Phase one: consultation
Stage 1. First conversation
A call of thirty to forty-five minutes with a partner or practice manager. We ask about the work you want more of, the clients you serve, how enquiries arrive now, what frustrates you about the current site and who at the firm will review copy. There is no charge for this call.
Stage 2. Written scope
You receive a scope listing every page and deliverable, the review points, the timeline and a fixed price. Nothing starts until it is signed. If something changes later, we agree the change in writing first.
Phase two: design and development
Stage 3. Page plan and copy
We map the site: practice area pages, profiles, offices and supporting pages. Then we interview the lawyers who handle each area, usually for thirty to forty-five minutes each, and draft the copy. Drafts come to the firm in a shared document so reviewers can comment in one place.
At this stage we also mark any claim that needs evidence, any use of specialist wording, and any personal injury content that needs review against state rules.
Stage 4. Design and build
Once the page plan and the first drafts are agreed, we design the key templates: home, practice area, profile, office and contact. You review the designs before we build. Colour contrast, heading structure and keyboard use are checked as the templates are drawn, not afterwards.
Phase three: review and refine
Stage 5. Review
The full site goes onto a private preview address. The firm reviews every page. In parallel we test:
- Accessibility against WCAG 2.2 Level AA, using automated checks, keyboard-only use and a screen reader
- Speed against Google's Core Web Vitals thresholds
- Every form, end to end, including the confirmation email
- Redirects from the old site, if there is one
- Spelling, links and structured data
A principal then signs off the final copy. That step matters because the duty under Rule 36 of the conduct rules sits with the firm.
Phase four: launch and support
Stage 6. Launch and handover
We move the site to its live address, submit the sitemap to Google Search Console, check for crawl errors and update Business Profile links. You receive a handover session and a written guide covering the editing tasks your team will do most: adding a lawyer, updating a practice area, publishing an update.
After launch you can move onto a care plan or take the site in-house.
Timeline at a glance
| Stage | What happens | Time we plan for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 and 2 | Conversation and written scope | About 1 week |
| 3 | Page plan, interviews and copy | 2 to 3 weeks |
| 4 | Design and build | 2 to 3 weeks |
| 5 | Review and testing | 1 to 2 weeks |
| 6 | Launch and handover | Under 1 week |
The totals add to six to ten weeks. The stage that moves most is copy review, because it depends on when partners can read the drafts, so we agree review dates in the scope.
What we need from the firm
- One person who coordinates reviews and has authority to approve
- Time with each lawyer for a short interview, or their own draft copy
- Access to the current website, domain and hosting, or the contact details of whoever manages them
- Photographs of your people, or time for a photographer to take them
- A principal to approve the final wording
Questions people ask
Can the process be faster?
Sometimes. If the firm supplies finished copy and reviews quickly, a small site can move faster than the ranges above. We will say in the scope what timeline is realistic.
Do we have to attend meetings at each stage?
Only the first call and the design review need a live conversation. Copy review and testing can happen in shared documents.
What if we are not happy with the design?
The scope includes rounds of revision at the design stage. If the direction is wrong, we would rather hear it early, before the build starts.