Everything You Need to Know About Your Website

Every business has different needs, so we create custom quotes based on your specific goals and requirements. Most of our websites range from $2,500 to $6,000+ depending on features, complexity, and functionality.

The investment depends on factors like:

• Number of pages and features needed
• E-commerce or booking functionality
• Custom integrations or specialized tools
• Content creation and photography needs

We believe in transparent pricing with no hidden fees or surprises. Once we understand your business goals through our quick questionnaire, we’ll provide a detailed quote that shows exactly what’s included and why.

Ready to get your custom quote? It takes less than 5 minutes to get started.

No, we don’t require full payment upfront. We understand that’s a big ask for small business owners.

Our typical payment structure is:

• 50% to begin work (secures your spot and covers initial development)
• 50% upon completion and launch

For larger projects over $4,000, we can discuss a three-payment schedule to make it more manageable for your business.

All payment terms are clearly outlined in your contract before any work begins, so there are no surprises. We want this to be a great investment for your business, not a financial strain.

Most websites are completed and launched within 2-4 weeks from the day we start working together.

The timeline depends on a few factors:

• How quickly you provide content, photos, and feedback during the process
• The complexity and number of features needed
• Any revisions or changes requested along the way

Here’s our typical timeline:

• Week 1: Planning, content collection, and initial design
• Week 2-3: Development and customization
• Week 4: Final revisions, testing, and launch

We’ll give you a more specific timeline in your custom quote based on your project’s scope. The key to staying on schedule is prompt communication – when you respond quickly to our requests for content or feedback, we can keep moving forward without delays.

Absolutely! Your website is built on WordPress with the Divi theme, which includes a user-friendly visual editor that lets you make updates without touching code.

You’ll be able to easily update:

• Text content and images
• Business hours and contact information
• Service descriptions and pricing
• Blog posts and news updates

During our handoff process, we’ll provide you with:

• Login credentials and access to your site
• A simple tutorial showing you how to make common updates
• Documentation covering the most frequently needed changes

For more complex changes like adding new pages, redesigning sections, or technical updates, you can either learn the system yourself or have us handle those updates through your Website Care Plan.

The bottom line: it’s your website, and you have complete control. We just make sure you’re never stuck when you need to make changes.

Yes, absolutely. You own your website completely once the project is finished and paid for.

This means:

• You own all the design, content, and code
• You have full admin access and control
• You can make changes, hire other developers, or move hosts anytime
• There are no ongoing licensing fees for the website itself

The only ongoing costs are optional:

• Website Care Plans (hosting, maintenance, support) – but you can cancel anytime
• Annual renewals for your domain name (standard with any website)
• Third-party services you choose (email marketing, etc.)

Some web companies keep ownership or lock you into their systems forever. We don’t believe in that approach. Once you pay for your website, it’s yours to do with as you please. We earn your continued business through great service, not by holding your website hostage.

No, but we recommend Namecheap for purchasing your domain, and we’ll set it up for you.  We walk you through this process during onboarding.

We offer basic logo design and branding assistance as add-on services for website projects.

What we provide:

• Simple, professional logo design ($499)
• Color palette and font selection for your brand
• Basic brand guidelines to keep everything consistent
• Integration of all branding elements into your website

What we don’t do:

• Complex brand strategy or extensive brand identity packages
• Multiple logo variations or detailed brand systems
• Print marketing materials or business card design

Our branding services are designed to get you a cohesive, professional look that works perfectly with your website. If you need more comprehensive branding work, we’re happy to recommend specialists who focus specifically on brand development.

Most of our clients either come to us with existing branding or just need something clean and professional to get started. We can work with whatever level of branding you currently have.

We include SEO fundamentals with every website, but we don’t offer comprehensive SEO campaigns.

What’s included in every website:

• SEO-optimized page structure and clean code
• Proper meta titles and descriptions
• Image optimization and fast loading speeds
• Mobile-responsive design (important for Google rankings)
• Basic local SEO setup for your business location

What we don’t do:

• Ongoing SEO campaigns or monthly optimization
• Extensive keyword research and content strategies
• Link building or advanced SEO tactics
• SEO audits of existing websites

Our Growth+ Website Care Plan includes:

• Quarterly SEO check-ups and improvements
• Monthly blog posts (which help with SEO)
• Google Business Profile optimization and management

For businesses needing comprehensive SEO work, we can recommend SEO specialists who focus specifically on search marketing. Our goal is to give you a solid SEO foundation that works well with your professionally designed website.

