Pepper Sites Agreement

Introduction

We’ll always do our best to fulfill your needs and meet your expectations, but it’s important to have things written down so that we both know what’s what, who should do what, when, and what will happen if something goes wrong. In this contract, you won’t find any complicated legal terms or long passages of unreadable text. We’ve no desire to trick you into signing something that you might later regret. What we do want is what’s best for both parties, now and in the future.

In a Nutshell

You are hiring Pepper Sites to build your business a new website for the agreed-upon price for a duration of 24 months. After 24 months, your contractual obligation is completed, at which time you will roll into our month-to-month management plan, or you may take your website and leave Pepper Sites. If you choose not to cancel after 24 months, you will continue to use our services month to month for the cost of $200 per month, which can be canceled at any time.

What The Client Agrees To:

You have the authority to enter into this contract on behalf of yourself, your company, or your organization. You’ll give us the assets and information we tell you we need to complete the project. You’ll do this when we ask and provide it in the formats we ask for. You’ll review our work and provide feedback and approval in a timely manner. Deadlines work two ways, so you’ll also be bound to keep the project moving speedily. You also agree to stick to the payment schedule set out by the terms of the subscription billing.

What Pepper Sites Agrees To:

We have the experience and ability to do everything we’ve agreed with you, and we’ll do it all in a professional and timely manner. We’ll endeavor to meet every deadline that’s set, and on top of that, we’ll maintain the confidentiality of everything you give us.

Project Timeline

Our typical development time is approximately four to six weeks. This timeframe may fluctuate; for a specific deadline, please consult your project manager. Add-on services such as extra pages or features will add at least 2 business days per item onto our project timeline. Typical correspondence from you, the client, should be no more than one business day. Any wait time beyond this may add additional time to the project being launched. Our development time accounts for our deliverability but does not account for any additional time added to the project by the client changing the scope of work, revisions, or lack of communication. These extenuating factors will delay your project timeframe.

What Will be Included in the Website Build

A professionally designed website up to 15 pages (additional pages are an additional fee) designed to convert, on-page SEO, mobile/tablet optimization, and custom contact forms. Our custom-made websites will allow customers to ask for limited revisions or make specific design changes which will need to be explicitly communicated to your project manager.

Revisions

You may request up to two rounds of revisions of our initial design concept. Any additional revisions will be an additional cost. Once the initial design concept (the home page) is approved, the rest of the website will be built with the same design and functionality. Any revisions requested after the initial design concept has been accepted will invoke a fee which will be determined by the scope and complexity that is requested. We will determine the scope and provide you with a quote necessary for the requested revision, to which you may approve or request changes to the scope in order to alter the quote. You may request changes to media, colors, fonts, or content, but you may not request changes to the design layout.

What Will be Included in the Monthly Maintenance

Premium web hosting, premium caching, security certificates, 3rd party backups, uptime monitoring, plugin updates, theme updates, WordPress updates, unlimited content edits, and unlimited support available when you need it! Our monthly maintenance plan is included in the base plan for the duration of the first 24 months.

Tech Support

You can request updates to your website anytime by emailing us at support@peppersites.com. If you are, for any reason experiencing difficulties with your website, you may reach out to the project manager assigned to your account. All tech support needed to keep your website running smoothly is included for free at no extra cost. We will respond to your email in a timely manner, please allow up to 2 business days for us to address any technical difficulties.

Communication Guidelines

You will have a go-to team member who will be your primary line of communication. During the site development, your assigned project manager will be your primary line of communication. After your website is live, you may request updates by emailing us at support@peppersites.com. Although other team members may at times reach out to you, that doesn’t mean they are now your line of communication; it’s important to follow communication guidelines with the prescribed team members assigned to you for the best outcome. If you do not follow our communication guidelines, there may be delays or breakdowns in communication. During your project, all communication must take place from one correspondent from your organization. If you have a team of people reviewing the site, they may internally contribute to you, but we will only be communicating with one designated representative of your company (preferably the owner). Please communicate with your assigned team members only. You are expected to communicate with us via email and in a timely manner. Our only form of communication from Pepper Sites to you, our client, is solely email. We will not accept other forms of communication to discuss your project, such as phone calls, text messaging, social media, or any other form of communication other than email. If there is a sensitive matter and you absolutely need to speak on the phone, you may request a scheduled call by going to peppersites.com/client-call.

Legalities

We’ll carry out our work in accordance with good industry practice and at the standard expected from a qualified person with relevant experience. That said, we can’t guarantee that our work will be error-free, and so we can’t be liable to you or any third party for damages, including lost profits, lost savings, or other incidental, consequential, or special damages, even if you’ve advised us of them. Your liability to us will also be limited to the number of fees payable under this contract, and you won’t be liable to us or any third party for damages, including lost profits, lost savings, or other incidental, consequential, or special damages, even if we’ve advised you of them.

