What the best small law firm websites do differently

The best small law firm websites are not the most attractive. They answer the visitor's real questions (what it costs, how long it takes, what happens next), make contacting the firm easy at any hour, show proof such as reviews and the SRA badge, and are backed by a firm that replies quickly. If your site gets visits but not enquiries, look at those four things before a redesign.

This post is part of our guide to how law firms get clients. It looks at the site from the point of view of somebody who runs conversion funnels for a living, where the question is never "does it look good?" but "what share of the people who arrive do the thing we want, and what happens to them next?"

Why does a law firm website get visits but no enquiries?

Usually for one of five reasons:

• The page does not answer the question the visitor arrived with. They searched "how much does probate cost" and landed on a page about the firm's heritage.
• Contacting the firm takes effort. A phone number hidden in the footer, a long form, no sign of when someone will reply.
• There is no reason to trust the firm yet. No reviews, no names or faces, no sign of regulation.
• The visitor is not ready to call. They are shopping around and need something to take away, such as clear price information.
• The firm does not answer. The site did its job, the visitor rang or filled in the form, and nothing happened until the next day.

The last one is the one analytics never shows. A website report counts form submissions and clicks on the phone number. It does not count the calls that rang out at 6pm. That is why a website review should always include a check of what happens after contact.

What do prospective clients look for on a law firm website?

The Legal Services Consumer Panel's 2025 tracker asked people who shopped around what they compared before choosing. Price came first (56 per cent), then reputation (48 per cent), then the location of an office (31 per cent), with independent verification of the quality of the service at 27 per cent. It also found that 57 per cent of people who received a recommendation still looked for more information about the provider before contacting them.

So a small firm's website has to do three jobs for a visitor who may already have heard of it: confirm the price is within reach, confirm the firm is reputable, and make it easy to take the next step.

What must a law firm website include under SRA rules?

The SRA Transparency Rules set some requirements, summarised here from the published rules. Check the rules themselves and your COLP for your firm's position.

• Price information for certain services (rule 1.3 for individuals and 1.4 for businesses). These include residential conveyancing, uncontested probate, some immigration work, some motoring offences, and certain employment tribunal claims, among others.
• What that price information must cover (rule 1.5), including the total cost or a range, the basis of the charges, likely disbursements, VAT, what is included, the key stages and timescales, and the experience of the people doing the work.
• Complaints information (rule 2.1), including how and when a complaint can be made to the Legal Ombudsman and the SRA.
• The SRA number and digital badge (rule 4.1), displayed prominently.

We cover the link between price transparency and enquiries in more detail in SRA price transparency rules and enquiries. Separately, paragraph 8.8 of the SRA Code of Conduct requires that publicity about the firm's services is accurate and not misleading.

What do the best small law firm websites have in common?

Looking at small firm sites the way a conversion auditor would, the ones that work tend to share a pattern:

• One page per service, written for the client rather than the firm, with the price information on the page rather than in a PDF.
• A phone number at the top of every page, clickable on mobile.
• A short form, asking only what the firm needs to call back, with a line saying when that will happen.
• Names and faces of the people who will actually handle the matter.
• Reviews from real clients, earned lawfully. See Google reviews for solicitors.
• Plain answers to common questions on each service page.
• Clear signs of regulation: the SRA badge, complaints information.
• A fast site on a phone, because visitors increasingly are on one.

None of these needs a large budget. Most are content decisions.

A 15-point checklist for law firm website conversion

Open your site on a phone, pretend you are a client with a real problem, and check each point.

• 1. Can I see a phone number without scrolling?
• 2. Does tapping it start a call?
• 3. Can I find the service I need in two taps?
• 4. Does the service page tell me roughly what it costs?
• 5. Does it tell me how long it takes and what the stages are?
• 6. Does it tell me who will do the work?
• 7. Is there a form, and is it five fields or fewer?
• 8. Does the form tell me when I will hear back?
• 9. Can I see reviews from real clients?
• 10. Is the SRA digital badge visible?
• 11. Is the complaints information easy to find?
• 12. Does the page load quickly on mobile data?
• 13. If I ring now, outside office hours, what happens?
• 14. If I fill in the form now, how long until a human replies?
• 15. Does the page say anything a client would not understand without legal training?

