FAQ | Common Questions About Designly

Question 1

What does Designly do?

Accepted Answer

We design and build custom websites for small businesses. That includes visual design, development, CMS setup, and ongoing support -- all at prices that make sense for your budget. Projects start at $1,500 and monthly support starts at $150/mo.

Question 2

Who do you work with?

Accepted Answer

Small business owners. Restaurants, law firms, contractors, consultants, shops, service providers -- if you run a small business and need a website that looks professional and performs well, we built Designly for you.

Question 3

Where are you based?

Accepted Answer

CLIENT TO PROVIDE: location information. We work with small businesses across the country, and all communication is handled via Slack, video calls, and our project task board.

Question 4

How are you different from other web design agencies?

Accepted Answer

Price and quality. Most agencies charge $10,000+ for a custom site. We charge a fraction of that because we standardized on one tech stack and invested in making our process incredibly efficient. You get the same quality -- 90+ Lighthouse scores, custom design, clean code -- at a price a small business can actually afford.

Question 5

How can you charge so much less?

Accepted Answer

We use one proven tech stack for every project: Astro, Svelte, Tailwind, and Sanity. Because we are not learning new tools on every build, we are faster. Because we are faster, we charge less. The savings come from efficiency, not from cutting corners.

Question 6

How much does a website cost?

Accepted Answer

Our Starter projects (3-5 pages) range from $1,500 to $4,000. Growth projects (5-15 pages with integrations) run $4,000 to $12,500. We also offer monthly subscriptions starting at $150/mo for ongoing updates and support.

Question 7

What is included in the monthly subscription?

Accepted Answer

You get a dedicated task board where you submit design and development requests. We work through them in your priority order. Plans range from $150/mo (1 active request, 5-7 day turnaround) to $500/mo (3 active requests, 48-hour turnaround). All plans include full ownership of deliverables.

Question 8

Can I switch between subscription tiers?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You can upgrade or downgrade your subscription at any time. The change takes effect at the start of your next billing cycle.

Question 9

Do I need to sign a long-term contract?

Accepted Answer

No. All subscriptions are month-to-month. You can pause or cancel at any time. For one-time projects, you sign a project agreement that covers the defined scope -- there is no ongoing obligation.

Question 10

What payment methods do you accept?

Accepted Answer

We accept credit cards and ACH bank transfers. For one-time projects, we typically collect 50% upfront and 50% upon completion. Subscriptions are billed monthly via credit card.

Question 11

Do you offer payment plans for larger projects?

Accepted Answer

For projects over $5,000, we can structure payments across milestones: a deposit at kickoff, a payment at design approval, and a final payment at launch. We will outline the payment schedule in your proposal.

Question 12

How long does a website project take?

Accepted Answer

A Starter project (3-5 pages) typically takes 2-3 weeks. A Growth project (5-15 pages) takes 4-6 weeks. These timelines assume timely feedback from your side -- we outline the review schedule during kickoff so there are no surprises.

Question 13

What do you need from me to get started?

Accepted Answer

For a one-time project: your goals, your brand assets (logo, colors, fonts if you have them), any content you want on the site, and access to your current hosting and domain. For a subscription: just sign up and start submitting requests through your task board.

Question 14

How involved do I need to be during the project?

Accepted Answer

We handle all the design and development work. You will need to provide feedback at key milestones: design direction, page designs, and pre-launch review. Each review cycle typically takes 2-3 business days. We will never move forward without your approval.

Question 15

What if I do not like the design?

Accepted Answer

Every project includes multiple rounds of design revisions (2-3 depending on your plan). We start with a design direction presentation before building full pages, so we align on the overall look and feel early. If the direction is fundamentally off, we will course-correct before investing in detailed page designs.

Question 16

Can I see the site before it launches?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We set up a staging site early in development where you can see the actual site in a browser -- not just static mockups. You will have access throughout the build process and can share it with your team for feedback.

Question 17

What technologies do you use?

Accepted Answer

We use one standardized stack for every project: Astro for the framework, Svelte for interactivity, Tailwind CSS for styling, and Sanity for the CMS. By mastering one stack instead of juggling many, we build faster and charge less without sacrificing quality.

Question 18

Will my site be mobile-friendly?

Accepted Answer

Every site we build is designed mobile-first and tested on real devices across multiple screen sizes. We do not design for desktop and then shrink it down -- we start at the smallest screen and scale up.

Question 19

Do you build on WordPress?

Accepted Answer

No. We use Sanity as our CMS because it gives your site better performance, more flexible content management, and stronger security than WordPress. It is also easier for small business owners to use -- you update content through a clean, simple interface without worrying about plugins or updates breaking your site.

Question 20

Will my site be accessible?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every site meets WCAG 2.1 AA standards. That means keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility, proper color contrast, semantic HTML, and meaningful alt text. Accessibility is part of our development process, not a post-launch audit item.

Question 21

What happens after my site launches?

Accepted Answer

We monitor your site for the first 30 days to catch any issues. After that, you can either handle maintenance yourself, sign up for one of our subscription plans for ongoing support, or engage us for ad-hoc updates on a project basis.

Question 22

Can I update the site myself?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every site we build includes a CMS where you can edit text, images, and page content without touching code. We set up structured content types so your updates maintain the design -- you cannot accidentally break the layout.

Question 23

Do you handle hosting?

Accepted Answer

We set up your hosting during the project. You own the hosting account. We can manage it for you as part of a subscription, or you can manage it yourself. Typical hosting costs range from $0-$20/month for most small business sites -- many of our sites host for free on Vercel.

Question 24

What if something breaks after launch?

Accepted Answer

During the first 30 days post-launch, we fix any bugs at no extra cost. After that, bug fixes are covered under our subscription plans or can be handled as a one-off project. We build sites with clean, well-tested code, so post-launch issues are rare.

Question 25

Do you provide analytics and reporting?

Accepted Answer

We set up analytics (typically Google Analytics 4 or Plausible) and Search Console during every project. For subscription clients, we can provide monthly performance reports covering traffic, conversions, Core Web Vitals, and search rankings.

Frequently Asked Questions

General

Pricing & Plans

Process & Timeline

Technical

Post-Launch Support

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