Questions attorneys ask us.
Plain answers to what you probably want to know before you pick up the phone: who owns your site, what it costs, how long it takes, and what happens if you leave.
The website
Do I own the website?
Yes. The domain stays registered to your firm, and if you leave, you take the site files with you. Another developer can host them as they are. Nothing is locked to our system.
Is it really a full website?
Yes. A small firm site is usually fifteen to twenty pages: home, a page for each practice area, fees, attorney bios, a few guides, contact and the legal pages. The closing attorney demo has nineteen.
Can I log in and edit it myself?
You can if you want to, but almost nobody does. You email the change and it is made. No password to lose, no editor to learn.
Do you do SEO?
Your site is built to be found locally from the first day, and that is included. Ongoing SEO campaigns and ads are separate, and only if you ask.
Will my site follow the attorney advertising rules?
It is built to a checklist based on Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct 7.1 to 7.4, and you approve every page before it goes live. We are web designers, not lawyers, so the final sign-off is yours.
Why is the studio in England?
Because that is where Mark lives and works. The six-hour difference works for you: a change you email at the end of your day is often done before you are back at your desk.
Price and contract
How much does a law firm website cost with Settled Sites?
$299 a month with no setup fee, or $1,500 once and $149 a month. Either way you get every page, hosting, changes by email, accessibility checks and the Illinois advertising checklist.
What counts as a change?
Anything you would ask an assistant to update: a new fee, a new attorney, an office move, new hours, a new article, a new practice page from your notes. If something is bigger, like a full redesign, you hear about it before any work starts.
How fast are changes made?
Usually within one business day. Urgent fixes, like a wrong phone number, the same day.
What happens if I cancel?
You keep the domain and you take the site files. Another developer can host them as they are. There is no exit fee.
Do you charge per page?
No. A small firm site is usually fifteen to twenty pages, and they are all included.
Is there a contract?
Plan A is month to month. You can stop with a month's notice.
Getting started
What do you need from me?
Your current website address, a phone call of about twenty minutes, and later, your approval of each page. Good photos of your attorneys and office help.
Will I lose my Google rankings?
Every page on your old site gets a permanent redirect to its new home, so links and search results keep working. Rankings can move for a few weeks after any relaunch, and nobody can promise a position on Google.
Who writes the words?
We draft them from your current site and our call, in plain English. You change anything that is not how you would say it. Every claim, fee and result is yours to approve.
What about my email?
Your email is not touched. If your domain is with someone else, only the records the website needs are changed.
How long does it take?
Usually two to three weeks from your go-ahead to a live site. Your homepage preview comes within a week of the first call.
Something we have not answered? Gaston will.
