So, my law firm’s website is getting a bit old and is due for an overhaul. I’m tasked with getting this done. The content on the site is great; we just need to improve upon its look and achieve top performance for maximum conversions and lowest Google Ads prices. So I’m thinking of proceeding with web development this way:
Step 1: Hire a graphics designer. The designer would fully design four or so cohesive, complete web pages (mobile and desktop) using whatever design we agree to. They will use the basic content on exemplar pages I will send to them instead of placeholder content. The pages must thematically match because they’ll all be for the same site. I’ll have some requirements for them (like placing a contact form above the fold on at least one of the pages, etc.), but really, what I would be looking for is max creativity from the designer. The designer’s final delivery will be a series of Photoshop files.
Step 2: Hire a wordpress web developer. The web developer would start with a top performing WordPress host (that includes server-side caching), hosted by Google’s cloud, with the latest version of WordPress and PHP installed. The web developer would then install the following plugins at minimum: ACF Pro, Contact Form 7, WP Rocket, Perfmatters, Shortpixel, and Yoast SEO Premium. As for the front end itself, the web developer would start with the Neve theme and modify it to match the graphic designer’s designs. ACF would be used to create and edit individual pages based on the four or so template pages created. The pages would have sections that are common on multiple pages; ACF would also be used to modify those sections.
Yes, I know top quality hosting and all the plugins cost money. The firm is willing to spend it.
So what do you think? Is this a sensible approach? Do you think it’s a good idea to start with a time-tested theme and modify it versus starting from scratch for the theme? Your advice and comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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Don’t make the WordPress dev deal with some random graphic design from someone. Hire a company that can design the site and set up WordPress all within one team.
Be prepared to get charged a lot, we all know lawyers charge insane prices so the min I hear “lawyer firm” I’m charging top dollar
Yeah you could go about it that way.
You could also skip to step two and just pick WordPress designs with your developer.
I used to do customized pages the way you’re describing, but designers stopped doing this type of work freelance in my area some time ago, and now you’re just as well off picking a design from a gallery and paying the rights for its use or whatever.