Law Firm Website Content Review Checklist

This guide supports our law firm website design service.

Review your law site: scales of justice beside a laptop under a magnifying glass

Before a law firm commissions more website content, it pays to review what prospective clients can already find and understand. This checklist helps a firm’s marketing team prepare a clear editorial plan and identify the pages that need review by the responsible lawyer.

Existing pages pass through a review lens; a closed gate holds a new page until an unanswered reader need is documented.
Check existing pages before planning another.
Read the diagram description

A stack of existing website pages passes through a magnifying lens. A separate new page waits behind a closed gate. First identify the reader need and check whether the existing inventory already answers it accurately. If it does, use the existing page; only a documented gap justifies briefing a new page. The mechanism prevents more pages from being treated as automatic improvement.

Self-check: What should precede another article commission?

Checking whether existing pages already answer the same need accurately.

Start with the services the firm actually provides

List each practice area, the jurisdictions it covers and the person who approves its description. Compare that list with the website menu. Flag outdated services, vague descriptions and pages that suggest the firm handles matters it does not.

A fictional Ontario practice offers wills and estates and business contracts; an old immigration page is flagged because that service is no longer offered.
Check that service pages reflect the firm’s current practice.
Read the diagram description

This clearly labelled fictional Ontario practice lists wills and estates with an estates lead lawyer, and business contracts with a business-law lead. An old Ontario immigration page remains in the inventory under the practice lead, but immigration work is no longer offered. The old page is flagged for review because its continued presence could imply service scope the fictional firm no longer has. These are invented teaching records, not claims about an actual firm.

Self-check: What makes an old service page risky?

It may imply the firm handles work it no longer provides.

Keep service pages and articles distinct. A service page explains what the firm does and how to get in touch; an article answers one specific question. Two pages with the same purpose usually need a decision before another page is written.

A service page explains firm capability and contact, while an article answers a general question. Duplicate-purpose articles need a decision.
Give service pages and articles a clear purpose.
Read the diagram description

Two page types have different jobs. A service page explains what the firm does and provides a contact route. An article explains one general subject or question. When two articles serve the same purpose, decide what to do with them before commissioning another. A general article should not assess the individual reader’s case or imply unsupported service scope.

Self-check: What should a general article avoid doing?

Assessing an individual reader’s legal situation or implying unsupported service scope.

Review each practice area page

  • Does the heading describe the subject accurately?
  • Can a reader tell which kinds of matters the page covers?
  • Are jurisdiction references clear and relevant?
  • Are procedural statements current and assigned to a lawyer for review?
  • Does the page explain the next step without promising an outcome?

Keep a simple inventory with the page address, the issue, the reviewer and the planned action. Mark uncertain statements for review rather than filling gaps with guesses.

A fictional service page labels subject, covered matters, jurisdiction and next step; procedural wording is reviewed and outcome guarantees are excluded.
Show the service scope and contact route without promising results.
Read the diagram description

The fictional page anatomy contains an accurate subject heading, the matters covered, relevant jurisdiction and a clear enquiry route. A procedural statement is assigned to a lawyer for review. A separate red exclusion area says that a guaranteed-win claim must be removed. The reader learns to replace a promised outcome with accurate scope and an appropriate next step; no actual legal procedure or expected result is asserted.

Self-check: What should replace an outcome guarantee?

Accurate scope and a clear appropriate next step.

A fictional wills-page record assigns an unverified procedural timeframe to the estates lead lawyer for review before its wording is used.
Assign uncertain legal wording to a lawyer for review.
Read the diagram description

The fictional editorial inventory records the page path /services/wills/, the issue that a procedural timeframe is unverified, the estates lead lawyer as reviewer, and an action to confirm timing wording before use. No timeframe or legal rule is supplied. The unknown remains explicitly visible rather than being filled with plausible language. An unverified claim becomes an assigned review task.

Self-check: How should an unverified procedural claim be handled?

Mark it for the responsible lawyer’s review.

Check profiles and supporting claims

Ask the firm to confirm names, roles, titles and the experience described in each lawyer profile. Record the basis for any awards, comparisons, testimonials or case examples, and have the responsible person check them against the professional rules that apply before they are published. Client information is never assumed to be publishable just because it appears elsewhere.

