Website for lawyer or CA firm in India: rules and cost

Short answer: A website for lawyer, advocate or chartered accountant firm in India has to be factual, not promotional. At the time of writing, advocates may publish basic details under the 2008 proviso to Bar Council of India Rule 36, and CAs may run a "pull" website under ICAI's guidelines, but neither may advertise, solicit, claim results or call themselves the best. A compliant profile site typically costs ₹8,000 to ₹30,000 one-time in India; our Starter package at ₹9,999 is often enough.

Lawyers and CAs ask us the same two questions: "Am I even allowed to have a website?" and "If I cannot advertise, what is the point?" The answers are "yes, within rules" and "being found by people who are already looking for you". A website for lawyer or CA firm is not an advertisement. It is the page a referral opens before calling, the place Google sends someone who searched "advocate for property matter" or "CA for GST filing", and the source AI assistants quote for legal or tax questions. This guide explains the rules as we understand them, what a compliant law firm website or CA website looks like, how to be found without advertising, and what it costs.

The rules first: read them before you write a word

We are a web company, not lawyers or accountants, and these rules are amended and interpreted over time. Everything below is our reading at the time of writing. Check the current rules with your bar council or with ICAI before publishing.

Advocates: Bar Council of India Rule 36

Rule 36 of the Bar Council of India Rules bars an advocate from advertising or soliciting work, directly or indirectly, through circulars, advertisements, touts, personal communication or interviews not warranted by personal relations. A 2008 amendment added a proviso that allows an advocate to publish a website with limited information: name, address, telephone numbers, email, enrolment number, date of enrolment, the state bar council, professional and academic qualifications, and areas of practice.

In practice: a website is fine, a brochure is not. No client names, no "cases won", no "best lawyer in the city", no rankings, no fee offers, and no paid Google or Meta ads for legal services. Some state bar councils have added their own guidance, so check yours.

Chartered accountants: ICAI's website guidelines

ICAI's Code of Ethics contains guidelines for a member's or firm's website. As we read them, a firm may have a website that a visitor reaches on their own, often described as a pull website rather than a push one. The firm may state its name, address, contact details, partners and their qualifications, and the nature of services. It should not solicit work, should not push the site through paid advertising, should not carry comparative claims or anything suggesting it is better than other firms, and should not list clients without their permission. The guidelines also cover details such as photographs and what may be said about fees, so read the current version in full and confirm anything you are unsure about with ICAI.

What a compliant, useful site looks like for an advocate

• Home. Your name or the chamber's name, a plain description of the areas you practise ("civil and property matters, family law, cheque bounce cases"), the courts you appear in, and contact details. No slogans.
• Profile. Qualifications with year and university, enrolment number and state bar council, date of enrolment, languages, and a short factual paragraph on your practice. For a firm, one section per advocate.
• Practice areas. One page or section per area, written as information: what a property title dispute involves, what documents a client should bring to a first meeting, roughly how a cheque bounce case proceeds. Describe the law and the process, not your wins.
• Contact. Address with a map, chamber and court hours, phone, WhatsApp button and email. A short form asking the nature of the matter and preferred time to call is fine; keep it to three fields.

What a compliant, useful site looks like for a CA firm

• Home. Firm name, membership or firm registration number, a plain list of services, partners' names, and contact details.
• Partners. Qualifications, membership numbers, year of qualification, areas each partner handles.
• Services as information. GST registration and returns, income tax filing, tax audit, statutory audit, company and LLP registration, TDS, bookkeeping. Each explained as what it is, who needs it, what documents are required and when it is due. A due-date reminder page or a monthly "compliance calendar" post is exactly the kind of useful, non-promotional content the guidelines seem to permit, and it is what people search for.
• Contact. Office address with map, hours, phone, WhatsApp button, and a short form.

Allowed, not allowed, or check first

Being found without advertising

Not advertising does not mean being invisible. Three things bring clients who are already looking.

A Google Business Profile listing. When someone searches "advocate near me" or "CA firm in [area]", Google shows a map with listings. A listing with your correct category ("Law firm", "Attorney", "Chartered accountant" or "Tax consultant"), address, hours and website carries the same facts the rules allow on your site. Our reading is that a factual listing is not advertising, but this is one to confirm with your regulator. Our guide to getting your business on Google Maps explains the setup step by step.

