Your website
is live. Here is
everything you need.
Thank you for your business, and for trusting us with your website. A website project asks a lot of a client: decisions, content, feedback, and patience while the details get right. You gave us all of it, and the result is a site built to represent your business properly for years.
This page covers your warranty, what we built, what needs ongoing attention, and how to reach us. Bookmark it. Your launch date, deliverables, and handover details are recorded in your Completion of Work document.
Your 30-day warranty.
What it covers, and what it does not.
Your build carries a 30-day warranty beginning on the launch date confirmed in your launch email. The warranty covers the functionality that was present and working on the day your site launched. If something we built stops working the way it worked at launch, we fix it at no charge.
The warranty is not a change window. New pages, new features, revised copy, and design changes are new work, quoted separately. And it does not cover anything broken by someone other than our team. If edits are made inside the site and something breaks as a result, we are glad to fix it, but it is billable.
| Covered at no charge | Not covered | Billable work |
|---|---|---|
|
Broken links, buttons, or navigation that worked at launch Forms that stop submitting or stop delivering to the addresses set at launch Layout or display errors on the browsers and devices we tested Pages returning errors or failing to load Content we published that does not match the approved final content |
New pages, sections, features, or integrations Content, copy, or image changes and additions Design revisions after approval Problems caused by edits made by the client or a third party Third-party service failures and price or policy changes (payment, booking, chat, CRM, review tools) Domain, DNS, and email deliverability issues Rendering quirks in browsers or devices outside the tested set, and in browsers more than two major versions old Search rankings, traffic, and conversion outcomes |
Everything in the middle column, plus any request after day 30 Care plan clients: covered by the plan where the plan includes it, otherwise quoted at a discounted rate Clients without a care plan: $250 per hour, billed in 30-minute increments after the first hour We confirm scope and cost in writing before we start any billable work |
Email is the only channel that starts the clock. Texts, calls, and messages sent to individual team members are easy to lose, so they are not warranty reports. If it is urgent, email first and then call.
Custom WordPress, built for your design.
Your site runs on WordPress with a custom theme built specifically for your design. It is not a purchased template with your logo dropped in. Every template, layout, and content block was coded for your project, which is why your site loads faster and behaves more predictably than a typical WordPress build.
We also keep the plugin count deliberately low. Every plugin is code someone else maintains, running inside your site, and each one is a potential security hole, conflict, or performance drag. Our standard stack is short on purpose:
| Plugin | What it does |
|---|---|
| Advanced Custom Fields | Powers the editable content areas in your pages, so you can update text and images without touching design or code. |
| Gravity Forms | Runs your forms, notifications, and lead entry storage. Every submission is saved in the site as well as emailed, so a mail hiccup never loses a lead. |
| Google Site Kit | Connects your site to Google Analytics and Search Console so performance data flows in from day one. |
Anything beyond these three was added because your project specifically required it, and it is listed in your Completion of Work document. Please talk to us before installing new plugins. Plugin conflicts are the single most common cause of a WordPress site breaking, and a plugin installed after launch is outside the warranty.
Hosting is on WP Engine unless your Completion of Work document says otherwise. It is managed WordPress hosting with server-level caching, a staging environment, and daily automated backups.
Keeping a WordPress site healthy.
