Questions? We've Got Answers
We put together honest, straightforward answers to the questions we hear most, covering how we build websites, how our plans work, ecommerce, SEO, security, and exactly what you pay. If something isn't covered here, just reach out and ask.
A standard 5-page website usually takes around 2 to 4 weeks. The biggest factor is how quickly you get us the info we ask for, along with our current design schedule. Bigger, more involved builds can run up to 6 weeks depending on what they need.
You do, always. Even when we purchase the domain on your behalf, it's yours to take if you ever decide to move on. To us it doesn't matter whose card paid for it. You own your domain, plain and simple, with no strings attached.
It comes down to four things: reliability, customization, ownership, and security. Builders like WordPress depend on third-party code, box you into what the platform allows, and lean on plugins that constantly need updating and don't always play nice. Simply put, builders have a reputation for weak security, and some are such easy targets that hackers go looking for them.
It genuinely is. Builders like WordPress almost always spin up a database even when a site doesn't need one, which means there's always an admin login sitting there as a target. On top of that, they carry a lot of extra weight that drags down speed and security. We write every line ourselves, and because the pages are static (pure HTML and CSS), there's no way in to hack.
Both are tools that measure performance, accessibility, best practices, and technical SEO. PageSpeed Insights is Google's own tool, running live tests and pulling in real-world data when it's available. Lighthouse is built right into most Chromium browsers under dev tools. The key difference is where they run: Lighthouse runs locally on your machine, while PageSpeed Insights uses Google's stored data when it can. In our experience PageSpeed Insights throttles harder, which makes a perfect score that much tougher to earn, and that's exactly what we aim for.
Building with accessibility in mind opens your site up to a wider audience. Plenty of disabilities go unspoken and get overlooked, and we make a point not to overlook them. You reach more people, and the people you reach appreciate that you thought of them.
Exactly what it sounds like. On our subscription plans, if you want to change something on your site, just tell us and we'll take care of it. That covers content updates, not full redesigns, but since your happiness is the whole point, we'll always work with you until you're satisfied. A website's typical lifespan is about five years, so every 4 to 5 years we offer a complete redesign to keep things fresh. This applies to subscription plans only.
Already covered. For any part of your site that needs to be editable, we offer a Custom CMS addon built around your needs. It sets up an admin login that reaches only the sections you want to manage. Think of it as a lightweight, fully personalized content management system with a media library for photos, blog posts, services, and anything else you'd want to update yourself.
We went with a subscription model to keep prices low and put professional websites within reach of smaller businesses. Our Business and Business Ultimate plans have no upfront cost, which also means it takes us 5+ years before a site becomes profitable for us. By then, the goal is for your return to have long since passed what you pay us. We carry the risk so you don't have to.
On subscription plans, your site stays live for as long as you're subscribed. Once you've finished the 12-month minimum, you can cancel anytime, but the site comes down when you do. Lump sum clients own their website outright and can request the files whenever they like. We also offer hosting and unlimited edits add-ons for lump sum clients who want us to host their site and keep handling edits.
Cancel before the 12 months are up and you'll owe the site's full lump sum price, $3400 on the standard plan or $4500 on the Business Ultimate plan, minus whatever you've already paid. We're built around long-term relationships with our clients, and we look for clients who value that too.
Yes. Even if we bought it for you, we consider it yours, so it stays yours. We'll have you set up an account with a registrar and help move the domain over to you. Keep in mind we'll stop covering the domain costs after cancellation, so if it lapses at the registrar that's out of our hands, but we'll do everything we can to help you transfer it.
There's no buyout on the subscription plans. If there were, it would sidestep the whole risk we take on and pull our focus away from growing our clients. It takes about three years of subscription payments to match what a lump sum would have cost, and across that time we're also covering hosting, maintenance, and other expenses. So real profit doesn't show up until year five or beyond. We take the risk so you don't have to!
