Most law firm websites do not break all at once. A form stops sending email after a plugin update. A phone number changes and only one page gets fixed. An attorney leaves, and their bio stays up for months. Nobody notices until a potential client tries to reach you and can’t.
The end of the year is a good time to catch these problems. Things are often slower in late December, and a short review now means you start January with a site you can trust. Here is the checklist we use, written for small law firm owners who are not web developers.
Key Takeaways
- Test every contact form yourself and confirm the email reaches the right inbox.
- Check that your phone number and office details match on every page and on your Google Business Profile.
- Remove old fees, past events and staff who have left the firm.
- Ask your web person to confirm backups, updates, SSL and the domain renewal date.
- Put the review on your calendar so it happens every year.
Test every form, then check where the message lands
Your contact form is often the first step a new client takes. It is also one of the easiest things to break without anyone knowing. Plugin updates, email setting changes and new spam filters can all stop form messages from arriving.
Fill out each form on your site yourself. Do it once from your phone and once from a computer. Then open the inbox where those messages should go and make sure they showed up. Check the spam folder as well.
Try this today
Make a list of every form on your site, including the ones in the footer or a pop-up. Submit each one with the name “Website Test” and the date. If a test message never arrives, tell your web person before you do anything else on this list.
A thank-you message on the screen does not prove the email went out. The only real test is seeing the message in the inbox.
Check your phone number and office details everywhere
Phone numbers tend to get updated in one place and missed in others. Look at your header, footer, contact page and each practice area page. Tap the number on your phone to make sure it dials the right line.
Do the same with your address, office hours and email address. Then compare them with your Google Business Profile and the main directories you use. Our guide to keeping your law firm’s business info consistent walks through this step in more detail.
Look for fees, offers and dates that went stale
Old details can quietly cause problems. A page might still list a flat fee you raised in the spring. A banner might still promote a free seminar from last year. A blog post might say “this year” about a year that already passed.
Search your site for the past year’s date and for words like “fee,” “seminar,” “event” and “special.” Update or remove anything that is no longer true. If your firm lists fees, have an attorney confirm each one is current.
Watch for outdated legal info
Laws change. If a page or blog post explains a rule, a deadline or a process that changed this year, ask an attorney to review it. An old answer can confuse a reader before they ever call you.
Review attorney bios and practice area pages
Read every attorney and staff bio. Remove anyone who has left the firm and add anyone who joined. Check that photos look current and that bar admissions, awards and titles are accurate. Your state’s attorney advertising rules apply to your website, so it is worth keeping these claims up to date.
Then read each practice area page. Does it still describe the work you do today? If you stopped taking a type of case, take that page down or rewrite it, and ask your web person to send the old address to a related page. If you added a service, make sure it has its own clear page.
See how the site works on a phone
Many people will find your firm on their phone. Open your site on yours and use it like a new client would. Read a practice area page, tap the phone number and try the contact form. Notice if anything feels slow or hard to tap.
If pages take a long time to load, our guide on law firm website load speed explains what usually causes it and what to ask your developer.
Ask your web person about the technical basics
You do not need to handle these yourself, but someone should confirm them once a year. Send this short list to whoever manages your site:
- Are backups running, and has anyone tested a restore?
- Are WordPress, the theme and plugins up to date?
- When does the SSL certificate renew?
- When does the domain name renew, and whose account is it in?
- Who has admin access, and should anyone be removed?
The domain question matters more than most owners expect. If it sits in a former employee’s account and lapses, your site and email can go down. Make sure the firm owns it.
Good to know
Write down the answers and keep them with your firm’s records. Next year you will have a starting point instead of a fresh round of questions.
Set your holiday hours before the office closes
If your office closes for any days in late December or early January, update your website and your Google Business Profile before those dates. Our post on getting your Google Business Profile ready for the holidays covers how to set special hours.
Make the review a yearly habit
Put a reminder on your calendar for the same week each year. Save this checklist and note what you found and fixed. Over time the review gets faster, because you will know which pages tend to go out of date.
A site that works is a big part of turning visits into calls. Our guide on turning website visits into first consultations has more ideas once the basics are in good shape.
Kevin Brown Design
Want a second set of eyes on your firm’s website?
We can run through this checklist with you, test your forms and flag anything out of date. Schedule a consultation to talk through your site before the new year.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a year-end website check take?
For a small firm site, most owners can get through this list in an afternoon. The form tests and phone checks go fast. Reading every practice area page and bio takes longer, so you can split that part across a few days. If you find a technical problem, give it to your web person instead of trying to fix it yourself.
Who at the firm should do the website review?
Pick one person who owns the list, even if others help. Your intake staff are a good choice for the form and phone tests because they know where leads should land. An attorney should read the practice area pages and bios, since they know what is out of date. Your web developer can handle plugins, backups and the domain.
How do I know if my contact form is working?
Fill it out yourself from a phone and from a computer, using a name you will recognize. Then check that the message reached the right inbox and did not land in spam. If your form also sends a reply to the person who filled it out, check that too. A form that shows a thank-you message can still fail to deliver the email, so always confirm it arrived.
What should I do with old blog posts that mention past fees or laws?
Read them first. If the topic still matters, update the facts and add a new reviewed date. If a post is about a law that changed or a service you no longer offer, you can rewrite it or remove it and send its address to a related page. Ask your web person to set up that redirect so old links still work.
Should I check my Google Business Profile at the same time?
Yes, it makes sense to do both together. Compare the phone number, address, hours and website link on your profile with what your site says. Add holiday hours for the days your office will close. If anything differs, fix the source that is wrong so both match.
Last reviewed November 13, 2026 by Kevin Brown.