Terms of Service

Last updated: 17 August 2026

These terms govern website design and development services provided by Merritt Digital ("we", "us") to a client ("you"). They take effect when you accept a quote or make a payment.

What we do

We design and build custom websites for small businesses. A typical engagement is one initial website design, followed by further work only if and when you ask for it.

We do not host your website and we do not charge a subscription. Your website, your hosting account and your domain name are registered in your name and belong to you. If you stop working with us, you keep everything and nothing switches off.

Prices

Initial website design — $200 USD, one time

A complete custom website built for your business, delivered as files you own, plus guidance setting up hosting in your own name.

Ongoing work — $150 USD per hour

Changes, new pages, new features. Agreed with you in advance and invoiced after the work is done. You are billed only for time actually worked.

All prices are in US dollars (USD) and exclude any taxes that may apply in your country. Prices quoted to you in writing are held for 30 days.

How an engagement runs

• You tell us about your business and what you need.
• We build the initial design and show it to you at a working web address.
• You review it and we make reasonable adjustments to complete the initial design.
• We hand over the finished files and help you put them on hosting you own.

Work beyond completing that initial design — new sections, new features, later changes — is hourly work, quoted before it starts.

What we need from you

We need your text, images, logos and any other material you want on the site, and timely answers to questions. You confirm you have the right to use anything you give us. Work may pause if we are waiting on material from you.

Who owns what

When the initial design is paid for, you own the delivered website files and may use, change, move or resell them without restriction. You keep ownership of everything you supplied to us. We may describe the work we have done and show it as an example unless you ask us in writing not to.

Third-party services

Websites we build may rely on services provided by other companies — hosting, domain registration, form delivery, maps or similar. Those are supplied under their own terms, are paid for by you directly where a charge applies, and we are not responsible for their availability.

What we do not promise

We build your website carefully and test it, but we cannot promise particular business results, search-engine rankings, or that a website will be free of every fault. Where something is our mistake, we will fix it.

Limits of liability

Nothing in these terms excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded. Subject to that, our total liability arising from an engagement is limited to the amount you paid us for it, and we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss such as lost profit or lost business.

Ending an engagement

Either of us may end an engagement in writing at any time. See Refunds & Cancellation for what happens to money already paid.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. The version published here on the day you accept a quote is the one that applies to that engagement.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, United States.

How to reach us