Yes, we provide complete email marketing setup and management using Kit (formerly ConvertKit), one of the best platforms for small businesses.

Our email marketing services include:

• Kit account setup and configuration
• Email capture forms and pop-ups integrated into your website
• Welcome email sequences to nurture new subscribers
• Ongoing email campaigns and newsletters
• Email template designs that match your website branding
• List management and basic analytics tracking

Pricing:

• Initial setup and first welcome sequence: $299
• Ongoing email campaign management available through our Growth+ Care Plan
• Kit platform is free until you reach 1,000 subscribers (then starts around $29/month)

Why Kit:

• Built specifically for creators and small businesses
• Easy automation and segmentation features
• Excellent deliverability rates
• Integrates seamlessly with your website
• Free to start – no upfront platform costs

Email marketing is one of the highest-ROI marketing strategies available. Most of our clients see it pay for itself within the first few campaigns through increased customer engagement and repeat business.

Absolutely! Every website we build is fully mobile-responsive and optimized for all devices.

What this means for your business:

• Your site automatically adjusts to look perfect on phones, tablets, and desktops
• Fast loading speeds on mobile devices (critical for keeping visitors)
• Easy navigation and readable text on smaller screens
• Forms and contact buttons that work smoothly on touch devices
• Google-friendly mobile optimization (important for search rankings)

Why mobile matters:

• Over 60% of web traffic now comes from mobile devices
• Google uses mobile-first indexing for search rankings
• Mobile-unfriendly sites lose potential customers immediately
• Local businesses especially need mobile optimization for “near me” searches

We test every website on multiple device types before launch to ensure it works perfectly everywhere. Your customers should have a great experience whether they find you on their phone during lunch or their computer at home.

This isn’t an add-on service – mobile optimization is built into every website we create because it’s essential for modern businesses.

Yes, we can integrate these advanced features into your website as part of your custom solution.

What we can set up:

• Online booking/scheduling – For appointments, consultations, or service calls
• E-commerce stores – For selling products online with secure checkout
• Event booking – For classes, workshops, or recurring services
• Service area scheduling – For businesses that travel to customers

How it works:

• We integrate professional third-party tools that match your needs
• Everything matches your website design and branding
• Secure payment processing included
• Mobile-friendly booking from any device
• Automated confirmation emails and reminders

Investment: The cost depends on your specific functionality needs and complexity requirements. We’ll discuss what features would benefit your business during our consultation and include detailed pricing in your custom quote.

These features often pay for themselves quickly by making it easier for customers to book and buy from you 24/7, even when you’re busy running your business.

Yes, we handle all security and updates as part of both Website Care Plans. You never have to worry about the technical maintenance.

What we manage for you: Weekly WordPress core updates to keep your site current, plugin updates and compatibility testing, security monitoring with daily scans for threats, malware detection and removal if needed, SSL certificate management and renewal, daily automated backups stored securely off-site, and performance monitoring to catch issues before they affect customers.

Why this matters for your business: Outdated websites become security vulnerabilities, hackers specifically target small business websites, one security breach can damage your reputation and cost thousands to fix, updates often break things if not done properly – we test everything first, and your time is better spent serving customers, not managing technical issues.

If something goes wrong: We monitor your site 24/7 and get alerts immediately if there are any issues. Most problems are resolved before you even know they happened.

This is included in both our Essential ($99/month) and Growth+ ($249/month) care plans because we believe every business deserves a secure, reliable website without the technical headaches.

We make it easy to get help when you need it. The process depends on which Website Care Plan you have.

For all support requests: Your website dashboard includes a simple ticket submission system. We’ll either take care of your request or provide a quote if it requires additional work beyond your plan.

You can also email us directly at info@jamesriverwebdesign.com with your request.

Most of our project communication happens through Basecamp, an online platform that makes collaboration and support straightforward for everyone.

Response times: Emergency issues (site down): Within 2 hours Routine support: Next business day (Essential) or same day (Growth+) Non-urgent requests: 1-2 business days

We use Basecamp for project management, so you’ll always have a clear record of your requests and our responses.

We monitor all client websites 24/7 and receive automatic alerts the moment any issues occur. Here’s exactly what happens:

Immediate response: We’re typically notified of downtime before you even realize there’s a problem. Our monitoring system checks your site every few minutes and alerts us immediately if something’s wrong.

Emergency timeline: We respond to site-down emergencies within 2 hours, regardless of which care plan you have. Your business can’t afford to be offline, so this gets top priority.

