Your Old Site May Need Repairs Before It Needs a Rebuild
A firm website can look fine to the lawyer who paid for it and still lose the people it was built for. Typical law firm website problems are small and fixable. A visitor can’t find the practice area page, reads a bio that lists a job you left years ago, or fills out a form that never reaches your inbox. A solo attorney can spot those issues, sort them by impact and fix the right ones first. A full redesign is one option, but it is rarely the first one.
One note on method. We have not audited your site or run tests on any specific firm website. The checks below are ones you can repeat yourself in an afternoon, and where we cite a standard, we link to the source so you can confirm it.
Signs a Website Has Stopped Helping
Most older sites don’t fail all at once. Instead, they drift. A practice area gets dropped, a phone number changes, and a plugin stops sending form emails after an update. Each change is minor, yet together they make the site work against you.
Watch for these signals:
- Callers say they “couldn’t find” something that is on the site.
- New clients mention information that is out of date, such as an old office address.
- Form submissions drop to zero for weeks, even though calls keep coming.
- You avoid sending people to the site because you’re not sure what they’ll see.
- Your own staff use a search engine to find pages on your site.
None of these proves the site is broken. Still, each one tells you where to look first, and together they form a short list of law firm website problems worth checking before you spend money.
Common Law Firm Website Problems With Navigation
Navigation is the menu, the links in the footer and the paths between pages. On many older sites, the menu grew one item at a time. As a result, a visitor sees ten top-level links, three of which lead to nearly identical pages.
Try this test. Ask someone who doesn’t work at your firm to find three things on your site while you watch without helping. For example, ask them to find your consultation fee policy, the page for the main type of case you handle and the way to send you documents. Then note where they hesitate or click back.
Common navigation issues include:
- Vague labels. A menu item called “Services” or “Resources” tells a visitor little. “Estate Planning” or “Tenant Defense” tells them where they are going.
- Buried practice pages. If your main practice area sits three clicks deep under “Areas We Serve,” most visitors won’t reach it.
- Dead ends. A blog post that ends without a link to a related page or a contact path leaves the reader nowhere to go.
- Broken links. Old links to court forms, bar pages or retired blog posts produce error pages.
- Mobile menus that hide everything. On a phone, a menu that opens to a long unsorted list is hard to use.
Google’s SEO Starter Guide recommends organizing a site so related pages are grouped and descriptive link text helps people understand where a link leads. That advice serves visitors first, and it also helps search engines understand your pages.
Stale Attorney Bios and Firm Details
For a solo practice, the attorney bio often does more work than the homepage. People want to know who will handle their matter. So an outdated bio costs trust quickly.
Open your bio page and check it line by line:
- Are your bar admissions current and listed correctly?
- Does it mention practice areas you no longer handle?
- Is the photo recent enough that a client would recognize you at a meeting?
- Are memberships, board roles or teaching positions still accurate?
- Does it claim a title such as “specialist” or “expert”?
That last item needs care. ABA Model Rule 7.4 was folded into Rule 7.2(c) in 2018, and many states restrict claims of certification or specialization unless a recognized body has granted it. The ABA rules are a model, so your state’s version controls. If your bio uses words like “specialist,” confirm your state’s rule before you leave them in place.
Firm details drift too. Check the office address, hours, phone number and any map embed against what you actually use today. Also check the same details on your Google Business Profile and bar directory listing, because a mismatch between sources confuses people looking for you.
Weak Contact Paths That Lose Inquiries
A contact path is every route a visitor can take to reach you. That includes the phone number in the header, the contact form, an email link and a booking tool if you use one. Many law firm website problems sit right here, and they are often invisible to the lawyer.
First, test the form yourself. Submit it from a phone and from a computer, using a fake name and a short note such as “Test from the website, please ignore.” Then confirm the message arrives, see which inbox receives it and check how long it takes. If it lands in spam or never arrives, that is the top repair on your list.
Next, look at the form fields. A long form with required fields for case number, opposing party and full narrative will scare some visitors off. On the other hand, a form with only a name and message may leave you without a way to call back. For most solo practices, name, a phone or email, a short description and a preferred contact method is enough to start.
Then check accessibility. The W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 include success criteria on labels and instructions for form inputs, error identification and consistent help, which asks that contact options appear in a consistent place across pages. You don’t need to memorize the standard. Even so, a form with clear labels and readable error messages works better for everyone.
Confidentiality in Contact Forms
A contact form invites people to tell you about their problem before any relationship exists. That creates two risks. A prospective client may share sensitive details you didn’t ask for, and that information may sit in email systems or plugin databases you don’t control.
ABA Model Rule 1.18 addresses duties to prospective clients, and Rule 1.6(c) asks lawyers to make reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorized disclosure of client information. With that in mind, a few steps help:
- Add a short note above the form asking visitors not to include confidential details in their first message.
- State that submitting the form does not create an attorney-client relationship, and check your state’s guidance on that language.
- Find out where submissions are stored. Some form plugins keep a copy of every entry in the website database, so ask your host or developer and delete old entries on a schedule.
