Your website, in your own accounts, that your staff can publish to
You asked for two things: independence from your agency before November 30, and a site your office manager can publish to without a developer. This is the written quote you asked for on our call. It covers all nine items in your brief, in stages, with a check between each one. Email is treated as the thing that cannot break.
What we heard, on the call and in your brief
- Email is the part that worries you most. The last time your site changed hands, email was gone for about a day. For a law firm that is worse than the website going down.
- You want to know who actually touches the site. Especially DNS and email.
- Your staff should publish in-house. New pages and posts written inside WordPress, appearing in your design, with no developer and no pasted code.
- You are not attached to Oxygen. You asked for a recommendation, with what it costs and what it risks.
- Rankings must not drop. You asked us to explain why SEO is the hard part. That is covered below.
- You want careful stages, not one big switch on a Friday, and you want to be told plainly when something in the plan is wrong.
- No content, strategy or marketing. You write and publish in-house. Nothing in this quote touches your writing.
Where your plan needs adjusting
You asked to hear this now, not in November.
72 pages, not about 40
Your sitemap lists 72 pages and 164 posts. Around 27 of the pages are location pages (Beaufort, Bluffton, Hilton Head and others) that are easy to forget. All 236 addresses have to be checked, which is the main reason this quote is above the first range we gave.
Your content carries over
On the call I said pages and posts would need to be created again. We looked more closely afterwards: your site's own data shows the text of 66 pages and all 164 posts already stored in WordPress. So the words move across as they are. What gets rebuilt is the design layer around them. We confirm this on day one with a login.
Leave Oxygen instead of building a template in it
A template inside Oxygen keeps you dependent on a tool few developers know. We recommend a standard WordPress theme with your own page pieces. Cost and risk are set out below, as you asked.
The desktop ranking gap is a diagnosis
We will find out why desktop ranks about eleven positions below mobile and tell you in writing. We cannot promise a fix until we know the cause. If the fix is small, we do it inside this project.
Timing: you plan to decide in about 10 days. To move DNS in October, work has to start by October 13. The DNS audit needs read-only access only, so it can begin the day you decide.
The plan, in stages
Each stage ends with a written check that you see before the next one starts. No stage begins on a Friday.
- Audit, with nothing changed. Every DNS record, both tag manager containers, call tracking, redirects and a full SEO snapshot of all 236 addresses are written down. A private copy of the site is made for us to work on.
- Move DNS only. The website stays exactly where it is. Email is tested before and after. Target: done by October 30.
- Move hosting. The site moves as it is to a host in your name. Call tracking is reinstalled under your account and the agency's tag manager container is retired. Target: done by November 13, two weeks before your agreement ends.
- Rebuild the design layer on the private copy. Standard WordPress theme, your page pieces, all pages and posts verified. This runs alongside stages 2 and 3 and never touches the live site.
- Launch, then hand over. New editing experience goes live, redirects go in, your office manager takes the test, and you receive both written guides.
How DNS moves without losing email
You asked for this in writing. Email and the website are separate records in DNS. The risk is a record that gets missed or mistyped when the zone is rebuilt. This process is built to catch that before it matters.
- Export and document the full zone from the agency's DNS: the website record, all Google Workspace mail records, SPF, DKIM, DMARC and every verification record. You get this as a document.
- Rebuild the zone in your own account (Cloudflare or GoDaddy, your choice) while the old one is still in charge. Nothing is live yet.
- Compare the two zones record by record with a second person checking. Any difference stops the move.
- Lower the record timers 48 hours ahead, so that if anything is wrong, a correction reaches the world in minutes, not a day.
- Switch on a Tuesday or Wednesday morning, Eastern time, with you informed in advance. Never on a Friday.
- Test mail in both directions straight away: messages sent to and from your firm's addresses, from outside accounts, with the mail headers checked.
- Keep the agency's zone untouched for 7 days. If anything looks wrong, we switch back in minutes.
- Send you a written confirmation that every record matches and mail is flowing, before the hosting move is scheduled.
A first look at publishing
This is what your office manager will see. Your page pieces sit in one group named after the firm. She picks one, types into the boxes, and the design is applied for her. She cannot break the layout.
She writes the article as normal text, the way she would in a word processor.
More text, then any other piece she needs.