A profile connects to a separate evidence binder: name and role to the firm directory, credential to an issuer record and jurisdiction to a regulator record.
Check profile claims against current authoritative or firm-verified records.
Read the diagram description

A stylized anonymous profile sheet is connected to a separate evidence binder examined through a magnifying lens. Name and role point to the firm directory, a credential points to a current issuer record, and jurisdiction points to a regulator record. The path continues from evidence through responsible review to supported profile wording. The biography itself does not substantiate its own claims, and no actual person or credential is depicted.

Self-check: What supports a professional title claim?

Appropriate current authoritative or firm-verified evidence and applicable rules.

An award claim needs its source, date, category and permitted wording; comparisons need a basis. Missing evidence puts publication on hold.
Verify awards, comparisons and permitted wording before publication.
Read the diagram description

The award-claim branch asks who issued the award, when it was awarded, the category and how its wording may be used. A separate comparison branch asks what supports the comparison. Either branch with missing evidence stays on hold before publication. The visual intentionally contains no award badge or invented achievement: evidence and permitted use come before the badge.

Self-check: May an attractive award badge be published without its basis?

No. Confirm the claim and permitted use first.

A public case mention faces a closed review gate before possible marketing reuse; confidentiality, consent and professional obligations still need review.
Check permission and professional obligations before reusing public case details.
Read the diagram description

A publicly visible case page sits to the left of a closed, locked review barrier, with a possible marketing display beyond it. Public availability does not open that barrier. The review explicitly considers confidentiality, consent and professional obligations. The illustration does not adjudicate a real case or imply that one universal consent rule resolves all uses; the specific obligations and permission must be checked.

Self-check: Does an online case mention automatically authorize using client details in advertising?

No. Review the specific obligations and permission.

Want a law firm site that earns trust?

We design law firm websites that make credentials clear and consultations easy to book.

Keep educational content up to date

Give each article a clear reader question and a named reviewer. Record when it was last reviewed in substance. When a rule or process changes, check related articles and service pages together. Do not change dates just to make unchanged content look new.

A rule change leads to substantive content review, a recorded reviewer and a review date. Editing a date alone does not count as an update.
Record the reviewer and date after checking the content.
Read the diagram description

The timeline moves from a rule change to checking affected statements, recording who reviewed the content, and recording when that substantive review occurred. A separate failed route states that a changed timestamp alone is not an update. A last-reviewed date represents actual review work rather than cosmetic freshness; no specific rule change or date is invented.

Self-check: What supports a last-reviewed claim?

A real substantive review, not just a changed timestamp.

Link articles to the relevant practice area so readers can tell general information apart from the firm’s services. An article should never try to assess an individual reader’s situation.

A fictional changed rule connects an estate-planning article, a wills service page and an estate-administration page for coordinated review.
Find every page affected by a changed rule.
Read the diagram description

The explicitly fictional page map shows one changed rule requiring review across an estate-planning guide, a wills service page and an estate-administration page that rely on it. The desktop view fans out to all three; the mobile view lists the same dependency set in reading order. Link the article to the relevant service while keeping the purposes of general information and service description distinct. No substantive legal rule is asserted.

Self-check: Why review linked service pages when an article changes?

They may repeat or rely on the same outdated statement.

Test the enquiry route

Check contact links and forms on a phone and on a desktop. Confirm who receives each submission and what the visitor sees afterwards. Ask the firm to approve the information the form requests and any intake notices. Use test details, never real client information, when checking delivery.

Invented details marked TEST pass through mobile and desktop forms to an agreed recipient; form fields, notices and visitor confirmation are checked.
Test enquiry forms with clearly marked invented details.
Read the diagram description

A red TEST tag identifies invented submission details. Mobile and desktop form devices lead to the agreed recipient’s delivery tray. Check delivery and what the visitor sees after submitting. The form fields and intake notice require the firm’s approval before real use. The devices are conceptual illustrations, not real tool screenshots, and no real client data is used.

Self-check: What data belongs in an intake delivery test?

Clearly marked invented details, not real client information.

For a new or redesigned site, see law firm website design in Toronto. Before publishing, check the lawyer advertising rules in Canada.

Prioritize the review list

Fix inaccurate service information and broken contact routes first. Then review pages where visitors keep asking questions the content should already answer. Where search data is available, use it to see which pages people find and whether those pages answer the question they came with. Traffic alone does not show whether enquiries are a good fit.

