Questions
Straight answers, including the awkward ones.
The questions people actually ask, answered the way we would answer them on the phone.
What it costs and when you pay
Money
- Is there really nothing to pay up front?
- Nothing. No setup fee, no deposit, no first and last month. Your first payment is the monthly price, taken on the day the site goes live, not before.
- Why is it $89 a month when an agency wants $3,000?
- Because we build on a system we have already built instead of starting from nothing every time, and because you are paying over years instead of in one go. Over twelve months the Starter plan is $1,068 plus GST, which includes hosting, support, and your edits. A $3,000 build usually does not include any of those.
- What happens to the price later?
- Your plan price does not change for the first 24 months. After that we would give you 60 days notice of any change, and you could cancel instead.
- Is sales tax on top?
- Yes. Every price on this site is before GST, or HST in provinces that charge HST.
- What if I miss a payment?
- Your site stays up. We email you, then email you again a week later. Nothing comes down without two emails and a phone call first.
Who owns what, and how to get out
Owning and leaving
- Do I own the website?
- No. You rent it. We keep the website files and the design. That is what makes the price low, and we would rather say it on the pricing page than bury it in a contract.
- So what do I own?
- Your domain name, every word on the site including the words we wrote, every photo you gave us, your logo, your customer list, every enquiry the contact form ever sent you, and your Google Business Profile and Analytics accounts. All of it is registered in your name from day one.
- What happens if I cancel?
- After month 12 you can cancel with 30 days notice and no fee. We send you your text and images within five business days. Then the site comes down and your domain points wherever you tell it to. Nobody holds your domain hostage.
- Can I buy the site instead of renting it?
- Not the rental site, no. If you want to own a website, buy one. We are happy to tell you that on the call rather than sell you a plan that is wrong for you.
- What if you go out of business?
- Your domain is in your name and your content is yours, so you would take both somewhere else. We would also send you a copy of your site's text and images. What you would lose is the design and the hosting, which is the honest risk of renting anything.
From first call to live site
Building it
- How long does it take?
- Ten business days from the first call on Starter and Business, fifteen on Growth. A rush launch in five business days is $295, and it needs your text and photos on day one.
- What do you need from me?
- What you sell, who buys it, the towns you work in, your hours, and your contact details. Your logo and photos if you have them. If you do not have them, both have a price on the pricing page.
- I do not have any words written. Is that a problem?
- No. Copywriting is $145 a page. We interview you for twenty minutes, write it, and you approve it before it goes up.
- Will my site look like everyone else's?
- It is built on a system, so the structure is proven. The colours, the logo, the photos, the words, and the layout of each page are yours. It will not be mistaken for a template with a logo dropped on it, and it will not be a design nobody has ever seen before either.
- Can you move my existing site across?
- Yes. Up to twenty pages of text and images for $245, including redirects so your old links keep working and you do not lose your search rankings.
Changes, support, and what we do not sell
After launch
- How do I change something?
- Email us. That is the whole process. We make the change and email you back when it is live. Starter includes one edit a month, Business four, Growth eight. An edit is one change to one page, however long it takes us.
- What if I need more edits than that?
- Five more cost $59 a month, or you wait for next month. We will never send you an invoice you did not agree to first.
- Do you do SEO?
- Every plan includes the on-page basics: titles, descriptions, schema markup, and a sitemap. Business and Growth add local SEO for your city and Google Business Profile work. We do not sell an ongoing SEO retainer, and we do not promise rankings.
- Can I sell things on the site?
- Yes. A store with up to 25 products is $79 a month, and each extra 25 products is $29 a month. The card processing fee is charged to you by the payment company, not by us.
When renting is the wrong answer
Whether we fit
- Who should not rent a website?
- Anyone who needs a custom design nobody else has, a complex booking or membership system, a site in more than two languages, or the files in their own hands. Buy a website instead. We will say so on the call.
- Do you only work in Vancouver?
- No. We work with businesses anywhere in Canada. Everything happens by email and video call, so where you are does not change the price or the process. Our prices are compared against published Vancouver prices.
- Do you charge by the hour for anything?
- No. Every single thing we sell has a published price on the pricing page. If something is not on that page, we do not sell it.
Still wondering something?
Email hello@websiterental.ca. We reply within one business day and we will tell you if renting is the wrong answer for your business.