What does a converting website need for a Houston law firm?
Houston legal buyers compare several firms in one sitting and want the fee arrangement, the practice areas and the person handling the matter. Build a page per practice area, state contingency or hourly terms plainly, explain the process, and follow the Texas bar's advertising rules on claims, testimonials and disclaimers.
Bar rules come first
Attorney advertising is regulated by your state bar, and the rules commonly govern past results, comparative and superlative claims, specialisation language, testimonials, required disclaimers and how fees may be described.
What applies to your firm is a question for your own counsel and your bar, not for a web designer. Practically, the site should be built so that any claim, result, testimonial or fee statement sits in a small number of places that can be reviewed, rather than scattered through the copy where a later edit slips past everyone.
Never publish invented case results, fabricated reviews, or stock photographs presented as clients. Beyond the ethical problem, it is a complaint waiting to happen.
Structure by matter, not by practice area name
People search their situation, not your practice group. In Houston that means pages for:
- The specific problem — a wage dispute, a will contest, a deportation notice, a commercial lease disagreement
- What to do immediately, including anything time-sensitive
- What the process looks like and roughly how long it takes
- What it typically costs and how fees are structured
- What happens at a first consultation
The immediate-steps content is genuinely useful and is what people search at difficult moments.
Fees are the biggest unanswered question
Most firm sites say nothing about cost, and it is the first thing a prospective client wants to know. Within what your bar permits, explain:
- How you charge — hourly, flat fee, contingency, retainer
- What a consultation costs, if anything
- What expenses are separate
- What a typical matter of a given type involves
Clarity here converts better than any claim about experience.
Show the attorneys
Real photographs, real biographies, bar admissions and years admitted, and which attorney handles which matter type. Clients want to know whether they will speak to a lawyer or an assistant, and answering that honestly is a differentiator.
Serve Houston's actual population
This is a genuinely multilingual market. Serving Spanish-speaking clients properly — real content and someone who can take the call, not a machine translation — reaches a large population that is frequently underserved.
Practical requirements
- Fast on mobile, since a substantial share of first contact is from a phone
- A prominent phone number and a stated response time
- Contact available outside business hours where the practice area warrants it
- Accessible — proper contrast, keyboard navigation, readable type
- Secure handling of anything a prospective client sends, and clear wording that contacting the firm does not create a relationship
That last point should be written by your own counsel, not by a marketer.
What it costs
Growth Engine — $5,500 setup, $1,500 a month for a small firm with matter-type pages and local coverage. Authority Builder at $12,500 and $3,500 where you are competing in Houston's most contested practice areas, where the larger firms spend heavily.
BayouEdge is a solo practice run by James Henderson. Contracts and any legal wording on your site should be reviewed by a licensed attorney before use — that is not something a marketing provider should be drafting.
Frequently asked questions
What governs what a firm site can say?
Your state bar's advertising rules, commonly covering past results, comparative and superlative claims, specialisation language, testimonials, disclaimers and fee descriptions. Your own counsel and bar determine the specifics.
How should the site be built to stay compliant?
So that any claim, result, testimonial or fee statement sits in a small number of reviewable places rather than scattered through the copy where a later edit can slip past review.
How should pages be organised?
By the client's situation rather than your practice group names — the specific problem, what to do immediately including anything time-sensitive, the process and timeline, cost and fee structure, and the first consultation.
Should fees be discussed on the site?
Within what your bar permits, yes. How you charge, consultation cost, separate expenses and what a typical matter involves. It is the first question prospective clients have and the least answered.
What about disclaimers on contact forms?
Wording about what contacting the firm does and does not create should be written by your own counsel, not adapted from another firm's site by a marketing provider.