For business lawyers, referrals still reign supreme for generating new business leads – but it’s what happens next that can put small firms and boutiques at a disadvantage.
After receiving a referral, clients of all types look to scout these recommendations online. This includes:
Unfortunately, many small firm websites fail to reflect the caliber of the lawyers they represent – and many small firms lose business with websites that do not match the polish or substance of their Big Law counterparts.
But it doesn’t take Big Law resources to have a website that validates referrals, attracts first-time visitors, and converts both into profitable clients. Indeed, large law firms have perfected a number of best practices that can be deployed (affordably!) by small firms looking to build a more competitive online presence.
Step One: Build a separate page for every practice area (and specific subpractices).
Many small law firms post all of their specialties on one page, such as “What We Do.” (Or take a more spartan approach and have everything on just one solitary page, a home page that is the entire site.)
Consider the country’s highest-grossing law firm, Kirkland & Ellis. The firm lists 88 practice areas, ranging from the general “Litigation” to the uber-specific “M&A Litigation.”
This not only makes it very easy for human visitors to scan and search, it helps the firm rank higher with search engines. While algorithms vary, search engines reward subject-matter expertise. This becomes easier to demonstrate with pages like M&A Litigation, where you can have a specific title (“M&A Litigation” vs. “What We Do”) and weave related keywords throughout the text (“corporate governance,” “deal structures,” “proxy contests”). The robots can quickly assess this page and rate it as an authority on the subject – then serve it up to users seeking “M&A litigation lawyers” or the like.
No one searches for “what we do.”
Break out your services into clear, intuitive sections, and create individual pages for each. (Hint: If you do not have enough experience in a given area for three paragraphs and three representative matters, incorporate it elsewhere.)
Step Two: Add industry pages that relate to your clientele.
Far too many law firm websites are all about the lawyers themselves; while they provide great detail about their legal qualifications and triumphs, they fail to show they understand their client base.
In recent years, many Big Law firms have added Industry pages to better connect with business leaders in given sectors. For example, Latham & Watkins, the country’s second-highest-grossing law firm, has 15 specific industry pages. While some are stalwarts of corporate law (Financial Institutions, Insurance), others are quite niche (Fintech, Video Gaming & esports).
These Industry initiatives are sparked by a simple truth: Your clients are far more likely to self-identify as a member of their given industry (Energy, Retail, Healthcare) than as a prospective litigation client. They want to see that you know their business, and they want to see that you’ve handled problems like theirs before.
What are the industries where your lawyers are bona fide experts? Do not try to be everything to everyone (after all, Latham has 3,450 lawyers and just 15 industry pages), but choose a select few to showcase on your site.
Step Three: Create lawyer biographies that close new engagements.
Across the sector, lawyer biographies are the most-visited pages on law firm websites, accounting for 80 percent of website traffic. This stands to reason: Potential clients are more curious about the human beings that might represent them than they are about your firm’s founding in 1942.
Just as Big Law firms build separate practice group pages for each specialty, they also dedicate a separate page for each lawyer biography. This is your first order of business: If you have one long “Our Team” page, break out the bios first. This will help you capture any search traffic for your individual attorneys – “Someone told me I should work with Lois Lane” – and position you to better highlight their individual credentials.
Take some Big Law inspiration from Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, No. 68 on the AmLaw 100. Pillsbury starts its partner bios not with a boring restatement of name, rank and serial number (“Lois Lane is a partner in the Metropolis office”), but with testimonial quotes that show their lawyers’ talent and reputation.
Case in point: This is the opening paragraph for the biography of Bruce Ericson, a partner in the San Francisco office:
“Congratulations … for the excellent representation. I have never before seen such a surgically complete dissection of a complaint as achieved by you and your team. You have the respect of all of us here.”
– The Chairman and CEO of a bank holding company
“A surgically complete dissection?” That gets your attention.
The biography goes on to provide specific bullet point examples of Bruce’s experience, such as “Won dismissal with prejudice of all claims in $6.8 billion action by federal regulators against the directors of the nation’s largest corporate credit union.”
