The Ultimate Guide to Website Design for Small Law Firms

When was the last time you used a business website to find information you needed? Odds are, it wasn’t that long ago. In the past week alone, I used one to find an online menu for a restaurant, and another to pull recent information for a document. Yet, small law firm website design doesn’t always get the care it deserves—often leaving potential legal clients with many unanswered questions and uncertainty about their next steps.

In fact, our secret shop—featured in the latest Legal Trends Report—found that less than one-third of shoppers found it easy to get the information they needed from law firm websites. With three-quarters of legal professionals saying they rely on their website as a key marketing tool, many fail to deliver the clarity and accessibility potential clients are looking for.

A good website design for small law firms isn’t a nice to have—it’s a must-have in 2025. The best law firm website can help you generate client leads, help current clients find the right contact info, and even serve as the reason someone chooses your firm over a competitor.

There’s a reason 89% of firms with 2-9 lawyers, and 95% of firms with 10-49 lawyers have a website. But, a website alone isn’t enough. Your site needs to be well-designed and useful, otherwise you risk making a poor impression. And most research suggests you’ve only got a fraction of a second to make a positive impression.

To help you run a smoother, more organized firm, I’ve put together some of my best small law firm website design tips. But first, let’s take a look at why design is so important.

Understanding the importance of website design for small law firms

A well-designed website will do more than turn heads—it can also:

• Help your brand. A website that’s both professional in appearance and intuitive for the user will give a positive first impression of your brand. And, it’ll help reduce your bounce rate (how quickly and often people leave your site without taking an action).
• Drive client acquisition. Clearly labeled navigation and content that guides people through the funnel will help drive leads, giving you more business.
• Reach mobile users. More than half of all web traffic comes from mobile. A well-designed site should be responsive, or capable of working on mobile, allowing you to reach users anywhere.

Key features of an effective small law firm website design

While every website is unique, and should be unique to your firm’s brand, there are still several elements a small law firm website design should contain.

• Contact information. Clients should always be able to easily find your contact info, or be able to fill out an online intake form.
• Practice area. Clearly specify your firm’s speciality, what you can help with, and ultimately whether you’re the right fit for a client.
• Client testimonials. Feature prominent client testimonials on your site to build trust with your audience the moment they land on your site. (95% of people are influenced by reviews!)
• About page. Tell your firm’s story and share your credentials. This humanizes your practice and further establishes trust.
• Attorney bios. Go beyond an about page and share the bios of your attorney’s, offering a personal narrative along with their credentials.
• Navigational structure. Make sure your site is easy to navigate, with clearly-labeled headers, a logical navigation structure, and readily available answers to common questions.
• Integration of legal technology. Enhance the service your firm offers with legal technology, including online intake forms, scheduling tools, and Google Local Service Ads to help drive awareness.
• Conversion-driven features. A huge benefit of a well-designed site is that it will help drive leads. Make sure it’s conversion-driven, with prominent calls-to-action (CTAs), live chat availability, and readily available contact forms. If you have quality content, like blogs or articles, make sure those are easy to find, too!

Only 30% of potential legal clients find what they’re looking for on law firm websites. That means a thoughtfully designed website can set your small firm apart—by building trust and answering client questions upfront. A clear layout, helpful content, and intuitive navigation can make all the difference.

Your site is all about the client. Remember: At the end of the day, your website’s design should never get in the way of their experience.

Custom vs. template designs: What’s best for your firm?

When it comes to websites, you have two options: a custom site or a templated design.

Custom sites

A custom website is one that’s built specifically for your law firm. If you don’t have an in-house team capable of doing so, you’ll have to hire a law firm design team. The cost can vary greatly depending on who you hire and the amount of work required.

While a custom site will almost always cost more than a templated site, it does come with the benefit of having a unique site. Furthermore, a custom site can likely do exactly what you want it to do: custom intake forms and processes, about pages that match your branding 1:1, and so on.

As a small law firm, cost will be one of the biggest considerations. Think about what your firm can afford, and whether a custom site is a must-have, or nice to have.

