FAQs
The questions people actually ask.
Answered from what the rest of the site already commits to, with a link to the clause or the page that says it. Where the honest answer is that it depends, the answer says what it depends on.
Before you ask for anything
What does it cost to ask?
Nothing, and it commits you to nothing. You answer what you like, and a written scope comes back within two working days. It is a description of a website, not a quote - nothing in it is priced.
Do I have to answer all the questions?
No. Every question is optional and you can send at any point. A question you leave is recorded as an assumption we have made, shown to you as an assumption, rather than filled in on your behalf. There is no score and no progress bar telling you that you have not done enough.
What comes back, and when?
A written scope in your own words, within two working days. It says what the site would be, who it is for, and what we assumed where you did not say. The price comes later, at step seven, against that document and in writing.
Can I just talk to somebody instead?
Yes. Book a meeting and come with the run-through done or with nothing at all. Or ring +44 (0)20 3627 1123, mon - fri, 9am - 5pm.
Can I add to a request after I have sent it?
Yes, and it amends the same request rather than starting a second one. The reference you are given identifies the request as a whole, and everything you attach lands in the same place.
How a project runs
How does a project actually run?
In 13 steps, in three zones: talking, building, and what continues afterwards. The same run for every project - what changes between them is what happens inside a step, never which steps there are. See all 13.
How long does a website take?
It depends on two things, and both are knowable early: how many pages there are, and how much of the content already exists. A small site with content ready is about four weeks; a larger one with a shop or a booking system is six to nine. The dates are in the proposal before anything starts.
What happens if we are slow getting you things?
Planned dates move by at least the delay, and booked capacity may be reassigned. More than four weeks late and the project moves to the next available slot; eight weeks with no meaningful response and we invoice completed work and close the active project after written notice. That is clause 4 of the Terms of Business.
What if we want to change something halfway through?
Either side can ask. We assess the effect on the deliverables, the timing and the fee, and nothing changes until both of us agree it in writing. Corrections needed to make something match the agreed scope are not chargeable changes - that distinction is clause 7.
Who do we deal with?
The people doing the work. Where a specialist is needed - brand, photography, copy, accessibility testing, campaigns - they are named in the proposal before the work starts, on one contract and one invoice. What we offer.
What you actually get
What is included in every site?
The same eleven things whatever the site costs: it works on every device, your identity applied, search set-up, security, hosting and backups, speed, an accessibility review, an enquiry form, analytics in accounts you own, two weeks of attention after launch, and a handover pack with a session. The full list.
Do we own the website?
Yes, subject to payment in full: the bespoke design, the copy written for you, the bespoke code, and the commissioned assets named in the proposal. We keep our own pre-existing tools and libraries and licence what the site needs to use them. Clause 10 of the Terms of Business.
Whose name are the accounts in?
Yours, from the day they are made. Domain, analytics, Search Console, and any platform you pay for directly. Nothing is held in our name to keep you.
Will you use our project in your portfolio?
After public launch, unless the proposal says otherwise, we may name you, link to the site, show screenshots and describe the work. Never confidential information or unpublished commercial data. You can opt out in writing at any point, and the proposal can record an opt-out agreed in advance.
Can you build a booking system or a shop?
Yes, and usually by connecting to one rather than writing a new one. Bookings, shops and calendars are solved problems, and a bespoke one is something you then pay us to maintain forever. Where what sits behind the site genuinely has to be built, that is TwinCoreTech, in the same group.
Money
How much does a website cost?
It depends on the number of pages, whether anything is sold or booked on the site, how much content has to be created rather than supplied, and what it has to connect to. Those four are what the run-through is establishing. No number is given before there is a written scope to price, because a number given earlier is a guess with a decimal point in it.
When do we pay?
Unless the proposal says otherwise: 40 per cent on acceptance, 40 per cent on approval of the main design and working build, and 20 per cent before or on launch. Care plans are monthly in advance. Invoices are due within 14 days. Clause 5 of the Terms of Business.
Is VAT included?
