How we build landing pages · StoryBrand 2.0 for law firms
Most law firm landing pages talk about the firm. The ones that get the call talk about the client. Here's how we use the StoryBrand 2.0 framework to write landing pages that turn stressed, skeptical visitors into consultations, with examples for every major practice area.
The problem
Someone who just got hurt, arrested or served papers doesn't read your page. They scan it for a few seconds, asking three questions: what do you offer, how will it make my life better, and what do I do next? If the page answers with the firm's founding year, they go back to Google and call someone else.
Smith & Associates: Aggressive Personal Injury Attorneys With Over 50 Years of Combined Experience
The visitor has to work out whether you can help, what it costs, and what to do next. Most won't.
Hurt in a crash? Get your bills covered and your life back.
What they want, said their way, with one clear next step: Get my free case review.
The SB7 framework
StoryBrand maps marketing onto the oldest structure there is: a character who wants something has a problem, meets a guide who gives them a plan and calls them to action, and that helps them avoid failure and end in success. Here's what each part looks like on a lawyer's landing page.
Your client is the hero, not your firm. Pick the one thing they want and say it in their words at the top of the page. If a visitor can't tell what you offer in five seconds, they leave.
Example · Personal injury
Name the problem on three levels. People hire a lawyer for the external problem, but they decide based on the internal one: how the problem makes them feel.
Example · Family law
Your firm is the guide. Guides show empathy first, then authority. Say you understand what they're going through, then prove you can help with reviews, results and credentials.
Example · Criminal defense
Hiring a lawyer feels risky. A simple three-step plan shows the path and makes the first step feel small. An agreement plan, like a flat fee, removes a fear that keeps people from calling.
Example · Estate planning
Heroes don't act unless they're challenged to. Every page needs one direct call to action, repeated, plus a transitional one for people who aren't ready to call yet.
Example · Bankruptcy
Show what's at stake if they do nothing. Use it like salt: a little gives the story urgency, too much feels like a scare tactic, and your bar's rules apply.
Example · Immigration
Paint the picture of life after they hire you. People buy the outcome, not the legal process, so describe the outcome they'll feel.
Example · Criminal defense
New in StoryBrand 2.0
The biggest addition in 2.0 is the controlling idea: a short line that sums up the transformation you offer. It goes in the hero, the final call to action, your ads, your intake script and your email signature. Repetition is what makes people remember you when they need a lawyer.
A good controlling idea passes one test: could a client repeat it to a friend after one visit to your site?
The landing page, top to bottom
Every landing page we build follows the same order. Each section does one job in the story, so a visitor who only scrolls halfway still knows what you do and how to start.
Logo, phone number and one button. On mobile, the phone number is tap-to-call and always visible.
What the client wants, in one line, with the direct and transitional calls to action right under it. No slogans, no stock photo of a gavel.
A short section on what happens if they wait. Real, specific and calm, never a scare tactic.
Three outcomes the client gets from hiring you, written as results, not services.
One line of empathy, then proof: reviews, case results with the disclaimers your bar requires, awards and memberships.
Three steps from first call to resolution, and the agreement that removes the risk, like a free consultation or a flat fee.
One paragraph that tells the whole story: the problem, how you help, and the outcome. This is also where the page earns its keywords.
The questions people search before they call, answered plainly. We pull them from keyword research, not guesses.
Repeat the controlling idea and the direct call to action one last time, with the short form and the phone number side by side.
Examples for lawyers
Pick a practice area to see the hero, plan, stakes and success written the StoryBrand way, next to the kind of headline we usually replace.
Hurt in a crash? Get your bills covered and your life back.
We deal with the insurance company so you can focus on healing.
The headline we usually replace
Smith & Associates: Aggressive Personal Injury Attorneys With Over 50 Years of Combined Experience
It describes the firm, lists services, and leaves the visitor to figure out the next step. The version on the left answers what they want, how you help, and what to do now.
Beyond the message
A clear story gets people to want to call. These make it easy for them to actually do it, and show you which pages are signing cases.
Someone who searched 'truck accident lawyer' should land on a page about truck accidents, not your homepage. We build pages from keyword research so the headline answers the search.
Most legal searches happen on a phone. The number is tap-to-call, the button stays on screen, and after-hours calls still reach a person or a booking form.
Name, phone and a sentence about what happened. Every extra field costs leads. Your intake team can get the rest on the call.
Reviews, results and credentials sit right beside each call to action, where the decision happens, not on a separate page nobody visits.
A slow page loses people before they read a word. We build to pass Core Web Vitals, with the main content showing in under 2.5 seconds on mobile.
Call tracking and form source tracking show which pages sign cases. Then we test headlines and calls to action and keep what wins.
Want this on your site?
Our law firm websites and landing pages are built on this framework from the first wireframe. Pair it with our keyword research by practice area and every page is written for what your clients search and what makes them call.
Common questions
StoryBrand is a messaging framework created by Donald Miller in his book Building a StoryBrand. It borrows the structure of a story: a hero with a problem meets a guide who gives them a plan, calls them to action, and helps them avoid failure and reach success. In marketing, your client is the hero and your firm is the guide.
Building a StoryBrand 2.0, released in January 2025, keeps the same seven-part framework. It adds the controlling idea, a single repeatable message that ties all of your marketing together, a step-by-step guide to running a campaign, updated examples, and StoryBrand's AI writing tool.
Yes, and it fits legal work especially well. People rarely search for a lawyer on a good day. They're stressed and comparing firms quickly, so a page that clearly says what you do, how you help and what to do next beats a page about the firm's history.
No. Clear headings, plain language and answered questions help search engines and AI search understand the page. We pair the framework with keyword research, so each page is written for the terms its clients actually search. Paid-ad landing pages can be kept out of search results when that makes more sense.
The framework is just structure, so it works within the rules. We write to your state bar's advertising rules: no guarantees or misleading claims, the required disclaimers on past results, and testimonials used only the way your bar allows. Your firm still reviews and approves everything before it goes live.
We measure calls, form submissions and, where your intake system allows, signed cases, not just traffic. Call tracking shows which page and ad each lead came from, and we test headlines and calls to action over time to keep improving the conversion rate.
StoryBrand and Building a StoryBrand are trademarks of their owner. This page explains how we apply the framework from Donald Miller's book Building a StoryBrand 2.0. Example copy is illustrative; bracketed items are placeholders for a firm's own verified credentials.
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