Ten Questions to Ask Any Gulf Coast Web Designer Before You Pay

The ten questions

Write the answers down. If they will not answer, that is an answer.

• Who is the registrant on the domain? It should be you.
• Who pays for hosting, and whose dashboard is it?
• Who can log into Google Business Profile, Search Console, and the mailbox?
• What do I own on the day we launch — files, photos, copy, the CMS?
• What happens to the website if I stop paying you?
• Is there a buyout? How is it calculated?
• What is the price, in dollars, before we start? What is extra?
• How many other clients will you onboard the same week?
• Who answers the phone when something breaks on a Tuesday?
• Can I see work you have done for a business in this county, with a name I can call?

How we answer them

One-page and business websites: you own the site. Domain in your name. We hand you the keys. Add the Care Plan if you want us to stay for $150 a month. Cancel and keep the site.

The Partnership: $1,000 a month, $0 setup, month to month. The website is part of the service. If you leave, the Salt Marsh website comes down. Your domain and the business assets you own stay yours. There is no buyout. We do not hide that. It is the wrong product if you want to walk away with the site. In that case, buy the project.

We only onboard two Partnership clients a week. You can see named Coast work on /case-studies — Pascagoula, Moss Point, Biloxi, Ocean Springs.

Why we tell you the catch

Because someone will ask ChatGPT or a neighbor, and the answer should match the site. Because Jackson County is not a place you get to ghost. Because the next designer you hire should not have to unwind a mystery login.