Concept only. Sample text, not your content. The real version uses your fonts and colours.
What she clicks to publish a post
- Posts, then Add New. She types the title and writes the article.
- Presses the plus button and picks Callout, Pull Quote, Process List or FAQ from the group named Sarji Law Firm, then fills in the boxes.
- Fills in the SEO title and description in the Rank Math box and sets the featured image.
- Presses Publish. No Oxygen, no HTML, no CSS. Pages work the same way, with the page layout already selected.
What happens to what you have today
| What | Count | What we do |
|---|---|---|
| Practice, location and article pages | 66 | Text, links, images and headings carry over unchanged. FAQ sections and "Related" notes are converted into your new page pieces so staff can edit them. Each page is compared with the live one on desktop and mobile. |
| Layout pages | 6 | Home, Contact, Practice Areas, Testimonials, Open Positions and the Blog index are built only in Oxygen. These are rebuilt to look the same in the new theme. |
| Blog posts | 164 | Carry over as they are. Each one is checked in the new theme, and its SEO title, description and address are confirmed against today's. |
| Duplicated articles | about 56 | We send you the list with our suggested version to keep. Once you confirm, each duplicate gets a permanent redirect. |
Every address stays exactly the same. You get a spreadsheet of all 236 with the status of each one, so nothing is ever "mostly done".
Why SEO is the hard part
You asked on the call why this is more than copying the site across. Moving the files is quick. The risk is that the design layer is being replaced, and Google reads more than the words. It reads each page's address, title, description, heading order, internal links, structured data and loading speed. If any of those change by accident on a page that ranks, that page can drop.
- Before: we record all of those for every one of the 236 addresses, plus your current rankings and Search Console data.
- After: we run the same scan on the new version and compare the two, line by line. Differences are fixed before launch.
- Following launch: we watch Search Console for three weeks and report anything that moves.
Leaving Oxygen: what it costs and what it risks
Standard WordPress theme
What you gain: any WordPress developer can maintain the site, staff edit every page in the normal editor, there is no Oxygen licence to buy, and pages usually load faster.
What it risks: small visual differences from today, and SEO signals changing by accident.
How we control it: side-by-side checks of every page, the before and after SEO comparison above, and the old site kept ready to switch back for 14 days after launch.
Stay on Oxygen with a template
What you gain: less rebuilding now, so a lower build cost.
What it risks: header, footer and layout changes still need someone who knows Oxygen, and you carry its licence and upgrade path. That is the dependence you are trying to end.
If you prefer this route, tell us and we will requote it. The DNS, hosting, tracking, redirect and handover work is the same either way.
What's included
DNS audit and move
Full written record of the zone, then the staged move to Cloudflare or GoDaddy described above. Site and email keep working with no visible change.
Hosting migration
Move to a managed host in your name, with addresses, redirects, metadata and schema preserved. Forms, booking links and the reviews display are tested before and after.
New theme and page pieces
Callout box, pull quote, numbered process list, FAQ layout and portrait hero, each a fill-in form. All styling in one central file. No rules tied to individual pages.
Call tracking and tag manager
We identify which of your two containers is the agency's, document everything inside it, and reinstall the number swap under your account before anything is removed.
Redirects
Permanent redirects for the roughly 56 duplicated articles, plus a fix for any broken internal links we find.
Desktop ranking diagnosis
A written explanation of why desktop trails mobile, with evidence and the recommended fix.
Account handover document
Every account, who holds it, and anything that still needs the old agency. Every account is in the firm's name, with us invited as a guest you can remove.
Publishing guide and videos
A written guide with screenshots for a non-developer, plus short recorded videos of each task and a live walkthrough call with your office manager.
30 days of fixes
Anything that turns out not to work as described is fixed at no charge for 30 days after handover.
Not included, on purpose
Content, keyword research, strategy and marketing. You said you do not want them, and we will not offer them.
What we checked before quoting
Your sitemap
72 pages and 164 posts, with Rank Math managing SEO and a table of contents plugin on most pages.
Where your content lives
Your site's public data shows 66 pages and all posts holding normal editor content. Six layout pages hold none. If a login shows otherwise, we tell you before any work is billed.
Both tag manager containers
GTM-5HMVH2ZF and GTM-TGR6VD59 load on every page. Which one belongs to the agency can only be confirmed with access.