For more on what prospective clients look for, read what clients look for on a law firm website. See our law firm marketing services, or contact Canada Create with your website address and priority practice areas.

Incorrect service information and broken contact routes come first, clarity improvements next, and low-risk topic expansion later.
Fix inaccurate information and broken contact routes first.
Read the diagram description

The priority stack places incorrect service information and broken contact routes first, because they can mislead visitors or prevent enquiries from arriving. Next clarify questions visitors should already be able to answer from the content. Consider low-risk topic expansion later. High traffic alone does not override the consequence of an issue or become the only review priority.

Self-check: Which should come first: a broken form or a low-risk new topic?

Fix the broken contact route and inaccurate information first.

Search records, content review and aggregate intake evidence answer different questions. Traffic alone does not prove enquiry suitability.
Check whether visitors’ questions and enquiries fit the firm’s services.
Read the diagram description

Three evidence lanes ask separate questions: search records show which page was found; content review checks whether it answers the reader’s question; aggregate intake evidence checks whether enquiries fit actual services. Dashed connectors indicate links that still need evidence, not an automatic progression. High traffic does not by itself prove suitable enquiries. Use aggregate evidence without client-identifiable details.

Self-check: What additional evidence is needed beyond traffic?

Whether the content answers the need and the resulting enquiries fit the firm’s services.

Frequently asked questions

What goes on a law firm website content review checklist?

List each practice area, the jurisdictions it covers and the lawyer who approves its description, then compare that list with the menu. Review every practice area page for an accurate heading, clear matter types, current procedural statements and a next step that promises no outcome. After that, check lawyer profiles, educational articles and the enquiry route, and put the review list in order.

What makes a good law firm website from a content point of view?

It describes the services the firm actually provides, in the jurisdictions it covers, with a clear way to get in touch. Service pages explain what the firm does, and each article answers one specific question without assessing a reader's own case. Titles, honours and comparisons all have a basis the responsible lawyer has checked.

Why is an outdated practice area page a risk on a small law firm's website?

It can suggest the firm handles work it no longer provides. If a practice has stopped taking immigration matters, an old immigration page left on the site implies a service scope that is gone. Flag it for the responsible lawyer before anyone decides what happens to it.

Which website claims are red flags for lawyers under professional rules?

Promised outcomes, unverified honours or rankings, comparisons with nothing behind them, and specialist used by a lawyer who is not a certified specialist all deserve a hard look. Under Law Society rules, what a firm says about itself has to be true, accurate and verifiable. Record the basis for each claim and have the responsible lawyer check it against the current rules with the Law Society before it goes live.

What drives the cost of reviewing or rebuilding content on a law firm website?

The number of practice areas and jurisdictions, the lawyer profiles and articles that need checking, and how much wording has to go to a lawyer for review. Fixing existing pages normally comes before writing new ones, since only a documented gap justifies a new page. For law firm sites, Canada Create sets out its fee in a written quote once it has seen the pages involved.

When creating a law firm website, should the firm add new pages or fix existing ones first?

Fix and check the existing pages first. Identify the reader's need and see whether a current page already answers it accurately; if one does, improve and use it. Two pages with the same purpose need a decision before a third is written.

Can a personal injury law firm website reuse case details that are already public?

Not automatically. Public availability does not settle confidentiality, consent or professional obligations, so each use needs review before it appears in marketing. Client information should never be treated as publishable just because it can be found elsewhere.

Should a law firm website article tell readers whether it is better to sue or settle?

A general article should not assess an individual reader's legal situation. It can explain the subject in general terms and point to a sensible next step, such as contacting the firm, without promising a result. Any procedural statement in it should be current and assigned to a lawyer for review.

What should a law firm verify in each lawyer profile on its website?

Names, roles, titles and the experience described, all confirmed by the firm. Credentials should match a current record from the issuing body, and jurisdiction should match the regulator's records. A biography cannot back up its own claims, so the evidence sits outside it.

What are Canadian lawyers called, and which title belongs on a law firm website?

Lawyer is the everyday term across Canada, and the common-law provinces also use the formal title barrister and solicitor. In Quebec, advocates and notaries are separate professions. Profiles should use the title the person's regulator recognizes, which keeps them accurate and verifiable.