Website Development and Maintenance

Here are answers to some questions we hear often. If you don’t see a question listed, please contact us and let us know!

What do you need to start creating a new website for me?

First, we need an agreement that details the work to be done and what we will charge, typically a project cost covering the whole scope of work. At a minimum, once we’ve reached an agreement, we’ll need the following:

– All text content for the website, unless we have agreed to write it for you

– Images at the highest resolution available

– Login information for your website hosting account and domain registration (If you need a website host, we recommend Siteground or GreenGeeks. Note that if you use these links, we’ll receive a small referral fee.)

What do you need to start working on our existing website?

– Your website address

– Login information for your website hosting account

– Access to your content management system, like WordPress

– Agreement on the scope of work to be completed and the cost

Who will own our website’s content and code?

You will.

We build most new websites using WordPress, which is free software that is “open source.” This means that we don’t own any of the code, and it is licensed to be freely used by you. You will own the text, images, and other content that you create, including anything edited by us. Copyright and ownership of the complete website are transferred to you, the client, only when full payment for the project is received.

We reserve the right to use a screenshot and a description of the website and projects we completed for you in the portfolio section on our website.

Why do I need my own hosting account, domain registration, and accounts for other services you set up for us?

It’s important that you own and control your own website, even if you have no idea how to manage it. If something happens to us, you want to be able to pass along the details to another website developer with no problem.

What are your skills?

Ellie Boynton brings almost 20 years of experience in website development, starting with basics like HTML, CSS, and Javascript.

Content Management Systems: WordPress, Squarespace
Shopping Cart Systems: Shopify, Woocommerce
Payment Systems: Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.net

If your project requires other expertise like photography or graphic design, we may hire freelancers to contribute in those areas.

What are your fees?

Garnet Solutions provides website development for new websites and maintenance and updating for existing websites. Depending on the type of project, we bill hourly or on a project basis. Our hourly rate is $120/hour with a one-hour minimum for new clients.

When charging on an hourly basis, you can count on us to provide meticulous detail on each time entry. Our minimum billing increment is 15 minutes.

There is no charge for an introductory conversation or meetings to discuss new projects.

What are your office hours?

We generally work Monday-Friday, 9 am-5 pm Eastern Time.

What about vacation?

As a general rule, Ellie is on vacation for 1-2 weeks in August and from December 22 through January 2. We always contact active clients before a vacation to make sure no one is left hanging.