No. All fees are exclusive of VAT, charged at the prevailing rate where applicable. TwinCoreTech Ltd's VAT number is 489 0108 74.
What about third-party costs?
The proposal identifies the foreseeable ones. Platforms you own - domain, email, e-commerce, booking, CRM, advertising - are normally paid by you directly, so you keep control of them and can leave with them.
Hosting, care and after launch
What happens if something breaks after launch?
Report a defect in the agreed build within 30 days of launch and we correct it without an additional development fee. Urgent security or data issues, report immediately, whenever they happen. A new requirement, a third-party outage or a change made after acceptance is not a defect - clause 9 says which is which.
Do you host it?
Normally yes, unless it is agreed otherwise, and either way the arrangement is written down. Where we host, the service schedule states the environment, monitoring, backups, maintenance, the support channel and the response targets.
What if we want to move to another supplier?
After amounts due are paid, you get the standard handover: code, agreed assets, a content export, an account record, a current backup and reasonable transfer information. Additional migration work is chargeable, but we will not deliberately obstruct a move. Clause 22.
Do you guarantee we will rank first on Google?
No, and nobody honest does. Search rankings, traffic, sales and inclusion in AI-generated answers all depend on third parties and on markets. What is guaranteed is the technical work: every page findable and readable by a search engine, and analytics in accounts you own so you can see what actually happens.
Your data, and the law
What do you do with what I send you?
Read it, and use it to prepare a scope and talk to you about it. It is not sold and not used to train anything. The privacy notice sets out every purpose, the lawful basis for each, and how long each record is kept.
How long do you keep it if we never become a client?
Twelve months after the last meaningful contact for an enquiry, and twenty-four months for a proposal that is not accepted. A request saved but never sent goes after 30 days.
Does anything on the site make an automated decision about us?
No. Your answers generate an outline and a written scope, and that is a planning aid. It does not accept or reject anybody, create a contract or set a price. A person reviews every submitted request.
Are you GDPR compliant?
We work to UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and the detail is published rather than claimed: what we collect and why, who receives it, international transfers, retention and your rights are all in the privacy notice. Where we process data on a client's instructions, that is governed by data-processing terms in the agreement.
Is the site accessible?
We build to WCAG 2.2 Level AA and an accessibility review is one of the eleven inclusions. This website has not yet been independently audited against that standard, and the accessibility statement says so rather than claiming a conformance level nobody has tested.
Something is wrong. How do I complain?
Write to us, in whatever words you like. Acknowledged by a person within two working days and answered in full within ten. How complaints work.
The rules the run-through follows
The scoping run has thirteen rules of its own. They are published for one reason: a rule you can read is a rule you can hold us to.
- Three layers, and no moreA list of options. Detail behind one of them. And, only in the shop, the back of the shop.
- An area can be left alonePicking nothing is an answer. We say what we assumed instead, rather than blocking your way forward.
- Every open list ends the same waySomething else, told in your own words, captured word for word and never rewritten into ours.
- Open lists and closed listsA list is open when the answer is about your business, and you may add to it. It is closed when the answer is about our build.
- What you add carries no weightA row you write yourself never puts a page on the sitemap by itself. It goes on the list of things to talk about, in your words.
- An option opens detail only when it has toOnly when a further answer changes the build, the sitemap, or what we have to ask you for. Symmetry is not a reason.
- One box per layer, not one per optionThe exception is an answer that is honestly a file or a link. Those carry their own attach.
- Everything attached lands in the side panelTied to the answer it came from. Anything with nothing to tie it to sits under General.
- Unanswered means assumed, and it says soLine by line, in the document. Touching a question makes it answered.
- One homeWhere two answers imply the same screen, the first keeps it and the second says where it went.
- Nothing on screen is a number we price withNo days, no scores, no levels, no tiers. Questions, and a growing description of your own site.
- Every layer ends in the same forkUse this scope, or give more detail. Both are finished states.
- The question asks the factThe detail asks the consequences. Where the same fact would reach us twice, it is asked once, and the second place says where it went.
Not here? Ask it directly.
A person answers, and if the honest answer is that we do not know yet, that is what you will get.