Saltline Studio Terms & Conditions

Last updated 5 November 2026.

1. Acceptance of Terms

By engaging Saltline Studio for website design, organic search, AI search or any other service, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by these Terms and Conditions.

2. Services

Saltline Studio is a digital marketing and AI search studio, providing:

• Search optimisation for Google and AI assistants (SEO and AEO)
• Website Design and Development
• The Found Report (website, Google Business Profile and online visibility audits)
• The Full Picture (page-by-page website audits)
• Organic Website Growth and Optimisation (the monthly partnership)
• Logo and Brand Identity
• Email Signatures (the self-serve builder and custom designs)

Logo and brand identity work is designed by my design partner and project managed by me from the brief through to delivery of your final files. The number of revision rounds is agreed in your quote, and anything beyond the package is quoted before the designer is engaged.

I perform these services with reasonable care and skill. I focus on organic growth strategies and do not guarantee specific search rankings, or that any AI assistant will recommend your business, as both are decided by third-party systems that change without notice and that I do not control.

3. Payment Terms

All payments are due within 7 days of the invoice date. I reserve the right to pause work on any project if payments are overdue. Prices are in Australian dollars. Saltline Studio is not registered for GST, so no GST is added to any invoice.

• Website Build: A deposit of 50% is required upfront before work commences. The remaining 50% is due on your written approval of the staging site. The site goes live, and your files are handed over, once that payment is received.
• Review rounds: Two rounds of review and revision are included in every website build. Further rounds are billed at my studio hourly rate, agreed with you before the round starts.
• Logo and Brand Identity: A deposit of 50% is required upfront before design begins. The remaining 50% is due on delivery of your final files.
• Website updates after launch: Small changes you ask me to make to things your website already does are billed at my studio hourly rate with a half-hour minimum, or come off a prepaid Priority Block of studio hours, at the rates set out in your quote. Anything new, like a new function, page section, page or integration, is quoted as its own job before I start. Fixing something you changed yourself is billed the same way. Anything that breaks because of my code or my hosting is fixed free.
• The Found Report: Payable in full on ordering. The report is delivered within two business days of payment. If a report cannot reasonably be produced for the business as ordered (for example, where no active website exists to audit), the fee is refunded in full. If you go ahead with a website build or an Organic Growth partnership within 60 days of your report being delivered, the report fee is credited in full against it (one credit per client, applied to the first invoice).
• The Full Picture: Payable in full on ordering. The report is delivered within two business days of payment. If a report cannot reasonably be produced for the website as ordered, the fee is refunded in full. If you go ahead with a website build or an Organic Growth partnership within 60 days of your report being delivered, the report fee is credited in full against it (one credit per client, applied to the first invoice).
• Email Signature Builder: Paid in full online at checkout, through Stripe, before the files download. It is never invoiced. The price is the one shown on the builder page before you pay. You are buying a downloadable signature file, built from the details, logo and images you enter, with install steps for the email app you choose. There is no revision round, because you see the finished signature before you pay. For 14 days after paying, you can change it and download it again in the same browser, for the same number of people or fewer, at no charge. After that, or if your details change, a new signature is a new purchase. The signature loads its images from your own website, so you need a website you can upload images to, or someone who can do it for you. If the file does not work as described, email me with a screenshot and I will fix it or refund it. This does not limit any rights you have under the Australian Consumer Law.
• Organic Website Growth and Optimisation: Invoiced on a monthly basis. The initial partnership runs for a minimum term of six months. After the initial term, the service continues month to month and can be adjusted, paused or cancelled with thirty days' written notice. For websites not built by Saltline Studio, the partnership begins after a Found Report and completion of its website fixes, so the monthly work starts on foundations that can support it.

4. The Audit Reports: Recommendations and Results

The Found Report and The Full Picture are diagnostic and advisory services. The fee covers the individual checking of your online presence or website and the delivery of findings and recommendations; each service is performed in full when your report is delivered. Whether and how you implement those recommendations is entirely your decision, and implementation is carried out by you or your chosen developer, not by Saltline Studio, unless separately engaged.

My recommendations reflect what can be observed about your online presence on the date of checking and represent my professional judgement about what is most likely to improve your visibility. Outcomes such as search rankings, appearance in AI-generated answers, website traffic, enquiries and revenue depend on factors outside my control, including the quality, accuracy and completeness of implementation, competitor activity, changes to third-party platforms and algorithms, and the time organic visibility naturally takes to build, often several months. For these reasons, I do not guarantee any particular commercial result from implementing either report, and no refund is available on the basis of business outcomes after delivery. This does not limit any rights you have under the Australian Consumer Law.

