Client terms
These are the terms for our website and monthly packages, written in plain English. Last updated 7 October 2026.
The short version: no setup fee; a 12-month minimum, then 30 days' notice; your domain and accounts are in your name; once the minimum term is paid, the website is yours to take with you.
1. Who this agreement is between
1.1 These terms are between 1st Choice Digital ('we', 'us') and the business named on your order ('you'). Your order is the package you sign up for through our payment page, together with the details you give us on our sign-up form.
1.2 They apply to every website and monthly package we provide. Your order shows your package, monthly price and start date. If your order and these terms disagree, your order wins.
1.3 You confirm you're signing up for business purposes, not as a private consumer.
2. Packages and what's included
2.1 We provide the package on your order: Starter, Growth or Pro. What each package includes is described on our prices page on the date you sign up.
2.2 We may improve what a package includes. We won't remove anything you're paying for during your minimum term without your agreement.
2.3 Page limits. Starter covers up to 8 pages at build and up to 10 in total. Growth covers up to 25 pages at build and Pro up to 50. If you need more, we'll tell you and suggest an upgrade or quote for the extra pages. We'll never charge for extra pages without your agreement.
2.4 Growth actions. On Growth and Pro, we choose monthly growth actions based on your results, such as new pages, improvements, review campaigns and Google Business Profile updates. We'll explain each one in your monthly report.
2.5 Design. You can choose one of our ready-made website styles in your own colours, or a bespoke design made for your business. Both are included in your monthly price. We'll agree the design with you before we build, and changes after you've approved it count as changes under section 7.
2.6 Extra services. Services outside your package, such as Google Ads management, logo design, business email setup, online booking, quote calculators and online shops, are charged at the price shown on our website or agreed with you in writing before we start. Monthly extras can be cancelled with 30 days' notice and don't have a minimum term unless we agree one.
2.7 Costs paid to others. Some services need accounts you pay for directly, in your own name: for example your domain name, Google Ads click budget, email mailboxes, payment fees (such as Stripe) or an online shop platform (such as Shopify). We don't add a mark-up and these costs aren't included in our prices.
3. Getting started
3.1 There's no setup fee. We take your first month's payment when you sign up, and start work once it has cleared.
3.2 To build your site we need from you: information about your business, services and areas, photos if you have them, and access or approval for your domain and Google accounts. We'll give you a simple checklist.
3.3 We'll aim to have your site ready to launch within 7 days on Starter, and within 21 days on Growth and Pro, of receiving everything on the checklist. Delays in getting information from you will push this date back.
3.4 We'll show you the site before it goes live. Your approval to launch can be by email.
4. Payment
4.1 You pay monthly in advance by card or direct debit, starting from your sign-up date. Payments are taken through our payment provider, Stripe.
4.2 We are not currently registered for VAT, so no VAT is added to our prices. If we register in future, we'll tell you at least 30 days before VAT is added.
4.3 If a payment fails, we'll let you know and try again. If a payment is more than 14 days late, we may pause work and the monthly service until it's paid. Your website stays online for the first 30 days of non-payment. After that, we may take it offline until the account is up to date, and we'll warn you by email at least 7 days before we do.
4.4 We may charge interest and fixed compensation on late payments under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, and you'll pay our reasonable costs of recovering money you owe.
4.5 Price changes. Your price is fixed during your minimum term. After that, we may change it by giving you at least 60 days' notice in writing. You can leave before the new price starts.
4.6 Refunds. Monthly payments cover the month ahead and aren't refunded for part months. If we fail to provide the service you've paid for, we'll put it right or refund the affected period.
5. Minimum term and leaving
5.1 The minimum term is 12 months from your sign-up date. After that, the agreement continues month to month.
5.2 After the minimum term, either of us can end the agreement by giving 30 days' notice in writing (email is fine).
5.3 If you end the agreement during the minimum term, you'll pay the remaining monthly payments for the rest of the minimum term.
5.4 Either of us can end the agreement straight away if the other seriously breaks these terms and doesn't fix it within 14 days of being asked, or becomes insolvent.
5.5 Upgrades can happen at any time, and the new price starts from your next payment. Downgrades can happen after the minimum term.
