Managed websites for accounting and professional services firmsManaged websites for accounting firms
hello@firmwebstudio.comCompare: WordPress
The short answer
WordPress is the right choice for a firm that has, or wants to pay for, someone to run it: plugin updates, security, backups, speed tuning and content. For a firm that wants the website to simply stay fast, accurate and secure without anyone at the firm touching it, a managed custom-coded site removes that whole job for one monthly fee.
WordPress is open-source software that powers a large share of the web. It is flexible and has a huge ecosystem of themes and plugins. A WordPress site needs hosting, a theme, plugins for forms, SEO and caching, and ongoing updates to the core software, theme and every plugin.
The real difference
The software is free; running it is not. Most firm WordPress sites we see carry a page builder, a form plugin, an SEO plugin, a caching plugin and a security plugin, each updated on its own schedule. When updates stop, sites slow down and pick up security risk. When they run, something occasionally breaks. That is manageable with a good developer on retainer. It is a hidden liability when the site was built years ago by someone who has since moved on, which is the situation many multi-partner firms are in.
Side by side
A fair summary for a firm with partners. Competitor details are described in general terms; where a specific fact is stated, it is cited below.
| What matters | WordPress | FirmWebStudio |
|---|---|---|
| Speed and Core Web Vitals | Can be fast when carefully built and tuned; themes and plugins often slow it down | Custom-coded pages on Cloudflare's edge, 90+ PageSpeed guaranteed on mobile and desktop |
| SEO control | Full control, usually through an SEO plugin configured by the site owner | Titles, descriptions, URLs, internal links and redirects set page by page, by us |
| Schema / JSON-LD | Available through plugins or custom code | JSON-LD matched to each page type, included on every plan |
| AEO and GEO readiness | Possible with deliberate content work | Answer-first copy, FAQ blocks, llms.txt and consistent firm details by default |
| Hosting and security | Chosen and paid for separately; security depends on host and updates | Cloudflare hosting, SSL, CDN and DDoS protection inside the monthly fee |
| Maintenance burden on the firm | Core, theme and plugin updates, backups and security are ongoing tasks | None. Updates, security and uptime are ours; nobody at the firm logs in |
| Who does the work | The firm, a developer or an agency | We build and run it; the firm approves. 5 revisions a month included |
| Content and blog | Excellent blogging tools; the writing is on the firm | 2 to 3 researched articles a week, depending on plan |
| Design quality | Anything from a stock theme to fully custom, depending on budget | Custom, built around the firm's practice areas, partners and offices |
| Accessibility and compliance pages | Via plugins and manual setup; consent often does not block scripts | Privacy, cookie (with real consent), terms, accessibility and disclaimer pages included |
| Cost model | Software is free; hosting, premium plugins, development and maintenance are extra | $137 a month plus a $797 build fee invoiced only after launch |
| Lock-in and ownership | Full ownership of files and database when self-hosted | Domain in the firm's name, no fixed term, content export on cancellation |
Scroll the table sideways on a narrow screen.
An honest fit
Plans from $137 a month. The $797 build fee is invoiced only after launch, and Practice is live in 7 days.
Compare our three plansSwitching, or running both
Moving off WordPress is a migration, and it is handled as one.
What you get with us
The site itself, search visibility and management come on every plan. Partnership adds the AI Engine. Multi-Partner adds the Content Engine. Nothing below is an add-on invoiced later.
Practice On every plan, from $137 a month
Custom-coded pages served from the edge, 90+ PageSpeed guaranteed on every plan.
Tax, audit, advisory, bookkeeping: each service line gets its own page built to be found and read.
Structured bios that read as senior: background, focus areas, credentials as stated by the firm.
Multi-office firms get a page per location, built for the searches run in that city.
A short form that asks what type of engagement a prospective client needs, then routes it into the CRM.
Partner changes, new services, updated hours: handled every week, not left for the next redesign.
Practice-relevant articles written and published every week, without the firm writing a word.
Cloudflare hosting with SSL, CDN, DDoS protection and unmetered bandwidth, nothing itemised.
Technical and on-page SEO, answer-first content, structured data and AI-readable files on every plan.
The policy pages a US firm website needs, with cookie consent that actually blocks tracking until a visitor agrees.
What is worth keeping is moved across, and every old URL is redirected so earned rankings are not thrown away.
One domain included and registered to the firm, transferred free if the firm ever leaves. No fixed contract term.
5 revisions a month included, each completed within 2 to 5 working days, requested from one portal.
Partnership Added on Partnership, $297 a month plus AI usage at cost
An AI receptionist and site chat that handle routine questions when the office is closed.
Answers the phone when the team is with clients or the office is closed, with a call-analysis PDF after each answered call.
One assistant answers routine questions on the website chat, by text message, on Facebook Messenger and in Instagram DMs.
The carrier registration US business texting requires, filed on the firm's behalf so SMS works from day one.
Multi-Partner Added on Multi-Partner, $747 a month
3 researched articles a week, 3 social image posts a week, 2 reels, and a managed Google Business Profile.
3 designed image posts and 2 short reels a week, written from the firm's practice areas.
The firm's Google profile kept accurate and active every week.
In their words
The new site finally separates our practice areas the way we actually run them. Someone reading the audit page never has to wonder whether we also do that work, and the inquiry form tells us which partner should call back before anyone opens the email.
Rebuild from a one-page brochure site, Partnership plan
Adding our newest partner used to mean waiting weeks for whoever built the old site to have time. Now I put a request in the portal with the bio and headshot, and a few working days later it is live. I have not logged in to a website editor since launch.
Move from a self-managed page builder, Practice plan
Referral partners finally have a page to send people to. Before, everyone landed on the same generic homepage whatever they had been told about us. Now the attorney who refers a benefit plan audit can link straight to that page.
Practice area and partner bio rebuild, Practice plan
Illustrative sample reviews. The names, firms and quotes above are examples written to show the kind of outcome clients describe; they are not statements by real clients. Verified client reviews will replace them.
No. WordPress is capable and widely used. The question is whether the firm wants to own the upkeep: updates, security, backups and speed. If not, a managed site is simpler.
Yes. Posts worth keeping are carried across and old URLs are redirected to the new ones, so links and rankings are not thrown away.
You will not need to. Changes are requested in the client portal and completed within the turnaround window. The trade-off for not maintaining a CMS is that edits go through us.
A static, custom-coded site on Cloudflare has no plugin stack or admin login exposed to the public, which removes the most common WordPress attack routes. Hosting security is handled on our side.
Usually a heavy theme or page builder, many plugins and unoptimised images. It can be tuned, but tuning has to be repeated as plugins change.
They are good tools for a site owner who configures them. We set titles, descriptions, redirects and structured data page by page as part of the build, so there is nothing to configure.
The software is free, but hosting, premium plugins, a developer and maintenance time are not. Our plans are $137 a month plus a $797 build fee after launch, with hosting and management inside that figure.
The domain stays in the firm's name, content the firm supplied stays the firm's, and on cancellation we provide an export of content and articles within 14 days.
WordPress is a trademark of its owner; FirmWebStudio is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by it. Descriptions reflect publicly available information at the time of writing.
Other comparisons
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