Client Contract

This Client Contract (the “Agreement”) constitutes a legally binding agreement between UK Internet Marketing Services (“Us”, “We” or UKIMS) and you (“You”, “Your”, “the client” or “the customer”).

Customer Responsibilities and Our Terms & Conditions

1. We offer a website/blog design installation and setup service and whilst we will occasionally offer “bolt on” type products or services, we are not held responsible for any further changes made to the website/blogs i.e. we get everything set up and ready for the customer, but once the customer is happy and payments are received, they are from then on responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of their website/blog or additional products/services. However we may offer update and maintenance services at our discretion and subject to fees, but reserve the right to cease working with the client should we so choose.

1a. The customer is responsible for updating/upgrading their blog/website themselves as and when new versions become available. They are responsible for checking the relevant organizational websites e.g. wordpress.org for notifications of updates and make changes at their own risk.

2. Although we will attempt to offer a basic level of support and advice, due to the nature of the blogging platforms used (open source or other 3rd party contributed), we cannot be held liable for any technical issues occurring as a result with the website/blog.

3. If the customer decides to host their website on our servers and wishes for an email forwarder to be set up, there is a possibility that a copy of any emails sent to their business email may be kept on our servers. Although we will attempt to periodically remove these duplicate copies.

4. Although we use reputable 3rd party hosting companies, we do not make any guarantee about the services they offer, such as uptime guarantees etc. and will not be held liable should their hosting account be frozen or terminated outside of our control.

5. Customers will be asked to choose a username & password for their website admin area. If they do not choose one a temporary username & password will be issued to them. The customer is responsible for the safe keeping of their username and passwords and is advised that should they misplace these details, it may result in them not being able to access the admin area of their website.

6. Although we may offer suggestions for possible solutions in the case of errors or faults, we do not offer a warranty of any form, nor do we offer any insurance for any failure in services.

7. Although we will occasionally create logos for our clients, we currently do not offer any official graphic design services (via hired graphic design artists), and any logos created for the customer are offered as an “as is” product. Although we will attempt to make changes to the clients logos to suit their preferences, we do not make any guarantees to be able to 100% guarantee their exact requirements.

8. The customer is held 100% liable for any content displayed on their website/blog. This includes images (stock or personal), logos, written, audio and visual content. The customer must seek relevant copyright permission if they are not the legal owner of any content posted on their blog/website.

9. Although we may occasionally offer a variety of different products & services to our customers such as SEO (Search engine optimisation), social media training, video creation etc, we do not make any promises as to the longevity of any of these products and services.

Due to the constant changing & evolving nature of the internet, we can also not be held responsible for any changes outside of our control that take place on any sites on which we may create content on behalf of the client, neither can we be held responsible should the websites or services on which we provide training (e.g. Facebook, Twitter etc) change their terms & conditions or layouts or policies, which may result in difficulties for our customers being able to implement our training products.

Although we will endeavour to keep our products as up to date and timely as is possible, due to the range of products and services on which we offer training, we will not be held responsible for any changes on 3rd party services and the customer accepts this risk upon making a purchase of our products and services.

10. Should the customer decide to host on web servers other than those being used by ourselves, we will not be held responsible for the performance of such servers or any resulting affects on their website.

11. Due to the nature of the internet, any training methods we teach (e.g. SEO, social media techniques or email marketing techniques etc) are for informational purposes only and the customers may use them only at their own risk. We advise that our customers read the policies and terms and conditions of other 3rd party websites and abide by their policies. We will not be held responsible for any complaints (such as spam complaints) or unwanted effects on their business or website (such as loss of earnings or their website becoming un-indexed in the search engines.

12. The customer agrees that when hosting their website/blog on web servers provided by us, to not embed media or high bandwidth consuming properties on their website/blog and should they do so and it results in additional bandwidth changes being applied to ourselves, the cost will be passed onto the customer for causing the extra charges and may also incur an additional administration fee.

13. The customer is liable for any domains purchased directly or via ourselves on behalf of them and must ensure that the renewal payments are made; else they may face losing their domain names. The same applies to any other recurring charges such as email autoresponders, link building or hosting services.

14. The customer makes any changes to their blog/website settings, plug-ins, configuration, source files and any other important files at their own risk and we will not be held liable should they cause and errors or damage to their blog/website.

15. Should the customer choose to move the location of their website from one server location to another, we cannot be held liable should this have adverse affects on their websites functions or performance.

16. We advise that all our customers educate themselves on the necessary backup methods and implement them regularly to minimise losses or damage in the event of a malfunction.

