Website redesign for a wealth management firm or family office in Montreux: budget, timeline and risks (2026)

The verdict in three sentences

For a wealth manager or family office on the Vaud Riviera, a redesign becomes urgent when the site is hard to read for older clients, when regulatory pages are hard to find or when the English version has fallen behind. An agency in Montreux, Vevey or Lausanne typically charges CHF 15,000 to 40,000 for a custom redesign (2026 ballpark), against a fixed Kolonell grid of CHF 2,700, 4,500 or 8,200 delivered in 3 to 4 weeks once content is ready. Budget matters less than three concrete risks: losing traffic from old URLs, missing WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility and publishing a page compliance has not approved.

Why the Vaud Riviera calls for an accessibility-led redesign

Between Montreux, Vevey and La Tour-de-Peilz, an independent wealth manager serves international residents, affluent retirees and families who settled on the Riviera for many reasons, including tax, a topic the website should handle cautiously and in general terms. Many of these clients read on tablets, enlarge text and sometimes navigate by keyboard. A site built eight years ago, with light grey 13 pixel text on white, works against them.

The most common signals:

• Weak contrast between text and background, especially in footers and legal notices.
• Layouts that break when zoomed to 200%.
• Tiny links and buttons, hard to tap on a tablet.
• A contact form that asks for asset value or an account number.
• Regulatory status, fees and complaints pages pushed into PDFs.
• An incomplete English version, while some prospects do not read French.

For a private firm, aiming for WCAG 2.2 AA is first a matter of service quality for its clients; check with your adviser whether a legal obligation applies in your situation.

What budget for a redesign in Montreux in 2026?

2026 ballpark based on typical quotes and public rate pages of Riviera and Lausanne agencies. Line items sit side by side to compare like for like.

Every Kolonell tier includes a project manager reachable in your time zone, native French or English copywriting and 3 months of support. Details are on the international offer page.

Timeline: from decision to go-live

• Week 0, firm side: inventory of regulatory pages (legal notice, FinIA status, complaints and ombudsman information, fee disclosures), team bios, choice of insights to keep.
• Week 1: export of every URL and its clicks from Google Search Console, mock-ups tested for contrast and zoom.
• Weeks 2 and 3: development, migration of insights and bios, page by page 301 redirect map.
• Week 3 or 4: compliance sign-off of every page by the firm, accessibility testing by keyboard and at 200%, evening cut-over with a rollback plan.
• After go-live: 4 weeks of monitoring for 404 errors and indexing.

Risks to lock down before cut-over

• Search traffic: every old URL gets a 301 redirect; no page is removed without a destination.
• Regulatory pages: reachable in one click from every page, with their old address redirected to the new one.
• Financial promotion: no promise of returns, no performance figures, no testimonials without your compliance adviser's agreement; FINMA and FinIA frame the activity, and your adviser confirms what is allowed.
• Personal data: the form is limited to name, contact method and reason; the nLPD, in force since 1 September 2023, applies, and the GDPR may also apply if you target EU residents. This is not legal advice.
• Portal and custodians: existing links are tested; the portal itself stays on quote and is never rebuilt inside a fixed-price site.

When is a Riviera agency the better choice?

If you want in-person workshops in Montreux, an on-site accessibility audit with client testers, a rebuilt portal, or a Swiss supplier required by internal policy, a local agency will suit you better. Questions to ask any provider: who owns the domain and code, how contrast and zoom are tested, who approves the redirect map, where form data is hosted, and what happens if compliance rejects a page the day before launch.

Mini case study

Illustrative example, hypothetical firm. Philippe Rochat runs a fee-only wealth advisory firm in Montreux with two partners. The current site has 22 pages in French and 6 in English. In a simple test, 9 pages fail contrast and the menu becomes unusable at 200% zoom.

Planned internal time: 28 pages at 25 minutes of compliance review each, about 12 hours spread over one week.

FAQ

How much does a wealth management website redesign cost in Montreux?

Expect CHF 15,000 to 40,000 with a local agency and CHF 4,000 to 12,000 with a freelancer. Kolonell applies a fixed grid of CHF 2,700, 4,500 or 8,200.

Is WCAG 2.2 AA mandatory for a private wealth manager?

It depends on your situation and your adviser should confirm it. For older clients, a 4.5:1 contrast ratio and 200% zoom remain a quality minimum.

Will the redesign hurt our search rankings?

A fluctuation of 2 to 6 weeks is common. A complete 301 redirect map and Search Console monitoring limit the impact.

Can the client portal be integrated into the new site?

The existing link is kept and tested. Any rebuild or integration of the portal is on quote, outside the 3 fixed tiers.

What overall timeline should we plan?

Kolonell delivers in 3 to 4 weeks once content is ready; add 1 to 2 weeks on the firm's side to gather copy and complete compliance sign-off.

Let's scope your project. Tell us your page count, languages and accessibility requirements, and we will confirm the tier, the CHF budget and the launch date. See the international offer or request a free quote: detailed reply within 48 hours.