Code of Ethics
Perhaps calling it a "code" isn't exactly accurate. We have an ethical way of doing business that is just a core belief in how all people and businesses should conduct themselves. We do business with complete strangers the same way we would do business with our closest family or best friends.
Our "code of ethics" is really based on the crazy stories we hear from our clients and our responses to the concerns they have about being taken advantage of "again". Keep reading to learn more about our clients' two most common experiences with other design companies and our responses to those concerns.
- Website Hostage Taking: With a few minor variations, this is unbelievably the most common story we hear. A client has a website built and when they want some changes made, even a small change can cost $1,000 or more. When they decide to try to find someone else to do the work for a fraction of the price, that is when they discover that they don't have the access or the passwords they need. One client grew tired of the extortion and asked us to just build them a brand new web site, the company would not even give them access to the website name that was legally theirs!
- Our Response: We believe the web site we build and host for you is YOURS. It is criminal in our minds that anyone would restrict your access to your own website that you have already paid for. With that in mind, there are several ways in which we stand behind this belief. First, you will have access to all administrator passwords for your website and your hosting account. If you really want someone else to work on it, there is really no way we could prevent that. Second, you have access to your back-up files. With access to those, you could move your website on to another company's servers and be up and running within 30 minutes. Not only couldn't we stop you from working with someone else other than else, we make it easy for you. Our only option to keep you as a client is to continuously deliver great service and pricing.
If your website is being held hostage, call us immediately. We have helped previous clients get some control back and rescued some of their web content. For unethical companies such as these, sometimes it helps to act while they are still unaware that you are determined to take back ownership of your property.
- Our Response: We believe the web site we build and host for you is YOURS. It is criminal in our minds that anyone would restrict your access to your own website that you have already paid for. With that in mind, there are several ways in which we stand behind this belief. First, you will have access to all administrator passwords for your website and your hosting account. If you really want someone else to work on it, there is really no way we could prevent that. Second, you have access to your back-up files. With access to those, you could move your website on to another company's servers and be up and running within 30 minutes. Not only couldn't we stop you from working with someone else other than else, we make it easy for you. Our only option to keep you as a client is to continuously deliver great service and pricing.
- Misleading Hosting Costs: This one is also common, in fact it is rampant. Web designers and hosting companies make much of their money on misleading their clients because the vast majority of people really don't understand what exactly it is they need. On one end of the spectrum are companies that charge $40 per month for hosting a normal business website. This would be a 400% overcharge for most companies' needs.
The other one we hear about are "unlimited" packages for extremely low prices. If they are really "unlimited" why don't companies like Amazon.com or CNN.com pay $100/yr for "unlimited" hosting and avoid the millions of dollars they are currently paying for hosting? Often "unlimited" plans start limiting your website speed until you are literally begging to pay more.
- Our Response: Our website designs generally come with one year of hosting included and $100/yr after that. This plan includes 100 MB of disk space and 2.5 GB of data transfer per month. Wait! I can sense your eyes glazing over already! In English, this roughly translates to 1,000 vistors to your website a day. If you have an online newspaper, this is not much. If you are an antique piano dealer in Tuscaloosa, you may be lucky to get that many visitors to your website in a year. Large files and photos can cause your website to use more space than expected, but we give you the tools to see how much you are using. You don't need to "trust us" the automated tools are availble on your own control panel for you to monitor whenever is convenient for you.
We are so confident of our pricing for our service we will gladly tell you what your other options are! Yes, we will even give you a list of all the places that are less expensive. The reason you will want to stay with us is the additional service and support we provide. If you decide to host your website on GoDaddy and you have problems, they won't give you any advice on how to fix your website - they only help if there is a problem with the server. Did your website go down? We can assist you in restoring it within an hour of talking with you. When you compare our prices you will quickly realize that we charge a very small margin for all the additional support and security we provide.
- Our Response: Our website designs generally come with one year of hosting included and $100/yr after that. This plan includes 100 MB of disk space and 2.5 GB of data transfer per month. Wait! I can sense your eyes glazing over already! In English, this roughly translates to 1,000 vistors to your website a day. If you have an online newspaper, this is not much. If you are an antique piano dealer in Tuscaloosa, you may be lucky to get that many visitors to your website in a year. Large files and photos can cause your website to use more space than expected, but we give you the tools to see how much you are using. You don't need to "trust us" the automated tools are availble on your own control panel for you to monitor whenever is convenient for you.