Yes and no. SEO is essential to any successful business website, but it has two sides: on-page and off-page. We handle the on-page work, including technical SEO, for every client. That means your robots.txt and sitemap are set up correctly, your site loads fast, meets accessibility standards, connects to Google Search Console, and, just as important, ships with properly optimized meta tags. You can read more on ourSEO services page.
We get it, life happens and things slip. No worries if they do. You've got a full seven-day grace period, and after that a $25 late fee kicks in. If you miss one and catch it, just give us a heads up and we'll work with you. Where it becomes a problem is when it's recurring, several invoices are past due, and we hear nothing back. At that point we may have to end the contract, take the lump sum price, subtract what you've already paid, and invoice the rest. We really don't want to go there, so please don't make us!
SEO, short for Search Engine Optimization, is the work of improving a website so it ranks higher and gets seen more often in organic search results. It pulls together keyword research, on-page optimization, and technical fixes, and it's a cornerstone of any wider Search Engine Marketing (SEM) strategy.
Absolutely, good SEO works, but it takes patience. Nothing about it is instant, and ranking on Google definitely isn't, unless you already have a massive following or an established brand behind you. If anyone promises you'll rank in just a few months, that's your cue to run.
Any agency, developer, or person guaranteeing front-page rankings in under six months is lying to you. The rare exceptions are influencers, major news coverage, or businesses that already have strong public recognition. For most sites it takes 6 to 12 months to start ranking, because competition is almost always steep. It really is that simple: the bigger the city, the more competitors you're up against for those spots.
SEO is a long-term play, not a quick fix. On average, noticeable gains show up over 6 to 12 months, and the exact timeline depends on your competition, how hard your keywords are, and how much consistent optimization goes into the site.
Yes, and they're free and built into our process. An audit surfaces technical issues, content gaps, and the areas holding you back. It's always the first step toward getting a site fully optimized, because you can't fix what you haven't measured.
On the development side, I make sure every site is built with clean, efficient code, fast load times, proper heading structure, optimized meta tags, and full mobile responsiveness. SEO isn't only about keywords. It starts with a site that's built right from the ground up.
To get picked up by AI, your content has to be clear, well-structured, and easy for a model to read. That means proper headings, schema markup, an llms.txt file, and writing that answers real questions directly. We format our clients' content so AI tools like ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews can actually find it and use it in their answers.
Passion and a genuine love for the work! In all seriousness, getting a business off the ground is hard and costs add up fast. Our whole aim is to return more than you put in, which is exactly why we run a subscription model. It lets you get a professional, custom-coded website without a huge upfront hit. It takes roughly 3 years of subscription to match a lump sum project, and once you factor in hosting, maintenance, and other expenses, real profit is closer to the 5-year mark. We take the risk so you don't have to!
We get it, things happen. If you need to cancel before the 12-month minimum, we take the lump sum price for your plan, the Standard at $3400 or Business Ultimate at $4500, subtract what you've already paid, and invoice the difference. We'd much rather not go this route.
For most invoices, we email you a Stripe link to a secure payment gateway, and we accept all major credit and debit cards. On lump sum projects we also take ACH bank transfers to keep processing fees down. WE DO NOT ACCEPT CHECKS, MONEY ORDERS, CRYPTO, OR THIRD-PARTY PAYMENT SYSTEMS.
It happens, and things fall through the cracks sometimes. No worries if they do. You get a full 7-day grace period, and after that a $25 late fee applies. Life happens, so if you miss one and notice, just reach out and we'll work with you. It only becomes an issue when it's recurring, several invoices are overdue, and we can't get a response. In that case we may have to end the contract, take the lump sum price, subtract what you've paid, and invoice the remainder. We really don't want to, so please don't make us.
You're free to cancel during the design phase, and if we can't land on a design you're happy with, we'll refund you for our services. Once development begins and you've signed off on the design, refunds are no longer on the table, and anything after that point is at our discretion. This holds for both the lump sum and subscription models.
Welcome back! On the subscription model, just sign another year-long minimum contract and we'll pick right back up where we left off.
