Website redesign for an accounting and tax firm in Bath: budget, timeline and risks (2026)

The verdict in three sentences

For a Bath firm offering accounts, tax and corporate services, the most valuable part of the current website is often invisible: a handful of service and fee pages that already rank and bring in steady enquiries. A redesign with a local agency typically costs £6,500 to £18,000 in 2026, while Kolonell's fixed grid is £2,300 (Starter), £3,900 (Growth) or £6,900 (Premium), delivered in 3 to 4 weeks once content is ready. Whatever you choose, insist on a written URL inventory and a 301 redirect map before any design work starts, and launch outside the January Self Assessment peak.

Why are your ranking pages the real asset in a redesign?

A firm's site may have 50 or 60 URLs, but Search Console usually shows that a small group of pages carries most of the organic traffic: "company formation", "registered office service", "Self Assessment fees", "bookkeeping for landlords" and similar. A redesign that changes their addresses, merges them carelessly or drops the fee tables can wipe out months of visibility.

The first deliverable of a safe redesign is therefore an inventory like this one, built from a crawl plus a 16-month Search Console export.

Keep in mind that fee pages are marketing content: the partners should confirm every figure and every "from" price before go-live, and wording such as "chartered", ICAEW, ACCA or CIOT should only appear as the firm is entitled.

What does a redesign cost in Bath, by size of site?

Local ranges are a 2026 ballpark from typical agency quotes and public agency rate pages, not a survey.

Kolonell tiers include a project manager reachable in UK working hours, native English copywriting, delivery in 3 to 4 weeks and 3 months of support. Premium is the multilingual tier, languages set in the quote. Search work beyond the build groundwork is on quote. See the international offer.

What is a realistic timeline, and who does what?

The best launch window is usually May to September. From November to 31 January most firms are absorbed by Self Assessment, and Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, phased in from April 2026, will keep spring busy for practices with many sole traders and landlords.

Which risks matter most, and how do you handle them?

• Ranking loss on service and fee pages. Prevented by the inventory above, one 301 per changed URL, no redirect chains, and weekly Search Console checks for 4 weeks.
• Content drift during migration. Old fee figures or retired services reappear. A shared spreadsheet listing each page, its owner and its approval date solves it.
• Integrations. A portal, e-signature or accounting software link is connected or embedded rather than rebuilt, and quoted separately.
• Downtime. Switch DNS early in the morning and keep the old hosting live for 2 weeks.
• Data protection and marketing rules. Public forms collect only name, contact and type of need, never tax references, bank details or company documents; consent before analytics tags under PECR; a privacy notice consistent with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. Trust and company services fall within anti-money-laundering supervision, by the firm's professional body or HMRC, and identity checks belong in the firm's own onboarding, never on the public site. This is not legal advice.

Questions to ask any provider: can I see the URL inventory before design starts; who signs off the 301 map; how will you avoid redirect chains; what is monitored after launch, and for how long; who owns the domain, code and hosting account.

When is a local agency the better choice?

A Bath or Bristol agency makes sense if you want regular face-to-face meetings, photography and video directed on site, a rebrand, or a retainer bundling content and local campaigns. Kolonell fits firms whose positioning is clear and whose priority is protecting what already ranks while upgrading the site at a fixed price. Compare both with a free quote.

Mini case study

Illustrative example. Helen manages Sulis Row Corporate Services, a fictional accounts, tax and corporate services firm in Bath. The site has 62 URLs, and 9 of them, mostly fee and formation pages, bring the bulk of organic visits.

• URL plan: 20 pages kept at the same address, 34 redirected to new equivalents, 8 retired with a 301 to the parent service. 20 + 34 + 8 = 62.
• Kolonell Growth: £3,900, URL inventory and 301 map included.
• Hosting and care for the 9 months after support: £75 x 9 = £675 (market assumption; Kolonell maintenance after the 3 included months on quote).
• First-year total: £3,900 + £675 = £4,575, compared with £11,000, the midpoint of a typical local agency redesign quote, before maintenance.

Launch is set for early June, with the 9 priority pages checked every Monday for 4 weeks.

FAQ

How many redirects does a typical accounting site redesign need?

For a 40 to 70 page site, 30 to 45 redirects is common. Pages kept at the same address need none.

Can we change our URL structure during the redesign?

Yes, provided every changed URL gets a single 301 to its closest equivalent. Expect ranking fluctuations for 2 to 6 weeks, without any guarantee either way.

Should fee pages stay on the new site?

If they rank and the partners are comfortable publishing "from" prices, keep them at the same URL. Updating figures takes about 1 hour per page with partner sign-off.

Is a client portal included in the £3,900 Growth tier?

No, client portals, e-signature and secure document exchange are quoted separately. They are linked or embedded in the new site.

When should a Bath firm avoid launching?

Avoid November to 31 January, the Self Assessment peak. May to September usually leaves 4 calm weeks for monitoring.

Let's scope your project. Send us your URL list or Search Console access, and we will return a fixed GBP price, a draft redirect plan and a launch window outside your peak. See the international offer or request a free quote: detailed reply within 48 hours.