Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you want to know about pricing, process & working with us.
Hiring a web studio means trusting someone with the front door to your business. These are the questions we hear most often, with answers to ease your concerns.
Pricing and Scope
Most of our websites run between $3,000 and $15,000. Where yours lands depends on the size of your site, the features you need, and how complex it is to build. If you just need to get online quickly, our one-page Launch Page is a flat $1,000. You'll find the full breakdown by tier on our pricing page, and you'll get a fixed quote for your exact project after a short discovery call.
Custom web applications, things like dashboards, member portals, or a full software product, are a different kind of build, so they're scoped separately and start at $20,000.
Your number is set before any work begins, and it doesn't move after you approve it.
Here's the simple test: if your site is the front door to your business, you need a website. If the software is the product, you need an application.
From landscapers and dentists to restaurants, clothing stores, and repair shops, most businesses need a website. It's where people find you, see what you offer, and get in touch, and a transaction like a purchase or a booking is one feature of it. A store or a members area still lives here, in our Legendary Icon tier.
An application is a different kind of project. The software is the product, like a billing program or an inventory management system, and the whole interface exists to run it. If people log in to get work done rather than to learn about you, that's an application.
Front door versus product. If you're still not sure which one you're describing, tell us what you're building and we'll point you to the right one.
An MVP is the smallest version of your product that still does its essential job, built so real people can use it and you can learn from them.
MVP stands for "minimum viable product." Rather than spending a year and your whole budget building every feature at once, you build the core that proves the idea, put it in front of real users, and let what you learn shape what comes next. It's the fastest way to find out whether an idea works before you bet everything on it.
Think of it as the first real version of your product, not a rough draft. It's lean on purpose, and it's built to last.
No. Your MVP is built on the same foundation your full product will stand on, so growing it means adding to it, not starting over.
Plenty of MVPs get thrown away. They're built fast to test an idea, and when the idea works, the shortcuts that made them quick turn into walls. We don't build that way. Your first version is lean, but the code under it is clean and made to grow, so the same codebase carries you from your first users to a production-ready product.
You prove the idea first and scale it second, without paying to build the thing twice.
Because a simple five-page site and a ten-page site with online booking aren't the same job, and pricing them identically would mean overcharging one of them. The range shows you the bracket your project falls into up front. After a short discovery call, that becomes a single fixed price for your exact scope, agreed before any work begins.
The range is the preview. The proposal is the price.
New ideas are welcome, and they'll never turn into a surprise on your invoice. If you want to add a feature or expand the scope partway through, we'll price it and show you the timeline impact before we build anything. You decide whether it's worth it.
Nothing reaches your bill that you didn't approve first.
Yes, and it goes toward your project when you move forward. Before we can quote a rescue, we need to see what you're starting with, so we begin with an assessment: what's worth keeping, what needs fixing, what should be rebuilt, and what can wait. Website assessments start at $250, and app assessments at $500. Whichever you need, it goes toward the work when you hire us, so the diagnosis becomes part of the build rather than an extra on top.
The plan is yours either way. If you decide not to move forward, or to take it to another developer, you keep the assessment and everything in it. You're paying for a clear answer, not just a number.
Process and Communication
You'll always know who to talk to and exactly where your project stands. You work directly with the people building your site, not a rotating support queue, and we reply within one business day. Throughout the build you'll have a private preview link where you can watch your site or app come together and leave feedback as we go.
The most common complaint about web developers is that they go quiet. That doesn't happen here.
Most projects run a few weeks, depending on scope. A focused business site moves quickly; a store with checkout or a custom application takes longer. Either way, you'll get a realistic timeline in your proposal, and we hold to it.
When the deadline is real, we move. We built and launched the full BandForce online store, PayPal checkout included, in a week, so it was live in time for a chamber of commerce exhibition.
No. Every site is designed and built for your business. A template with your logo dropped on top looks like a template, and your customers can tell. We build around your brand, your content, and the way your business actually works.
The people you talk to are the people who build your site or app. Your project stays in-house with our studio, so nothing gets handed to an anonymous team in another time zone and lost in translation. You get one consistent standard from the first call to launch.
As involved as you want to be, with a few moments where we'll need you. We carry the work. What we need from you is quick input at the points that actually shape the site: an early conversation about your goals, your content when it's ready, and your feedback at the review checkpoints. Between those, you can be as hands-on or hands-off as suits your week.
We'll always tell you when a decision is yours to make and when you can leave it to us. You stay in charge of the direction without having to manage the process.
