Website Migrations for Professional Services Firms

Professional services firms sell trust and expertise. Their websites are typically less about transactions and more about demonstrating knowledge, introducing people and routing enquiries to the right team. That shapes what matters most during a migration.

People pages are central

Profiles of partners, advisers and specialists are often among the most visited pages. They carry names that clients search for directly. When migrating:

• Keep profile URLs stable or redirect each one individually.
• Structure profiles with consistent fields: role, practice areas, qualifications, contact route and related insights.
• Plan how departures are handled, such as redirecting to a practice area page rather than leaving a broken link.

Structured profiles also make it easy to list people by practice area or location without duplicating content.

Practice areas and services

Firms often have overlapping service pages created over many years. A content audit can consolidate these into a clear hierarchy that reflects how clients think about their needs. Relate practice areas to people and insights so each page shows relevant expertise.

Insights and thought leadership

Articles, briefings and guides demonstrate expertise but age quickly. During the audit, identify content that is still accurate, content that needs a review note and content that should be retired. If articles discuss rules or regulations that have changed, consider adding a clearly dated review statement rather than silently editing history.

Enquiry routing

Enquiries may need to reach different teams depending on the subject or location. Document how routing works today, whether by separate forms, a dropdown or manual forwarding. A migration is an opportunity to make routing more reliable, for example by tagging submissions with the page they came from. Keep forms short and avoid asking for sensitive details before an engagement exists.

Review and approval workflows

Many firms require review before publishing, sometimes by compliance or risk teams. Make sure the new platform supports drafts, previews and controlled publishing permissions. Discuss who approves what before choosing a CMS configuration.

Disclaimers and regulatory text

Some professions require specific notices, such as regulatory information in the footer or disclaimers on articles. Inventory every required statement and where it appears. Confirm wording with the people responsible for compliance rather than rewriting it during migration.

Multiple offices and locations

Office pages with addresses, opening details and maps support local visibility and help clients visit. Keep location data consistent across the site and in external listings, and use structured data where appropriate.

Measuring success

For professional services, useful measures are often qualitative: enquiries reaching the right person, prospective clients reading profiles before contact and staff finding the site easier to update. Agree what success looks like before launch so the project can be judged on the outcomes the firm actually cares about.

Getting started

Begin with an inventory of people, practice areas, insights and forms. Those four lists usually reveal the structure the new site needs and the decisions that must be made with partners before design begins. Share them with the people scoping the work, and the first conversation can focus on priorities and trade-offs rather than on discovering basic facts about the current site.