What we do: First, we diagnose whether it’s a hosting issue, plugin conflict, or another technical problem. Then we work to restore your site as quickly as possible. If needed, we can restore from our daily backups to get you back online immediately.

Communication: We’ll notify you via email as soon as we’re aware of the issue and provide updates until it’s resolved. You’ll know what happened, how we fixed it, and what we’re doing to prevent it from happening again.

Prevention: Our daily monitoring, regular updates, and security scans prevent most downtime before it happens. We also maintain multiple backup copies of your site so we can restore quickly if needed.

Bottom line: Website downtime is rare with our monitoring and maintenance, but when it does happen, we handle it fast so you can get back to business.

Here’s an answer for “Do you offer backups and site recovery?”:

Do you offer backups and site recovery?

Yes, comprehensive backups and site recovery are included in both of our Website Care Plans.

Our backup system: We perform automated daily backups of your entire website, including all content, images, settings, and databases. These backups are stored securely off-site, separate from your main hosting, so they’re protected even if something happens to your primary server.

What’s backed up: Everything – your website files, database, images, content, plugin settings, and custom configurations. We can restore your complete site exactly as it was.

Recovery process: If your site needs to be restored, we can have it back online quickly using our most recent backup. Depending on the issue, recovery typically takes 1-4 hours. For emergencies, we prioritize getting you back online as fast as possible.

How long we keep backups: We maintain 30 days of daily backups, so we can restore your site to any point within the past month if needed.

When you might need recovery: Site hacking or malware infections, accidental content deletion or changes, plugin conflicts that break functionality, server failures or hosting issues, or if updates cause unexpected problems.

Peace of mind: You never have to worry about losing your website content or starting over. Whether it’s a small mistake or a major technical issue, we can get you back up and running with minimal downtime.

This is included in both our Essential and Growth+ plans because we believe every business deserves protection from data loss.

Yes, you can change your plan at any time—no contracts or commitments. If you downgrade, you’ll keep access to your current plan until the end of your paid period (no refunds for downgrades). If you upgrade, a prorated difference will be charged so you can start enjoying the new features right away.

Yes, absolutely. You own your website completely once the project is finished and paid for.

What ownership means: You own all the design, content, and code. You have full admin access and control over everything. You can make changes, hire other developers, or move to different hosting anytime you want. There are no ongoing licensing fees for the website itself.

Your login credentials: We provide you with full administrator access to your WordPress site, including your hosting account login, WordPress admin credentials, and any third-party service accounts we set up for you.

Important note about premium plugins: Some websites include premium plugins that require separate licensing fees (like advanced booking systems, security plugins, or page builders). These plugin licenses are tied to our developer accounts and may not transfer if you move to different hosting or developers.

We’ll clearly identify any premium plugins used in your project and explain the licensing requirements. You can choose to purchase your own licenses for these plugins, or we can recommend free alternatives that provide similar functionality.

No lock-in contracts: While we hope you’ll stay with our Website Care Plans because of the value we provide, you’re never locked in. You can cancel anytime and take your website wherever you want.

The only ongoing costs are optional: Website Care Plans for hosting, maintenance, and support – but you can cancel anytime. Annual domain name renewal, which is standard with any website. Premium plugin licenses, if your site uses them. Any third-party services you choose like email marketing platforms.

Bottom line: Once you pay for your website, it’s yours to do with as you please. We’re completely transparent about any ongoing licensing requirements upfront, so there are never any surprises down the road.

Yes, you can move your website to another hosting provider anytime you want. You own your website completely, so you have full control over where it’s hosted.

How website migration works: We can provide you with a complete backup of your website files and database that any competent web developer or hosting company can use to set up your site elsewhere. Most hosting companies also offer free migration services to help transfer your site.

What transfers easily: All your website content, pages, blog posts, images, and basic settings move without any issues. Your custom design and branding are yours to keep. Most plugins and functionality will transfer smoothly.

Potential considerations: Premium plugins that we license may require separate subscriptions if you move to a different developer or hosting setup. We’ll identify any premium plugins used in your project upfront so you know what might need separate licensing.

Some hosting-specific features or optimizations might need to be reconfigured on your new host. Email accounts tied to your hosting will need to be set up again with your new provider.

Our role in migration: While we hope you’ll stay with our hosting and care plans, we won’t make moving difficult if that’s what you decide. We can provide your website backup files and help document any special configurations.

Bottom line: Your website belongs to you. We believe in earning your business through great service and results, not by making it hard for you to leave. You always have the freedom to host your website wherever makes the most sense for your business.