Website Development & Hosting Terms

1. Application and contract documents

These Website Development Terms apply where Golden Ads Ltd supplies website design, development, eCommerce, maintenance, migration or related digital work. The contract consists of the accepted quotation, proposal, statement of work or order confirmation, these terms and the incorporated policies. A specifically agreed written project document takes priority if it conflicts with these general terms.

Hosting, domain registration, email, paid media, ongoing maintenance and third-party subscriptions are included only when expressly listed.

2. Scope, timetable and deliverables

The project document identifies the pages, features, integrations, content, design stages, revision allowance, deliverables and target timetable. Dates depend on timely access, instructions, content, approvals and third-party services. Unless expressly confirmed as fixed, launch dates are estimates.

Anything not listed—including extra pages, copywriting, translation, data entry, custom integrations, accessibility audits, migrations, product imports or ongoing support—is outside scope and may require a separate quotation.

3. Your responsibilities

You must provide accurate instructions, lawful content, brand assets, credentials, technical access and decisions within the agreed time. You are responsible for reviewing business information, prices, product claims, legal notices and regulatory requirements specific to your organisation.

Keep credentials secure and provide access through a proportionate method. Do not send passwords through an insecure public channel where a safer method is available. Delays or repeated changes by you may move the timetable and create reasonable additional charges.

4. Changes, revisions and dependencies

Included revisions are limited to the allowance in the project document and apply to the agreed concept and scope. New functionality, a changed brief, additional pages, replacement content or revisions requested after approval may be treated as a change request. We will explain any material effect on price or timing before carrying out chargeable additional work.

We are not responsible for delay caused by missing access, late approvals, incompatible legacy systems, undisclosed requirements or a third-party dependency outside our reasonable control.

5. Fees, expenses and payment

Fees, deposits and milestones are stated in the accepted project document. Unless it says otherwise, domain charges, hosting, premium themes, plugins, fonts, stock assets, paid APIs, media spend, taxes and third-party subscriptions are additional. We may pause work while an invoice is overdue or required cooperation is missing.

A deposit reserves project time and is applied to the project price. Cancellation and payment for work completed are handled under the accepted proposal, our Delivery, Cancellations & Returns Policy and applicable consumer law.

6. Domains, hosting accounts and administrative access

Where practical, the client should be the registrant and account owner for its domain, hosting, analytics, advertising and other critical business services. If we purchase or administer an item on your behalf, ownership, renewal responsibility and transfer arrangements will follow the project document and provider rules.

You must keep registrant and recovery details current. We are not responsible for expiry, suspension or loss caused by a client’s failure to pay a provider, maintain accurate details or respond to a verification request. We will provide agreed handover credentials after payment of sums properly due, subject to security and third-party restrictions.

7. Hosting and email services

Hosting availability, storage, traffic, support level, renewal date and any service target are those in the proposal or provider plan. Unless a written service level expressly states otherwise, continuous or error-free availability is not guaranteed. Maintenance, security incidents, internet routing, registrar action and upstream-provider failures can affect service.

You must not use hosting for unlawful activity, malware, spam, deceptive content, infringement, unauthorised access, excessive resource consumption or conduct prohibited by the upstream provider. We may take proportionate protective action, including temporary suspension, where reasonably necessary for security, legal compliance or provider requirements.

Mailbox users are responsible for passwords, multi-factor authentication, device security, storage limits and retaining important messages. Email delivery and filtering depend on third-party networks and cannot be guaranteed.

8. Backups, security and updates

Unless a managed plan expressly includes them, backups, monitoring, security hardening, software updates and disaster recovery remain the client’s responsibility after handover. Where we provide backups, they are a resilience measure rather than a substitute for the client’s own independent copy of critical data.

No website is immune from attack or failure. We use reasonable care for work under our control, but security also depends on passwords, user permissions, devices, hosting, third-party code and timely updates. Tell us promptly about suspected compromise. Emergency recovery, malware removal or repair outside the agreed scope may be chargeable.

9. Content, artwork and approvals

You confirm that supplied text, photographs, artwork, data, products and instructions are accurate, lawful and permitted for the intended use. Our Copyright, Artwork & Acceptable Content Policy applies. You are responsible for final proofreading and for approving visible content, functionality and configuration before launch.

We may use temporary placeholder material during development. Placeholder content must be replaced or expressly approved before publication.

10. Ownership and licences

Each party retains pre-existing intellectual property. After full payment, you receive the ownership or licence expressly stated in the project document for the final approved bespoke deliverables. If the project document does not specify an assignment, you receive a perpetual, non-exclusive licence to use the final deliverables for the website and business purpose for which they were commissioned.

Working files, rejected concepts, internal methods, reusable components, templates, tools and know-how are not transferred unless expressly listed. Open-source software, fonts, stock material, themes, plugins and platform components remain subject to their own licences. A transfer of copyright must be recorded in a signed written agreement where the law requires.

11. Third-party services and renewals

WordPress, WooCommerce, payment services, plugins, themes, analytics, advertising platforms, delivery integrations and hosting providers operate under separate terms and may change, charge, suspend or discontinue features. We will use reasonable care when selecting or configuring items within scope, but do not control third-party decisions or future compatibility.

The project document should identify material paid licences and who must renew them. A feature may stop updating or working if a required subscription expires.

12. Testing, approval and acceptance

We test the agreed work using the environments, browsers and devices reasonably specified for the project. You must perform your own acceptance review, including content, forms, checkout, prices, taxes, delivery, emails, permissions and legal information.

Report reproducible defects that materially depart from the agreed specification within the acceptance period stated in the proposal, or otherwise within 14 days after handover. We will correct qualifying defects within a reasonable time. A new requirement, third-party change, content correction or problem caused after handover is not a defect in the original work.

13. Data protection, accessibility and legal compliance

Each party is responsible for its own legal obligations. You are normally the controller of personal information collected through your website and must provide accurate privacy and cookie information, choose lawful purposes and respond to individuals. Where Golden Ads processes personal information solely on your documented instructions, an appropriate data-processing agreement will apply where required.

Accessibility standards, sector-specific rules and compliance testing are included only if stated in scope. We do not provide legal advice and recommend professional review for regulated activities or material legal risk.

14. SEO, analytics, advertising and outcomes

We use reasonable care for SEO, analytics and advertising work included in scope. Search rankings, platform approval, traffic, conversions, revenue and advertising performance depend on competition, budget, content, market conditions, platform systems and user behaviour. No particular commercial outcome is guaranteed unless a written guarantee expressly says otherwise.

15. Support, warranty and maintenance

Post-launch support covers only the period and tasks stated in the project document. Unless an ongoing plan is purchased, responsibility for content, users, renewals, backups, updates and routine operation transfers to you at handover. Additional training, changes, maintenance and support may be quoted separately.

16. Suspension, termination and handover

Either party may end a project as permitted by the contract and applicable law. We may pause or terminate work for material breach, non-payment, unlawful use, security risk or repeated failure to cooperate, normally after reasonable notice where practicable.

On termination, you must pay for work properly completed and committed third-party costs, subject to consumer law. After payment, we will provide the deliverables and access due under the agreed scope in a reasonably usable form. We may retain minimum records required for tax, legal claims, security and fraud prevention.

17. Liability and business continuity

The liability provisions in our Terms of Use apply. You should maintain independent copies of important content, customer data, credentials and business records. Nothing excludes liability or statutory rights that cannot lawfully be excluded.

18. Contact