Short answer: a solo attorney website should be small and focused: a home page, one to three practice pages, a bio written in the first person, a contact page with one clear way to call or book, and a handful of genuinely useful articles. Pair it with a complete Google Business Profile, narrow your niche and geography, and add pages only when you have a reason.
Solo practitioners are often sold websites designed for twenty lawyer firms: dozens of practice pages, a team section with one person in it, a news feed, a résumé of every bar association membership. It costs more, takes longer, and usually works worse. A solo practice has a real advantage online, which is that the client is hiring one specific person. The website’s job is to make that person easy to find, easy to trust and easy to call.
What a solo attorney actually needs
Think of a solo site as five or six pages done well rather than thirty done thinly. Each page has one job.
A home page that says who you help and where
The first screen should answer three things in plain words: what kind of problem you handle, where you practice, and how to reach you. “Estate planning for families in Travis County” does more work than “Dedicated. Experienced. Trusted.” Add your photo, a short explanation of how you work with clients, and a phone number and booking link that are visible without scrolling.
One to three practice pages
If you do one thing, you need one excellent practice page. If you do two or three related things, give each its own page. Resist the temptation to list every matter you have ever taken. A page for each of twelve practice areas, each with two hundred generic words, tells search engines and visitors that you are not a specialist in any of them. A few deep, specific pages do the opposite. Our guide to law firm practice area pages covers the structure that works.
A bio in your own voice
For a solo, the bio is arguably the most important page on the site, because the reader is deciding whether they want to work with you personally. Write it in the first person. Third person bios make sense for firms with many lawyers, where a consistent house style matters. For a solo, “Attorney Smith has over a decade of experience” reads as though you hired someone to pretend you have a staff. “I started this practice because” reads as a person. Explain who you help, what those cases usually look like, how you communicate with clients, and what happens when someone calls. The details are in our guide to attorney bio page content.
One clear contact path
Pick the way you want new clients to reach you and make it obvious everywhere. For most solos that is a phone number that rings to you or a reliable answering service, plus an online booking link or a short form. Too many options create confusion: a phone number, a different cell number, an email address, a chat widget, a form and a booking calendar all competing on the same page. Decide what you can actually respond to quickly, and feature that. A solo who answers calls or returns them within the hour will beat a large firm that routes inquiries to a queue.
A few useful articles
You do not need a blog that publishes weekly. You need a handful of articles that answer the questions your prospective clients ask you in every consultation. Five strong pieces written from your own experience, with local detail, are worth more than fifty generic posts. Add one when a question keeps coming up.
What to build at launch, and what can wait
| Page | Priority | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Home page | Launch | Says who you help, where, and how to reach you |
| Main practice page | Launch | The page most likely to rank and convert for your core work |
| Bio | Launch | Clients are hiring you personally; this is where they decide |
| Contact page with booking | Launch | One clear path to a consultation |
| Privacy policy and disclaimer | Launch | Expected on any professional site, and forms collect personal data |
| Second and third practice pages | Month 3 | Add once the main page is solid and you know what else clients ask for |
| Three to five core articles | Month 3 | Answer the questions every consultation starts with |
| Reviews or testimonials page | Later | Useful once you have real reviews, subject to your state’s rules |
| Local area pages | Later | Only for nearby areas you genuinely serve, with distinct content |
| Resources or FAQ page | Later | Grows out of the articles you have already written |
Testimonials, reviews and case results are attorney advertising. ABA Model Rule 7.1 prohibits false or misleading communications, and states add their own requirements on top, so check the rules where you practice using our attorney advertising rules by state hub. This is not legal advice; check your state bar’s rules.
Your Google Business Profile matters as much as the site
For local searches, the map results often appear above the regular listings, and those results come from Google Business Profile. For a solo practice, the profile and the website work as a pair. Claim and verify the profile, choose the most accurate primary category, fill in every field, add real photos of yourself and your office, and link to the matching practice page rather than just the home page.
Make sure your name, address and phone number are identical on the profile, the website and major directories. Ask satisfied clients for reviews, following your state’s rules on how you can ask. Reply to reviews professionally, and be careful not to reveal confidential information when responding, even to a negative one.
