A law firm’s website is its most durable business development asset. Yet for many firms, it remains underleveraged because of how content is structured, written and deployed.

The opportunity is straightforward: The matters a firm has already handled contain many of the proof points clients are looking for. The challenge is translating that experience into website content that is clear, searchable and aligned with how clients actually look for legal counsel.

This is not about adding more content. It is about making better use of the experience the firm already has by placing the right content in the right places, in a format that can be found, understood and acted on.

Start With the Right Unit of Content: The Matter, Not the Biography

Law firms often treat experience as a credential – something summarized in a bio or buried in a representative matters list. But clients are rarely looking for credentials in the abstract. They are looking for evidence that a firm or attorney has handled a problem similar to theirs.

That shift has implications for how website content should be built. Practice area pages should be anchored in types of matters handled, not abstract descriptions of the law. Representative matters should be expanded and categorized, not just listed as isolated bullets. Likewise, industry pages should reflect patterns of experience rather than broad positioning language.

The goal is to move law firm web content from “what we do” to “how our experience applies to the issues our clients are facing.”

Rebuild Practice Area Pages Around Real Work

Practice area pages are often the highest-traffic sections of a law firm website. They should function as both an introduction to the practice and a conversion tool. Instead of leading with generalized descriptions, consider structuring these pages around:

• A clear opening summary: In two to three sentences, define the types of matters handled and the outcomes achieved. Avoid overly technical legal definitions and focus on client impact.
• Matter clusters, not just examples: Group past matters into categories that reflect how clients think and include a few anonymized summaries – for example, “regulatory investigations involving multiagency enforcement” or “high-stakes commercial disputes involving supply chain disruption.”
• Embedded proof points: Integrate outcomes where appropriate, such as matters resolved before trial, closed without enforcement action or structured to avoid regulatory approval delays.
• Internal pathways: Link directly to relevant attorney bios, related alerts or insights, and deeper industry pages.

This content structure aligns with how search engines and users evaluate relevance, reinforcing both discoverability and visibility. It also gives prospective clients a clearer path from general interest to specific proof of experience.

Turn Representative Matters into Searchable Assets

Most firms already publish representative matters, but few extract their full value.

A firm’s most compelling experience is often invisible to the audiences it’s meant to influence. To function as a business development tool, law firm web content needs to structure representative matters so they’re modular and reusable across the site.

Start by breaking each matter into a consistent, scannable format. The headline should be client-facing, framed around the way a client would describe their issue, not how a lawyer would categorize it. Provide context, because specificity around industry, geography and triggering events increases relevance. Then, clearly outline what the firm or attorney’s roles and actions were and the outcome.

Once structured, each matter should be tagged and categorized to reflect how clients search. Practice areas, industry, type of issue and key themes can all serve as tags or categories that help a single matter surface in multiple contexts – on a practice page, within an industry section or alongside related insights.

This is where matter content becomes more than a static list. A single well-written matter can support a practice description, strengthen an attorney bio, reinforce an industry page and provide context for a related thought leadership piece.

From Archive to Engine

Almost all firms have the raw material needed to drive new business and an established platform on which to do so. When past matters are structured around how clients search, embedded within core website pages, and written in clear and outcome-oriented language, they stop being historical records and start functioning as active business development tools. Making this shift is not simply about improving website content. It is about turning experience into a system that works continuously to connect past work with future opportunity.

Georgie Palm is a licensed attorney in Minnesota and a seasoned marketing and business development professional with more than a decade of experience in the legal industry. She specializes in content creation, strategic communications and business development, with a proven ability to collaborate closely with attorneys and law firm leadership to advance firmwide goals.

Gillian Flannery is a second-year law student at Mitchell Hamline School of Law working toward her Juris Doctor.