Website Ownership

While your website is being paid off, you have a complete and unrestricted license to use the website in any way you wish. You will not, however, be given ownership of the WordPress files until your website is fully paid off. Once your website is fully paid off, you will continue to have an unrestricted license to use the website in any way you wish, as well as full control of any and all website files. We maintain the right and ownership to utilize any designs and images that we created for your project to be utilized in any of our other projects. While your website is being paid off you agree that the website will be hosted by Pepper Sites. If you wish to move the site to your own hosting, you may do so upon the remaining balance of your website being paid off.

Site Access

Pepper Sites allows customers to have personal access to their website and the ability to grant access to third-party vendors. We do not accept responsibility for any issues related to changes made to the website other than changes made directly by an employee of Pepper Sites. We may be able to fix issues relating to the website resulting from actions made by clients or third-party vendors but do not guarantee any results or timeframes. We may charge a fee to resolve issues that are a direct result of clients or third-party vendors editing the website. All Pepper Sites websites must be hosted on Pepper Sites’ servers during the 24-month payment plan.

Displaying Our Work

We reserve the right to display all aspects of our creative work, including screenshots, work-in-progress designs, and the completed project on our portfolio and in articles on websites or any other media. We are proud of our work and reserve the right to apply the text web design by Pepper Sites (or any combination of text citing Pepper Sites) on your website. Should you wish to remove the credit, a fee of $250 applies. Removal of our name does not mean surrendering our design credit to any other party. Without our expressed consent, you agree that “web design by Pepper Sites” (or any combination of text citing Pepper Sites) will be visibly displayed on your site acknowledging design credit.

Non-Exclusivity of Site Designs

Our site designs do not warrant any form of exclusivity whatsoever. Other people in your area could already have or will have a website designed by Pepper Sites. If this concerns you, let us know, and we will check the area for others that may have the same design that you have chosen. In the event that someone else does have the same design, we can ensure the use of different photos and different colors so as to not make them look identical.

Scope Of Work

The scope of work will be determined by which package you choose. If you decide to add more pages, additional features, or any other services not previously agreed upon at the beginning of the website project, these add-ons will be subject to additional costs, and the timeline of the project will be extended.

Requirements of the Client

After you select and purchase your website subscription, you will be able to submit your company’s information to us in our onboarding form and submit all of the media that you wish to have on your website. Please submit all images and videos to us at one time; please do not send media to us in pieces over a period of time, but rather, please deliver everything to us at once. We will not begin working on your project until your onboarding form is submitted and all of your media has been delivered to us.

Content Writing Services

Content Submitted By The Client

If you decline to use our AI content, you will be responsible for delivering all necessary content writing for your website. You will be provided access to the website or a site wireframe with content guidelines, where you will be able to see all the areas you need to provide writing for. You will be responsible for providing all of the necessary content for your website in one document. You will then email us a link to a Google Doc where you have written the content. We will not retrieve content from your old website or elsewhere online on your behalf, you must provide all necessary content writing on your own or hire us to do new content writing for you. You must provide all content in one document for the entire site and email this to your project manager. If your content is not completed, please do not send pieces of it at various times because it will not be accepted; it must all be delivered at one time in one document.

Launching Your Website

We will seek to get your website online as soon as possible. In some cases, we may launch a website even before it is 100% completed. This is due to the fact that your new website is an asset and cannot serve your business unless it is live. For this reason, we seek to get your site online immediately. If your project has content writing on at least the home page, we may pursue launching your website and then complete the rest of the content or edits that you may request post-launch. If you object to this policy, it is your responsibility to email us at support@peppersites.com, notifying us that you would like to launch your website only after you have given us the authorization to do so at a time of your choosing.

Payment Schedule

We’re sure you understand how important it is as a small business that you keep up with your automatic billing. Your credit card will be billed monthly for the amount agreed upon once per month for a continuation of 24 months through our billing system. Once the 24-month period has ended, if you wish to stay with us for continued hosting, maintenance, updates, and support, your monthly payment will automatically drop to a discounted rate of $200 per month. This ongoing website management service is optional and can be canceled at any time once your 24-month commitment is completed.

Early Termination of Contract

If you wish to terminate your contract prior to the full 24-month payment plan completion, we will allow you to do so. We will not require the full remaining balance of your contract to be paid but rather only 50%. We believe this is the most fair resolution for both parties; upon doing so, we will issue you an invoice for half of your remaining balance, or apply the charge to your account, and we will terminate your website and terminate your contract. If you wish to cancel your contract and take your website to host and manage on your own or to give it to another provider, the remaining balance of your contract must be paid in full; then, we package up your website files and transfer them over to you. If you cancel your billing before your 24-month commitment is completed or dispute any monthly payment to Pepper Sites, this will voluntarily initiate the ‘Early Termination of Contract’ clause, which will be invoked immediately, requiring the payment of 50% of your remaining balance and your website will be terminated.

