Lawyer website design in Australia: a spec for every page
No Australian rule says what a law firm's website must contain, which means every element on it has to justify itself commercially. This page sets out what has to appear on each of the 3 pages a prospective client actually reads, and what a fee page needs before it is worth publishing at all.
Last updated: 5 August 2026
Why does this search use an American word?
Because the phrase people type was borrowed from the United States, where it is the ordinary word for a lawyer. In Australia the words are lawyer and solicitor, and this page uses those.
That is not pedantry. A site written in somebody else's dialect reads as though it was assembled elsewhere and never checked, and somebody comparing three firms notices inside a sentence. It is the cheapest available signal that the words were written for the reader in front of them.
What has to be on a practice-area page?
Six elements, and most Australian firms' pages carry two of them.
| Element | What it answers | Why it is usually missing |
|---|---|---|
| A direct opening sentence with a figure in it | Do you do this, and roughly how does it go | The page opens with positioning instead |
| What actually happens, in order, at this firm | What am I agreeing to | Nobody asked a fee earner |
| How long it usually takes | When does this end | It varies, so it gets left out entirely |
| What makes a matter harder or slower | Is mine the complicated kind | It reads as a disclaimer, so it is cut |
| Who would do the work, by name | Who am I dealing with | The page is about the firm, not a person |
| What to do next, on a phone | How do I start today | The route was tested on a laptop |
The first row decides whether the page is read at all. On 39 of the 54 highest-value legal searches we measured on 3 August 2026, Google generated an answer above the ordinary results, and across the whole keyword set the pattern holds on 863 of 1,235 keywords. A page spending four paragraphs on tone before it answers cannot be lifted into one, so it is never quoted.
The fourth row is the one firms resist and the one that converts. Saying which matters get difficult is the sentence a reader believes, because it is the sentence a brochure would never contain.
What has to be on a page about a person?
Enough that somebody could decide to instruct them without ringing first.
People instruct a person rather than a letterhead, and a page listing admissions and memberships tells a prospective client nothing they can act on. What can be acted on is narrower: the work this fee earner actually does most weeks, the kind of matter they take and the kind they refer on, and how quickly somebody in that position normally responds.
What has to be on a page that answers a question?
An answer in the first sentence, then the reason, then the exception.
These are the pages with the least competition. Nobody bids on how long does a property settlement take or what happens at a first directions hearing, so the only way to be present there is to have written the answer. They are read earlier in the decision than anything carrying a fee, which is why a firm without them is absent while somebody is deciding.
One question per page, answered in the opening sentence with a number where a number applies, then the reasoning, then the circumstances in which the answer changes. A page that answers six questions is found for none of them.
What would a fee page have to contain to be worth publishing?
Five things, or it creates more work than it saves.
- A figure, not a range. Of 40 legal-marketing suppliers we read in full on 3 August 2026, twelve published a price at all and five of those twelve showed only a range. A range invites the reader to assume the bottom of it.
- What the figure covers, item by item, in the reader's words rather than in stages of a matter.
- What it does not cover, which is the part that prevents the first call being spent on exclusions.
- What changes it, named. Disbursements, contested steps, urgency.
- When it was last reviewed. A fee page with no date on it is read as out of date, correctly.
Without the third and fourth, a published fee produces enquiries from people expecting something else — work bought rather than saved.
Why is publishing a fee a competitive choice rather than a chore?
Because nothing here obliges it, so doing it is a position rather than a form to fill in.
15 of the 62 questions buyers ask across these searches are price questions, measured 3 August 2026, and it is the largest single category in the set. Most sites answer it nowhere. A firm that answers it on the page where it is asked is chosen by people who would otherwise have rung three firms to ask, and is skipped by people who were never going to instruct at that number — which is a filter, not a loss.
The admission, since this page argues for something we sell: we have never measured whether publishing a fee wins or loses a particular Australian firm work, and nobody telling you confidently either way has measured it either. What is measured is which questions get asked. Whether to answer them, and what to say, is a commercial decision for the partners, and a firm's own obligations are a matter for the firm and its own advisers.
What does the work cost?
A$1,900 for the sprint, A$4,200 for the build. Fixed, published, no minimum term.
The sprint works on pages that already exist: the opening sentences, the missing elements from the tables above, the technical layer and the enquiry route. The build adds pages that are not there yet.
Of the 40 suppliers read on 3 August 2026, twelve published a price at all, eight claimed a guarantee of some kind, and one offered work with no minimum term. We never charge per enquiry or per matter, and we do not promise a position, because nobody controls Google's results.
What will a new site not do?
Three things, said now rather than found in month five.
- It will not make somebody choose a firm they have not heard of. A well-built page stops a reader leaving; it does not create the reason they arrived.
- It will not fix intake. What happens between an enquiry arriving and somebody ringing back sits inside the firm and decides whether the rest mattered.
- It will not create capacity. Where the constraint is fee-earner hours, better pages produce declined work.
What this is worth where you are
In Melbourne, 3,670 people a month search for a conveyancer, and Google charges around A$21.62 for one of those clicks. Family law in the same city runs at 2,990 searches a month at around A$32.08. We hold the same figures for 52 cities.
The free report gives you yours, plus which of the elements above your own pages are missing, and what 40 suppliers charge.
No call required. Our own prices are on that page.
Where should I read next?
For which pages to build and in what order rather than what goes on them: website design for law firm.
For being found once the pages exist: lawyer seo marketing argues whether to invest at all, and seo law firm splits being found into three separate things.
For scope and delivery: law firm seo services. For who holds this inside the firm: marketing in law firm.
Frequently asked questions
Why does this search use an American word for a lawyer?
Because the phrase was borrowed from the United States market. In Australia the words are lawyer and solicitor, and a firm's own site using the American term reads as though it was written somewhere else and never checked.
What has to be on a practice-area page?
A direct opening sentence with a figure in it, what actually happens in order at this firm, how long it usually takes, what makes a matter harder, who would do the work by name, and a way to start on a phone.
Why does the opening sentence matter so much?
On 39 of the 54 highest-value legal searches we measured on 3 August 2026, Google generated an answer above the ordinary results. A page that establishes tone for four paragraphs cannot be lifted into one, so it is never quoted.
Does an Australian firm have to publish its fees?
No. There is no Australian equivalent of the British rule requiring price information, so publishing is a commercial choice. A firm's obligations are a matter for the firm and its own advisers.
What does a fee page need to contain?
A figure rather than a range, what it covers, what it does not cover, what changes it, and the date it was last reviewed. Without the exclusions, a published fee produces enquiries from people expecting something else.
How much of the market is asking about price?
15 of the 62 questions buyers ask across these searches are price questions, measured 3 August 2026, which is the largest single category. Most firms' sites answer it nowhere.
What does a website build cost in Australia?
A$1,900 for the sprint and A$4,200 for the build, fixed and published, with no minimum term. Of 40 suppliers read on 3 August 2026, twelve published any price and one offered no minimum term.