WordPress powers a huge share of the web, which also makes it the most attacked platform on the web. A WordPress site is not a finished object; it is software that needs maintenance. Left alone for a few months, sites get slower, break in small ways, and eventually get compromised. These are the items that actually matter:
| Item | Cadence | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress core updates | As released | Security patches ship in core releases. Skipping them is the most common route to a hacked site. |
| Plugin and theme updates | Monthly, tested | Needed for security, but updates also break things. They should be applied on staging and checked before going live, never blindly on the live site. |
| PHP version updates | Yearly | Old PHP versions stop receiving security fixes and slow the site down. Upgrades need compatibility testing first. |
| Security monitoring | Continuous | Malware scanning, login protection, and file-change monitoring catch problems while they are still small. |
| Backups, verified | Daily | A backup you have never restored is a hope, not a backup. Backups should be tested. |
| Uptime monitoring | Continuous | You should hear about downtime from a monitor, not from a customer. |
| Form and lead testing | Monthly | Forms fail quietly. A mail routing change or a spam filter can cost you weeks of leads before anyone notices. |
| Database and media cleanup | Quarterly | Revisions, spam, transients, and orphaned media accumulate and slow the site down. |
| Speed and Core Web Vitals | Quarterly | Google measures real-world page experience. It drifts as content is added. |
| Broken link and 404 checks | Quarterly | Content edits and third-party changes create dead ends that hurt users and rankings. |
You can do all of this yourself. Most owners intend to and then, reasonably, get busy running their business. That is what our care plans are for, and it is why we recommend putting one in place at launch rather than after something goes wrong.
Three renewals to keep an eye on.
Three renewals can take a live website completely offline, and none of them announce themselves loudly. Whoever owns these accounts should have working billing details and a real inbox monitored for renewal notices.
| Item | What to check, and what happens if it lapses |
|---|---|
| Domain registration | Confirm the registrar account is in your business name, auto-renew is on, the card on file is current, and the contact email is one you actually read. Expired domains take the website and your email down, and recovery after the grace period can be expensive or impossible. Keep domain privacy on, and ignore the official-looking renewal invoices that arrive by mail from companies you have never used. |
| Hosting or platform renewal | Same checks: active account, current payment method, monitored billing email. A declined card can suspend a site with very little warning. |
| SSL certificate | The padlock in the address bar. Most modern certificates renew automatically, but an expired certificate makes every browser show a full-page security warning before anyone reaches your site. If you ever see a certificate warning on your own site, tell us immediately. |
| Account access | Keep your own record of who holds the domain, hosting, analytics, and email logins. When staff or vendors change, that record is the difference between a ten-minute task and a two-week recovery. |
Care plans include monitoring of hosting, SSL, and uptime. Domain registration stays with the owner of the registrar account, so please keep an eye on it either way.
Backups, and getting a site back.
Sites hosted with us on WP Engine are backed up automatically every day, and a restore point can also be created manually before any significant change. If something goes badly wrong, we can roll the site back.
If your site is hosted somewhere else, or moves to your own hosting later, backups become your responsibility. Confirm with that host that backups are running daily, that they are stored off the server, and that a restore has actually been tested. A backup nobody has ever restored should not be counted on.
What to expect in search after a rebuild.
On launch we mapped redirects from your old URLs to the new ones, submitted your sitemap, and connected Google Analytics and Search Console. Here is the part clients are rarely told in advance: rankings and traffic normally fluctuate for two to six weeks after a rebuild, and larger sites can take longer.
That is Google recrawling and reindexing every page, re-evaluating the new structure, and passing authority through the redirects. Short-term dips are normal and usually recover. What is not normal is a sustained drop past six weeks, so if you see one, tell us and we will investigate.
Two things help: leave the new URLs alone rather than renaming pages in the first month, and add content steadily. If you want active work on rankings, ask us about SEO, which is a separate service from the website build.
Accessibility is ongoing, not a one-time pass.
Your site was built with accessibility fundamentals in place: semantic page structure, keyboard navigability, labeled form fields, alternative text on images we placed, and color contrast checked against WCAG 2.2 AA in the design.
Accessibility is not a one-time state. It degrades as content is added, and it is a live area of legal risk, particularly for businesses serving the public. Every new image needs alt text, every new PDF needs to be readable, and every new page needs proper heading order. Continuous accessibility monitoring and remediation is included from the Assurance care plan level up. If accessibility exposure is a concern in your industry, start there.
We don't disappear after launch.
Every site we build stays on a care plan. Hosting, security, and updates are not optional, so the entry plan covers them properly. If you have not chosen a plan yet, this is the moment: the cheapest time to protect a website is before something happens to it. All three tiers are month to month.
