The verdict in three sentences
For a wealth management firm or family office in Houston, a redesign in 2026 costs anywhere from $4,900 on a fixed grid to more than $60,000 with a Galleria boutique agency, and the real risk is not the budget: it is traffic loss and broken regulatory links at launch. A well-run redesign takes 3 to 4 weeks of production once content is ready, preceded by a compliance review of the copy by your CCO. Require a URL inventory, a 301 redirect map and a test of every disclosure link before any switch.
Which signals say a redesign is due?
- The site is more than 5 years old, reads poorly on mobile, and your prospects, energy executives or Texas Medical Center physicians, check it between meetings.
- Links to Form ADV, to Form CRS where it applies, and to the privacy notice are broken or hard to find.
- Team pages no longer match your advisors, or your River Oaks, Memorial or The Woodlands offices are missing.
- The client portal login is buried or points to an old address.
- The copy contains wording written before your last compliance review.
What budget should a Houston firm plan for a redesign?
2026 ballpark, based on typical quotes and public rate pages of local agencies and sector specialists. Kolonell prices are those of the international grid.
| Option | Redesign budget | Typical timeline | Compliance review |
|---|---|---|---|
| Houston boutique agency | $20,000 to 60,000 | 10 to 16 weeks | Your CCO, supported by the agency |
| Financial advisor marketing specialist | $15,000 to 45,000 | 8 to 14 weeks | Content sometimes pre-reviewed |
| Advisor website platform (subscription) | $1,500 to 5,000 + $100 to 400 a month | 2 to 6 weeks | Standard content library |
| Houston freelancer | $6,000 to 15,000 | 6 to 12 weeks | Your CCO alone |
| Kolonell Growth | $4,900 | 3 to 4 weeks, content ready | Step built into the schedule |
| Kolonell Premium | $8,900 | 3 to 4 weeks, content ready | Step built into the schedule |
Starter at $2,900 suits a family office that wants a discreet presence of a few pages. Each tier includes a project manager reachable in your time zone, native English copywriting and 3 months of support. Client portals, CRM or custodian integrations and search work stay on quote. Details are on the international offer page.
How long does each phase take?
| Phase | Kolonell | Typical Houston agency | Owner on your side |
|---|---|---|---|
| Content preparation and compliance review | Before kickoff, 2 to 6 weeks depending on you | Often during the project | CCO and partners |
| URL inventory and redirect map | Week 1 | 2 to 3 weeks | Operations |
| Design and mockups | Weeks 1 to 2 | 3 to 5 weeks | Lead partner |
| Build and content migration | Weeks 2 to 3 | 4 to 6 weeks | Operations |
| Compliance check on the staging site | Week 3 | 1 to 2 weeks | CCO |
| Launch and Search Console monitoring | Week 4, then 30 days of monitoring | 1 week | Operations |
What are the main risks and how do you avoid them?
| Risk | What goes wrong | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|
| Traffic loss | Old URLs return 404 errors | Full inventory, 301 redirects, Search Console monitoring |
| Broken disclosure links | Form ADV, Form CRS or privacy notice missing | Checklist of required links before the switch |
| Client portal unreachable | Clients cannot find the login | Keep or redirect the URL, test on mobile |
| Unreviewed content | Old wording carried over as is | Compliance review of every migrated page |
| Downtime | Poorly prepared DNS switch | Lowered TTL, off-hours switch, rollback ready |
| Accessibility regression | Contrast or forms fail | WCAG 2.1/2.2 AA tests before launch |
Need a professional website?
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The frame stays general: depending on size, advisers register with the SEC or the Texas State Securities Board, and the SEC Marketing Rule governs testimonials and performance. No page should promise returns. The Texas Data Privacy and Security Act may apply, with exemptions for financial firms to be checked. ADA Title III suits regularly target websites, hence the WCAG 2.1/2.2 AA target, and emails follow CAN-SPAM. This is not legal advice.
A local agency remains the better choice if you want a full brand repositioning, in-person workshops with the investment committee, advisor videos shot in Houston or a heavy custodian integration. To check a professional services site built by Kolonell, you can look at TR Signing Group (trsigninggroup.com), a signing services company in New Jersey.
Mini case study
Illustrative example: Mark Delgado is COO of a 6-person wealth management firm near the Galleria serving energy executives. The site has 140 indexed URLs, including 60 articles that bring most of the visits.
He picks Growth at $4,900. He adds 6 hours of review by an independent compliance consultant at $250 an hour, so $1,500 (third-party cost), and a portrait session with a local photographer at $900 (third-party cost). Total budget: $7,300. The redirect map covers all 140 URLs, and testing checks 12 regulatory links plus the portal link. A local boutique agency quote of $38,000 would also have covered a firm video he does not need this year.
FAQ
How long is the site offline during the switch? With TTL lowered the day before, the switch usually takes under 1 hour, often a few minutes. It happens outside office hours, with a rollback ready.
Do we need to rewrite every article? No: you migrate those that bring traffic, often 20 to 40% of the total, and redirect the rest to a close page. Every article kept goes back through compliance review.
Is the client portal included? The link to your existing portal is included and tested. A custom portal or a custodian integration stays on quote.
Can we publish client testimonials? The SEC Marketing Rule allows them under specific conditions. Plan at least 1 review cycle by your CCO before anything goes live.
Which tier for a site in English and Spanish? Premium at $8,900 (the multilingual tier, languages set in the quote). Growth at $4,900 covers a single-language site.
Let's scope your project. A redesign with URL inventory, 301 redirects and a compliance check, from $4,900 to $8,900, live in 3 to 4 weeks once content is ready. 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.
