10 Questions Your Law Firm Should Answer Before Starting a Website Project

Let’s face it. A website project is a big deal for your law firm. No matter how many you have done before, and how easy your website agency makes it, there are loads of details to nail down to kick off a successful website launch. So many questions that we’re breaking the discussion into two parts. Let’s get into it!

Most law firm website projects don’t fail because of poor design or technical hurdles. They fail because expectations, strategy, ownership, and scope were never clearly defined before work began. If you haven’t agreed where you’re going or how to get there, will you ever arrive?

A successful website project starts long before mockups or sitemaps. It begins with asking the right questions.

Of course your agency should come to the kickoff meeting with their website development and strategy expertise and design experience on full display, ready to take the first steps toward website success. They should apply that knowledge and understanding of industry best practices, combined with some reasonable assumptions to the discussion. But if that discussion is anything other than a deep dive into your specific website and business goals, preferences, and requirements, you will probably miss the mark on the new website. Come prepared with answers to these questions.

1. What is the primary goal of the new website?

This might seem like a question with an obvious answer, but it’s nuanced. Most firms fall into one of two categories: increased leads or validation. Depending on how diverse the practice areas are, it could be both.

If lead generation is the primary goal, the layout should include clear calls to action, chat, and contact forms. The visitor path should be clean and designed to convert them into a qualified lead and then into a firm client. The design should minimize any friction or obstacles to getting in direct contact with the firm and beginning the intake process.

Some law firms recognize that much of their business comes from referrals, which is great, but those folks are still going to the website to validate that the firm and the attorneys have the specific experience and background they need to solve their issue. These websites focus on representative matters, industry sectors, and bios to show and tell.

Your firm may have other primary goals like improving credibility, brand repositioning, or cross-servicing existing clients. Your firm’s business goals should drive the website goals, and your agency should be all ears.

2. Who is your ideal client?

In agencies, we call this developing personas. We think about the attributes of our best clients and lay them out to test our decisions along the way. If your firm has a lot of diverse practice areas, you may end up with a lot of diverse client personas — that’s ok. Rank your personas by value to the firm and work from there.

This is when you define if your ideal client is a person or a business. In which geographic market do they reside and do business? What is their industry? What is the value of their matter or case? Are there other factors that influence their legal purchasing behavior, like their age, legal budget, education, or whether they are in-house counsel or have some other role in their organization?

A side question to consider is: what other types of visitors do you expect to visit your site — other than clients? Then define these personas. This could include referral sources, lateral hires, and press and media contacts.

3. Which practice areas deserve the greatest emphasis?

This can be a tough question to answer because each practice leader may feel their practice deserves the most attention. We suggest laying out a framework to answer this question. Is the practice that deserves the most emphasis the one that already brings in the most revenue? Or is it the one that shows the most growth opportunity? Or is it the practice that the named partner originally practiced and what your firm is already known for? How to determine the correct framework depends on your firm goals and culture.

Not every practice area should receive equal attention all the time, and that’s a business decision that drives website strategy.

4. What makes your firm different?

Everyone says we’re different because of our lawyers. Our experience is what sets us apart. I know. I know! While that’s technically true, your agency should dig much deeper to draw out specifics, like results you’ve achieved, niche experience, unique positioning, or the client experience. I can’t emphasize how important defining what differentiates your firm from your competition is. If you find your firm is pretty similar, that’s ok, but you need to be prepared to embrace that and compete for the same clients on price, flexible engagement structures, or something else. And there you have it. You’ve just figured out how you are different!

5. What content can be reused?

We have found that content is the number one factor that slows down a website project. So it’s important to take stock of the content status at the outset. Is there any content that can be migrated to the new website without changes or updates? Are there any pages that have been recently or consistently updated and are ready to go? Do some pages need a light edit? Do any pages need a total overhaul? Consider all existing and future page types including: bios, practices, home, about, news, blogs, etc.

This is also the time to take inventory of other content from the current website that can be reused like photos, videos, FAQs, or case studies.

