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Arête

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Marketing for solicitors and law firms

Websites, SEO and Google Ads for solicitors and small law firms who want steadier enquiries in the practice areas they value most. Price and service information people can follow. Enquiry routes that feel private. And the right matters reaching the right fee earner.

The situation

How the work is won.

People rarely search for a solicitor casually. Something has happened: a house move, a bereavement, trouble at work, a separation or a business dispute. They want someone competent, upfront about cost and easy to reach. So they compare firms quickly, many of them on a phone. Plenty will instruct the first firm that answers well.

What sends them looking

  • An accepted offer, and conveyancing that needs to start quickly.
  • A bereavement that leaves someone responsible for an estate and a probate application.
  • A dismissal, grievance or settlement agreement at work.
  • A separation, divorce or disagreement over arrangements for children.
  • A business dispute, unpaid invoices or a contract to review before signing.

The problem

Why it's harder than it looks.

Where the work slips away

  • Big firms, national conveyancing providers and legal directories own the broad search terms.
  • Price and service information has to be published for certain services. Many sites bury it, or set it out in a way clients can't follow.
  • Many sensitive enquiries come by phone. Miss the call, or rush it, and they're gone.
  • Matters you don't handle, conflicts and cases outside your jurisdiction all eat into fee-earner time.
  • Legal content is judged on expertise and accuracy, so thin, generic pages struggle to rank or reassure anyone.

What makes customers hesitate

  • Legal fees feel unpredictable, and hourly rates make people nervous about the final bill.
  • Prospects worry about discretion when the matter is personal or involves family.
  • Has a small firm handled enough matters like theirs?
  • Some doubt they need a solicitor at all, and hope a quick free answer will do.

Proof and measurement

What customers check, and what counts.

What customers look for before they call

  • Price and service information that's easy to follow, for the services where it's required and ideally beyond.
  • The SRA digital badge and regulatory details, showing the firm is authorised and regulated.
  • Named solicitors with their practice areas, experience and accreditations, such as Law Society schemes where held.
  • Reviews on Google or legal review platforms that reflect the service while respecting confidentiality.
  • Plain English on how a matter works, typical timescales and what happens after first contact.

What counts as an enquiry

  • A phone call during office hours, answered promptly or returned quickly.
  • A practice-area enquiry form that captures the matter type and other party details for a conflict check.
  • A conveyancing, probate or wills quote request.
  • A booked initial consultation with a named solicitor.

What gets tracked

  • Enquiries by practice area, and how many become instructions.
  • Answered, missed and returned calls, split by source.
  • Enquiries turned away (out of scope, conflicted or outside the jurisdiction), fed back to sharpen targeting.
  • Fixed-fee quote requests, and how many become instructed matters.

Worth knowing

The rules and the practicalities.

Constraints for solicitors

  • The SRA Transparency Rules require firms to publish price and service information for certain services, such as residential conveyancing, uncontested probate and employment tribunal claims about unfair or wrongful dismissal, and to display the SRA digital badge.
  • Publicity must be accurate and not misleading, including about charges, so fee examples, experience claims and descriptions of outcomes need care.
  • Firms are expected to publish their complaints procedure, including how and when clients can complain to the Legal Ombudsman.
  • The SRA regulates solicitors in England and Wales. Firms in Scotland and Northern Ireland follow their own Law Society rules, so your wording should match your jurisdiction.

Questions

Marketing for solicitors: your questions answered

What do the SRA Transparency Rules mean for a firm's website?

If you offer certain services, such as residential conveyancing or uncontested probate, you must publish price and service information and display the SRA digital badge. That information needs to be easy to find and easy to understand. Always check what to include against current SRA guidance. Your firm remains responsible for its accuracy.

Can marketing reduce the number of unsuitable legal enquiries?

It can, mostly through plain speaking. Pages that say which matters you handle, where you can act and how fees work let people rule themselves out, and ad targeting can exclude searches for work you don't take. Some unsuitable enquiries will always arrive. A quick triage process still earns its keep.

Should a law firm show fixed fees or hourly rates?

Where a service can carry a fixed fee, showing it reassures most people, and for some services price information is required anyway. For work that turns on complexity, explaining hourly rates, typical ranges and what drives the cost is more honest than one headline figure. Many firms do both, depending on the practice area.

Start a conversation

Tell Arête about the business and what currently feels missing.

You will receive a direct reply with the most sensible next step, even if that means recommending that nothing needs changing yet.

  1. A direct reply

    A personal reply, usually within one working day. No sales script, no chasing.

  2. A short conversation

    A look at the business, your current website and what a good result would look like for you.

  3. A clear recommendation

    The leanest sensible next step, with fixed scope and a fixed price. Sometimes that's nothing yet, and you'll be told so.

Prefer email? Write to info@aretemarketing.co.uk.

No sales script. Arête will reply directly, usually within one working day.