The verdict in three sentences
A Cambridge firm advising university spin-outs, life sciences companies and private clients can no longer afford a slow site without clear practice-area pages or a visible SRA badge. A redesign costs roughly £10,000 to £35,000 with a local agency as a 2026 ballpark, against £3,900 (Growth) or £6,900 (Premium) at Kolonell, delivered in 3 to 4 weeks once content is ready. The budget matters less than the 301 redirect map: lawyer profiles and the insights archive carry most of your visibility.
Does your firm's website need a redesign?
Count the signals that apply to you. From three upwards, a redesign is justified.
- IP, venture capital and life sciences pages are lumped into a single "Corporate" page.
- Lawyer profiles have no stable URL: a departure or a name change breaks links.
- The price and service information required by the SRA Transparency Rules for certain services, such as residential conveyancing, is hard to find.
- The SRA digital badge is missing or poorly placed in the planned new template.
- The contact form asks for case details without stating that it does not create a lawyer-client relationship.
- Insights and briefings are years old and carry neither author nor date.
What budget should you plan in Cambridge?
2026 ballparks drawn from typical quotes and public agency rate pages, for guidance only.
| Provider | Redesign range | Quoted timeline | 301 map included? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal sector specialist agency (Cambridge or London) | £20,000 to £35,000 | 16 to 24 weeks | Usually yes |
| Generalist Cambridge agency | £10,000 to £20,000 | 12 to 18 weeks | Sometimes as an option |
| Freelancer | £3,500 to £9,000 | 6 to 12 weeks | Variable |
| Kolonell Growth | £3,900 | 3 to 4 weeks | Yes, inventory included |
| Kolonell Premium | £6,900 | 3 to 4 weeks | Yes, the multilingual tier (languages set in the quote) |
The Starter tier at £2,300 suits a small firm with fewer than 10 pages. At Kolonell, every tier includes a project manager in your time zone, native English copywriting and 3 months of support. These stay on quote: the booking tool, the client portal or secure document exchange, and any integration with your practice management software. See the international offer.
How long does it take, phase by phase?
At Kolonell, the redesign takes 3 to 4 weeks once the partners have approved the content:
- Week 1: URL inventory (practice areas, profiles, insights), 301 redirect map, sitemap.
- Week 2: practice-area and profile mock-ups, template for SRA price information.
- Week 3: build, insights migration with author and date, forms.
- Week 4: testing, compliance review of marketing content by the responsible partner, go-live and sitemap submission in Search Console.
What stretches the schedule with any provider: each lawyer approving their own biography, often 2 to 3 weeks on its own.
What are the risks of a law firm website redesign?
| Priority | Risk | Concrete mitigation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Traffic drop on practice-area pages | Inventory every URL, page-by-page 301 redirects, Search Console monitoring for 6 to 8 weeks |
| 2 | Insights archive lost | Migration with URLs kept or redirected, author and date preserved |
| 3 | SRA badge or price information forgotten | SRA checklist in testing |
| 4 | Non-compliant claims | No unjustified "best" or "specialist", no case results, client reviews only where the rules permit |
| 5 | Over-intrusive form | Minimal fields, conflict-check field, notice that no lawyer-client relationship is created |
| 6 | Downtime during DNS switch | Friday evening go-live, rollback ready |
On data, UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and PECR (cookies, marketing email) apply, and the ICO is the regulator. Target WCAG 2.2 AA for accessibility in light of the Equality Act 2010. This is not legal advice.
What should you ask, and when is a local agency better?
Ask: who writes the 301 map and how many rows will it have? Are the domain and hosting in your name? How many revision rounds? What does maintenance cost after the 3 included months (at Kolonell: on quote)?
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A legal sector specialist agency is the better choice if you need deep integration with your practice management software, a bespoke client portal delivered at the same time, or in-person positioning workshops with every partner. For a solid brochure redesign, that premium is rarely justified.
Mini case study
Illustrative example: Priya, practice manager of a 14-lawyer firm near the station (the CB1 area), working on IP for spin-outs and residential conveyancing. The site has 180 URLs: 40 practice-area and profile pages, 120 insights, 20 other pages. She scores two options using her own weights:
| Criterion | Weight | Local agency (out of 5) | Kolonell Growth (out of 5) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Budget | 30% | 2 | 5 |
| Timeline | 20% | 2 | 5 |
| In-person workshops | 15% | 5 | 2 |
| Complex integrations | 20% | 4 | 3 |
| SEO and redirect process | 15% | 4 | 4 |
| Weighted score | 100% | 3.15 | 4.00 |
The local quote is £19,500; Kolonell Growth costs £3,900, a £15,600 difference, and the document exchange portal is priced separately on quote.
FAQ
How much does a law firm website redesign cost in Cambridge?
As a 2026 ballpark, £10,000 to £35,000 with a local agency. Kolonell offers £2,300, £3,900 or £6,900 depending on the tier.
How long does it take?
Kolonell delivers in 3 to 4 weeks once content is ready. Add 2 to 3 weeks if biographies are not yet approved.
Do we need to keep the SRA badge?
SRA-regulated firms must display the digital badge on their website, so it has to be in the new template. We add it to the testing checklist, among about twenty control points.
Can we publish client reviews?
Only where the applicable rules permit and without presenting invented case outcomes. Have each review approved by the compliance partner before go-live.
Is the client portal included?
No, the client portal, document exchange and booking are on quote. The redesigned site and 3 months of support are included in the fixed price.
For an estimate based on your sitemap, request a free quote.
Let's scope your project. A 20 to 200 URL redesign with a 301 map, practice-area pages, profiles and compliant forms, from £3,900, live in 3 to 4 weeks. 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.
