The verdict in three sentences
For an Edinburgh accounting and tax firm with 15 to 60 pages, a website redesign typically costs £6,000 to £15,000 with a small local studio in 2026, £2,500 to £7,000 with a freelancer, and £2,300, £3,900 or £6,900 on Kolonell's fixed grid. The real risk is rarely the new design: it is losing the service pages that bring enquiries (landlord accounts, Making Tax Digital, payroll) and breaking the client portal links your clients rely on every January. Plan 3 to 4 weeks of build once content is ready, plus a redirect map and a compliance review before go-live.
Which signals show that your firm's redesign is due?
Most practices in the New Town, the West End or Leith redesign too late, usually after a partner leaves and nobody can edit the team page. These signals are more reliable than taste.
| Signal | What it costs you | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Enquiry form fails or is hard to use on a phone | Lost owner-managed business leads in peak season | High |
| Making Tax Digital pages written years ago | Outdated statements on a regulated topic | High |
| Analytics cookies set before consent | Exposure under PECR and UK GDPR | High |
| Team pages list people who left 2 years ago | Trust problem for new clients | Medium |
| Only the original developer can edit pages | £80 to £150 per small change, delays | Medium |
| Low contrast, no keyboard navigation | Gap against a WCAG 2.2 AA target and the Equality Act 2010 | Medium |
If three or more of these apply, a redesign usually costs less over 3 years than patching the old site.
How much does an accounting firm redesign cost in Edinburgh in 2026?
The ranges below are a 2026 ballpark based on typical agency quotes and public agency rate pages in Scotland, not a survey. Scope matters more than the label.
| Option | Typical scope | 2026 ballpark | Build time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freelance designer or developer | 10 to 20 pages on a theme | £2,500 to £7,000 | 4 to 10 weeks |
| Small Edinburgh studio | 15 to 30 pages, custom design | £6,000 to £15,000 | 8 to 12 weeks |
| Established Edinburgh agency | 30 to 60 pages, discovery workshops | £15,000 to £35,000 | 10 to 16 weeks |
| Kolonell Starter | Compact site, core service pages | £2,300 | 3 to 4 weeks |
| Kolonell Growth | Full service set, insights section, forms | £3,900 | 3 to 4 weeks |
| Kolonell Premium | Advanced design, Premium (the multilingual tier, languages set in the quote) | £6,900 | 3 to 4 weeks |
| Portal integration, tax calculators, CRM sync | Custom work | On quote | Scoped separately |
Every Kolonell tier includes a project manager reachable in UK hours, native English copywriting, delivery in 3 to 4 weeks once content is ready and 3 months of support. Maintenance after those 3 months is on quote. Details are on the international offer page.
What stays on quote: the client portal itself (your practice software provider hosts it, the website only links to it), interactive calculators for Scottish income tax or dividends, sync with practice management or CRM tools, and any ongoing search work.
What are the main risks, and how do you reduce them?
| Risk | What breaks | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|
| Search traffic loss | Old URLs such as service or location pages return 404 | Full URL inventory, 301 redirect map, Search Console checks for 4 weeks |
| Client portal links | Login buttons point to an old portal address | Inventory every outbound link, test each one before go-live |
| Team profile URLs | Partners' names no longer lead to their profile | Keep each profile URL or redirect it individually |
| Content migration | Old tax guides copied with outdated thresholds | Partner review of every guide; archive or update |
| Public forms | Visitors type UTR or National Insurance numbers | Data minimisation: name, email, topic only |
| Downtime at switch | Site unreachable for hours | Lower DNS TTL 48 hours before, switch on a quiet evening |
| Marketing statements | Claims your professional body would question | Compliance review of every page before go-live |
On compliance, stay with the basics: UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 for form data, the ICO as the regulator, PECR for cookies and marketing email, and your professional body's guidance (ICAS, ACCA or ICAEW) on advertising. This is not legal advice.
Questions to ask any provider
- Who builds the redirect map, and how many old URLs will it cover?
- Will the domain, hosting account and analytics stay in our firm's name?
- Which pages can our staff edit without help after launch?
- What happens to the portal and payment links, and who tests them?
- What exactly is included in support, and for how long?
Need a professional website?
Kolonell builds websites that attract clients, optimized for the Sénégalese market. Free quote in 2 minutes.
When is a local Edinburgh agency the better choice?
Choose a local agency if your partners want several in-person workshops, if you need a photographer and copywriter on site in the same week, or if you are a multi-office firm with formal procurement and a long retainer. A local team also makes sense when the redesign is part of a wider rebrand with print, signage and events. For a 5 to 40 person practice with clear content, a fixed grid usually covers the need for far less.
Mini case study
Illustrative example: Fiona, managing partner of a hypothetical 9-person accounting practice in Leith serving landlords and owner-managed businesses. Her old site has 140 URLs; 38 receive search visits and all 38 are mapped to new addresses. A local studio quotes £12,500. She chooses Kolonell Growth at £3,900 and hires a local photographer (third-party cost) for £600, so £4,500 in total, a gap of £8,000. Her side of the work: 3 partners spend about 6 hours each reviewing tax content, 18 hours in all, done before the 3 to 4 week build starts.
FAQ
How long does an accounting firm redesign take with Kolonell?
Build takes 3 to 4 weeks once content is ready. Most Edinburgh practices need 1 to 3 weeks beforehand to gather partner bios and update guides.
Will we lose our Google rankings?
Some movement is normal for 2 to 6 weeks after launch. A complete 301 map and Search Console monitoring keep losses limited when every URL with traffic is redirected.
Can you rebuild our client portal inside the site?
No, the portal stays with your software provider and the site links to it. Any deeper integration is quoted separately, outside the £2,300 to £6,900 grid.
Which tier suits a 10-person practice?
Growth at £3,900 usually fits: full service pages, an insights section and forms. Premium at £6,900 is for firms wanting advanced design or the multilingual tier.
What should the contact form collect?
Name, email, phone and topic are enough for a first call. Never ask for UTR, National Insurance numbers or bank details in a public form.
Let's scope your project. Share your current URL count, the pages you want to keep and your target date, and we will return a fixed price within the £2,300 to £6,900 grid. See the international offer or request a free quote: detailed reply within 48 hours.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