If you work from a home office or a shared workspace, read Google’s guidelines on eligible addresses before listing one. A profile tied to an address that does not qualify can be suspended.
The trap of over building
Over building is the most common mistake on solo sites. It shows up as pages nobody reads, features nobody uses, and a launch date that keeps slipping. Animated sliders, chatbots, client portals you do not need yet, and dozens of city pages with swapped place names all add cost and maintenance while doing little for new clients. Some of them, like thin location pages, can actively hurt.
A small site is also easier to keep accurate. When your fees, hours or practice focus change, you can update everything in an afternoon. A sprawling site full of pages you have forgotten about is where outdated information hides.
What to spend on first, and what can wait
Spend first on the things clients notice and the things that are hard to fix later. That means clear writing on the core pages, a professional photo of you, a fast and mobile friendly site, a reliable contact path that you have tested, and a domain and hosting account in your own name. These are the foundation.
Spend later on things that grow with the practice: more practice pages, a regular article schedule, video, paid ads and more advanced tracking. None of these fix a weak foundation, and all of them work better once the basics are in place. When you are ready to see what a professionally built site involves, our law firm website packages page lays out the options.
Templates versus custom design
Most solos do not need a fully custom design. A well chosen template, adjusted to your brand with your own photos and real writing, can look professional and perform well. What makes a solo site stand out is the content and the clarity of the contact path, not bespoke design. We compare options in our roundup of the best WordPress themes for law firms.
The platform question matters more than the template. WordPress gives you full ownership and room to grow, while hosted builders such as Wix and Squarespace are simpler to start with but offer less control over structure and performance. We lay out the tradeoffs in WordPress vs Wix vs Squarespace for law firms. Whatever you pick, make sure the domain and the account are in your name.
How a solo competes with bigger firms locally
A solo cannot outspend a large firm on broad terms like “personal injury lawyer” in a major city, and should not try. The winning move is to narrow. Narrow the niche: instead of “family law,” focus on the part of family law you do best, such as military divorce, grandparents’ custody rights or high asset divorce. Narrow the geography: instead of the whole metro, focus on the county courthouse where you actually appear and the neighborhoods around it.
Narrow sites compete well because they match specific searches precisely, and because the person behind them clearly knows that specific problem. A large firm’s page on family law has to cover everything. Your page on relocation cases in one county can go deep, mention the local court’s procedures in general terms, and answer the questions people there actually ask. That depth is hard for a generalist page to match.
You also have the personal advantage. Big firm sites talk about “our team.” Yours can say exactly who the client will talk to, and that it will be you. Lean into it on every page.
Frequently asked questions
How many pages does a solo attorney website need?
Most solos can launch with five or six: home, one main practice page, bio, contact, and a privacy policy and disclaimer. Add a second or third practice page and a few core articles over the first few months, once the foundation is working.
Should a solo attorney write in the first person?
Yes, for most solos. Clients are hiring you personally, and first person writing makes that clear. Third person suits multi-attorney firms that need a consistent house style, but on a solo site it can read as though you are pretending to have a staff.
Is a template good enough for a solo law practice?
Usually, yes. A good template customized with your own photos, clear writing and a tested contact path can look professional and perform well. The content and the contact path matter more than bespoke design.
Do I need a Google Business Profile if I have a website?
Yes. Local map results come from Google Business Profile and often appear above regular results. Verify it, complete every field, keep your name, address and phone consistent with your site, and link it to your main practice page.
How can a solo attorney compete with larger firms online?
Narrow your niche and your geography. Specific pages about the exact cases you handle in the courts where you appear can match searches more precisely than a large firm’s broad pages, and the personal service angle is an advantage big firms cannot claim.
The short version
Keep it small and specific. Launch with a home page, one strong practice page, a first person bio, a contact page with one clear path and the required policies. Pair it with a complete Google Business Profile. Spend first on writing, a real photo, speed and a tested contact path, then grow into more pages and articles. Compete by narrowing your niche and geography, not by building more.
If you already have a site and want to know what to cut and what to strengthen, request a free law firm SEO audit.
