IN THIS ARTICLE · 8 PARTS
People rarely shop around for a lawyer or an accountant the way they shop for a product. They look for someone they can trust with a serious problem or with their company's finances. Your website's job is to build that trust before the first call.
Who you are
Show the people: real photos, names, qualifications, years of experience and what each person specialises in. Clients want to know who they will actually work with.
Areas of practice, in plain language
Give each area its own page: company registration, contracts, family law, real estate, bookkeeping, payroll, tax returns. For each one, describe the typical situations you help with, how the process works and what the client needs to bring. Avoid jargon; your clients are not lawyers or accountants.
These pages are also what people find on Google when they search for "accountant for a small company" or "real estate lawyer" in your city. More in SEO for a business website: where to start.
Prices, where you can
Many firms avoid prices entirely. Where it is possible, fixed prices for standard services (for example, registering a company or a monthly bookkeeping package) build trust and attract the right clients. For everything else, explain how you charge.
A simple first step
Make "book a consultation" the main action: a phone number, a short form and clear information on how quickly you reply. Keep the form minimal and tell people not to send sensitive documents through it.
Handle data carefully
Lawyers and accountants deal with confidential information. Your website must have a security certificate (what is an SSL certificate), a clear privacy policy and forms that comply with GDPR. In the EU, personal data is protected by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) [1], and the European Commission has a plain-language overview of the rules for businesses [2].
Useful articles
Short, practical articles about common questions (deadlines, documents, changes in rules) show expertise and bring in visitors. Write them for clients, not for colleagues: how to write the texts for your website. Google's guidelines for its search quality raters hold legal and financial information to especially high standards, because mistakes can seriously affect people [3].
For professional services, the website sells trust: real people, clear explanations and an easy first conversation.
Calm, professional design
A clean, calm design with readable text works better than anything flashy. And a well-written "About us" page matters more here than in most industries: what to write on your About us page. If you would rather leave the website to someone else, see our monthly plan. Nielsen Norman Group names design quality as one of the four factors that make a website look trustworthy [4].
References
- EUR-Lex (European Union). "Regulation (EU) 2016/679 – General Data Protection Regulation." eur-lex.europa.eu
- European Commission. "Data protection: rules for business and organisations." commission.europa.eu
- Google. "Search Quality Rater Guidelines." static.googleusercontent.com
- Nielsen Norman Group. "Trustworthiness in Web Design: 4 Credibility Factors." nngroup.com
