Website design for professional services firms that clients can check, trust and instruct.

Mostly they compare before they call. The Legal Services Consumer Panel's 2025 tracker, a survey of 3,750 people who had used legal services, found that 44% shopped around before choosing a provider, the highest level it has recorded (Legal Services Consumer Panel). The same research found that whether a provider was regulated was the single most important factor in choosing, selected by 89%.

That second figure matters for every profession on this page. A prospective client wants evidence that you are qualified, regulated and insured before they care about your firm's history. On a website, that means registration numbers, regulator wording and named, qualified people where a visitor can see them without hunting through the footer.

Research habits are shifting too. Ofcom reported in April 2026 that 54% of UK adults now use AI tools such as ChatGPT, Copilot or Gemini (Ofcom). Someone asking one of those tools for a fixed-fee probate solicitor or an accountant who understands contractors is handed a short list of names. Firms whose sites say plainly what they do, who for and roughly what it costs give those tools far more to work with.

People look for an accountant by need: "accountant for sole traders", "R&D tax credit specialist", "self assessment help", "small business accountant near me". Each service and each type of client you want more of deserves its own page, saying who it suits, what is included and a starting fee where you have one.

Your professional body sets some ground rules. ICAEW's marketing guidance says firms must not make exaggerated claims about their services, qualifications or experience, and must not disparage other firms (ICAEW). ICAEW also bars member firms from registering domain names containing "Chartered Accountant", "ACA" or "FCA" (ICAEW). For ACCA practices, the "Chartered Certified Accountants" description depends on at least half the principals being ACCA members who together control 51% or more of the voting rights, and the ACCA logo must never be cropped or altered (ACCA).

The Provision of Services Regulations add a list of details to make available, including your professional indemnity insurer's contact details and the territorial coverage of that insurance, and a website is one accepted place to publish them (ICAEW). Tip: gather all of it on one "Regulatory information" page and link it from every footer.

The SRA Transparency Rules have applied since 6 December 2018 (Law Society). Every SRA-regulated firm must publish its complaints procedure on its website, including how and when a client can complain to the Legal Ombudsman and to the SRA (SRA). Every firm must also display the SRA digital badge, mandatory since 25 November 2019, which tells visitors the firm is regulated and links to the protections that brings (SRA).

Firms offering certain services must also publish price and service information. For individuals that means residential conveyancing, uncontested probate, summary-only motoring offences, employment tribunal claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal, and immigration excluding asylum. For businesses it means debt recovery up to £100,000, defending those employment claims, and licensing applications for pubs, shops and other licensed venues (SRA). Prices must state whether VAT is included and what the fee covers, including likely disbursements, alongside typical timescales, key stages and the experience of the people doing the work.

Tip: treat each of these as a full service page with a worked example. Someone searching "conveyancing solicitor fees" wants a number, and a clear price page gives Google something specific to match to that search.

People tend to look for advice at moments of change: "pension advice after redundancy", "inheritance tax planning adviser", "financial adviser for business owners". Pages built around those moments, each written for one kind of client, work much harder than a generic list of services.

The FCA's financial promotion rules are technology neutral and apply across every channel a firm advertises on: promotions must be fair, clear and not misleading, and should give a balanced view of benefits and risks (FCA). Since 31 July 2023 the Consumer Duty has applied to products and services open to sale, and one of its four outcomes is consumer understanding (FCA). In practice that means plain English, risk warnings where they belong, and no headline that the small print quietly takes back.

For a UK firm that is not PRA-authorised, the FCA's statutory status wording is "Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority", and it is required on letters and emails to retail clients (FCA Handbook). We carry the same wording and your firm reference number in the site footer, with a link to your entry on the FCA Register so visitors can check you. Tip: send every new page through your normal financial promotion sign-off and keep a dated copy of what was approved.

Consultants sell judgement, so positioning, case studies and visible expertise carry most of the weight. Regulation is lighter here, though buyers are no less careful. We have written a separate guide covering niche positioning, proof, LinkedIn, AI shortlists and discovery calls: website design for consultants. It is also the part of professional services where our own track record is strongest, through Apila PM and Simtec Consult.

1. A website planned around your services. Website design with a page for each service and client type, profiles that show each adviser's qualifications, and a regulatory information page your compliance lead can check line by line. We write the copy and you approve anything regulated.
2. Visibility in search and AI answers. SEO, AEO and GEO so the site ranks for local and specialist searches, with structured data and direct answers that AI assistants can quote.
3. Steady demand. Content marketing: guides on tax deadlines, conveyancing stages or pension rules that answer real client questions and give partners something worth sharing on LinkedIn.
4. Admin taken off fee earners. AI automation for enquiry triage, document requests, onboarding checklists and reminders, passing data into the systems you already run.

Approving regulated statements stays with you. I would rather say that plainly than suggest a web agency can sign off your compliance.

Our website packages are a fixed monthly fee, + VAT, on a 12-month term, and every site goes live within 30 days.

All three cover design and build, copywriting, on-page SEO foundations, GA4 and Search Console, Google Business Profile set-up, hosting, SSL, security and backups.

A sole practitioner or a small practice with a handful of services usually fits Kickstart. A law firm publishing price pages for several practice areas, or an accountancy firm with pages for each client type, is likely to need Accelerate. A firm with several offices and a page per location and per service often needs Launch Pad. Automation and integrations are scoped after a call at our £95 + VAT hourly rate, and longer engagements run as a Growth Partnership.

Me. You deal with me from the first call through to launch, and I stay on the account afterwards. I've spent fifteen years in websites and digital marketing, starting in sales and later running business development inside marketing roles, and worked on brands including Vodafone, Sainsbury's, Airbus and LVMH in earlier roles. That background shapes how I write for professional firms: around the questions a prospective client needs answered before they will pick up the phone.

We are based at 11-13 Penhill Rd in Pontcanna, Cardiff, and work with firms anywhere in the UK. Calls take place on Zoom and are recorded, which suits partners who need to share decisions with colleagues or keep a note on file. If you are near South Wales, you are welcome to meet us at the office by arrangement.

• Who drafts the regulated wording? Expect the designer to build the pages and write a first draft, and your compliance lead to approve it.
• Can we change fees ourselves? Published prices go out of date, and solicitors in particular must keep them accurate.
• Who owns the domain, the content and the hosting? Get it in writing before you start.
• How will we appear in AI answers? Try our free Cited AI visibility check on your current site, then ask each provider what they would change.
• What proof do you have in our profession? If the answer is none, a good provider says so and shows you the nearest thing.