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[Company Name] Proposal

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Thank you for your interest in working with Website Muscle for your website project. We’re excited at the prospect of partnering with you and to offer the following Proposal. The Proposal outlines the scope of work and cost. It also covers the terms that will serve as our Agreement for the entire process, should you decide to work with us.

Your Goals

We start with the end in mind. Based on the conversations we’ve had, here’s what we need to build for you:

Our Process

We believe the best way to do anything is to begin with the end in mind. That’s why we take a “Strategy First” approach to website design. We also believe in open communication throughout the project, so we’ll have you involved, providing feedback and giving your stamp of approval at multiple checkpoints.

discovery

Discovery

This process is about more than getting a website launched — it’s about conveying the proper message to reach your ideal audience. And to do that, we have to get to know you and your business, identify your unique value, and understand your target customer. Our Discovery process helps us not only learn all these things, but craft a winning message for your new website.

wireframe

Wireframe

After Discovery, we’ll create a home page wireframe — basically a “stick figure drawing” of the home page layout. Learn more about our wireframes here.

Wireframing is a strategic process based on what we’ve gleaned from Discovery: what is most important to convey on the home page and in what order. Before adding the bells and whistles of design, we need to determine how to guide the visitor through their first impression of your company.

content and design

Content & Design

We’ll help you craft the marketing messages that set the foundation and tone for the website, and if you need more in-depth assistance with content writing or editing, we can help with that too. We like to have as much content as possible ASAP, so we can design and build the pages around the existing content.

After you’ve approved the home page wireframe, we’ll design and build the home page for your review. Here’s where colors, fonts, images, animations, and other elements come into play. We’ll send it to you for your review and make revisions as needed. 

Then, once the home page is approved, we’ll build out the remainder of the site using the same look and feel as the home page. Before we launch, we’ll go up to two more rounds of revisions, making any final tweaks and adjustments you need.

FAQs

Most of our projects take around 60-90 days to launch. However, should you need your site launched sooner, let us know as we can usually accommodate shorter timelines.

Your involvement is crucial to a speedy and efficient project. See the next question for more on this.

Your involvement is crucial to a speedy, efficient, and successful project. Oftentimes, when projects get stalled it is due to conflicts with the client’s schedule. We understand you’re running a business and unfortunately, business can’t stop for you to focus solely on your website. But there will be several points at which we will require your feedback and approval; without it, it may hinder us from moving forward on the project, thereby causing delays. 

We set target deadlines and milestones internally, and some of our clients find it helpful if we set deadlines for them as well, so that things don’t get lost in the shuffle or drag out unnecessarily. If you’d like us to do that for you, let us know. 

Some of our clients have committees or more than one designated point person for the website project; others have one point person running with the project, but at some point that person has to submit it to the leadership or board for approval. 

If either of these scenarios fits your situation, please let us know at the beginning of the project and we’ll find a solution that works for everyone involved. It can be tricky when we get approval from our point person every step of the way, and then in the eleventh hour, a committee reviews the website and comes back with drastic changes. It’s not a problem for us — we’ll always work to get the website to where you want it to be — but at this point, it’s considered a change of scope that will likely incur additional costs for you. 

To avoid additional unforeseen costs, let’s discuss how we can involve the necessary people from the beginning, in a way that works for everyone!

We strive to be your long-term, proactive website partner. To that end, we are happy to help with the ongoing management of your website, including website hosting, software updates, and keeping your website relevant and accurate for visitors. 

Our hosting clients receive up to one hour of client support requests per month at no extra cost. These include text changes, image swap-outs, changes to staff, etc. Requests exceeding one hour are subject to our hourly rate of $100/hour, billed to the nearest half hour.

For clients who do not host with us, client support requests are subject to our hourly rate of $100/hour, billed to the nearest half hour.

Client support requests can be submitted here, or by clicking the “Client Support” tab on our website.

Your hosting provider can affect your site’s performance, load times, security, and user experience, for better or for worse.  

There are lots of hosting companies to choose from, but only one we recommend — and that is WP Engine.

Let’s back up a minute. Once your new website is live, it will need to be hosted somewhere. Think of this as “rented space” for your website. 

