Before you hire a web designer: how I work, in plain words

Your domain, hosting, email and the site itself are in your name. I work in your account as an invited member, and you can remove me at any time.

You know the price before work begins, and it doesn't change unless the job does.

One third up front, the rest when the site is ready. Once you've paid in full, the site, the code and all rights to them are yours.

Every month you pay me only for what you chose yourself (support, or a mailbox with my support), and you can cancel with one message.

I don't promise what nobody can guarantee: first place on Google, a legal guarantee of accessibility, perfect security.

The domain is yours from day one: you are its registrant, and ICANN describes your rights and duties as its owner. It can move to another registrar no sooner than 60 days after registration; that is ICANN's rule, not mine.

The Cloudflare account is yours, on your email, and you are its Super Administrator. I get the Administrator role: I can see everything the site needs, but not your billing details, and I can't manage members. The role technically allows turning on paid services; I never do that without your written consent. You can remove me at any time: Members, then Revoke.

The site and the code: under US law, a website built by a contractor is not a work made for hire, so I remain its author until the rights are transferred in writing. Our agreement says exactly that: all rights to the code and design I make for you pass to you once you've paid in full. Until then, the site lives on my account, and you see it through a preview link.

Open-source libraries I use stay under their own licenses (MIT, for example), and you get them on the same terms.

Your texts, photos and logo stay yours. You confirm you have the right to use them: photos taken from the internet without a license can't go on your site.

Portfolio: before I show your site in my portfolio, I'll ask your permission.

The prices on the web design page are complete: they include everything I charge for the work described there, with no hidden fees. Third parties you pay directly and separately: the registrar for the domain and, if you choose it, Google or Microsoft for team email.

Starting prices are valid until December 31, 2026. The support price holds for a year from your site's launch.

Anything beyond what we agreed, I price before starting and do only after your yes.

You can pay by card (through Stripe; I pay the card fee of about 2.9% plus 30 cents, so you pay exactly the listed amount) or by Zelle, at the same price. To be honest about protection: a credit card payment has an official dispute process, while Zelle has no buyer protection. Choose whichever you're more comfortable with.

Taxes: in California a custom website is a service, and no sales tax applies to it. If you're a business paying me $2,000 or more by Zelle in 2026, you may need Form 1099-NEC, and I'll give you a Form W-9 for it. When you pay by card, the payment processor reports it, and you don't need to do anything. Individuals paying for a personal site need no forms. This is general information, not tax advice.

You can cancel the order at any time, with one message.

Before work begins, I refund the upfront third in full.

After work has begun, I refund the upfront third minus the reasonable value of the work already done, and I send you the calculation in writing.

Unpaid work stays on my account and isn't handed over. The domain and the Cloudflare account stay yours either way.

Accessibility: I build to WCAG 2.2 level AA and check it. The US Department of Justice says business websites must be accessible, but there is no single binding technical standard for private websites, and in California the Unruh Act gives at least $4,000 per violation. So I give no legal guarantee: compliance also depends on what you add to the site later.

Privacy: every site I build has a privacy policy page. California law (CalOPPA) requires one on any commercial website where Californians leave a name or an email. My sites have no analytics and no tracking cookies; if you add them later, the policy needs an update. The CCPA applies to businesses with at least $26,625,000 in yearly revenue or data on 100,000 people or more, so a small business is usually outside it.

Search: as a small business web designer, I set up everything that depends on the site: titles, descriptions, speed, a sitemap and connection to Google and Bing. I don't guarantee a place in the results: nobody can, as Google itself says, and the FTC has gone after companies that promised first place. I don't do paid advertising.

Security: I follow best practices (https, a protected form, security headers, no plugins), but my sites haven't had an independent security audit.

One page in plain words: what I'll do, the price, the payment schedule, the timeline and what I need from you, three rounds of changes, the transfer of rights after full payment, what happens if you cancel, and whether I may show the site in my portfolio.

You accept it by replying “I agree” to my email. Under the federal E-SIGN Act and California's electronic transactions law, that counts as a signature, including for transferring copyright.

My liability under the agreement is limited to what you've paid me, except where the law doesn't allow limiting it: fraud, willful misconduct or breaking the law.

The agreement follows California law.

Your site works without me.

You can move to another developer at any time: the code and the data are yours, and the database exports with one command.

Your materials left with me after the move, I delete, and I keep the copy made for the move no longer than a week.

If you're ready to hire a web designer who works by these rules, tell me what you need.