After the year-long minimum, your subscription runs for as long as you stay with us. If you decide to head out after that first year, we'll genuinely be sad to see you go. The entire idea behind the subscription is that we grow together, but don't worry, the door is always open for you to come back.
The $100 per additional page fee is a one-time charge, not recurring. So if you need 3 extra pages, that's $300 total and you're done, not $300 every month. That would be wild!
YES! Static HTML and CSS is more secure than a web builder by default, every time. Every line is written by us, so there's no third-party code that could be malicious or outdated, and we actually own everything we use.
Builders like WordPress, Wix, and other drag-and-drop tools rely on outdated code and packages, and plenty of those carry known CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures). A lot of the time, especially with WordPress, it comes down to a misconfigured admin login or an exposed database that turns out to be surprisingly easy to exploit. We use pure HTML and CSS: fully static sites with no odd login pages, no moving parts, and no databases. Just clean static sites that are impossible to hack.
Yes and no. The languages that cause the most trouble in web development are usually SQL (through databases), PHP (often behind backends and logins), and JavaScript. JavaScript is powerful and, like PHP, can be involved in the login and auth process. We use it as sparingly as possible and strictly for cosmetics. This FAQ page, for instance, runs a little JavaScript just to animate the transitions between sections. The core of every site we build is HTML and CSS, neither of which is a known attack vector.
I'd rather not dwell on it, but life is unpredictable and it would be irresponsible not to have an answer ready. Don't worry, your website won't vanish or stop working. There's a plan in place to hand things off smoothly to another developer I trust, and even if that fell through, because everything is pure HTML and CSS, any competent developer can pick up the code and keep your site running.
Yes! We don't use plugins at all. Builders like WordPress are known for leaning on a plugin for everything, and who really knows who wrote it, what's running behind the scenes, or whether it'll stay updated? That's exactly why we skip plugins and build everything ourselves. You can't hack what isn't hackable!
Good question. There are always background updates that need doing, especially once a CMS is involved, but will the website itself ever just become vulnerable on its own? No. We compile sites offline and serve the static files to display them, and pure HTML and CSS simply don't degrade over time. Think about it: many of the earliest sites on the internet ran on early HTML and CSS. They may not win any style awards, and CSS has come a long way since, but those old pages are still standing unhacked for a reason.
That's the beauty of static sites built on pure HTML and CSS: the languages themselves aren't hackable. We deliberately choose them over fancy frameworks for this exact reason.
Our go-to setup pairs Snipcart with a Custom CMS addon we build specifically around your products. You get full control, faster load times, and none of the restrictions a big platform forces on you. There's more detail on ourecommerce page.
Our Snipcart solution combines a lightweight shopping cart with aCustom CMS addon. You can add, remove, and edit products right on your own site without ever touching code. Everything stays fast, secure, and fully woven into your design, with no bulky dashboards or plugins to deal with.
Yes. Snipcart charges its own monthly platform fee. Our Snipcart setup is part of our monthly plan and works hand in hand with your custom-built site, while Snipcart's fees go directly to them. On the lump sum plan, we include the full setup, design, and training, but you'll still pay Snipcart monthly and pay us separately for hosting. We lay out every cost clearly before anything starts.
Usually not the full product setup. For smaller shops we may load your products in as part of the setup, but that's decided case by case depending on how many products you have and how complex your catalog is.
Yes. With our Snipcart setup we offer one-on-one training so you feel completely comfortable adding products, managing inventory, and fulfilling orders. The setup uses a custom-built CMS made specifically for your products, paired with the Snipcart dashboard for order management and fulfillment. The CMS is simple and intuitive enough that most clients don't need any training, but a short walkthrough is there if you want one. We find the Snipcart dashboard easy to read too, and you're always welcome to reach out with questions.
Snipcart handles secure online payments along with tax and shipping calculations. We'll connect your payment processor, whether that's Stripe, PayPal, or another supported option, and set it up using the tax and shipping details you give us in the questionnaire. Making sure those figures are accurate is ultimately on you, and we'll double-check everything with you again before launch.