Late Payments

We understand you may have a late payment due to insufficient funds or an expired credit card; we understand this and will email you to remind you that your payment was missed. Any and all payments that are 30 days past due will cause your site to freeze immediately. Once billing is re-established and all past due balances paid, we will re-activate your site.

Delinquent and Defaulted Payments

If your billing is beyond 30 days past due, your website will be automatically frozen. If your billing reaches three months of delinquent payments, your billing contract will be considered to have defaulted. At that time, the 50% remaining balance clause would be in effect, or you may pay off the remainder of your balance, and we will deliver your site files to you for your ownership.

Moving Forward After the Contract is Completed

Once your contract has been completed, your monthly billing will automatically drop to the base minimum of $200 per month. This is our month-to-month ongoing website hosting and maintenance cost. If you wish to cancel your billing after the 24-month period, you are free to do so. If you choose not to cancel, you will automatically continue in our month-to-month ongoing website maintenance plan. Here are the two possible actions you may choose after your 24-month plan is completed.

Option 1.

No action is necessary, you will automatically move to our month-to-month maintenance plan. From here, you can enjoy the benefits of having peace of mind knowing that we will actively host and maintain your website for $200 per month. You will automatically roll into our month-to-month service after 24 months, and can be canceled at any time.

Option 2.

Cancel all services with Pepper Sites. We can package up your website files and deliver them over to you to host, manage, and maintain your own website moving forward. You will have a grace period of 2 weeks once your contract is up to move your website to another hosting provider if you so choose.

30-Day Money Back Guarantee

We guarantee your subscription purchase for 30 days. If at any time you wish to cancel, just let us know, and we will cancel your contract. Your 30-day money-back guarantee begins the day that you sign this contract. If you do not cancel within the first 30 days, your contract will then be locked in, and you are not free to cancel your contract after that point. The 30-day money-back guarantee is exclusively granted to your website subscription package. It does not warranty any other add-on purchases.

We Reserve the Right to Refuse Service to Anyone

We reserve the right to, at any time, sever our payment plan with any client for any reason. This is extremely rare, but in the event that our company decides that it is not fruitful for either party to remain in contact with each other, we reserve the right to end services immediately. In the event that we do decide to end services with you, one of two possible outcomes may ensue. 1. We will refund you for all payments that were paid toward your 24-month website payment plan. 2. We will deliver your website to you, and we will not require any future payments from you beyond the date at which we cancel the contract. You will not be required to pay off your remaining contract balance, and you will receive full ownership of your website.

Client Understanding

The client understands and acknowledges that a website alone will not produce any guaranteed online traffic or lead generation. The client understands and acknowledges that in order to produce traffic and leads from their website, they will need to perform marketing services to bolster the website’s visibility and attract more visitors to it. Pepper Sites offers a complete marketing system designed to generate leads (Pepper Pro System). Such marketing can include a managed search engine optimization campaigns, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Google My Business listings, social media engagement, and the like. If the client needs advice or direction on how to market their business, Pepper Sites will give recommendations to the client and, if applicable to their industry, make particular recommendations for service providers who may assist them in their marketing efforts.

Privacy Policies and Terms and Conditions

Pepper Sites is not responsible for your privacy policies and terms and conditions related to your website. We will assist you in putting any privacy policy information or terms and conditions information on your website for free. However, you, the customer, are responsible for knowing and following the privacy laws of your country, state, and local municipality. You must send us your specific privacy policy and terms and conditions in writing to support@peppersites.com, and we will place your policies and terms on your website for you. You are responsible for updating your privacy policy and terms and conditions as your business operations change or as your local laws change. We will assist you in updating your policies and terms at any time; you must send all updates to your policies and terms in writing to support@peppersites.com whenever an update is required.

Governing Law / Forum

This Agreement shall be construed in accordance with the internal laws of the State of New York, without regard to conflict of law principles. The venue shall be in a court of competent jurisdiction in the State of New York, Queens County, and both parties expressly consent to jurisdiction in such courts.

Attorney Fees

In any legal action between the parties concerning this Agreement, the prevailing party shall be entitled to recover reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.

Indemnity

Each party agrees to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the other party and its officers, directors, agents, affiliates, distributors, representatives, and employees from any and all third-party claims, demands, liabilities, costs, and expenses, including reasonable attorney’s fees, costs and expenses resulting from the indemnifying party’s material breach of any duty, representation, or warranty under this Agreement.

Severability

If any provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, the remaining portions of this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect and construed so as to best effectuate the original intent and purpose of this Agreement.