check that prices or price ranges appear for at least your most common jobs.
- Confirm hours and contact details match your Google Business Profile exactly.
Common questions
Can a law firm publish fees?
Yes, within your professional rules. Fixed-fee conveyancing and will packages are common and clients expect to see them.
What should a practice area page contain?
The situation the client is in, the steps, the timeline, what it typically costs and who at the firm handles it.
Do I need a .com.au domain?
For an Australian business, .com.au signals you are local and requires an ABN, which customers and search engines both read as a trust signal. Keep the .com too if you already own it.
If you would like a second opinion on your current site, send the URL through the contact page and we will reply with three practical fixes. New builds start at $499 for a one-page site and $999 for a site with service pages — see pricing.
