Regardless of the size of your law firm, or whether you are an individual lawyer or a group that has formed a company, it is important for you to put your services on display.
A website is the best way to show the world what you can do as many people, institutions or firms are in search of reliable legal services.
If you are wondering which platform you can use to host or create your website, you have some great options in this article.
In this article, I point out some web hosting platforms you can use to host your law firm website, including, Wix, Siteground, WPengine, and Hostinger.
First, we remind ourselves of what web hosting is, and the features you need to look out for while choosing a web host provider.
A brief about website hosting
Website hosting is one of the three elements that make your website complete and functional; you need an address for your website (a domain name), something to share and show off (website files), and then a structure and foundation (web hosting).
Common types of web hosting include shared hosting, reseller hosting, and dedicated hosting among others. You can choose the type to use depending on your hosting needs.
For law firm web hosting, you will most likely need to use the shared, or virtual private server hosting types. You will also need security features and email services among other features.
What to look out for when choosing a hosting service for your legal website
There are a few fundamental must-haves that you need to pay keen attention to as you look for a web hosting service for your law firm. Here is a list of the top features you need to be keen on.
Security: Law firms take security quite seriously; their websites need to store all data safely and securely.
The web host you choose therefore should offer security features like SSL certificates to allow data transmission encryption, there should be automated and regular backup to safeguard client data.
In addition, the data center also needs to be physically secure.
Uptime: The web hosting service you choose should be able to guarantee 99% uptime. It is important to settle with a reliable hosting service to maintain client trust and online presence for law firms.
Customer support: You will need easy-to-reach support, meaning a 24/7 support service through various media will be a great choice.
Choose a website hosting provider that will be easy to contact at any time.
Email hosting: Law firms usually rely on professional email services for basic communication. You therefore need to ensure that the hosting provider offers secure and reliable email services with encryption and spam filters.
Scalability: Your law firm is not static, choose a hosting provider that can accommodate the firm’s growth and expansion.
As your practice expands, you should be able to upgrade resources.
Bonus legal features: Not all hosting providers will be legally focused but offer quite good services and a conducive environment that will allow you to build and host your law firm website.
However, if you can get one with a legal focus can can offer either of these services that will be even greater
Legal-focused features such as attorney profiles, client review functionalities, and practice review pages. All these help create a legal-specific website.
Legal content management. A provider that supports content management systems (CMS) like WordPress that can be used to build and manage legal content.
Legal software integration. The hosting provider should be able to integrate effectively with the legal software and tools that your website uses.
Also Read: WPX Hosting vs Siteground (A beginner’s guide)
The 6 best law firm web hosting sites
The following web hosting platforms are considered the best because of their attractive and tremendous features, and because they also have a website builder, so you get hosting and website builder in the same package.
Also,
If you need to reduce the costs of custom web development which requires the use of open-source tools, WordPress is the best option – a content management system.
In this list are hosting services that use and support WordPress.
1. Wix
Wix is a popular website builder and hosting platform that comes with AI-made themes for your law firm. You will be able to use the;
- Wix ADI (artificial Design Intelligence) to generate custom theme designs for your law firm website.
- Wix editor X to customize images, text, and videos which allows for the building of responsive support for mobile devices.
- Wix platforms to ease social media publishing with its numerous features as well.
Wix security features include SSL certificates.
In addition to all this, you enjoy 2GB disc space, a 14-day free trial, a money-back guarantee, and a domain name for free for one year.
You can also connect an existing domain name if you have one.
2. Hostinger
Hostinger offers web building and web hosting services for small and medium websites, as well as cloud hosting for larger-scale firms.
It has an AI website builder that works from a user description to build custom themes.
Its algorithm will enable you to select between template elements and pre-built themes. The site is ideal for launching new website designs.
With this option, you get to enjoy:-
- A built-in eCommerce support
- SEO and marketing suit – Google Analytics and tags
- A free domain name – for one year
- SSL certificates
In addition, you get a 30-day money-back guarantee, free web migration, 24/7 customer support, and 30 – 200 GB of disc space
Hostinger’s pricing plans start at USD 2.99 per month with a 2-month free deal.
