The fine print, in plain English

Websites That Ring, ABN 50 488 121 807, is a one-person business (“Websites That Ring”, “I”, “me”). These terms are between me and you, the business owner who claims or uses a website from me (“you”).

By claiming a website, starting a free trial, paying for a subscription or buying a one-page website, you agree to these terms. If you are agreeing on behalf of a business, you confirm you are allowed to do so.

For a monthly subscription, I provide:

• a website designed and built for your business;
• hosting for that website, including a security certificate;
• help connecting your own domain name to the website;
• a quote request form, with enquiries emailed to you and kept in your dashboard;
• visitor statistics in your dashboard, including taps on your phone number and where visitors came from;
• setup to help search engines and AI assistants read your website; and
• unlimited content and design updates, as described in section 6.

The full list is on the What’s included page.

I sometimes build a free preview website for a business before being asked, using information that business has already made public, such as its current website, Google Business Profile, photos and reviews. Previews are hosted on a websitesthatring.com address and kept out of search results.

There is no obligation to claim a preview and nothing to pay unless you do. If you would like a preview of your business taken down, contact me and I will remove it.

When you first claim a website you get a 30-day free trial. You add a card when you claim, but you are not charged until the trial ends. A trial is only offered once per website.

After the trial, the subscription is $50/month in Australian dollars, GST is not charged. It is charged monthly in advance to the card you added and renews automatically each month until you cancel. Payments are handled securely by Stripe. I never see or store your full card details.

If a payment fails, I will let you know. If it is still unpaid after a reasonable time, I may pause your website until payment is made.

There is no lock-in contract. You can cancel at any time from the billing page of your dashboard, with no exit fee.

When you cancel, your website stays live until the end of the period you have already paid for. After that, it is taken offline and visitors to your domain see a short notice instead. If you cancel during the free trial, you are not charged.

You can download your website files from the billing page as soon as you cancel, including during the free trial.

I do not refund part-months, except where the law requires it. You can restart your subscription later and I will put your website back online.

While your subscription is active, you can ask me to update the content and design of your website as often as you like, at no extra cost. This includes changing text, prices, services and contact details, adding or swapping photos and reviews, changing colours, fonts or your logo, rearranging or removing sections, and posting notices.

Updates do not include building new features or systems, such as online ordering, shopping carts, payments, booking or scheduling systems, customer logins, quote calculators or connections to other software. They also do not include email accounts on your domain. I am happy to discuss work like this separately, but it is not part of the subscription.

I aim to make changes promptly, but I do not promise a fixed turnaround. If you send a large batch of changes at once, I may work through them over a few days. I may decline a change that would break the website, make it unlawful, or infringe someone else’s rights, and I will tell you why. If you are not sure whether something counts as an update, see what counts or ask me before I start.

You own the content that belongs to your business, such as your business name, logo, photos, text and the details of your services. You give me permission to use, copy, edit and publish that content for the purpose of building and running your website.

You confirm that you have the right to use everything you send me, or that is already public about your business, and that your website does not make false or misleading claims. If you want something removed from your website, tell me and I will remove it.

I own the design, layout, code and templates I create, apart from your content. While your subscription is active, you have the right to use them as your business’s website.

When you cancel, you can download the website files from your dashboard. I keep ownership of the design and code, and you get a permanent, non-transferable licence to use those files as your own business’s website. You may not resell them or reuse them as a template for another business.

If your subscription ends, your content remains yours, and I will send you copies of the text and photos on your website if you ask within 60 days.

I also offer a one-page website for $299 one-off, in Australian dollars, GST is not charged. I build the page first and send you a link to see it. You only pay if you want to keep it, using a secure payment link I send you. If you decide not to keep it, you owe nothing. When I hand it over, the page scores 90 or more for performance in Google’s Lighthouse test on its mobile settings; if it does not, I fix it at no cost. For30 days after you pay, I make reasonable updates to the page for free, such as new photos, wording or prices. After that, I quote for changes before making them. The parts of these terms about the free trial, subscription payments and unlimited updates do not apply to the one-off price.

Once you have paid, I send you the website files. I keep ownership of the design and code, and you get a permanent, non-transferable licence to use those files as your own business’s website, the same as for a subscription website you download. You may not resell them or reuse them as a template for another business.

You can add hosting for $5/month and an enquiry inbox for $5/month. Each add-on is billed monthly in advance and you can cancel it at any time, with no exit fee. While I host your page, the parts of these terms about connecting your domain and keeping your website online apply to it. With the enquiry inbox, I email each enquiry from your page’s form to you and keep it in your dashboard, wherever the page is hosted, and the parts of these terms about enquiries apply to it. If you cancel it, the form stops sending enquiries.

Your domain name stays yours. You keep it registered with your current provider and continue to pay them for it. I never ask you to transfer it to me. You can connect it to your website in one of two ways.

If you change your domain’s nameservers to the ones I give you, I host its DNS records. Before you switch, I copy across the records you already have, including your email settings. After that, I make any changes to those records for you when you ask.

If you keep your DNS where it is, you are responsible for the DNS records at your provider, including the ones I ask you to add to connect your website.

If you cancel, you can point your domain anywhere else at any time. If I host your DNS, I keep your records running for at least 60 days after your subscription ends, and your website download includes a copy of them so you can move them to a new provider.

When someone fills in the form on your website, I email the enquiry to the address you choose and keep it in your dashboard. I do not reply to your customers on your behalf.

You are responsible for how you use and look after your customers’ details once you receive them, including under Australian privacy law where it applies to your business.

I take reasonable care to keep your website online, fast and secure. Occasionally it may be unavailable for a short time, for example during maintenance or because of a problem with a service I rely on. I will fix problems as quickly as I reasonably can, but I cannot promise your website will never go down.

I build your website to give it the best chance of being found and bringing in work, but I cannot guarantee search rankings, recommendations from AI assistants, a number of enquiries or any amount of new business.

I may pause or end your subscription straight away if you do not pay, if your website is used for anything unlawful, misleading or harmful, or if you seriously breach these terms.

I may also stop offering the service for any other reason by giving you at least 30 days’ notice by email. In that case I will refund any payment for time after the service ends, and send you your content if you ask.

My services come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. Nothing in these terms limits those rights.

As far as the law allows, if something goes wrong my responsibility is limited to fixing the problem or supplying the service again, or refunding what you paid me for the affected period. I am not responsible for indirect losses, such as lost profits or lost business, that were not reasonably foreseeable.

I collect and use your personal information, such as your name, email address and business details, to provide the service, send you account and billing emails, and contact you about your website. I do not sell it. The privacy policy explains this in full.

I may update these terms from time to time. If I make a change that affects you in a meaningful way, including a price change, I will email you at least 30 days before it takes effect. If you do not agree with a change, you can cancel before it starts.

These terms are governed by the laws of [Queensland], Australia. If we have a disagreement, please contact me first so we can try to sort it out directly.

Questions about these terms? Contact me by replying to any email from me.