The website for a notary's office: what clients want to know and what the office allows

The framework: inform, don't advertise

Notaries hold a public office. This brings stricter advertising rules than for lawyers or tax advisers. In Austria, § 31 Abs 6 of the Notariatsordnung (NO, Notaries Act) only allows advertising insofar as it informs truthfully and objectively about the professional activity; the professional guidelines of the Österreichische Notariatskammer (ÖNK, Austrian Chamber of Notaries), the STR 2000, prohibit among other things comparisons, fee advantages, naming clients and any promotional self-praise. In Germany, § 29 BNotO (Federal Notaries Act) prohibits any commercial conduct and advertising that contradicts the office; the guidelines of the chambers of notaries, which mostly follow the recommendations of the Bundesnotarkammer (Federal Chamber of Notaries), prohibit in particular evaluative self-promotion.

For the website, this is less restrictive than it sounds. Information about duties, powers and areas of activity is expressly allowed in both countries, and that is exactly the information visitors are looking for. A notary's website does not win through slogans, but by answering questions before someone picks up the phone. The details of the advertising rules are in the guides Advertising for notaries in Austria and Advertising for notaries in Germany.

One page per service

People arrive with a concern, not with an area of law. A “Services” page listing twenty terms helps nobody. Better is a separate page for each common service that explains when you need a notary, how it works and what to bring. The following overview shows the pages that are worthwhile for almost every notary's office.

Each of these pages should be concrete. “We provide comprehensive advice on all aspects of inheritance” says little; “After a death, the notary contacts the relatives as court commissioner. For the first meeting, bring the death certificate and, if there is one, the will” says a lot. How to structure service pages in general is described in the article Areas of practice on the website. How to explain on your inheritance page when clients need a notary and when a law firm is shown in the guide Inheritance law: lawyer or notary?.

Document checklists and how an appointment works

The most frequent calls to a notary's office revolve around two questions: what do I need to bring, and how does the appointment work? Both can be answered on the website so that clients arrive well prepared and your team is relieved. A procedure for a purchase contract could look like this:

Explaining fees transparently

“What does it cost?” is one of the most common searches around notaries. Discounts or “cheap” prices are off limits; objective information about the statutory tariffs, on the other hand, is expressly welcome. A separate “Fees” page builds trust because it shows that there is no room for negotiation and no hidden items.

• Austria: Fees are based on the Notariatstarifgesetz (NTG, Notaries' Tariff Act), mostly as a fee based on the value of the transaction, sometimes as a time-based fee. Cash outlays, court fees and VAT are added. Under point 56 STR 2000, the first legal information is free of charge; mentioning it is information, not advertising. You state the expected fee in advance (point 58).
• Germany: Fees strictly follow the Gerichts- und Notarkostengesetz (GNotKG, Court and Notary Fees Act) and depend on the value of the transaction. Certifying a signature costs a 0.2 fee under no. 25100 KV GNotKG, at least 20 and at most 70 euros, plus outlays and VAT. Agreements on fees are invalid (§ 125 GNotKG); there is therefore no such thing as a “free initial consultation”.

Availability, access and languages

Many visitors to a notary's website are older, come with relatives or need an appointment in a particular place. Practical details therefore belong clearly visible on every page, not hidden in the imprint.

• Office hours and appointments: phone hours, opening hours for walk-ins and “appointments by arrangement” clearly separated. In Austria, the Amtstage (office days) in neighbouring municipalities belong here, with place, date and how to register.
• Directions: address, floor, nearest stop, parking. A photo of the entrance helps more on the first visit than a logo.
• Step-free access: Is there a lift, a ramp, a meeting room on the ground floor? Say so explicitly. If home visits, for example in hospital or a care home, are possible, that belongs here too.
• Languages: List the languages in which you and your team can explain documents, written out rather than as flags. Point out when an interpreter or translator must be involved, in Germany for example under § 16 BeurkG.
• Online options: Whether documents can be uploaded, appointments booked online or certain notarisations carried out by video belongs on the respective service page.

The website itself should also be accessible: sufficient font size, good contrast, keyboard navigation, alt texts for images. What the law requires and what is simply good practice is explained in the article Accessibility of the firm website. For content in several languages, see Multilingual website.

What does not belong on the website

Many website templates are made for businesses and come with elements that are not suitable for a notary's office. Check every page against the following comparison.

Restraint also applies to photos: pictures of an appointment with recognisable clients or legible deeds breach confidentiality under § 37 NO or § 18 BNotO. Show rooms, entrance and team, not proceedings. Ideas for risk-free photos can be found in the article Photos for the firm website.

Anwaltsnotariat: two activities, clearly separated

In Austria there is only one form of notary. In some regions of Germany, Anwaltsnotar:innen (lawyer-notaries) work who are also lawyers. An additional rule applies to their website: advertising for the legal practice must not spill over onto the notarial office (§ 29 Abs. 2 BNotO). In practice, this means separate sections for legal and notarial work, specialist lawyer titles and client testimonials only in the law firm section, and no wording that presents the office as an add-on to the law firm.

Full-time notaries, often called “Nur-Notar:innen” (notaries only), do not face this question of separation. Instead, a domain rule applies to all notaries in Germany: generic notary terms without an individualising addition are not allowed, so “notar-[city].de” is generally ruled out. More on choosing a name and address in the article Firm name and domain.

Imprint, data protection and technology

A notary's imprint has more lines than a company's: official title, official seat, competent chamber, supervisory authority and professional rules. What exactly is required differs between the countries and, in Germany, between full-time notaries and lawyer-notaries. The guides Imprint for notaries in Austria and Imprint for notaries in Germany go through each line; you can create a draft with the imprint generator.

• Data protection: contact forms only encrypted, a complete privacy policy. For documents with sensitive data, offer a secure upload instead of unencrypted email.
• Cookies: A notary's website can do without advertising tracking. Without it, you usually don't need an elaborate cookie banner either; see Cookie banner.
• Maintenance: Office hours, Amtstage and fee examples go out of date. Decide who checks them and when.