3. HostGator
Hostgator is a website hosting platform that offers shared, VPS, and dedicated hosting, with a user-friendly interface.
You will be able to build and host a beautiful, functional website using their wide range of designer templates.
Features with this option include;
- Free site migration
- Reliable customer support services
- Prebuilt themes and customizable templates
- Free Domain
- Free stock images that can be used without licensing
- Free marketing and e-commerce tools
4. WPEngine
WPEngine is a WordPress-managed web hosting service. It offers exciting and effective features that will help the success of your firm hosting.
With the WPEngine option for your law firm, you will make use of the following features:-
- 24-hour support services through chat, email, or phone call.
- Built-in security and scalability.
5. Flywheel
Flywheel is another WordPress-managed hosting service with quite good uptime and an easy-to-use dashboard. It also offers free migrations and scalability.
You can use this site for your law firm website because of the features it offers;
- FlyWheel offers 24/7 support services so you can consult and seek help at any time you find yourself in need.
- Scalability comes with this site too. You get to scale your website as your firm grows with not much stress.
- You get free migrations
- 60 days money back guarantee
- Security features like SSL certificates and nightly backup to settle your worries of data and file safety.
- Multiple site management; Flywheel will help you easily manage from one to hundreds of sites.
6. Siteground
Siteground is a control panel hosting service that offers a quite refined dashboard and reliable, friendly customer support in various mediums.
You will also enjoy great security features (including backups), and ultrafast speed to help you elevate your online presence.
Also Read: Top 5 Cheapest cPanel Reseller Hosting (for starters)
FAQs
Are free legal website hosting platforms worth the try?
There are several free legal web hosting services but these are on shared servers which can be quite slow. Hence, free law firm hosting services may not be worth the effort.
The servers are mostly overloaded, and have requirements that will limit your website visitor capacity; the website slows down after you get a fixed number of visitors.
This to your potential clients is a sign of unreliability and you do not want that for your law firm.
What is the best law firm website builder?
There are quite many website builders that one can use to see a dream come true. Some of them have been explored in this article.
Well, website builders like Wix, Hostinger, Square space, Weebly, WordPress.com, and Webflow among others can help simplify the process of building a law firm website.
Let’s pick briefly on each of these;
*Wix is user-friendly and offers a wide range of customizable templates and a drag-and-drop function.
This website builder can be used by law firms of all sizes to create a professional and visually appealing website. Learn more about Wix here
*Hostinger has an AI website builder that works for small and medium firms, but also for large firms with cloud hosting.
It offers templates and themes you can easily work with to create your unique customized law form website.
*Squarespace will work very well for law firms looking for a stylish and elegant online appearance.
It is well known for its elegant and modern templates, offers blogs and portfolio-building features, as well as an integrated e-commerce in case your firm would like to sell legal resources.
*Webflow is a more advanced option with highly customized and visually appealing designs. With this, you will have a unique and modern website, and be able to add custom codes.
*Weebly is also a user-friendly web builder with various templates and a simple drag-and-drop interface.
If you want to create a basic informative law firm website, this option will do just great for you. It also offers e-commerce features to allow you to sell legal products if you want to.
*LawLytics is a website builder specifically designed for law firms. Its templates and features are legal-focused, making it easy to design your law firm website with features like an integrated blog and legal content resources.
Can a law firm have multiple websites?
Yes!
Law firms can have more than one website to their advantage. Using multiple websites is in a way a marketing strategy.
You can create different sites for the different categories of law within the practice; you could have subdomains for family law, property law, and criminal law, among others.
It is easier to manage multiple domains on a CPanel site or plan. But this can also be done on a WordPress plan much better if you rely on a virtual private service (VPS) plan.
Conclusion
In summary, you have a variety of options when it comes to your firm hosting. All you need is to be clear on what your hosting needs are, then choose a reliable and affordable hosting provider from the list above.
Remember to look out for the most important features for the success and effectiveness of your law firm website.
