7 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Web Designer for Your Law Firm

Hiring a web designer for your law firm is a bigger decision than most attorneys realize. You are not just buying a website. You are choosing the person or company that will shape how every potential client sees your practice for the next several years.

I have seen firms spend five figures on beautiful websites that generate zero leads, and I have seen firms spend far less on simple sites that bring in clients every week. The difference is rarely the budget. It is whether the firm asked the right questions before signing anything. These are the questions I wish every firm asked me first.

If you are shopping for a web designer, ask these seven questions before you hire anyone. The answers will tell you almost everything you need to know.

1. Have You Built Websites for Law Firms Before?

Law firm websites have specific requirements that general web designers often miss: attorney advertising ethics rules, local SEO for competitive legal markets, intake-focused conversion design, and content that speaks to people in crisis.

A designer who mostly builds sites for restaurants and retailers can make something pretty, but pretty does not bring in clients. Ask to see actual law firm websites they have built, then visit those sites and judge them the way a potential client would.

Better yet, ask whether those sites generate leads. A portfolio of pretty sites that do not convert is a warning sign, not a selling point.

How to Fix It

• Ask for at least three live law firm websites they designed.
• Visit those sites on your phone and check the experience yourself.
• Be cautious of designers with no legal industry experience.

2. How Will My Website Bring In Clients, Not Just Look Good?

A website is a marketing tool, not a digital brochure. Your designer should be able to explain, in plain language, how the site will turn visitors into consultations: clear calls to action, trust signals, practice area pages, and contact forms that work.

If the designer talks only about colors, fonts, and animations, they are thinking like an artist, not a marketer. You need someone who thinks about what happens after the visitor arrives.

How to Fix It

• Ask them to walk you through how a visitor becomes a client on their sites.
• Listen for words like conversion, calls to action, and intake, not just design.
• Ask to see traffic or lead numbers from a past client site, not just screenshots.

3. What Is Your Approach to SEO?

A beautiful site that nobody finds is a wasted investment. Your designer should understand the basics of search engine optimization: fast load times, mobile-friendly design, proper page structure, and local SEO setup.

You do not need them to be an SEO agency, but they should build the site on a foundation that can rank. Ask whether they handle Google Business Profile integration, location pages, and schema markup, or whether SEO becomes someone else’s problem after launch.

How to Fix It

• Ask what SEO fundamentals are included in every site they build.
• Make sure the site will be fast, mobile-friendly, and properly structured.
• Find out whether ongoing SEO is included or a separate service.

4. Who Owns the Website, and What Happens If We Part Ways?

This is the question that saves firms from the worst outcomes. Some designers build your site on proprietary platforms or retain ownership of the design, which means leaving them can mean losing your site or paying a ransom to keep it.

You should own your domain, your website files, and your content outright. WordPress is a good sign here, because it is open source and portable. If the designer uses a closed proprietary system, ask exactly what you keep if you cancel.

How to Fix It

• Get ownership terms in writing before you pay anything.
• Register the domain yourself, in your own account.
• Prefer open platforms like WordPress that you can move to another provider.

5. What Will It Cost, and What Will It Cost Later?

Get the full financial picture, not just the build price. Ask about monthly hosting, maintenance, support plans, and what changes cost after launch. A $3,000 website with a $500 monthly retainer costs more over three years than a $7,000 site with no strings attached.

Also ask what happens when you need updates. Can you edit text yourself, or does every small change require a support ticket and a fee? A good designer builds you a site you can actually use.

How to Fix It

• Ask for all-in pricing: build, hosting, maintenance, and future changes.
• Make sure you can make basic edits yourself without paying each time.
• Ask whether the quote includes content writing or if you must provide all copy.

6. Will I Be Able to Update the Site Myself?

Your website is a living tool. You will need to add attorney bios, publish blog posts, update practice areas, and post news. If every small change requires calling your designer, your site will go stale, and stale sites lose clients.

A good designer builds on a content management system you can actually use, usually WordPress, and trains you on the basics. Ask for a demo of the editing experience before you sign, and ask what training is included.

How to Fix It

• Ask for a live demo of how you will edit pages and posts.
• Make sure training is included in the project, not an upsell.
• Ask how long training takes and whether you get a recording to keep.

7. What Happens After the Site Launches?

Launch day is the beginning, not the end. Websites need updates, backups, security monitoring, and occasional fixes. Ask who handles all of that and what it costs. A designer who disappears after launch leaves you with a site that slowly breaks.

Also ask how they measure success. A designer who checks in on your rankings, traffic, and leads after launch is a partner. One who considers the job done at launch is a vendor. For a marketing asset this important, you want the partner.

How to Fix It

• Ask exactly what post-launch support and maintenance are included.
• Find out who monitors security, backups, and updates.
• Choose a designer who tracks results after launch, not one who disappears.

Choose Carefully, Then Commit

Your website will represent your firm to thousands of potential clients. The cheapest option is rarely the best one, and the most expensive is not automatically good either. The right designer is the one with the best answers to the questions above.

Take your time, check references, and trust the answers more than the sales pitch. If you would rather skip the vetting process, our law firm website design service was built specifically for firms that want a site that brings in clients.

If you want a second opinion on a proposal you have received, or an honest assessment of your current site, request a website review and I will give you my straight take.