- Website hosting and infrastructure
- SSL certificate management
- Security monitoring and patching
- Platform, plugin, and theme updates
- Uptime monitoring
- Daily backups
- Accessibility monitoring to WCAG 2.2 AA
- Accessibility fixes as issues are found
- Core Web Vitals performance monitoring
- Monthly performance and security report
- One hour of changes and requests each month
- Additional hours billed at a discounted rate
- Unused time rolls over one month
- Priority email and phone support
- Quarterly review call
Assurance is the tier we recommend for most businesses: it covers the security and update work plus the accessibility and performance monitoring that protects the investment you just made. Larger sites and heavier change volume can be scoped as a custom plan.
What else we can do for you.
A great website is a platform, not a campaign. The clients who see the strongest return are the ones who put traffic and follow-up behind it. We are a full-service agency, and everything below is work we do in house.
| Service | What it does for you |
|---|---|
| Search engine optimization | Builds durable organic visibility: technical health, content, local presence, and authority. The compounding channel. |
| Paid advertising | Google, Microsoft, Meta, and programmatic. Demand you can turn on tomorrow, measured to cost per lead rather than clicks. |
| Social media marketing | Content and community management that turns an audience into customers. |
| Email marketing | Newsletters and automated sequences that work the list you already own. |
| Video, photography, and media | Original content for the site, ads, and social. Nothing performs like real footage of your actual business. |
| Graphic and print design | Collateral, signage, and sales material consistent with your new site. |
| Custom software | Portals, calculators, dashboards, and internal tools when off-the-shelf will not do it. |
| Fractional CMO and consulting | Senior marketing leadership without a senior marketing salary. Strategy, budget, and accountability. |
If you are weighing what to do next, book a call and we will give you a straight answer about where your next dollar works hardest.
Questions we get after launch.
Can I edit my own pages?
Yes. Text and images in the content areas we built are yours to edit in WordPress. Please stay out of theme files, plugin settings, and the plugin installer. That is where edits break things, and self-inflicted breakage is billable to fix.
Do I need to click the update buttons in WordPress myself?
If you are on a care plan, no. We apply updates on staging, test them, and then push them live. If you are not on a plan, someone has to do it, and updating a live site without testing is how sites break at the worst possible moment.
Can I install a plugin I read about?
Ask us first. Plugin conflicts are the leading cause of a broken WordPress site, and plugins added after launch fall outside the warranty. Most of the time we can build the same functionality without adding attack surface.
Will you help if I get hacked?
Yes, and care plan clients are covered for cleanup and restore. Without a plan, malware removal is billable and can take real hours, which is the main reason we insist on security monitoring.
What happens after the 30 days?
Nothing changes about your site. It simply moves from warranty coverage to normal support. Care plan clients keep their plan coverage; everyone else is billed hourly for requests. We do not disappear on day 31, we just stop working for free.
Why did my site look different for a few hours after launch?
Two normal causes. DNS changes take time to reach every network, so for a few hours some visitors see the new site and others still see the old one. And your browser caches the old version, which a hard refresh clears. If it persists past a day, tell us.
My friend says my site scores poorly on a speed test. Should I worry?
Usually not. Synthetic scores from a single test run are noisy and they measure things that do not always affect real visitors. What matters is Core Web Vitals from real users, which Google reports over a 28-day window. Send us the report and we will tell you honestly whether it is worth acting on.
Can I get a copy of my site files?
Yes. Your Completion of Work document covers ownership and handover. Ask and we will provide what applies to your build.
Who do I contact for what?
Warranty issues: email chris@thinkcre8tive.com. Change requests and new work: same address. Emergencies such as the site being down or defaced: email and call, in that order.
You invested in this. We are here for the long run.
Your site is built to be fast, secure, and easy to grow. Look after the renewals, keep the maintenance handled, and send us anything that looks wrong. We would rather hear about a small thing early than a big thing late.