Somebody looking for a solicitor is rarely browsing. They have a problem, often a stressful one, and they are scanning several firms quickly. In about a minute they are answering four questions, and a site that answers them plainly beats a smarter-looking one that makes them hunt.
Am I in the right place
The first and most fatal. If someone with an employment dispute lands on a page that lists twelve services, they cannot tell whether you do their thing properly or occasionally. A page dedicated to their situation, using the words they would use rather than the statutory ones, settles it immediately.
Can I trust these people
Regulated status shown clearly, real names and faces, and reviews where your regulator allows them. Photographs of the actual team beat stock images by a distance here, because the reader is trying to picture the person who will handle something that matters to them.
What is this going to cost
The question everybody has and few sites answer. You do not need a full price list, and for a lot of work you could not give one honestly. What you can do is explain how you charge, give a range where one exists, and say what moves the number. Silence reads as expensive.
What happens if I make contact
People hesitate because they do not know what they are starting. Saying plainly that the first call is free, or takes fifteen minutes, or that you will need certain documents, removes the hesitation. Then keep the form short and put it on the service page rather than only behind a Contact link. We set the structure out in law firm website design that wins enquiries.
The tone test
Read your own service pages as somebody who has just been made redundant, or is dealing with a death in the family. Dense paragraphs of qualified legal language do not read as thorough, they read as unapproachable, and the reader assumes the service will feel the same. Plain writing is not less rigorous; it is the thing that gets the phone to ring.
The short version. Answer four questions fast: is this my problem, can I trust you, what will it cost, and what happens next. Write it the way you would say it out loud.
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