Factual articles that answer questions. "Documents needed for GST registration", "what happens after a legal notice for cheque bounce", "ITR filing due dates this year", "how to register a private limited company". Each is a question thousands of people type into Google, and an article that answers it plainly, with no pitch at the end, is information rather than solicitation as we read the rules. It is also the reason a reader remembers your name when they need help.

Clear answers that AI assistants can quote. People increasingly ask ChatGPT, Google's AI mode and similar tools their legal and tax questions. These tools quote pages that answer a question directly in the first two sentences, with a plain heading. That means a factual, well-structured page does double duty: it ranks on Google and gets cited by AI. Our post on what GEO and AI search mean for a small business explains this without the jargon.

Reviews, carefully. Google reviews help any local listing, but soliciting them may count as solicitation for a professional. Check whether your regulator allows asking clients for reviews before you do, and never write, buy or trade reviews under any circumstances.

Tone: formal, factual, no promises

Write the way you would speak to a client across the desk. "We handle property title disputes in the district court and the High Court" is fine. "Fast results in property disputes" is not. Avoid "expert", "leading", "top", "guaranteed" and "specialist" unless the word reflects a formal specialisation you are entitled to claim. Explain the process, the documents and the law; let the reader draw the conclusion.

What to avoid on a lawyer or CA website

1. Testimonials that describe results, name clients or compare you with others.
2. "Guaranteed", "No. 1", "best in the city", success rates, awards or rankings.
3. Client logos or names without written consent, and for advocates, none at all.
4. Paid Google or Meta ads pointing at the site. We do not run ads for advocates, and our reading is that ICAI's guidelines do not permit them for CAs either.
5. Stock photos of foreign courtrooms or gavels, and slogans in place of facts.
6. Fee offers, discounts or "free consultation" banners, which read as solicitation.

What a website for a lawyer or CA costs in India

At the time of writing, a one-page profile site with qualifications, practice areas, map and contact typically costs ₹8,000 to ₹15,000 one-time from a small studio. A site with separate practice-area or service pages and educational articles, written for you, usually costs ₹15,000 to ₹30,000. Add ₹2,000 to ₹5,000 a year for the domain and hosting. What matters is not the budget but that the words are right.

What we charge

The Starter package at ₹9,999 one-time is often enough for an independent advocate or CA: a one-page profile with your qualifications, enrolment or membership number, areas of practice, map, hours, and WhatsApp and call buttons, live in about five working days. Where you want a page per practice area or service, the Business package at ₹24,999 one-time gives you up to six pages, we write all the text in the factual tone the rules require, and add basic Google search setup. A firm that wants a compliance calendar and regular educational articles fits the Growth package at ₹49,999 one-time with up to twelve pages and a blog section.

For the article and structured-data side, our SEO & GEO Setup at ₹17,999 one-time covers a site check-up, titles and descriptions for up to ten pages, speed and mobile fixes, Search Console and sitemap, and the structured data and llms.txt file that help Google and AI tools read your pages correctly. We do not run ads for advocates. Details are on the business websites page, the SEO and GEO page and the pricing page. Prices exclude GST and everything stays in your name.

Checklist before you publish

• Current Bar Council or ICAI rules read in full; anything unclear confirmed with your regulator
• Enrolment or membership number, qualifications and date of enrolment on the profile page
• Practice areas or services written as information, with documents needed and how the process works
• No client names, results, testimonials, rankings, "best" or "guaranteed" anywhere
• Address, hours, map, phone and WhatsApp on the contact page
• Photographs checked against your regulator's guidance
• Google Business Profile category and details matching the site, if your regulator permits the listing
• No paid ads pointing at the site
• Domain and hosting in your own name

The short version

A website for lawyer or CA firm in India is allowed, but it must be a factual profile, not an advertisement. At the time of writing, advocates may publish name, contact details, enrolment number, qualifications and areas of practice under the proviso to Bar Council of India Rule 36; CAs may run a pull website under ICAI's guidelines with no solicitation, no client lists without permission and no comparative claims. Be found through a Google Business Profile listing, plain educational articles and clear answers that AI tools can quote, and keep every word formal and factual. A compliant site typically costs ₹8,000 to ₹30,000; our Starter at ₹9,999 or Business at ₹24,999 covers most firms. Check the current rules with your regulator before you publish.