6. Who owns what
6.1 Your domain name, Google accounts (Search Console, Analytics, Business Profile) and hosting account are registered in your name, or transferred to you, so they're yours.
6.2 Once you've paid for the minimum term, or paid any early exit amount, you own the website's design, written content and code that we made for you. You can take it with you if you leave.
6.3 We keep the right to reuse our general tools, techniques, templates and know-how, but never your content, photos or branding.
6.4 You confirm that anything you give us (logos, photos, text, reviews) is yours to use, or that you have permission, and that it's lawful. You're responsible for it, and you'll cover our reasonable costs if someone makes a claim against us because of it. You give us permission to use it to build, host and promote your website while we work together.
6.5 Acceptable use. Your website mustn't be used for anything unlawful, misleading, abusive, or that infringes someone else's rights, and mustn't send spam. If we're told about content like this, or reasonably believe it's there, we may remove it or pause the site, and we'll tell you why.
6.6 When you leave, we'll give you a full copy of your website files and help hand over your accounts. We'll stop managing them once the agreement ends. We'll do this within 14 days of your final payment.
6.7 We may add a small 'Website by 1st Choice Digital' credit in your footer. You can ask us to remove it.
6.8 We may show your website in our portfolio and case studies (a screenshot, your business name and a link). We'll never publish your private information or results figures without asking first. You can ask us to stop at any time.
7. Changes to your website
7.1 Small changes are free on every package, within fair use. That covers text, photos, prices, opening hours, team members, offers and reviews. Send one request at a time.
7.2 We'll aim to complete small changes within 3 working days on Starter, 2 working days on Growth, and the next working day on Pro.
7.3 A change that would take more than about 30 minutes is a bigger job. We'll quote it before starting. New pages are £39 each, unless we add them as one of your growth actions.
7.4 Fair use means normal day-to-day updates. If requests become excessive, we'll talk to you about an upgrade or a quote, and won't simply refuse.
8. What we promise, and what we can't
8.1 We'll provide the service with reasonable skill and care, and keep your site secure, backed up and up to date.
8.2 We'll aim to keep your website online at least 99.5% of the time, excluding planned maintenance and problems with third-party services we don't control.
8.3 We can't guarantee rankings. Google, Bing and AI assistants decide their own results and change how they work. We'll do the work described in your package and report honestly on results, but we can't promise a particular position, number of enquiries or amount of income.
8.4 We aren't responsible for problems caused by services we don't control, such as Google, domain registrars, hosting platforms, email providers, or changes you or someone else make to your accounts.
9. Liability
9.1 Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that can't legally be limited.
9.2 We're not liable for loss of profit, business, revenue or goodwill, or for any indirect loss.
9.3 Our total liability under this agreement in any 12 months is limited to the amount you paid us in those 12 months.
10. Your data and your customers' data
10.1 When your website collects enquiries from your customers, you are the data controller and we act as your data processor. We'll:
- only use that data to run your website and send enquiries to you;
- keep it secure and confidential;
- only use subcontractors (such as hosting and email providers) who protect it to the same standard;
- tell you without delay if there's a data breach affecting it;
- help you respond to people's data requests;
- delete or return it when the agreement ends, unless the law requires us to keep it.
10.2 You're responsible for your website's privacy notice and cookie choices being accurate for your business. We'll set them up for you to check and approve.
10.3 We handle your own details as explained in our privacy notice.
11. General
11.1 We may update these terms. We'll give you 30 days' notice of any change that affects you, and changes that reduce your rights won't apply during your minimum term.
11.2 Neither of us is liable for delays caused by events outside our reasonable control.
11.3 You can't transfer this agreement to someone else without our agreement. We'll tell you if we transfer it, for example if the business is sold.
11.4 These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction.
11.5 These terms and your order are the whole agreement between us. They replace anything said or written before you signed up.
11.6 If we don't enforce a right straight away, we can still enforce it later.
11.7 If a court decides part of these terms can't be enforced, the rest still applies.
11.8 We'll send notices by email to the address on your order. You can send notices to [email protected].
Questions about these terms? Get in touch before you sign up and we'll explain anything in plain English.