If your law firm website isn’t showing up in Google search results the way you’d like, your homepage might be to blame. Many firms invest time and money into building a sleek-looking homepage, but good design alone doesn’t guarantee high rankings. In fact, some of the most common homepage mistakes can quietly drag down your entire site’s visibility.

Let’s look at why your law firm’s homepage might be hurting your Google ranking, and what you can do to fix it.

Common Issues that Impact Your Google Ranking

1. Your Homepage Is Too Broad and Generic

One of the biggest issues we see is that many law firm homepages try to do too much at once. They try to list every practice area, target every audience, and mention every location. The result is a cluttered page with no clear focus.

Google needs to understand what your page is about in order to rank it properly. If your homepage covers everything from car accidents to estate planning to business law, it’s hard for search engines to decide which keywords to rank it for.

The Fix: Give your homepage a clear purpose. Focus on introducing your firm, building trust, and guiding visitors to key areas of your site. Let your practice area pages handle the deep details. Keep your messaging simple, focused, and tailored to your primary audience.

2. Weak or Missing Keyword Strategy

Your homepage needs to target specific keywords, but many law firm websites either skip this step or stuff too many unrelated phrases into one page. This confuses search engines and weakens your visibility.

For example, if you’re trying to rank for “personal injury lawyer in Miami,” but your homepage also tries to target “family law in Tampa” and “DUI defense in Orlando,” Google may not know where to rank you.

The Fix: Pick one or two main keyword targets for your homepage and build content around them. Use related phrases naturally in your copy, headings, and metadata. If you serve multiple cities or practice areas, create separate pages for each instead of cramming them into the homepage.

3. Not Enough Text Content

We’ve seen plenty of law firm websites with beautiful images, sliders, or welcome videos, but barely any written content. While visuals help with user engagement, Google still relies on text to understand what your site is about.

If your homepage doesn’t include a few well-structured paragraphs with clear information, you’re missing a major SEO opportunity.

The Fix: Add 300 to 500 words of clear, informative content to your homepage. Focus on who you help, what types of cases you handle, and why someone should choose your firm. Include your main location and a few relevant keywords, but keep the tone conversational and helpful.

4. Slow Load Speed and Poor Mobile Experience

Google cares a lot about user experience, especially on mobile devices. If your homepage takes too long to load or doesn’t display properly on smartphones, you could lose both rankings and potential clients.

Many law firm websites are bogged down with oversized images, unnecessary animations, or outdated code, all of which slow things down.

The Fix: Run your site through tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to see what’s slowing it down. Optimize images, reduce unnecessary scripts, and make sure your homepage is fully mobile-responsive. A fast, clean site keeps users engaged and signals quality to search engines.

5. No Clear Call to Action

Even if someone lands on your homepage and likes what they see, they won’t take the next step unless you tell them what to do. Many law firm websites either bury their contact info or forget to guide visitors at all.

Google pays attention to how users interact with your site. If people visit and leave without clicking anywhere, it’s a bad sign for your rankings.

The Fix: Include clear, visible calls to action on your homepage. Use buttons like “Schedule a Free Consultation,” “Learn More About Our Services,” or “Speak with an Attorney Today.” Make it easy for visitors to know what to do next.

6. Outdated Design and Clunky Layouts

Your homepage is your first impression. If it looks like it hasn’t been updated in years, visitors—and Google—may assume your firm isn’t active or trustworthy. Clunky layouts, small fonts, and broken links all create a negative experience.

While design alone doesn’t determine rankings, a bad user experience leads to high bounce rates, and that hurts your visibility.

The Fix: Make sure your homepage has a clean, modern design with easy navigation and readable fonts. Keep content organized and accessible. Use white space to make the page feel open and uncluttered.

7. Not Optimized for Local SEO

If your homepage doesn’t clearly show where your firm is located and what areas you serve, you’re missing a huge piece of local SEO.

Potential clients often search for terms like “personal injury lawyer near me” or “criminal attorney in Austin.” If your homepage doesn’t include city-specific references, Google may not show your site in local results.

The Fix: Add your location to your homepage in a natural way. Mention the city you serve in your heading, intro paragraph, and meta description. Include your full business name, address, and a Google Maps link if applicable.

Also, make sure your homepage links to your Google Business Profile and other local listings.

8. No Internal Linking Strategy

Another mistake we often see is a homepage that doesn’t guide users deeper into the site. If your homepage is just a dead end with a few links in the menu bar, it won’t help much with SEO.

Google uses internal links to crawl your website and understand how your content connects.

The Fix: Use your homepage to highlight your most important pages. Link to your practice areas, your about page, your contact form, and recent blog posts. This not only helps visitors find what they need but also improves your site structure for search engines.

Why It Pays to Get Your Homepage Right

Your homepage is one of the most important parts of your law firm website. It sets the tone for your visitors and gives search engines clues about what your site is all about.

Fixing the issues above can lead to better rankings, more traffic, and more trust from potential clients. And in a competitive legal market, that can make all the difference.

Contact Us Today

If your law firm homepage isn’t delivering results, we can help you fix it. Contact our team today to build a homepage that ranks, engages, and converts.