The studio for firms that win on trust
Your reputation doesn't shout. Neither should your website.
UPWARD builds the websites, stories, photography, and film for law firms and specialty medical practices whose reputation has outgrown their website.
UPWARD rebuilds the digital presence of law firms, specialty medical practices, and commercial builders whose reputation has outgrown their website. We're Cody and Holly Strate, and UPWARD is our studio in Boulder, Colorado, founded in 2020. Story, design, photography, film, and ongoing content all come from the two of us.
Your work is exceptional. Your clients say so. Your record says so.
Then the client you earned opens your website to be sure, and it undercuts the referral that brought them.
They leave without a word. You never see it happen. There is no analytics report for the client who almost called.
We close the gap between how good you areand how good your website says you are.
Five disciplines, one team
We make you look like the firm that doesn't need to advertise.
We don't sell five services. We hold five convictions.
Story and messaging · Website design · Photography · Film · The content engine that keeps you found.
Trust
The only question a stranger is really asking.
Nobody hires a firm they don't trust yet. So we build for trust before we build for beauty, and let everything else answer to one question: what would make your ideal client believe you faster?
How we build itStory
Written first, so everything after it has something to serve.
Your story is your strategy. A stranger decides in seconds whether you understand their situation. We write the words that make the answer yes, in their language, and you approve every one before design begins.
More on storyDesign
A hundred quiet decisions that say serious before a word is read.
People size you up before they read a word, and they do it from a hundred small things: the type, the spacing, the restraint. We sweat every one of them. It's the bespoke suit, never the billboard.
More on designPhotography
Your people, in your own rooms.
Stock photos are a small lie, and your best clients catch it instantly. So we come to you and shoot the pictures ourselves, because the truth, shot well, outsells anything staged.
More on photographyFilm
For the things only a face can say.
When the story needs a voice and a room, we put your people on film, in their own space, and let them be believed.
More on filmTrust · Story · Design · Photography · Film
Split these across five vendors and the photographer never reads the positioning, the writer never sees the footage, and the designer reconciles neither.
By the numbers
Anyone can say they're the best. We can prove it.
Six years, real clients. Public receipts where they exist; the rest measured on engagements we ran, and on the record.
More site traffic after the rebuild, across our client roster.
More time a visitor spends on the site.
Findability and AI-answer checks built into a site like this.
Micro-interactions and controlled scroll effects in a build like this.
The proof
Our clients love us. See why.
The work is only half of it.
A build starts a relationship: we learn your world, tell it straight, and stay long after launch. And it's the two of us the whole way.
Law FirmNamed by AI for construction defect in Colorado
Healthcare IT ConsultingNow they read like the specialists they are
ConstructionNow the website is as exact as the buildings
Law FirmThey stopped asking permission to change their own site.
Law FirmA trial firm's story, told with trial-firm discipline
Law FirmFifty years of standing, no longer the best-kept secret- The Glance
- The Trust
- The Answer
- Trust Architecture
The method.
The Glance
Craft that signals caliber in three seconds. People decide how seriously to read you before they read a word.
- Signals caliber in three seconds
- Read before a word is read
- 67 micro-interactions, by hand
The Trust
Your story, told to your ideal client's fears and hopes, honestly and without the hard sell.
- Told to real fears and hopes
- Proof in their own words
- Honesty and restraint
The Answer
Found by people, and by machines. Structure, authority, and content that make you the name AI recommends.
- Found by people, and by machines
- 25 findability checks
- The name AI recommends
We call it Trust Architecture.
Inside the Method →Construction defect, corporate, complex commercial litigation, trusts and estates. For firms that find billboard marketing embarrassing, and a vendor who charges to change a phone number worse.
Enter the wing →
Specialty practices, ASCs, physician-owned groups, community hospitals, health IT. Built on Cody's twenty years inside healthcare, before UPWARD existed.
Enter the wing →
Working with UPWARD was a game changer. Our new site doesn't just look the part, it tells our story with clarity, confidence, and class.
UPWARD didn't just redesign our website, they delivered a digital experience that finally matches the precision, pride, and professionalism we bring to every build.
UPWARD didn't just build us a website, they helped us tell our story. The new site finally reflects the caliber of our team and gives us a foundation that's easy to manage and built to grow with us.
Our new website doesn't just look better, it works better. It tells our story with clarity, connects with our audience on a deeper level, and gives us the confidence to scale our brand with impact.
Photographed for PatientPay at IRG Physical Therapy
The collaboration with UPWARD has been invaluable. The new website perfectly captures the essence of Knight MacKay Morrow and elevates our digital presence to match our real-world stature. It's a vital tool in our growth strategy and helps us maintain our competitive edge in a challenging industry.
The ask
We close the gap between how good you are and how good your website says you are.
Your note comes to the two of us. Cody usually replies within a business day, with two or three things he noticed about your site. If you'd rather stay put after that, no hard feelings.
Cody & Holly