In shortA new law firm's website needs to meet its regulatory and company-law requirements from launch: the complaints procedure, the SRA number and digital badge, price information for any listed services it offers, and its company details.
Beyond that, it should be owned by the firm, focused on the few services the firm most wants to sell, and built so it can grow as the firm adds people and areas of work.
Why the first website matters more than it seems
Founders often treat the first website as a placeholder. In practice, it is the first thing referrers, former clients and new prospects check, and the domain, structure and page addresses chosen now are the ones search engines will learn. Rebuilding later is possible, but changing addresses and providers carries real cost.
A new firm also starts with no search history and no reviews. The website has to carry trust on its own: who the people are, what they do, how they charge and how the firm is regulated.
What the rules require on the website
SRA-authorised firms must publish their complaints procedure, including how and when a complaint can go to the Legal Ombudsman, and display their SRA number and the SRA digital badge prominently. Firms that publicise any of the services listed in the Transparency Rules, such as residential conveyancing, uncontested probate or some employment and immigration work, must publish cost and service information for them.
Company law adds its own requirements. A limited company must show its registered name on its websites, along with the part of the UK where it is registered, its company number and its registered office address. Most firms will also need to pay the ICO's data protection fee and publish a privacy notice, and cookie and analytics choices need care from the outset.
| Requirement | Applies to | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Complaints procedure, including Legal Ombudsman route | Applies to: All SRA-authorised firms | Source: SRA Transparency Rules 2.1 |
| SRA number and digital badge, prominently | Applies to: All SRA-authorised firms | Source: SRA Transparency Rules 4.1 |
| Cost and service information | Applies to: Firms publicising listed services | Source: SRA Transparency Rules 1.1–1.6 |
| Registered name, number, registered office and part of UK registered | Applies to: Limited companies | Source: Trading Disclosures Regulations 2015, regs 24–25 |
| Data protection fee | Applies to: Organisations using personal information, unless exempt | Source: Data Protection (Charges and Information) Regulations 2018 |
The SRA badge and the domain
The SRA's digital badge is a piece of code that only displays on websites registered to the firm in mySRA. That ties the badge to the domain, so the domain should be settled and recorded with the SRA before launch, and any later change of domain needs updating there too.
This is one reason to choose the domain carefully and register it in the firm's own name. A domain held by a developer or a relative is a problem waiting for the day the firm needs to change it.
Lead with the work you most want
New firms are tempted to list everything the founders have done. A site that tries to cover twelve areas thinly usually ranks for none of them and doesn't tell a visitor what the firm is best at. Two or three well-developed service pages, written around the questions clients actually ask, do more for a new firm than a long list.
Those pages can be added to as the firm grows. Building the structure so new people, areas and locations can be added without a redesign is cheaper than starting again in two years.
Trust without a track record
A new firm can't point to years of reviews, but it can show the people and their experience accurately, explain how it works and what it charges, and make the regulatory details easy to find. Claims about experience must be accurate; the SRA expects publicity to be clear and not misleading, and that includes credentials.
How we help new firms
We build websites for new and established firms with the SRA and company-law requirements designed in, on a domain and accounts the firm owns. A typical firm website launches in four to six weeks, depending on scope and how quickly content is approved, and firm websites start from £2,500. If authorisation is still in progress, we can plan the site so the SRA details are added the moment they are issued.
Sources
Checked 30 October 2026. This guide summarises the rules; it is not legal advice.