When you know which content needs to be created or updated, you’ll need to determine how to do this. Will your firm revise it independently or work with an outside writer? No matter your path, we suggest starting that effort sooner rather than later because it is relevant at the earliest stages of your website redesign. At LISI, the “shape” of the content informs how we design key pages because each design is customized to your unique message, not generic, placeholder content.

6. Who will make decisions?

Your firm probably has a plan for who will be involved on the website project. Communicating the player lineup to your agency is helpful so they can anticipate how the project will look from inside your firm and help guide you through the process. Consider who will be the project owner and key point of contact, who are the reviewers, and who will give final approval at each project milestone. Clear roles will help keep the schedule and budget on track.

This is also an opportunity to consider if other folks will have other roles. Is there a member of firm leadership who is championing the new website? Should the managing partner advocate for the new brand and visual identity on the new website? Should the head of HR be involved on the Careers page regarding the job posting work flow? Do the IT and Conflicts teams need to weigh in on how new leads integrate with the firm’s CRM?

7. What systems must integrate with the website?

Whether your site has zero integrations or many, discussing this with your agency before the project begins will help them scope properly and avoid unexpected out of scope time. Consider the integrations on the current site and what new ones you may want on the new site site. These may include CRM, intake software, calendars, payment systems, chat, marketing automation, or others.

8. What budget and timeline are realistic?

These topics need to be raised before contracts can be signed and the project greenlit. So if this gets skimmed over, it’s a red flag. Some agencies may have a set rate for a website and others will tailor their pricing to account for all the variables of the website. Regardless, it’s imperative to discuss the firm’s website budget to ensure there are no surprises. Find out exactly what’s included and not included. Your agency should guide you through this.

Timelines can also vary dramatically depending on the size and scope of the website. At LISI, we have a predictable timeframe for most website projects based on decades of experience, but if a client needs a project fast-tracked, we can often speed up the project. It’s all about balancing expectations with the scope.

9. What happens after launch?

Consider the structure and size of your marketing team and predict your bandwidth for website maintenance. Do you need routine or non-routine support on the website or other marketing initiatives? Your agency knows your law firm pretty well at this point, so it can be helpful to keep that relationship and momentum going with an ongoing engagement.

Your website will need to be hosted with an eye on technical maintenance and oversight for security. Many agencies offer this service, and we recommend that you lean on them! We’ve had so many law firms seek LISI’s help in a website crisis because their independent hosting solution was not maintained properly.

At LISI, we love to partner with clients beyond the website design and build by offering ongoing hosting and maintenance, ongoing website updates, thought leadership development, SEO, or outsourced marketing services.

10. How will success be measured?

Envision the future. Your law firm website is launched. The project was smooth and even fun! The website is successful, impactful, and meeting or exceeding the goals set. What does that look like? Maybe look back at the very first question we asked for some direction here.

Consider KPIs (key performance indicators) such as qualified leads, inbound phone calls, form submissions, organic traffic, or conversion rates. These are all metrics that should be measured before the project and again at intervals after the website launch. With the benchmarking, you can objectively see how the site is performing.

Other success markers may be harder to measure, which is why it’s important to define success at the start. For example, increase brand awareness, be known for a characteristic like innovation, raise client satisfaction while interacting with the website. So drill down to determine how you know if the website accomplished what you set out to do.

Get Your Ducks in a Row

Go back to question #6: Who will make decisions on your website project? Share these questions with that group, then come together to work through the answers. Aim to agree on your priorities, identify where opinions differ, and put your answers in writing so everyone is working from the same starting point.

Ideally, you’ll head into the agency conversation with a unified voice. But if a few areas need the guidance of an experienced website partner, that’s okay! Knowing where you need help is part of being prepared. The goal is to get your ducks in a row—not to become website experts yourselves.

With that groundwork in place, it’s time to turn the questions around. Set up a meeting with your website agency and let them know you want to discuss strategy and process—not just what the website will look like. Their answers should help you determine whether they understand your firm’s goals, can guide your team through the decisions ahead, and are equipped to deliver a website that does what your firm needs it to do.