That space can either provide a place for your site to live but with no security or amenities; OR it can be an upscale gated community with all the bells and whistles that matter to a professional business like yours. WP Engine is the latter.

You can host your site directly with WP Engine, or you can take advantage of our Managed Hosting solution. We’ve detailed all your options here.

The Details

Here are some important details you need to know but might not know to ask about.

WordPress

Your site will be built on the WordPress platform, utilizing modern technology and software. It will be designed for desktop, tablet, and mobile devices, and compatible with modern browsers such as Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge.

SEO

Your website will be built using Search Engine Optimization (SEO) best practices to ensure that search engines are reading the code and content for better placement in organic search engine rankings.

All our website projects include what we call “Basic SEO”. Basic SEO includes page titles, focus keywords, meta descriptions, and alt text on images. We also optimize images to improve site speed and page load times. Before launch, we install Google Analytics and, for our Managed Hosting clients, an SSL Certificate for security. (See below for more information about Managed Hosting.) 

We’ll do our best to get to the bottom of your goals for your new website and we’ll make strategic recommendations for how the website should be built to support and align with those goals and objectives.

Images

We’re sure you’ll want beautiful, high-quality images to go with your brand new site. You’re welcome to provide us with high-resolution photos of your own, and/or use our extensive library of stock photos at no extra cost. We’re happy to help you select stock photos.

Content

We’ll help craft your marketing message, including compelling headlines. We’ll make recommendations on how best to organize your existing content, and can help with writing new content if needed.

SSL Certificate

If you host with Website Muscle or WP Engine, you’ll get a free SSL Certificate. An SSL Certificate encrypts the data being sent from a web server to a web browser, reducing the risk of hacking (for you) or identity theft (for your visitors).

ADA Compliance

Unfortunately, many businesses are receiving demand letters from law firms claiming their websites aren’t accessible to people with disabilities. While ADA compliance for websites has not been strictly defined, we make our best effort to help. We’ll install an accessibility plugin and Accessibility Statement on your site, and we’ll add alt text to images, making them
“readable” to individuals with visual impairments using screen readers.

CDN for Site Speed

Site speed is a key component of user experience (UX). A Content Delivery Network (CDN) essentially works like this: Your website’s digital assets are loaded on servers all over the country, so that wherever a potential customer is viewing your site, your pages will load as fast as possible.

Spam Reduction

Having to sift between legitimate contact form submissions and spam submissions can be extremely annoying, and is not a good use of your time. We’ll install a plugin to drastically reduce (possibly eliminate!) spam on contact form submissions.

Google Analytics

We’ll install Google Analytics on your website in case you’re interested in learning how your website is performing. And if you host your site with us, you’ll receive a monthly report including some high-level analytics.

Managed Website Hosting

All live websites have to be hosted somewhere, and not all hosting providers are created equal, so it’s an important decision. We offer a Managed Hosting solution for clients who want us to handle all “behind the scenes” software updates for optimal performance and security, as well as “front end” website updates and maintenance. 

Website Updates

Don’t worry – we’re not going anywhere! We want to be your long-term partner so your website always stays up to date and relevant. Your business is always evolving, so as you experience changes with your team, services, etc., we’ll be here to help make changes and updates.

Tutorials

If you’re interested in handling website changes yourself, we’ll provide step-by-step tutorial videos specifically tailored to the kinds of edits you’ll be making.

5-Star Client Reviews

Your Project

The Sitemap

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  • About
    • Team
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    • Service 1
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  • Resources
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    • including custom form

Hidden Navigation:

  • Privacy Policy – required legal content, provided by client
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Project Investment

Total Website Project Amount: $10K

Payment Structure: 

  • 50% Deposit before project can begin
  • 25% Progress Payment upon approval of Home Page Design
  • 25% Upon completion of Scope of Work

Next Steps

We’d love to get started right away so we can help your marketing goals come true as soon as possible.

If you would like any portion of this proposal revised, please contact me to discuss.

Terms, fees, and conditions contained in this proposal are valid for 15 days from the date of the proposal. Once accepted, these terms, fees and conditions will become part of the Project Agreement.

Sam Nelson
949-244-1700 x700
sam@websitemuscle.com