Before and after
Before 2025, André-Philippe's website was a free Wix page at apgravel.wixsite.com/apgravelnotaire. It is still online, so here it is next to today's site, at the same screen sizes, both in French, the only language the old site had.
Where it started
One long page: a photo of a hand signing a document, the list of services, a short presentation, the two notaries and the contact details, plus a second page with a map. Every page opens on a Wix advertising banner. The browser tab still reads “Pierre Lacoste Notaire”, the name of the retired notary whose records André-Philippe took over, and the social icons at the bottom link to Wix's own accounts. There is no contact form: visitors copy the email address or call.
Measured the same way, on the same day
On November 6, 2026, we ran Google's Lighthouse audit on both homepages as a mid-range phone on a slow mobile connection, five times each, the same way we measured the Cuisine Aube site. The Wix page needs 128 requests and 1,112 KiB to load; today's needs 17 requests and 524 KiB. Lighthouse estimates that the main content appears after 4.4 seconds on the Wix page, and after 2.3 seconds on today's.
The goal: a call or a message
People look for a notary when they need one thing: a will, a marriage contract, a house sale, an estate to settle. They search for that need, check that the notary handles it and works near them, and then call or write. André-Philippe's site had one job: answer those three questions quickly and make it easy to get in touch.
Every page serves that job. Each one either says what he does, shows who he is, or gives a way to reach him.
Who it is for
People across Greater Montréal, mostly from Côte-Saint-Paul, Ville-Émard, Pointe-Saint-Charles, Saint-Henri, Verdun, LaSalle, Lachine and Châteauguay, who need a notary for a family, estate or real estate matter. Many are making these decisions for the first time, often at an emotional moment, like a death in the family or a wedding. They want someone who listens and explains. The site had to show that person, in French first, and in English for the clients who prefer it.
Why it looks the way it does
A face, not a logo
The homepage opens on a photo of André-Philippe, and his portrait comes back on the About page and on every service page, next to his phone number and email. Before calling a notary, people want to know who will be across the table.
Calm and serious
A deep green, a soft off-white and a classic serif for the headings give the site the calm of a notary's office without feeling cold. The text is set in a clean sans-serif that stays easy to read on a phone.
The same site, new foundations
We built the 2025 redesign on Framer. In 2026 we rebuilt every page on our own stack and matched the design line for line, so André-Philippe's clients found the site they knew. Almost every page kept its address, so the pages Google already knew kept working, and the three that changed now redirect to the right page.
French first, English too
The 2025 site was in French only. The rebuild added an English version of every page except the blog, each at its own address, with a language switch at the top. French stays at the main address, as before.
Fast and accessible
The fonts and photos are served from the site itself, photos are resized for each screen when the site is built, and apart from a cookieless visit counter, the only script is the one that sends the contact form. Each page has one main heading, every photo is described in the page's language, and every form field is labelled for screen readers.
The site, page by page
The homepage
“Trusted Notarial Services in Montreal.” The headline says what and where, the line under it names his three main areas, estate, family and real estate law, and one button leads to the contact page. Below, a dark green panel introduces André-Philippe and lists the neighbourhoods he serves, then come the areas of law and the contact form. The French homepage also shows the latest blog post.
A page for each area of law
Family law, real estate law, estate law, law of persons and other services each have their own page. Each one explains the area in plain words, lists the services he offers in it, such as will searches or the opening of a safe deposit box for an estate, and ends with his portrait, phone number and email. Someone who searches for a specific need lands on the page that answers it.
The person behind the practice
The About page tells his story: notary since 2016, trainee from 2014, then notary in Me Pierre Lacoste's office before opening his own practice in 2019. It also says that Me Lacoste, now retired, transferred his records to André-Philippe, so Me Lacoste's former clients know where their documents are.
The blog
A French blog, starting with an article on why a will matters, answers the questions clients ask before booking. The latest article also appears on the French homepage.
The contact form
Every page ends on the same contact section: a short form, name, email and message, next to the address, phone, fax, email and office hours, including evening appointments on request. Each message goes straight to André-Philippe's inbox.