Points 13 and 14 are the ones most website checklists leave out. They are also the ones with the most money attached.

A worked example: the website that was not the problem

Invented numbers, for illustration. A hypothetical firm's site receives 2,000 visits a month to its service pages and produces 60 enquiries: 40 phone calls and 20 forms. The partners assume the site is underperforming and get a quote for a redesign.

Before commissioning it, they run a fortnight's check. Of the 40 calls, 12 arrived outside office hours or at lunchtime and reached voicemail; 3 of those callers left a message. Of the 20 forms, 8 arrived in the evening or at weekends and were answered the next working day or later. Across those 20 poorly handled enquiries, 2 instructed. Across the 40 handled promptly, 12 did.

On those numbers, the site is producing enquiries at a reasonable rate. The loss is after the enquiry. If the 20 were handled like the 40, the firm might expect around 6 instructions from them rather than 2. A redesign would not have changed that. Covering the phone and replying to forms promptly would.

Should a small law firm website have a chatbot or live chat?

It depends on what problem it solves. If the gap is visitors arriving out of hours, a chat tool can capture them, but it raises questions of accuracy, disclosure and data protection that the SRA has written about. We weigh them up in should a law firm website have a chatbot?. Often the more direct fix is making sure the phone is answered, since some visitors would rather ring.

How do you measure whether your website is working?

Four numbers, reviewed monthly:

• Enquiries per 100 visits to service pages, split by phone and form.
• Time to first human reply for form enquiries.
• Missed-call rate for calls that came from the website, if your call tracking can separate them.
• Instructions from website enquiries, which requires recording source when a matter is opened.

The last one is the one that matters. For how to generate and keep more leads across all channels, see how to generate leads for a law firm.

What should a law firm contact form ask?

Fewer things than most do. A contact form is not an intake form; its only job is to let the firm call back with some idea of what the enquiry is about. A good default:

• Name.
• Phone number, and whether it is safe to leave a message.
• Email address.
• What it is about, as a short drop-down of the firm's services plus "other".
• A free-text box, optional, with a note not to include anything they would not want written down.

Then one sentence under the button, and it must be true: when a person will reply. "We reply to every enquiry within one working hour, 9am to 5.30pm" sets an expectation the firm can meet. "We will be in touch shortly" on a Friday evening does not.

Anything more, such as dates, the other side's name for conflict checks, or funding, belongs in the first conversation, where a person can explain why it is being asked.

Does a law firm website need a blog?

Not before it has good service pages. A blog is useful when it answers questions prospective clients actually type, and when each post leads the reader to the relevant service page and a way to get in touch. It is much less useful as a stream of firm news.

A practical starting point is to ask whoever picks up the phone for the five questions they hear most often, and write one clear article for each. Those articles tend to attract exactly the visitors who are about to need the firm. Keep them accurate and dated, and review them when the law or the firm's prices change, since publicity must not be misleading under the SRA Code of Conduct.

Where WasilX fits

Checklist points 13 and 14 are what Cam, our AI Engagement Coordinator, is for on the phone side. Cam takes calls on the firm's line at any hour, says it is AI, asks the firm's own qualifying questions, books the call back and sends the firm a summary. If your site is producing calls your team cannot always take, we would be glad to talk.

Frequently asked questions

What makes a good small law firm website? Clear answers to what a service costs, how long it takes and who does the work, easy contact from every page, visible reviews and regulation, and a firm that replies quickly to what the site produces.

Why is my law firm website not generating enquiries? Common reasons are pages that do not answer the visitor's question, contact that takes effort, no visible proof, or enquiries that arrive out of hours and are not answered. Check what happens after contact before redesigning.

What does the SRA require on a law firm website? The SRA Transparency Rules require price information for certain services, complaints information, and the firm's SRA number and digital badge. Check the rules and your COLP for your firm's position.

Should a law firm put prices on its website? For the services listed in the SRA Transparency Rules it is required. For other services many firms find clear price guidance helps, since price is what shoppers compare most, according to the Legal Services Consumer Panel.