Nearly nine in ten small law firm websites fail to meet Google's benchmark for a 'good' mobile speed score, according to a study released today by Constellate, a marketing research firm that works exclusively with law firms. The study, which analyzed 80 small law firm websites across five fast-growing markets, found that 71 sites (89%) scored below 90 on Google's mobile PageSpeed test—the score Google considers good. One in four sites (24%) scored below 50, which Google rates as poor.
The study tested firms in McKinney, Texas; Castle Rock, Colorado; Naples, Florida; Carmel, Indiana; and Cary, North Carolina—communities where new residents need lawyers and search for them on their phones. The median mobile score was 60 out of 100, placing the typical site in Google's 'needs improvement' range. Just 9 sites (11%) reached a score of 90 or above. In terms of load time, the median site took 7.4 seconds to display its main content, and 58 of 80 sites (73%) exceeded Google's 4-second threshold for poor performance. Castle Rock, Colorado had the lowest median score at 56, while Carmel, Indiana led the group with a median of 74, with a quarter of its sites scoring 90 or above.
"Most people search for a law firm on their phone, no matter what kind of legal service they are looking for," said Bruce Kreutzer, Partner and VP of Growth at Constellate. "Seven seconds is a long time to wait. They call the next firm. Most small firms never see this happen, because nobody shows them the number."
The findings have significant implications for small law firms that rely on digital marketing to attract clients. With mobile search dominating consumer behavior, slow-loading websites can lead to lost opportunities as potential clients abandon a site and contact a competitor. The study underscores a gap between the importance of online presence and the technical performance of many firms' websites.
"We built Constellate on one idea: law firm marketing should run on real data, measured as it happens," said Chris Bardos, President of Constellate. "This is the first in a series. Search is changing fast, especially with AI answers, and the firms that know their numbers will adapt first."
The study's methodology involved testing the home pages of 82 law firm websites using Google PageSpeed Insights (Lighthouse) with mobile settings in September 2026. Two sites could not be scored and were excluded, leaving 80. Firms were identified through Google search. Scores are grouped by Google's published bands: 90 to 100 is good, 50 to 89 needs improvement, and below 50 is poor. Load time refers to Largest Contentful Paint, Google's measure of when a page's main content appears, measured in a simulated mobile load and compared against Google's 4-second threshold. Individual firms are not named.
For law firms, the results suggest a need to prioritize mobile optimization to remain competitive. As search algorithms increasingly favor fast, mobile-friendly sites, firms with poor performance may find themselves ranked lower and less visible to potential clients. Constellate, which builds and manages websites, SEO, and generative engine optimization for firms with 1 to 25 attorneys, offers a data pipeline that tracks site performance in real time. More information is available at constellate.com.
