A practice website has three jobs. It should make the right prospects feel understood, prove you are qualified and safe to work with, and make the next step easy.

Start with a page plan, not a template

Templates push every firm into the same layout: a stock photo, a list of services and a contact form. Start instead with the clients you want to attract and what they need to know before they pick up the phone.

Our guide to what makes a good business homepage covers the first of these in detail.

Write the homepage for a busy business owner

A business owner landing on your site is usually checking three things. Do you work with firms like mine, are you properly qualified and how do I start?

Name the clients you serve in plain words, show professional memberships and software partnerships, and use one button such as "Book a call" rather than five competing links. Save the firm history for the About page.

Present fees without misleading anyone

Prospects want a sense of cost before they call, and clear fee information filters out poor-fit enquiries. ICAEW's marketing helpsheet allows firms to refer to fees, but says those references must not mislead and should explain the period covered and any exclusions.

A "from" price with a short list of what is and is not included is usually the clearest format. If every quote is bespoke, explain how you build one: turnover, transaction volume, payroll size or whatever genuinely drives the fee.

Prove you are qualified, within the rules

Professional bodies set rules on how firms describe themselves. ICAEW's guidance on practice names and letterheads explains that firms entitled to use the description "Chartered Accountants" may also use the member firm brand mark, and that they must distinguish chartered accountants from other people listed.

ACCA's Code of Ethics and Conduct, which adopts the international IESBA Code, says in paragraph R115.2 that members must be honest and truthful in their marketing and must not make exaggerated claims about their services, qualifications or experience. So "award-winning" needs an award, and "leading" needs a basis you can show.

Client stories are the strongest proof on an accountancy site, but the relationship is confidential. ICAEW's marketing guidance says testimonials are acceptable only where the client has consented to their use.

Ask at a natural moment, such as after a smooth year end, and get the wording approved in writing. A short story with the client's problem, what you did and what changed is more useful than a one-line quote.

Put the legal information where people expect it

Limited companies must show their registered number, registered office address, place of registration and the fact that they are a limited company on their website. Most firms put this in the footer, beside the full company name including "Limited" or "Ltd".

The Provision of Services Regulations 2009 also require firms to make certain information available to clients and prospects, and making it accessible electronically, such as on your website, counts. The list includes items such as your VAT number, your professional body and title, and your professional indemnity insurer and its territorial cover, and a separate rule requires contact details for complaints.

A single "Legal and regulatory information" page, linked from the footer, keeps all of this tidy and easy to update.

Design for trust and make contact effortless

Many clients read on a phone between other jobs, and some use screen readers or zoom. Building to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, now at version 2.2, with level AA as the target, helps everyone read and act.

Readable type, strong contrast and plain labels on forms matter more than animation. A calm, consistent brand does more for trust than stock images of handshakes and calculators, and our guide to rebrand versus refresh helps if your identity feels dated.

Many prospects contact an accountant when something has gone wrong: a letter from HMRC, a missed deadline or a business that has outgrown spreadsheets. Make the first step feel small, with a short form, a calendar link for a call and a phone number that is answered.

Say what happens next and how quickly you reply. A line such as "We will call you within one working day to understand your situation" removes a lot of hesitation.

Worked example: rebuilding a three-page site

Picture a hypothetical sole practitioner whose site has a homepage, a list of services and a contact page. The rebuild keeps the domain, adds a page for each of the four services that bring in most fees, adds a sector page for the client type the practitioner wants more of and moves the disclosures to a legal page. The copy says "I" rather than "we", which avoids the misleading impression of size that ICAEW warns sole practitioner websites can give.

Each service page ends with the same booking button. Old addresses are redirected to their closest new page so existing search visibility is kept, a step our redesign checklist covers in full.

Budget and platform

Costs depend on the number of pages, how much copy needs writing and whether branding is included. Our guide to how much a website costs in the UK explains what drives the price, and our own fixed quotes for websites start from £7,500.

Choose a platform your team can edit without a developer, so deadline reminders and fee changes go live the same day. We build in Framer for that reason.

How The Think helps

We design and build Framer websites, write the copy and handle the technical SEO set-up. For ConsultAway, a UK SME advisory, we created the brand identity and a 17-page launch site, which you can see in the ConsultAway case study.

If your practice site needs a rebuild, start with our accountant website design page.