Five Ways To Build A Custom Website For Your Document Automation App

This article serves as a brief 'how-to' guide on leveraging various no-code platforms to build a custom front-end website for your Gavel document automation workflows and legal apps.  This is part of our Productizing Legal series.

Gavel's legal form software allows you to build your own “TurboTax for law,” and is integrated with payment processors like Stripe, allowing you to collect fees directly within your workflows.  Many Gavel clients seek to integrate their automated workflows into a fully customized website, while others prefer to create a separate portal or gateway to sell automated workflows alongside other services on their site.

To help with this, here are some of the easiest no-code web tools that Gavel clients can use to build professional webpages and payment portals. Which one will you choose?

‍

1.  Webflow

Webflow is a modern drag-and-drop tool for building no-code websites, allowing users to design, develop, and launch responsive sites visually. Its key strengths include ease of use, flexibility, and high performance. With Webflow, designers can function as front-end developers—without writing code—to create professional-quality webpages.

For customization, including splash pages, Webflow’s WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) editor makes design intuitive. The same editor also enables e-commerce capabilities by integrating with PayPal or Stripe, allowing seamless payments via all major credit cards.

Pricing: Webflow’s Basic plan starts at $15/month, while the CMS plan costs $20/month.

2.  WordPress with WooCommerce

WordPress with WooCommerce is a powerful no-code solution for building websites and online stores. As a long-established platform, WordPress offers extensive features and functionality, making it a popular choice among Gavel users for their front-end landing pages.

WooCommerce, a WordPress plugin, transforms a standard WordPress site into a fully functional e-commerce store. To further customize the experience, the Splash Popup for WooCommerce plugin enables the creation of tailored splash pages. WooCommerce also includes a customizable checkout page, providing a seamless payment gateway for transactions.

Cost: While WordPress, WooCommerce, and Splash Popup are free, additional expenses—such as hosting, domains, custom templates, and premium plugins—typically range from $50 to $200 per year.

3.   Squarespace

Squarespace is a user-friendly, no-code WYSIWYG platform for building beautiful, high-performance websites. It offers customizable splash pages—referred to as 'cover pages'—with a variety of templates and design options.

For e-commerce, Squarespace’s Commerce Advanced Plan makes it easy to sell both one-time products and recurring subscriptions. Alternatively, the third-party Memberspace add-on can be used to create members-only subscription sites, though it requires some coding and may offer less robust content protection than other solutions.

Cost: The Commerce Advanced Plan (which includes a built-in payment portal and subscription features) is $40/month. For businesses that don’t require subscription capabilities, Squarespace offers two alternative plans at $18/month and $26/month.

4. Wix

Wix offers two website-building options: Wix ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence), which generates a site based on your responses to a few questions, and the Wix Editor, which provides more customization over layout, fonts, and colors. Both options allow users to add features such as contact forms, live chat, online stores, and appointment bookings.

Designed for users with little to no website-building experience, Wix features an intuitive drag-and-drop interface and a variety of pre-designed templates for easy customization.

Cost: Wix offers a free plan, which includes a .wix URL and ads. Paid plans start at $13/month, providing benefits like a custom domain, increased storage, and an ad-free experience.

5.    Podia

Podia is a no-code platform designed for selling digital products rather than traditional website creation. Similar to Squarespace, it allows users to offer subscriptions (referred to as memberships) so customers can access Gavel automated workflows on a recurring basis.

While Podia does not support traditional splash pages, it does offer custom landing pages for product promotion. Its embedded payment portal allows customers to complete purchases without leaving the site, creating a seamless checkout experience.

Podia is primarily geared toward creatives as an alternative to Patreon, so it may not be the ideal solution for all Gavel clients.

Cost: The Basic plan ($39/month) allows the sale of digital content (downloads) without memberships. The Shaker plan ($79/month) enables membership sales and includes an embedded checkout feature.

Summary

This has been a brief “how to” guide about some of the no-code options for creating front end websites for your legal apps and Gavel document automation workflows --- including websites that have a payment portal / gateway for selling.  Gavel's team can always set up your workflows for you. (Hire a Gaveler here).  Stay tuned for future articles about additional no code options as they come onto the market.  Learn more about what it means to productize the law here or sign up for Gavel here.