{ "title": "The State of Law Firm Websites 2026", "edition": "2026-Q4", "period": "Q4 2026", "sample": false, "source": "corpus", "note": "Aggregates computed from automated scans. No individual site is identified.", "url": "https://clikiti.com/research/law/2026-q4", "scannedAt": "2026-10-13T04:30:22.585Z", "publishedAt": "2026-10-12T22:51:59.877Z", "modifiedAt": "2026-10-13T04:30:45.813Z", "license": "CC BY 4.0", "licenseUrl": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "attribution": "Free to use and cite under CC BY 4.0. Credit Clikiti with a link.", "citation": "Clikiti. (2026, October 12). The state of law firm websites 2026 (Q4 2026) [Report]. https://clikiti.com/research/law/2026-q4", "audience": "Web agencies and freelancers selling to small law firms and solo practitioners", "sampleSize": 125, "marginOfErrorPts": 8.8, "medianScore": 76, "meanScore": 77, "meanQuestionsAnswered": 4.3, "questionCount": 8, "findings": [ "Only 39% of the 125 small law firm websites we scanned pair a tappable phone number with office hours, 24/7 availability or a response time.", "A typical site answers four of the eight questions clients ask before choosing (mean 4.3).", "The median overall score is 76 out of 100 (mean 77).", "The least-answered questions are \"Can I reach someone now?\" (39%), \"Are they licensed here?\" (43%) and \"Do clients vouch for them?\" (45%).", "The best-answered are \"Do they handle my kind of case?\" (91%) and \"Who will handle my case?\" (63%).", "Small business and employment have the highest median score (79), against 77 for personal injury, 77 for criminal defence and immigration and 75 for family and estate.", "86% fail \"Text contrast passes 4.5:1\" (WCAG 1.4.3).", "68% fail \"Loads in under 2.5 s on a phone\" (Core Web Vitals · LCP).", "42% fail \"LegalService or Attorney structured data\" (Schema.org · LegalService).", "Personal injury firms state a consultation cost more often than business firms.", "Practice groups differ in median score by at least 3 points." ], "questions": [ { "id": "contact", "question": "Can I reach someone now?", "label": "Tappable phone plus hours or response time", "standard": "Client question 5", "passPct": 39 }, { "id": "admit", "question": "Are they licensed here?", "label": "Bar admission or licence stated", "standard": "Client question 2", "passPct": 43 }, { "id": "reviews", "question": "Do clients vouch for them?", "label": "Reviews marked up or shown in a widget", "standard": "Client question 8", "passPct": 45 }, { "id": "results", "question": "Have they won cases like mine?", "label": "Case results or client testimonials shown", "standard": "Client question 7", "passPct": 46 }, { "id": "intake", "question": "Can I ask without calling?", "label": "Message form with five fields or fewer", "standard": "Client question 6", "passPct": 50 }, { "id": "consult", "question": "What does it cost to talk?", "label": "Consultation cost stated", "standard": "Client question 4", "passPct": 54 }, { "id": "attorney", "question": "Who will handle my case?", "label": "Lawyers named, each with a profile", "standard": "Client question 1", "passPct": 63 }, { "id": "areas", "question": "Do they handle my kind of case?", "label": "Each practice area on its own page", "standard": "Client question 3", "passPct": 91 } ], "technical": [ { "id": "con", "label": "Text contrast passes 4.5:1", "standard": "WCAG 1.4.3", "failPct": 86 }, { "id": "lcp", "label": "Loads in under 2.5 s on a phone", "standard": "Core Web Vitals · LCP", "failPct": 68 }, { "id": "schema", "label": "LegalService or Attorney structured data", "standard": "Schema.org · LegalService", "failPct": 42 }, { "id": "alt", "label": "Images have text descriptions", "standard": "WCAG 1.1.1", "failPct": 12 } ], "segments": [ { "id": "pi", "name": "Personal injury", "sites": 34, "median": 77, "weakPct": 0 }, { "id": "family", "name": "Family and estate", "sites": 35, "median": 75, "weakPct": 0 }, { "id": "crim", "name": "Criminal defence and immigration", "sites": 30, "median": 77, "weakPct": 0 }, { "id": "biz", "name": "Small business and employment", "sites": 26, "median": 79, "weakPct": 0 } ], "agencyProblems": [ { "id": "con", "label": "Text contrast passes 4.5:1", "standard": "WCAG 1.4.3", "failPct": 86, "fix": "Raise text contrast to at least 4.5:1 in the theme.", "pitch": "Parts of the site are hard to read, and it is a WCAG failure.", "effort": "Quick fix" }, { "id": "lcp", "label": "Loads in under 2.5 s on a phone", "standard": "Core Web Vitals · LCP", "failPct": 68, "fix": "Resize and compress the hero image, defer scripts, aim for under 2.5 s on a phone.", "pitch": "Your home page takes several seconds to appear on the phone of someone who needs help now.", "effort": "Build" }, { "id": "contact", "label": "Tappable phone plus hours or response time", "standard": "Client question 5", "failPct": 61, "question": "Can I reach someone now?", "fix": "A tappable phone number in the header, with office hours or a stated response time beside it.", "pitch": "Someone who needs a lawyer tonight cannot tell from your site whether anyone will answer.", "effort": "Quick fix" }, { "id": "admit", "label": "Bar admission or licence stated", "standard": "Client question 2", "failPct": 57, "question": "Are they licensed here?", "fix": "State on each lawyer's page where they are admitted or licensed to practise, and since when.", "pitch": "The first thing a careful client checks is whether you can practise in their state, and the site never says.", "effort": "Quick fix" }, { "id": "reviews", "label": "Reviews marked up or shown in a widget", "standard": "Client question 8", "failPct": 55, "question": "Do clients vouch for them?", "fix": "Show the firm's client reviews on the site, with Review or AggregateRating markup.", "pitch": "Your clients already praise you elsewhere. Your own site does not show it.", "effort": "Quick fix" } ] }