Fully embracing the “show, don’t tell” mantra of marketing, Bruce’s biography is full of proof points that he excels in his field. The testimonial quote is bolstered by the bullet points of experience and later, by examples of his publications and presentations.
Pillsbury then makes it easy for me, as a prospective client, to engage Bruce: The biography has working links to his email, direct phone line and LinkedIn page.
Remember that most of your traffic will come from lawyer biographies, and set up for success with clear evidence of their quality and simple ways to reach them.
Step Four: Write content that speaks to your clients, not just to other lawyers.
According to Greentarget’s 2025 State of Digital Survey, 64 percent of in-house counsel and 60 percent of executives will use content to scout new law firms.
What exactly do they want? Survey respondents prioritized these traits, in this order:
- In-house counsel: Relevant, easy to read, educational
- Executives: Educational, relevant, easy to read
“Easy to read” means your website content should not read like a legal journal. It should be direct and easy to scan for busy people who may be viewing it on a phone or tablet. It should use straightforward, compelling headlines (“Five Things to Do Now About the New Labor Laws”) and visually guide the reader with subheads and bullet points. Writing in a “Frequently Asked Questions” format can help your site appeal to both human and robot audiences; search engines scout and promote content that helps them answer questions.
Consider the industry pages we recommended in Step Two. Is there content specific to this audience you can create? You need not be as prolific as a trade journal, and you need not even focus on original content: You can add value by bundling and reporting on legal events specific to the industry. This is a tactic employed by Shook, Hardy & Bacon, a 500-lawyer firm that courted food and beverage clients by publishing a weekly news roundup, the Food and Beverage Litigation Update.
It’s OK to be a little whimsical sometimes, too.
FordHarrison is a management-side labor and employment firm with more than 200 lawyers in 28 offices throughout the United States. Recognizing that they often worked with non-lawyer human resources professionals at their client companies, the firm built a content program that made compliance a little fun: During the nine seasons that “The Office” ran on NBC, lawyers would recap each episode and critique Dunder Mifflin’s missteps from an employment law standpoint. The recaps included a discussion of the relevant employment laws and even assigned a liability value for hypothetical litigation.
The blog title: “That’s What She Said.”
Think about the humans you are courting on your website. What kind of information would be helpful for them? In addition to the sporadic Supreme Court update, what kind of educational content can you consistently provide? A good start: Make a list of mistakes you see repeatedly; questions you get often; what you wish your clients knew. Consumer audiences often appreciate glossaries, FAQs, example timelines and checklists, such as “How to Prepare for Your Divorce Appointment.”
Step Five: Move at the speed of your clients with mobile-friendly, fast websites.
You can expect the majority of your website views to come from mobile devices; in Q4 2024, 62.5 percent of website visits originated from phones or tablets. Do not alienate these visitors with an old-school, incompatible home page that requires excessive scrolling, tilting or other gymnastics.
Jenner & Block (500 lawyers strong) provides its mobile visitors an elegant, action-oriented experience that leads with a prominent search box, “How can we help you succeed?” This makes it simple for users to type in a lawyer name, an office location, a practice specialty or more; there’s no need to navigate a menu. Below the search box are links to major practice areas.
Your website must meet visitors where they are – and a “mobile-first” strategy is clearly the direction of the market. Appeal to mobile visitors by minimizing the fluff on your home page. Keep positioning statements concise, and like Jenner & Block, make it simple for potential clients to find the information they need. A simple search box works well, followed by your website’s “greatest hits” – the information most frequently accessed.
Mobile users often need contact information – and they need it quickly. Display your office number in intuitive, expected places, like at the bottom of the home page and on a clear “Contact Us” page, and make sure your lawyers’ direct lines are effectively rendered for one-touch dialing.
Small law firms do not need Big Law budgets to craft successful websites; they just need smart strategies and a little creativity. Implementing these tactics will help you boost your visibility, credibility and bottom line.
