I live near Victoria Park and work a few blocks off Las Olas. I handle marketing for my brother’s small law firm. Real simple stuff. Calls. Cases. A clean site that doesn’t scare people away.
Last year, our old website broke during a plugin update. The phone went quiet. I got that knot in my stomach. So I started calling local web folks. You know what? Fort Lauderdale has a lot of talent. But the prices and styles were all over the place. For another boots-on-the-ground account of working with a Fort Lauderdale web design outfit, check out this candid breakdown.
Here’s the story of who we picked, what they did, and what I wish I knew.
The backstory (fast)
- Business: 3-lawyer firm near the courthouse on SE 3rd Ave
- Goal: More calls from people within 10–15 miles
- Pain: Slow site, clunky forms, weird mobile layout
- Timeline: 10 weeks, give or take
Who I chose and why
We went with PaperStreet in Fort Lauderdale. They make a lot of law firm sites, and their portfolio felt close to what we needed. The price was mid-high, not cheap. But they talked like humans. No fluff. They knew our world and even showed a few local examples.
I did chat with a solo designer out of FATVillage too. She was friendly and quick.
I also bookmarked the team at Design Web Magic because their performance-first WordPress builds looked sharp, though we ultimately needed an agency with deeper legal-niche experience.
But she didn’t offer SEO work, or care much about site speed. And our calls matter, so I wanted the whole package.
Build time: real steps, real hiccups
Kickoff was on Zoom. I brought a mood board with blues and clean lines. I also brought a list of “musts”:
- Strong “Call Now” button up top
- Intake form that works on phones
- Pages for “Car Accidents,” “Slip and Fall,” “Wrongful Death”
- A map and a short “near courthouse” note for local trust
- ADA basics (font size, contrast, keyboard nav)
They gave us a plan in plain talk. No buzzwords. Here’s how it went:
- Week 1–2: They made wireframes in Figma. Simple boxes. It kept us focused.
- Week 3–4: They built a custom WordPress theme. No heavy page builder. That helps speed.
- Week 5: Content edits. This part dragged. We were slow. Lawyer life.
- Week 6: Photo day. We did photos on Las Olas Riverwalk and in the lobby. It felt local and warm.
- Week 7–8: QA and mobile checks. They tested iPhone and Android, plus a beat-up old iPad. Good call.
A hiccup? The first hero image looked too glossy. Like a stock ad. I asked for less shine, more trust. They fixed it in two days. Also, I wanted Spanish toggles on key pages. That came as an add-on. Not cheap, but worth it.
Results you can actually feel
Before the new site:
- Mobile load time: around 7 seconds on 4G
- Calls from the site: 10–12 per week
- Form submissions: 3–4 per week
- Google rank: We sat on page 2 for “Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyer”
Four weeks after launch:
- Mobile load: about 1.6 seconds (Core Web Vitals passed—LCP was ~1.8s, CLS ~0.02)
- Calls: 16–18 per week (CallRail tracked these)
- Form submissions: 7–9 per week
- Rankings: Jumped to page 1 for two service pages; still moving on others
- GA4: Contact button click rate went from 2.3% to 4.9%
- GSC: Impressions up 31%; clicks up 22%
Most important? The phone actually rang. People found us. The team got busy again.
What I loved
- Local feel: Photos on Riverwalk. A map pin near the courthouse. It felt true.
- Speed: Their dev lead was picky. It paid off.
- Clear copy: No legal fluff. Plain talk with strong headers.
- Forms that work: Short, simple, and quick on mobile.
- ADA basics: Contrast, focus states, and labels. Not perfect, but far better.
What bugged me a bit
- Pricing was not tiny. It stung at first.
- Extra rounds of design cost more. Watch that.
- Content slowed us down. Some templates sat waiting on me.
- Spanish pages as an add-on should’ve been flagged sooner.
Was it a deal-breaker? No. But I like to be ready for these things.
A quick local side note
I also tested a small ad campaign landing page with Starmark for a tourism client I help on weekends—a simple “book your airboat tour” page for folks near Sunrise Blvd. Different project. Bigger agency. Clean creative, strong CTA. But it felt pricey for ongoing small edits. For big brand work? They shine. For a lean firm with weekly updates? I’d go with a nimble shop or a WordPress dev on retainer. If you’re farther north, this no-filter look at West Palm Beach web design costs and timelines might help set expectations.
The little touches that mattered
- Hurricane banner: They set a top banner for storm days with hours and a phone link. We toggled it on during Elsa. Easy.
- Schema: They added LocalBusiness and FAQ markup. Search results looked cleaner.
- Reviews block: Pulled Google reviews to the home page. Simple trust win.
- “Near me” terms: They tucked “near Broward courthouse” into copy and meta. That helped maps.
Tools and stack (simple talk)
- WordPress (custom theme, no heavy builder)
- Gravity Forms with spam filters
- CallRail for call tracking
- GA4 and Google Search Console
- Cloudflare CDN and caching
- Figma for design
I could explain each tool, but here’s the gist: fast, clean, trackable.
If you’re picking a Fort Lauderdale web design team, ask this
- Can you show three sites like mine, local to Broward?
- What’s your plan for speed and Core Web Vitals on mobile?
- Who writes the copy, and who edits it?
- How do you track calls and form leads?
- Will you set up my Google Business Profile and tidy my listings?
- How do you handle ADA basics?
- What changes cost extra? Be clear on that.
Final take
PaperStreet gave us a site that loads fast, looks local, and brings in real calls. It wasn’t cheap, and I had to keep our content moving. But the work felt steady and solid. Not flashy for no reason.
Quick off-topic detour: pulling 12-hour days wrangling copy and Core Web Vitals left my social calendar as empty as the old call log. If your own web project has you craving some quick, no-strings fun once the laptop snaps shut, this concise French resource on arranging a “plan cul” (think hassle-free, casual dating) might be worth a skim: Plan Cul Gratuit. It breaks down the best platforms, safety pointers, and etiquette so you can unwind without endless swiping or hidden fees.
Likewise, if business travel sends you up through Illinois and you’re curious about low-key connections in that neck of the woods, check out Backpage Belvidere classifieds for a snapshot of who’s available, what they’re looking for, and how to arrange a meet-up without extra fuss.
Would I use them again? For a law firm, yes. For a cafe or a yacht charter? I’d still ask for a lean build, strong mobile speed, and someone who knows the Fort Lauderdale vibe—Las Olas walkers, courthouse traffic, rain at 3 p.m., the whole thing.
If your phone has gone quiet, don’t wait. Pick a team that talks straight, builds fast, and tracks every click. That’s what helped us breathe again. And if you’re out toward Wellington, this first-person review of hiring a web design crew there lays out exactly what to expect. Honestly, hearing that phone ring felt like sunshine after a storm.