In general, Mitchell
Marketing prefers to do business on a handshake. However, web design and the terms thereof can get pretty
technical, and require some legalese. However, we think you will find the below terms pretty helpful with
understanding how this whole design process works and more. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate
to contact us.
Ownership of
Website Design
Upon
completion of a website design and payment of final invoice, the client is the owner of the commissioned
website. The client may continue to use the commissioned website to promote the client’s company or organization
regardless of whether he/she chooses to continue further services with Mitchell Marketing. The client does not
have the right to resell the design or development to other companies. The client does have the right to update,
add pages onto the existing site or have another company add pages onto the existing site using the commissioned
website design/development.
Ownership of Website Domain Name
Website
domain names are leased from domain name registration companies. When Mitchell Marketing registers a domain name
for a client, that registration will be made in the client’s name. Upon payment of any outstanding fees, the
client has the right to use that domain name regardless of whether he/she chooses to continue further services
with Mitchell Marketing or host the site Mitchell Marketing initially created for that domain name. Domain name
renewal and renewal fees are the responsibility of the client. If the client chooses to have Mitchell Marketing
renew the domain name on behalf of the client (a common service), a nominal service fee may apply.
Ownership &
Copyright of Content
All text
and photos used as content in a commissioned website must be provided by the client. The client must have
ownership or written permission to use all content he/she provides for use. Mitchell Marketing cannot be
responsible for copyright infringements on behalf of clients.
Project
Initiation
Mitchell Marketing cannot complete
your website if you are unable or do not provide content (text, photos, etc.) Therefore, we require 1) your
content in final form, 2) your signed contract and deposit before
we begin work. Having said that, a typical website will take about 30 days. Larger sites may take longer, and
smaller sites may take less time. In order to develop your website in a timely manner, it is important that
we have all your final version content ready to
go. Mitchell Marketing is happy to consult with you about content that you may need, including
written content, images, logos, and related information. Again, once we receive all your content in final form, your website design can begin.
Scheduling
Mitchell Marketing officially schedules projects upon receipt
of the signed contract and deposit. Your content will also need to be ready by the dates agreed upon within the
contract. It's
common to have initial discussions about the project (such as a pre-design questionnaire), work out the contract
details, and schedule the project to begin a few weeks later to allow you to gather your content, images, and
other materials needed. You may want to get started gathering your content now, even if you’re not able to start
your web project for a few months.
How Content May Be
Submitted
All content must be
submitted electronically via email (contact us for the correct email address) or on CD mailed to Mitchell
Marketing, 38126 Talavera Ct. Murrieta, CA 92563. Both text and photos/graphics must be clearly labeled with the
name of the page on which it will be displayed. Content may not be submitted via fax or paper copies. Exceptions
to this policy must be approved in advance and will incur a surcharge.
How Much Content May Be Submitted Per Page
Due to load time considerations and
the flat rate charged for website
pages, there is a limit on what can be included in a single web page. A web
page can hold the equivalent of about 2 ½ pages of the content that would typically fit on an 8 ½” x 11”
piece of paper. Please keep this in mind when gathering your content. This will also help you determine how
large a site you require, what your costs may be and help you edit your content into final form before
submission. If the content is straight text without any pictures, tables, graphs, etc., this equates to about
2000 words. If there are pictures, or tables, etc., then less text will fit. Additionally, a web page may
include up to about six photos on a page.
Updates/Revisions
Our personal desire here at Mitchell
Marketing is to avoid spending our time and your money for a fantastic site that you are excited about only for
it to be invisible to the internet. As such, and to avoid this common mistake so many small business owners
make, we STRONGLY (note the underlined and italicized
emphasis) recommend our Foundational SEO service to
compliment your site build. With our Ongoing SEO maintenance
service, any updates or revisions made to your site are done from an SEO perspective, and again - highly
recommended.
For content updates/revisions not on an SEO plan, clients who have signed
up for a Web Design Maintenance Plan receive discounts off the web
designer’s hourly rates. The standard half hour maintenance plan is enough time to add about five photos and a
few paragraphs of text. Clients on a Mitchell Marketing Web Design Maintenance Plan may send update requests via
email (contact us for the correct email address). Routine maintenance which fits into the allotted time
specified in the client’s maintenance plan is typically completed in about 3 to 4 business days. If a client on
a website maintenance plan requests more than the scheduled amount of maintenance, a quote will be given
and, if approved, the additional work will be completed at a discounted rate of $60.00 per hour and the
turnaround time will be based on workload issues. Clients who are not on any maintenance plan may request
website updates at the full $75.00 hourly rate, billed in 1/2 hour increments. For example, a 1/2 hour of
changes is $37.50. Monthly maintenance plan fees are separate from hosting fees and may be cancelled at any time
(see details under the Termination of Services section).
Can We Manage
Updates Ourselves?
Certainly. Mitchell Marketing can
create or redesign your site so that you can easily update content yourself, with a popular CMS program such
as WordPress or DreamWeaver. For those who don't know any HTML code, we recommend a fantastic WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor for less than $300 that will
handle the website we are creating for you perfectly. If you have any questions along the way, or if you
would still like to contract our SEO service, for example, we’re
here for you.
Fees
The
cost of designing and building the Web site is based on the page. Exceptions to our
Website Design Packages are billed at $125 per additional page. Please note that a 'page' is considered the
equivalent of one printed 8-1/2" x 11" page. Additional services such as: are billed at our hourly
fee.
Payment
A deposit and signed contract are required
before beginning our work together. Generally speaking the deposit is one-third to one-half of the total amount
established in the contract. For larger projects or longer time frames, incremental payments may be due along the
way, as defined in the contract. Upon completion of your website, the final balance is due. As soon as final
payment is received, your website will be uploaded (via ftp) to your registered domain name. Any additional work
not included in the contract is added to the balance. Payment in full is required prior to uploading the pages of
your Website (or sending the files to you via email or postal mail). Payment for monthly services such as Hosting,
Design Maintenance and SEO Maintenance are “pre-paid” services payable via PayPal. Payment is due on the
21st of each month for the proceeding month’s service. Clients experiencing financial hardship should
contact Mitchell Marketing to discuss payment options in lieu of termination of services. A 1% per month late fee for any invoice past due of
30 days will be incurred.
How Technical
Support Is Handled
Clients
whose websites are hosted by Mitchell Marketing have access to emergency technical support 24 hours a day. In
the event of a website hosting (or hosted email) emergency, clients should leave a voicemail message and a
technician will be paged.
Termination of
Services
If a client
should change their mind about doing work with Mitchell Marketing during the course of the project initiation
phase, no harm, no foul - we shake hands and walk away. However, once we have received your content in final form, your signed contract and deposit and have begun work, the client
will be responsible for the amount of work already completed. Depending on the amount of work completed at the
time of cancellation, this may mean receiving a full refund, a partial refund, no refund, or owing additional
fees. In order to protect clients from unintentional service interruption, clients wishing to terminate any
services must request the service termination in writing. If a client received a discount as an incentive to
commit to 12 months of hosting and/or maintenance, and if the 12 month commitment has not passed, the client is
responsible to pay for the amount of the discount received. Mitchell Marketing reserves the right to change
these terms of services at any time for any reason.
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