- Make sure the site uses HTTPS on every page, including the form page.
These steps reduce risk without making the form unfriendly. Your state bar may have its own guidance on website inquiries, and that guidance controls.
Advertising Rules Still Apply to Old Pages
A website is a communication about a lawyer’s services. ABA Model Rule 7.1 prohibits false or misleading communications, and Rules 7.2 and 7.3 address advertising and solicitation. An older site can drift out of compliance without anyone touching it.
For example, a results page written years ago may list outcomes without the context your state now requires. Similarly, a testimonial page may lack a disclaimer your state requires today. Review those pages against your current state rules, since state variations control, and talk with ethics counsel if a page raises a question.
How to Prioritize Website Repairs
Once you have a list, sort it before you fix anything. A simple way is to score each issue on two questions. Does it stop someone from contacting you or give them wrong information? And how much effort will the fix take?
| Priority | What belongs here | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Fix this week | Issues that block contact or show wrong facts | Broken form, wrong phone number, old address, inaccurate bar admission |
| Fix this month | Issues that confuse visitors or raise ethics questions | Vague menu labels, outdated bio, results page without required context |
| Plan for later | Issues that affect polish or long-term growth | Dated design, slow pages, thin practice area content |
Start at the top row, because the law firm website problems there cost you the most. A broken form costs you inquiries today, while an old color scheme costs you very little by comparison. After that, move to the second row and work through it page by page.
Keep a short log as you go. Note the date, the page, what you changed and who changed it. That log helps if you later hire a developer, and it also gives you a record if a bar regulator ever asks about a page.
When Law Firm Website Problems Point to a Redesign
Sometimes repairs aren’t enough. Consider a redesign if most of these are true:
- The site can’t be edited without a developer, even for a phone number change.
- The theme or platform no longer receives security updates.
- Pages don’t work well on phones, and fixing that would mean rebuilding templates.
- Your practice has changed so much that most pages need new content anyway.
If only one or two apply, targeted repairs may still be the better choice. A new design won’t fix a form that sends to the wrong inbox or a bio you haven’t updated.
If you do redesign, protect the pages that already bring visitors. Google’s guidance on site moves with URL changes explains how to map old URLs to new ones, and its page on redirects covers permanent redirects. Skipping that step can send past visitors and search traffic to error pages.
A Sample Afternoon Review
Here is one way a solo attorney could run a first review in about three hours. The times are rough guides, so adjust them to your site.
- Thirty minutes. Click every menu and footer link on a phone and a computer. Write down each broken link and confusing label.
- Thirty minutes. Read your bio and firm details line by line, then compare them with your Google Business Profile and bar listing.
- Thirty minutes. Submit every form and click every email and phone link. Confirm where each message lands.
- Thirty minutes. Ask a friend or family member to find three things on the site while you watch.
- Thirty minutes. Review results, testimonials and specialist claims against your state’s advertising rules.
- Thirty minutes. Sort your notes into the three priority rows and set dates for the first row.
You’ll likely finish with a short list rather than a long one. That list is your repair plan.
Keep the Site From Drifting Again
Repairs hold up better when someone owns them. For a solo practice, that someone is usually you or one staff member. So put a short website check on the calendar once a year, and add one whenever something changes in the practice.
Good triggers for an extra check include:
- You add or drop a practice area.
- A staff member joins or leaves, and their name or photo appears on the site.
- You move offices or change phone numbers.
- Your state bar amends its advertising rules.
- Your form plugin, theme or hosting company sends notice of a major update.
Each trigger takes only a few minutes to check. Over time, these small reviews keep law firm website problems from piling up into a rebuild.
Common Mistakes When Fixing an Older Site
- Redesigning first. A new look can hide old problems, such as a form that still sends to a retired inbox.
- Deleting pages without redirects. Removing a page that people link to creates error pages.
- Fixing only the homepage. Many visitors arrive on a blog post or practice page, so check those too.
- Ignoring the phone view. Review every repair on a phone, because that is how many people will see it.
- Copying another firm’s claims. Wording that works in one state may not be allowed in yours.
If you also plan to add video to refreshed pages, our guide to iPhone lawyer video tips covers a simple setup and a confidentiality sweep before you record.
When Professional Help Makes Sense
Many of the repairs above take a few minutes in your site editor. However, some work is worth handing off. That includes migrating to a new platform, fixing a form that fails for technical reasons, setting up redirects for many URLs and resolving security warnings. Ask any vendor to confirm in writing that you will own your domain, hosting account and site files. For ethics questions about bios, results or testimonials, a lawyer who advises on professional responsibility in your state is the right resource.
References and Review Date
Published October 23, 2026. Professional rules and search guidance change, so check the sources before you rely on any specific rule.
- Google Search Central, SEO Starter Guide
- W3C, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2
- ABA Model Rule 1.6, Confidentiality of Information
- Google Search Central, Site moves with URL changes
- ABA Model Rule 1.18, Duties to Prospective Client
- Google Search Central, Redirects and Google Search
- ABA Model Rules 7.1 to 7.3, Information About Legal Services