Templated sites

A templated site is one built from an existing template. These typically don’t require a high degree of technical knowledge, meaning there’s a chance you or someone in your firm could do it. Because of this, they’re also more affordable than custom sites.

A downside is that a templated site often looks templated to a degree. But, you can still usually customize it to contain your branding, including any logos and colors. And with a templated design, especially a trusted attorney website template, you can rest assured it will work on mobile devices.

How to optimize your small law firm website for search engines

A small law firm website design needs to be optimized for search engines, otherwise you’ll have to rely solely on paid search (which can become expensive over time). Fortunately, there are steps you can take to get your site started on the right, optimized foot.

Utilize keyword research

Use reputable SEO tools and practices to research keywords in the legal space. Find those that are both appropriate for your firm’s practice area(s) and your audience, but also not too difficult to rank for.

New to SEO? Don’t worry. This guide can get you started.

Follow on-page best practices

Creating helpful content is key—but it also needs to be easy to find. Here’s how to make sure your content is optimized so you show up in search engines:

• Start strong with your keyword: Include your target keyword in the title and opening paragraph to signal relevance to search engines.
• Write for people, not just algorithms: Focus on clarity and value. Answer the questions your audience is actually asking.
• Use headers to guide the reader: Organize your content with H2s and H3s to improve readability and keyword relevance.
• Optimize your metadata: A clear, concise meta title and description can boost your visibility and click-through rates.
• Add internal links: Point readers to related pages or blog posts to keep them engaged and on your site longer.
• Keep content current: Refresh outdated information regularly to stay accurate and competitive in search results.

Learn more in our piece on website content for law firms.

Leverage local SEO

Local SEO is similar to SEO in general, but tailored to your local area. To sum it up, local SEO focuses on optimizing your online presence for location-based searches like “family lawyer near me.” We’ve got a great guide on that, here.

On top of your local SEO efforts, you can incorporate Google Local Services Ads. While these cost money, they’ll help you get an initial boost and put your firm in front of those in your area.

Why choose Clio for your law firm website design

With the Clio website builder for law firms, you can build a professional, high quality site in no time. On top of this, there are numerous additional benefits with the Clio site builder.

• Make it your own. Numerous customizable templates to choose from.
• Reduce administrative burdens. Clio integrations can automate appointment bookings, streamline lead generation and intake, and smooth out your payment process.
• Scale with Clio Grow. Capture leads that visit your site and automate your entire client intake journey.
• Simplified billing. The site builder is included with the Clio Complete subscription, meaning there’s no added monthly hosting fees to worry about.

With the Clio law firm website design suite, you can benefit from a professional site that’s still all your own. And, it’s backed by Clio’s support and platform, giving you and your clients security and peace of mind.

Final thoughts on website design for small law firms

A quality small law firm website will help your practice attract new clients, build lasting relationships, establish your brand’s reputation, and ultimately grow your business. While there’s some initial setup to tackle, a proper website design will have a high ROI in the long run.

The Clio law firm website builder offers a number of templates, all built specifically for the legal industry. This allows you to get your site up and running quickly, while resting assured it’s built for your profession.

Best approach to small-firm websites and SEO?

When building a website for small law firms, standard SEO best practices still apply. When writing keyword-focused content, you should always focus on terms that make the most sense for your audience and topic, avoid keyword stuffing, and link to your related content when possible.

Which is the best law firm website design?

The best law firm website design is one that’s professional, user-friendly, lead optimized, and tailored to your brand.

How to build a law firm website

You can build a law firm website using a template, or from the ground up as a truly customized effort. If you go the latter route, you’ll need someone comfortable working with a content management system, scripting, and design.

What is a legal website template?

A legal website template is a pre-designed layout built for legal professionals, with easy-to-add sections or pages to add information on your practice area, services, attorneys bios, contact forms, testimonials, and more. It’s designed to help you launch quickly, stay compliant, and make it simple for potential clients to find and trust you online.

We published this blog post in April 2025. Last updated: April 21, 2025.

Posted in: Marketing