Ownership and Life After Launch
Yes. All of it. You own what we build, your site or app, your domain, your hosting account, and your content and data, in your name, handed over in writing. If you ever decide to work with someone else, you can take everything with you.
You're never locked out of your own site or app, and you're never dependent on us to make a change. That's the opposite of how a lot of shops operate, and it's on purpose.
Launch is the starting line, not the finish. Plenty of agencies hand over a site and disappear the moment it's live. We stay reachable for questions, updates, and help keeping your site healthy long after launch day.
Your site or app keeps growing with your business. You shouldn't have to face that alone.
Yes, and it's optional. If you'd rather not think about the technical upkeep, we offer plans that cover:
- Hosting on fast, secure infrastructure.
- Updates that keep your site or app current and protected.
- Support for when you need a change made or have a question.
If you'd rather host and manage the site yourself, that works too. You own everything, so the choice is yours.
Yes, and how much you do yourself is entirely up to you. If you want to make your own changes, updating text, swapping photos, or posting to a blog, we can build your site on a content management system (a simple dashboard you log into to edit the site yourself) and show you how to use it. Prefer to send changes our way instead? That works too, and our maintenance plans cover it.
Either way, keeping your own site current is always in your hands, never something you're stuck waiting on.
SEO
The basics are included in every website we build. Every site launches with the on-page fundamentals in place, so search engines can find you from day one. Our Rising Icon tier goes further, with keyword-targeted SEO aimed at the specific searches your customers are typing. And if you already have a site, we offer SEO on its own, without a new build.
Getting found is part of how we build, from the first page we design.
Yes. If your site is already live, we can work on its SEO on its own. You don't need a new site, and you don't need to have built the original with us. If you want to rank better for what your customers are searching, we can take that on as standalone work, either ongoing or as a one-time project.
We start by looking at what you have, then focus on the changes that will actually move you up. You can find the full breakdown on our pricing page.
Yes, and it goes toward your project when you move forward. Before we recommend any SEO work, we audit your site to see what's helping you rank, what's holding you back, and what to do about it. An SEO audit starts at $500, and when you hire us for the work, it goes toward that, so the diagnosis becomes part of the job.
You get a prioritized plan either way. If you'd rather act on it yourself, or take it to someone else, it's yours to keep. You're paying for a clear picture of where you stand, not just a list of problems.
No. You set the pace, and you can change it whenever it suits you. Some businesses want monthly work while they're actively growing. Others prefer a quarterly rhythm to maintain and improve at a steadier pace, or a single one-time project with a clear finish. You choose what fits, and you can scale up or pause as your needs change.
SEO should earn its place month to month. If it's working, you'll see it in the searches bringing you business, and you can decide from there.
Working Together
Yes. Your site is built to work on every screen and for every visitor. A huge share of your customers are searching from their phones, so a site that only looks right on a desktop is quietly turning business away. We build responsive sites (meaning they adjust to fit any device) and follow recognized accessibility guidelines, so visitors using screen readers or keyboard navigation can use your site too.
Often, yes. If your current site is slow, dated, or was thrown together quickly and is now breaking as you grow, we can rebuild it on solid foundations while keeping your existing address and search rankings intact. The same goes for a prototype you built fast with AI tools like Lovable, Bolt, or v0 and have now outgrown.
You get the upgrade without losing the ground you've already earned. And this time you'll understand what you have, rebuilt in clean, standard code that's yours to take to any developer you choose.
It comes down to the foundation. When the bones are sound, a rescue is usually the smarter move. When they aren't, a fresh start is worth it. A rescue keeps what you've already earned, your site's address and search rankings, or your app's users and their data, along with the parts that already work. It usually gets you there faster, and for less, than pouring a new foundation from scratch.
Not everything is worth saving, though. If what you have is too far gone, we'll tell you straight instead of patching something that will keep costing you, and that becomes a new build. Either way, you'll know which one you're looking at before you commit, not after.
Small businesses and individual founders, across the United States. We're based just outside Los Angeles and work with clients nationwide, from nonprofits to online stores to software platforms. If you're smart, busy, and not a developer, you're exactly who we build for.
You bring the raw material only you have. We handle everything else. We design, build, and code the site. What we need from you is the stuff that makes it yours: your words, your photos, and the details about how your business actually works. If writing isn't your thing, or you don't have professional photos on hand, we can take that on too, copywriting and on-site photography are available whenever you want them.
The more ready your content is, the faster your site comes together. That matters most on a quick Launch Page, where having your words and images ready is what keeps the whole thing on its fast timeline.
Still Have a Question?
If it's not answered here, ask. Call us at (888) 973-3625 or send a message, and you'll hear back within one business day.