Solicitors
Websites for solicitors in the Thames Valley
People search for the problem and a town, then shortlist on clarity and fees. A page for each matter beats a single page of services every time.
How people search
The matter first, the firm second
Few people begin by searching for a firm. They begin with the thing that has happened to them, plus the name of a town, and open whichever result seems to understand it.
Conveyancing
A buyer or seller searching the service and the town, comparing fees and how long it takes. Often urgent, and often after an offer has been accepted.
Wills, lasting powers of attorney and probate
A family dealing with something they have never done before, reading carefully and looking for plain English and a calm tone. Some come after a bereavement.
Family and divorce
Someone at a difficult moment, often searching in private, who wants to know how it works and what it will cost before speaking to anyone.
Employment and business
A manager or an employee looking for a specialist, and a business owner looking for someone who understands their sector.
The page for each matter
What a practice-area page carries
A single page headed services tells Google very little and tells a worried visitor even less. A page for conveyancing in Maidenhead, written for someone who is about to buy, can be found by that person and can reassure them in the right order.
The reading order matters. Visitors want to know it is the right kind of firm, then who will look after them, then what it will cost, and finally how to start. A page written in that order spares the visitor from hunting for the answers.
Location pages follow the same rule. We write them where you really act for clients, and each one has something only your firm can say about that town, never a template with the town name swapped in.
On every one of these pages
The person doing the work
Name, role, experience and a photograph. People are choosing someone to ring, as much as a firm.
How it works, in order
What happens from the first call to the end of the matter, in plain English, with an honest sense of how long each stage takes.
What it costs
Fees or ranges, what is included and what is extra, such as searches and disbursements, and whether VAT applies. Solicitors who say this early get fewer awkward surprises later.
What to bring and how to start
The documents, the questions and the first step, with a phone number and a short form side by side.
The rules
A regulated profession advertises differently
The Solicitors Regulation Authority sets rules for how regulated firms present themselves online. These include displaying the firm's SRA number and digital badge, publishing how to complain, including to the Legal Ombudsman, and publishing price and service information for certain services, such as residential conveyancing.
We are a web studio, and nothing here is legal advice. Your compliance officer should confirm what applies to your firm, and the SRA's guidance is the authority. What we do is make room for the required information from the start, so that it is easy to find, accurate and kept up to date when the rules or your fees change.
What it costs
Published prices, before VAT
A small practice with a few areas of work is a Towpath site at £2,400–£3,800, with local SEO and Google Business Profile set up properly. Most firms with several departments need more pages, a content plan and town pages, which is Reach at £4,500–£8,500.
Hosting and care from The Form start at from £95 a month, which also covers updating a fee table when it changes. Monthly SEO runs from £650 a month. The work sits under Local SEO & Google Business Profile, and Writing service pages people actually read shows how Imogen Pryce approaches the pages.
Where firms compete
Three towns we know well
- MaidenheadOur home town, a commuter town remade by the Elizabeth line, where a firm competes with Reading and Windsor for the same residents.
- ReadingThe valley's big town, with a very competitive local search market. A firm here wins with specific practice-area pages and clear fees, since a longer list of services does not.
- Henley-on-ThamesA small town where a firm's reputation travels by word of mouth, then gets checked online before anyone rings. The firm's own pages are what they find.
Questions
What partners and practice managers ask
- How many practice-area pages does a firm need?
- One for each matter you want to be found for, at least. Someone searching for a will does not want to read about employment law, and Google can tell the difference. A small firm might have three or four, and a larger one a page for each service plus a few for the towns it serves.
- Should we publish our fees?
- Where the SRA's rules require it, yes, and where they do not we still recommend at least a range with a note on what is included. Clear fees are among the things people shortlist on, and they head off complaints that start with a misunderstanding about cost.
- Can you write the legal content for us?
- We write plain-English explanations of how a matter works, from notes and conversations with your fee earners, and they check each page for accuracy before it goes live. The firm remains responsible for what the site says, and our copy is not legal advice.
- Do SRA rules affect how we advertise?
- Yes. The SRA sets rules for regulated firms about what to display and publish on a website. We build the space for it, but the firm's compliance officer should confirm what applies, and the SRA's own guidance is the authority.
- What does a solicitor's website cost?
- A small firm with a few practice areas can fit Towpath at £2,400–£3,800. A firm with several departments is more often Reach at £4,500–£8,500. Hosting and care from The Form start at from £95 a month, and SEO retainers from £650 a month. All before VAT.
Start a project
Tell us what the website needs to do
A short note is plenty. Tell us what you sell, where, and what isn't working, and you'll get a straight answer within a working day, even when the answer is that you don't need us.