Things that must keep working
The Jotform consultation form, Clio booking links, the Google reviews display, the home page video and the MyCase client login link.
A proper backup
The site copy you sent is a snapshot of the public pages. To move the site we need a WordPress login or a full backup. With an admin login we can take the backup ourselves and not wait on them.
Hosting: Kinsta
Of your three options, Kinsta is our pick for daily backups, a staging area and support quality. Flywheel is a sound second choice. The account is opened in the firm's name.
Milestones and pricing
Audit and private copy
DNS record document, tag manager and call tracking inventory, SEO snapshot of all 236 addresses, private working copy of the site.
DNS moved, email verified
Zone rebuilt in your account, staged switch, mail tested both ways, written confirmation to you.
Hosting moved, tracking under your account
Site live on your host, call tracking reinstalled, agency container documented and retired. You no longer depend on the agency.
New theme and page pieces
Theme built to match today's design, five page pieces, six layout pages rebuilt, all pages and posts verified against the SEO snapshot. Ready for your review.
Launch, redirects and handover
New editing experience live, redirects in place, desktop ranking report, both written guides, videos, and your office manager's test.
Our first message gave a range of $3,000 to $4,000, based on about 40 pages and a template inside Oxygen. The difference is the real size of the site (236 addresses to verify) and replacing Oxygen with a standard theme. There is nothing extra to pay us beyond this figure. Dates assume a start by October 13.
After the project: on-call support
Optional, and separate from the project. You asked what it covers and what the response window really is.
| Item | Detail | Price |
|---|---|---|
| On-call plan | WordPress and plugin updates tested on a staging copy first, daily backups, security updates, uptime and Core Web Vitals monitoring | $300 / month |
| Normal requests | Answered within one business day | included |
| Site down, weekday | Acknowledged within a few hours | included |
| Weekends | Critical outages only. Routine requests wait until Monday | included |
| New work | New page pieces, design changes and anything outside upkeep | $40 / hour |
The plan is for upkeep, not for fixing our own work. Faults in what we delivered are covered by the 30 days of fixes. Publishing stays in-house and is not part of the plan.
When is it done?
Who works on your site
- I lead the project and I am your contact throughout. I am a co-founder of CodingPixel. Every stage report comes from me.
- DNS, email and hosting are handled by our senior server engineer, with a second engineer checking every record before a switch. I approve each switch.
- The theme and page pieces are built by our WordPress developers, and every page is checked by a separate QA tester.
- Our delivery team is in-house and based in Pakistan. Nothing is subcontracted outside the company. Switches are scheduled in your morning, which is our evening, and you are told in advance.
- Access is by invitation to named people, never shared passwords, and you can remove any of us at any time.
What we need from you
- WordPress admin login by invitation, so we can take a full backup and confirm how your pages are stored. Needed on day one.
- GoDaddy delegate access to the domain, for the nameserver switch. Needed in week 1.
- The current DNS records from the agency, or read access to their DNS panel. Needed in week 1.
- Google Workspace admin contact at the firm for the mail tests on switch day.
- Access to both Google Tag Manager containers and your call tracking account. Needed in week 1.
- Google Search Console and Analytics access for the SEO snapshot and the ranking diagnosis.
- A hosting account in the firm's name (we will send the exact plan to choose) and an ACF Pro licence for the page pieces. Needed by week 3.
- Your decision on each duplicated article once we send the list, and feedback within 2 business days at each stage check.
- An hour of your office manager's time in week 8 for the walkthrough and her test.
Relevant work
Law firm websites we have worked on.
How we work
- Stages with a written check between them. You approve each check before the next stage starts.
- Full visibility. A shared board with every task and the 236-address spreadsheet, so you can see progress any day.
- Pay as it is delivered. Fixed-price milestones on Upwork, released only when you have reviewed and approved each one.
- Plain answers. If something in the plan turns out to be wrong, you hear it from me that day, with the options.
Next steps
- Read this through and send any questions on Upwork. I am happy to walk through it on a short call.
- If you would like to check us first, send a WordPress login. We will confirm how your pages are stored and show you the editor working on a private copy of your own site, before you commit.
- Accept on Upwork by October 13 and the DNS audit starts that day.