Law firm websites people can read
Someone having a hard week wants to know you handle their problem and how to reach you.
What the home page says
Section by section, in the order a visitor reads it.
Practice areas in plain words
Write “divorce and custody” where you might write “domestic relations.” Someone in trouble searches their problem, so each area you want to be found for deserves its own page.
Who they'll talk to
People hire a person. Give each attorney a real photo, where they're admitted and since when, and the matters they spend their days on. Check your state bar's rules before adding awards or words like specialist.
How fees work
It's the question people are most afraid to ask. Say whether the first talk is free, and whether you charge flat, hourly or on contingency. You don't need figures, only how it works, and your state bar's rules may cover how you word it.
First contact form
Name, phone, email, type of matter and a short note. Say not to send confidential details or documents yet, and add a line that writing to you doesn't make you their lawyer. Check your state bar's rules on that wording.
Where you practice
Name the state you're admitted in, and the counties and courts you're in regularly. Someone one county over needs to know before they call.
Reviews and results
Only if your state bar's rules allow them, and you've checked how. Shingle is built not to write a result you didn't give it, and it can't judge whether a true one is allowed. Leave this out until you've decided.
How they search
- divorce lawyer near me
- family law attorney
- dui lawyer near me
- estate planning attorney
- personal injury lawyer
- criminal defense attorney
- free consultation lawyer
- how much does a divorce lawyer cost
What earns their trust
- Where each attorney is admitted, and since when
- A plain answer on how fees work
- The kinds of matter you take, and the kinds you don't
- A real photo of the attorney they'd meet
- Who calls back, and how soon
- Any notices your state bar's rules call for
How it gets found
What moves a law firm up in a town's results.
Pick the category that fits
Google has Law firm, and narrower ones like Family law attorney and Estate planning attorney. If one kind of case is most of your work, the narrow one matches what those clients search.
Know Google's practitioner rules
Google treats lawyers as individual practitioners. In a firm with several attorneys, the firm gets its own profile, and each public-facing attorney can have one in their own name. A virtual office isn't eligible.
Give each practice area a page
A page on uncontested divorce in Michigan can say what it costs, how long it takes and what to bring. Don't copy it for each town with the name changed, because search engines treat that as spam.
Write up what clients ask
Short posts on how a custody hearing works can answer real searches. Shingle can draft one from what you give it, for 5 credits. It doesn't research the law, so you check every line.
Use LegalService in your markup
Schema.org marks its older Attorney type as deprecated and points to LegalService, which covers law firms. That's the type to use in a firm's structured data.
How to sell one
A small firm sells trust to someone on a bad day, and its website often talks about the firm instead. Many have an old site that reads like a filing, or one tied to a long contract with a legal marketing company. They buy when a partner leaves, the firm renames or they want more of one kind of case.
Rewrite one practice page in plain words and send it on a review link. Lawyers judge words first, and they can comment on any part of a page. Say plainly that they know their state bar's rules better than you do, and that nothing goes live until they approve it.
- “Our state bar has rules about this.”
- It does, and they differ by state, so the firm decides what goes live. You review every page on a link, comment on any part of it and approve it first. I can't promise it meets the rules, which is why your review comes first.
- “Our work comes from referrals.”
- Most people who get your name still look you up before they call. If your site never mentions their kind of case, they go back and ask for another name.
- “We already pay a marketing company.”
- Then ask what happens to your site if you stop. With Shingle, you can download the site's code on the plan, and your domain stays yours. Compare that and the monthly price, then decide.
- “AI-written copy sounds risky for a law firm.”
- It would be if nobody read it. The site is written from the facts you give it, a separate review strips what those facts don't support, and you read every line before it's published. Treat it like a first draft from a new associate.
Common questions
Can't find your answer? Read Shingle Help or email [email protected].
Practice areas in plain words, each attorney with where they're admitted, how fees work, where you practice, and a short first-contact form. Add reviews and past results only if your state bar's rules allow them. A first build in Shingle makes up to six pages, and you can add more by asking.
No. Lawyer advertising rules vary by state, so check your state bar's rules and have the lawyer responsible for your firm's advertising approve the site. Shingle's review holds each line to the facts you gave it, and it doesn't check anything against bar rules. What you publish is yours to answer for.
They shouldn't, and the form can't take files. Answers arrive by email and in your team's inbox, where AI reads each request to draft a reply. Treat the form as a first hello, with a name, a phone number and the type of matter, and move documents and details to the secure channel your firm already uses.
It's built not to. A site is written from what you gave it or what your Google listing holds, and a separate review removes what those facts don't support. It can still get things wrong, so read every line. If you build from your listing, check the rating setting, because your Google rating starts on at 4.0 from 10 reviews.
No. Shingle has no client logins and doesn't take payments, so neither one can live on this site. Keep the portal and payment tools you already use, and link to them from your menu. The site's job is the part before someone becomes a client.
Read next
- Fact-checked websitesBuilt not to invent, and reviewed line by line.
- Client review linksA private link where clients comment on the page.
- Local business schema markupA real example, the properties, and how to test it.
- Local business schema generatorStructured data for your page's head.
- Website formsForms that email you and send each lead where you work.
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