This is what people ask on a first call. The answers are the same here as they are there.
How long does it take?
An ordinary site takes three to five weeks from the point the content reaches me. A larger site with a system underneath takes six to ten weeks. What delays a project is nearly always the copy and the photographs rather than the build, so the time shortens considerably if those are ready when we start.
Do I own the site and the domain?
Yes, both, from day one and after the arrangement ends. The domain is registered to your company and the site is yours. Hosting is a separate thing: it is a service I run monthly while the site lives with me. You own the site, but it has to sit on somebody’s server. If you want to go elsewhere, everything is handed over and you can set it up there.
What do you need from me?
Copy about what you sell, photographs if you have them, and one person who can answer questions and make decisions. If the copy does not exist I can write it, and that is counted separately. I do not start designing before I know who the site is for.
I have an old website. Do I have to start over?
Rarely all of it. I read the old site first: which pages get visits, which copy holds up and which URLs already exist in Google. What is good stays, and the old addresses are redirected to the new ones so you do not lose what the site had earned.
Can I change the site myself afterwards?
Yes. A content management system comes with every site, and there you change text, photos, prices, opening hours and add pages. You cannot disturb the design, and a change is a draft until you publish it. If you would rather I did it, that sits inside the monthly plan.
Can I skip the monthly fee?
Not while the site is with me, because the monthly fee is the hosting. A website has to sit on a server and somebody has to keep it running, updated and secure. The only way not to pay it is to take the site and host it yourself or somewhere else, which you are free to do, because you own it.
What happens if I want to stop?
You cancel, and since hosting is part of the monthly plan the site stops being served by me. I hand over the domain, the content and the site itself so you can put it up elsewhere or have somebody else do it. No commitment period, no exit fee, and you are not left with nothing. I would rather people stayed because the service is worth it than because they cannot get out.