17. Should we carry out SEO on behalf of our clients or provide you with the training materials to carry out SEO yourselves, you agree that there are certain risks and although not very likely, it may occasionally result in lower search engine ranking and in extreme cases even cause your website to be un-indexed altogether.

18. We advise all our customers to continuously endeavour to remain up to date about any major changes that are taking place within online and are not held liable for any changes that may affect their website as a result. Directly or indirectly.

19. We own any materials created by ourselves (e.g. websites, logos, videos etc) until any outstanding balances are paid.

20. During the creation process of any client website, the client agrees to provide all written content and images unless otherwise agreed in writing by ourselves.

21. We reserve the right to remove any media’s until outstanding balances are paid. E.g. should there be an outstanding balance on a website that we have created for the client, we reserve the right to remove the website until we have received outstanding payments.

22. During the creation of any customer websites, the customer agrees to have a backlink in the footer pointing back to our site(s) and at no time is to remove this link(s) or to alter the code or anchor text in anyway. Failure to abide by these conditions will be deemed as a breach of the agreement and may result in us removing the website until links are replaced.

23. In order to provide better products and services to our clients, we may occasionally utilise the resources of third parties, such as freelancers, consultants and other businesses.

24. As SEO involves both on page & off page factors (e.g. building content and links on websites that we do not own neither control), the client accepts that we unable to offer any guarantee as to the speed of rankings or the longevity of any rankings that may or may not be obtained.

25. The client acknowledges that should we conduct SEO services on a website that was not originally build or designed
by ourselves, there may be a risk of the site being damaged during the optimisation process or the functionality of the site being affected in a negative manner (e.g. lower rankings, impaired functionality etc), and allow us to perform SEO on their behalf at their own risk.

26. We design our websites in a certain way to increase the likelihood of them ranking well in the search engines. Because of this we avoid certain SEO restricting elements such as image links, JavaScript dropdowns or flash. By choosing to work with us, you agree to our methods and accept websites designed in the manner.

27. These terms and conditions are subject to change and may be amended at any time without notice, and the customer agrees to periodically read over these terms (which can be found on our website) & conditions to keep themselves up to date. Should the customer disagree to the most current terms & conditions, they must inform us in writing and any previous agreement may be terminated.

28. The client agrees to maintain communication with UKIMS for the entire duration of the project being carried out. Unless otherwise necessary, all communication will take place via email and UKIMS will endeavour to contact the client via the email address used when agreeing to the project.

29. If the client fails to communicate via email for longer than 30 days during an assigned project, that project is deemed to be no longer required by the client and will be cancelled from the UKIMS schedule of activities. The client will still be liable to make any outstanding payments. No refunds will be issued for cancelled projects.

30. Reactivation of a cancelled project is possible, but subject to management approval. There will be a reactivation fee of £100 made payable upfront and the client will be subject to the current price structure used within UKIMS, and any previous offers or discounts will no longer be applicable.

31. If the customer cancels all subsequent maintenance becomes liable by the client. And hosting will be terminated after the period for which they have paid in advance.

32. If a client supplies their own content they will be responsible for it being original content, else it may result in negative effects to their search engine rankings.

33. Whilst we accept that several individuals may contribute input during the design of a website, to avoid complications we require that you select a single individual through which all communications are to be made.

34. A standard website setup process (including design, installation and communications, but not including SEO or “bolt on” services) will be allocated 30 hours of work time (+ approximately 1.5 hours for initial consultation). Although work may be completed in less than the allocated timeframe. However an additional margin of approximately 10% time may be added at our discretion to allow for any last minute changes (e.g. 3 hours work). Any work carried out beyond this period will be subject to an additional charge of £30 per hour, and this may be charged upfront or reflected in the final invoice.

Payment

1. We offer a range of products and services and whilst some products require full payment upfront, some products such as website/blog design may be charged in stage payments. Usually in a split percentage of the total agreed price. Should the customer wish to make further changes or add further services, the additional costs may be added into the remaining outstanding balance.

2. Due to the nature of our business, any deposits taken are non-refundable as they are used to cover our initial outlay of resources e.g. design drafts, planning time, client meetings, travel costs, communications, marketing and mock-ups etc.

3. Once final payment has been received from our customer or a project has been “signed off”, the work carried out for the client will be deemed as completed. Any additional support (either in person, via email, telephone or any other media) may be subject to additional charges (unless otherwise agree by us in writing e.g. advanced payment maintenance plans or monthly retainers).