Local agency or remote studio for an immigration and relocation firm website in Montreux: how to choose (2026)

The verdict in three sentences

For a global mobility firm in Montreux working with the HR teams of international employers, the site must first reassure an HR buyer: clear processes, data protection and a named contact. An agency on the Riviera or in Lausanne makes sense if you want in-person workshops with your key accounts and recurring video production; a remote studio is enough for a structured French and English site, delivered fast at a fixed price. What matters most is how the site presents your role: assignment management and relocation, with permit coordination handled by lawyers.

What does a global mobility firm's website need?

Your visitors are not individuals looking for a visa. They are mobility managers, HR business partners and finance teams at companies based between Vevey, Montreux and the rest of the Lake Geneva region, comparing two or three providers before a tender. They look for:

• one page per service: assignment management, arrival and house hunting, registration with the commune's residents' office, schooling, insurance, departure and repatriation;
• a corporate page explaining your method, your reporting and your own internal response times (not those of the authorities);
• a lean enquiry form: employer name, number of employees concerned, country of departure, target arrival date, with no passport copy at this stage;
• a clear statement of the framework: in Switzerland, residence and work permits (L, B, C, or G for cross-border commuters) are issued by the cantonal migration office under federal rules set by the SEM, and EU/EFTA nationals and third-country nationals follow different regimes. Your site describes routes in general terms; eligibility is confirmed by a lawyer.

Secure document upload (passports, civil status records, contracts) is a separate module, on quote at Kolonell, with a retention period defined up front.

Riviera agency or remote studio: a step-by-step comparison

The timeline gap comes mostly from coordination: a studio that writes the French and English itself avoids back-and-forth between designer, copywriter and developer.

What budget should you plan over three years?

2026 ballpark, based on typical agency quotes and public rate pages of agencies around Lake Geneva, for a 15-page site in French and English. Maintenance is a market assumption (CHF 100 to 220 per month); at Kolonell, 3 months of support are included and anything after that is on quote.

The Kolonell grid: Starter CHF 2,700, Growth CHF 4,500, Premium CHF 8,200. Premium is the multilingual tier, languages set in the quote. An English-only site aimed at international headquarters can stay on Growth. The tiers are detailed on the international offer page.

When should you clearly prefer the local agency?

• Your clients are two or three large groups that require quarterly in-person meetings and a supplier listed in the Swiss commercial register.
• You plan an HR portal connected to your assignment-management tool, with on-site technical work.
• You produce videos of neighbourhoods, schools and housing between Montreux, Vevey and La Tour-de-Peilz every season.

In every other case, ask both providers the same questions: domain and code in your name, hosting of form data, retention period, target accessibility level, native writers, exit terms. The revised Federal Act on Data Protection (revFADP), in force since 1 September 2023 and supervised by the FDPIC, applies to your forms; the GDPR may also apply if you target employees living in the EU. There is no single federal licence for relocation consultants: check with the canton, and contentious matters belong to lawyers. This is not legal advice.

Mini case study

Illustrative example. Laurent, a partner in a global mobility firm in Montreux, manages 40 assignments a year for employers around Lake Geneva. Today every new assignment starts with an email exchange to gather basic information: about 2 hours of internal work.

With a structured HR form on the new site, he expects to save 1.5 hours per file. Calculation: 40 × 1.5 h × CHF 120 internal hourly cost = CHF 7,200 a year. The Kolonell Premium site costs CHF 8,200. With CHF 1,800 for a German translation by an independent translator (third-party cost), the investment reaches CHF 10,000 and pays for itself in under 17 months on that line alone. Laurent keeps the local agency for his yearly video, on a separate budget.

FAQ

Can a mobility firm's site state permit processing times?

No. Times depend on the cantonal migration office and on each file; show your own response times instead, for example a reply within 24 business hours.

Can the studio write in German?

Kolonell writes natively in French and English. For German, plan for an independent translator, around CHF 1,500 to 2,500 for 15 pages.

Which tier for a French and English site?

Premium at CHF 8,200, the multilingual tier, languages set in the quote. Growth at CHF 4,500 suits a single-language site.

What does a Riviera agency charge?

2026 ballpark: CHF 18,000 to 32,000 for a 15-page bilingual site, excluding maintenance. A custom HR portal is priced separately.

Should the footer show a regulatory status?

At minimum show your company name, address and the nature of your services, then state that permit questions are handled with lawyers. Check with the canton whether a specific authorisation applies to your activity.

For a precise estimate, request a free quote with your yearly number of assignments.

Let's scope your project. Describe your services, languages and HR clients, and we will come back with a fixed scope, a grid price and delivery in 3 to 4 weeks. See the international offer or request a free quote: detailed reply within 48 hours.