Websites 4 Small Business

Terms of Service & Limited Warranties*

The client creates or provides

Homework

  • Five or more websites the client likes, three websites the client dislikes, and three competitor websites.

  • A description of three ideal clients the client wants to attract to his/her business and/or website.

  • A list of keywords to use for page-optimization purposes.

All images to be used on the site, including the logo, photographs, clip art, illustrations, icons and the like. (Exception: Websites 4 Small Business will create the navigation links, such as home, services, contact, etc. Also, as an expansion to the scope of the project, Websites 4 Small Business can search the Web and image libraries for appropriate images, at our standard hourly rate. Websites 4 Small Business also collaborates with several excellent graphic designers for development of logos and other artwork, again as an expansion to the scope of the project.)

Images can be supplied as hardcopy to be scanned, such as glossy photos or paper printouts. If images are supplied as electronic files, acceptable file formats are high-resolution jpegs (thisimage.jpg — with a file size of roughly 300-500K for a 4x6 inch photo at 150 dpi resolution or higher), Photoshop files (thisimage.psd), Adobe Acrobat files that include various images (thisfile.pdf), and Windows-compatible Tiff images (thisimage.tiff). Generally speaking, gif files do not scale well, either up or down, but are acceptable if supplied in the exact size to be used on the website.

All text to be used on the site, as electronic files. Acceptable file formats are Microsoft Word (thisfile.doc), plain text (thisfile.txt), and “rich text format” (thisfile.rtf).

Websites 4 Small Business creates or provides

The actual graphics used on the website. In other words, Websites 4 Small Business takes the original graphics supplied by the client, then crops or resizes the image to the height and width used on the site, and also optimizes their file size to make them load quickly while retaining good image quality.

All “navigation button” link images used on the website. Examples would be home, services, client list, portfolio, contact, and the like.

Layout templates for the home page and one secondary page (or more as agreed upon).

Cascading style sheets that specify fonts and colors to be used for regular text, bold text, navigation links, section headings and the like. Also Javascript files for navigation button rollover and new window behaviors, as needed.

The actual pages, using text supplied by the client.

A standard script that sends email from the site to the client, supplying such things as name and email address, possibly also phone number and address. (The scope of work can be expanded to customize this standard script, so that it supplies the specific information the client wishes to gain from site visitors.)

Optimization of the pages on the site to raise search engine ranking — insofar as can be done through this strategy. In other words, when people search the Web for various keywords, several factors affect where a site appears in the search results. One of those factors is the way a web page is constructed. Websites 4 Small Business uses current best practices for page construction.

For sites that are larger or more complex in scope, Websites 4 Small Business may also create or provide

  • databases and pages for viewers to interact with those databases,
  • other interactive pages and forms,
  • other forms of programming,
  • e-commerce options.

The goals of such pages, forms and e-commerce options would be described in the proposal developed in step 3 (proposal) of our process. Specifications for the appearance and behavior of such pages, forms and e-commerce options would be developed in step 5 (initial design) of our process.

One year of domain registration, which means the client owns the right to use the domain name for that year.

One year of website hosting through our subcontractors, which means renting space on the computers that “host” the files that create the website. The website hosting service can also provide:

Several email addresses, which are actual mailboxes that collect messages (the number of email addresses the client can have depends on which hosting service the client chooses).

Up to 50 email aliases, which are email addresses that forward to another address. An example might be messages to stuff@yourdomain.com being forwarded to yourname@yahoo.com.

Warranties, guarantees, and limitations on scope of responsibilities

Websites 4 Small Business provides the following warranties for browsers Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 and later, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Chrome, and Unix/Linux Lynx:

  • The client's website pages will display properly.

  • Interactive scripts will work properly on Unix/Linux servers that Websites 4 Small Business contracts with for webhosting services.

If the client reports a problem with pages or scripts (interactive pages), Websites 4 Small Business will investigate to determine the cause. In most instances, we can either fix the problem immediately or notify the webhosting company about the problem.

However, if the website hosting company's servers are working properly, and if no errors are reported in the site's error logs, and if Websites 4 Small Business cannot duplicate the problem on our own computers, and if the site is working correctly on two computers at a Public Library, then the problem will be deemed to originate on the client's computer. Websites 4 Small Business is not responsible for fixing problems on the client's computer.

Similarly, Websites 4 Small Business guarantees only to create email mailboxes and aliases for the client's use, and guarantees only that the website hosting company will determine whether their email networks and servers are working properly. While Websites 4 Small Business will make all reasonable efforts to identify the source of any problems with email mailboxes, it is the client's responsibility to create the appropriate connections on their email-reader programs in order to receive, read and send their email. Websites 4 Small Business is not responsible for establishing or fixing email connections on the client's computer.

Websites 4 Small Business does not guarantee that the client's site will appear on the top 10 or 20 search results at Google or other search engines — although we have achieved this ranking for specific pages on several client sites. What we can do is educate clients about the various factors that affect their search result ranking, and recommend several effective strategies that clients can use.

Ownership of the site

All images, text, databases, scripts, programs, and files that Websites 4 Small Business creates for the website are work for hire — which means that once they are paid for, the client owns them. It also means that until they are paid for, they are the property of Websites 4 Small Business and the client cannot use them.

Contractual agreement

Starting work with Websites 4 Small Business stipulates that everything on this page has been read, understood, and agreed to. Addenda, amendments, extensions, clarifications, or stipulations to these terms of service may be negotiated in writing.

Termination

The client can terminate this agreement with Websites 4 Small Business at any time by sending a notification letter to our PO Box. Upon receipt of such a letter, Websites 4 Small Business shall have thirty days to send a disk to the client containing all the files that have been paid for, including website pages, images, databases and design specifications — together with information about when the domain registration and webhosting contracts expire, how to contact the webhosting company, and what username and password are needed to access the website.

Websites 4 Small Business can terminate this agreement with the client at any time by sending the client a notification letter and a disk containing all the files that have been paid for, including website pages, images, databases and design specifications — together with information about when the domain registration and webhosting contracts expire, how to contact the webhosting company, and what username and password are needed to access the website.

*Revision date: 20 October 2009. Terms of service are subject to change without notice.

man with tie stapled to sheet of paper
 
Wyn listens and gets to the essence of what’s wanted and needed. She creates a lovely website at coachlizblu.com and also teaches me how to make changes when I can. She is very patient and generous in her work with her clients. I’ve learned a lot from her.
 
 
—Liz Blumenthal
Coach Liz Blu