5. Free Resources

Saltline Studio provides free downloadable guides, checklists and tools, such as The Edit articles, the Found Score checker and the Afternoon Kits. These are general information, prepared with care and checked against current platform guidance at the time of writing, but they are not advice for your specific circumstances, and platforms change their rules and features without notice. You use them at your own judgement, and no liability is accepted for actions taken based on them. This does not limit any rights you have under the Australian Consumer Law.

6. Hosting

6.1 What is included. Hosting is provided at no monthly cost on standard websites. A standard website is one made up of pages, image galleries, blog articles and contact forms. Included hosting covers the live site, the security certificate (SSL), and deployment of changes made through your dashboard.

6.2 Your client dashboard. Every website I build includes a client dashboard so you can edit your own text and images. This is included on every build, regardless of which hosting your site runs on and regardless of who pays for that hosting. It is not an upgrade and it is not removed. Saving in your dashboard is unlimited. Publishing to the live site is included up to the monthly allowance shown on the dashboard. When the allowance is used up, the website stays online and publishing resumes on the first day of the next month. If you need more in a busy month, ask me.

6.3 What is not included. Hosting does not cover your domain name, which you register and renew directly with your own registrar, or your business email, which is a separate service.

6.4 Builds that need paid infrastructure. Websites with online bookings, payments, customer logins, a database or similar features need infrastructure that carries a real monthly cost. Where that applies, the account is set up in your name and billed directly to you by the provider, and you give me access to manage it. I do not resell hosting and I take no margin on it. I will tell you the expected cost in writing before the work starts, and set the account up with you as part of the build.

6.5 Accounts held in your name. Because those accounts are yours, the service continues only while your payment details with that provider are current. If a payment fails or the account is cancelled, your website may be suspended by the provider. I am not responsible for outages caused by a lapsed or cancelled account, though I will tell you as soon as I am aware and help you put it right.

6.6 Fair use. Free hosting assumes the traffic levels of a normal small business website. If your site grows past what the free service allows, I will tell you before it affects your site and set out your options in writing. You will never receive a surprise bill or find your site switched off without warning.

6.7 No uptime guarantee. Your site is hosted on third party infrastructure that I do not own or control. I cannot guarantee uninterrupted service and I do not offer credits or compensation for outages. If your site goes down, I will act on it promptly and keep you informed.

6.8 Ownership. You own your domain name, your content, your images and, once your build is paid in full, your finished website files. On request I will provide a complete copy of your site files at no charge, at any time, whether or not you are staying with me.

6.9 If you move your website elsewhere. If your website is moved to another host, or replaced by a new website built by someone else, hosting ends on the date the change takes effect. I will provide a full copy of your files and the technical details your new provider needs, then remove my copy of the site. There is no exit fee and no charge for the handover.

6.10 Dormant sites. If your domain name expires, or stops pointing to the website I host, and that continues for 30 days, I will treat the site as retired. I will send you a copy of your files before removing it.

6.11 If I stop trading. If I retire, close or sell the business, hosting is not open ended. You will receive at least 30 days written notice, and I will give you more where I can. You will also receive a complete copy of your website files, a written handover pack covering your domain, DNS and hosting details, and help moving the site to a new provider at no charge during the notice period. If the business is sold or transferred, these hosting terms carry across to whoever takes it on.

6.12 Suspension. I may suspend hosting if the website is used for unlawful purposes, breaches the hosting provider's acceptable use policy, or puts other sites I host at risk. Wherever possible I will contact you first.

6.13 Changes to these terms. These terms may change as the underlying services change. Existing clients will be given at least 30 days written notice of any change that affects them.

6.14 Third party services. Hosting platforms, domain registrars and any integrated services you choose, such as ecommerce, bookings, event ticketing, course platforms or CRM tools, are provided by third parties under their own terms. Any fees they charge are payable by you directly. I select reliable, reputable providers, but I do not control and am not liable for their outages, changes or pricing decisions.

6.15 Your rights under Australian Consumer Law. Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or modifies any guarantee, right or remedy you have under the Australian Consumer Law.

7. Professional Indemnity

Saltline Studio maintains professional indemnity insurance. I am committed to professional standards, but Saltline Studio's liability is limited to the extent permitted by Australian law.

8. Intellectual Property

• Client Materials: You retain ownership of all content, data, and intellectual property you provide to me.
• My Deliverables: Upon full payment, ownership of the final deliverables created specifically for your project, including your website files, transfers to you. Saltline Studio retains ownership of any pre-existing methodologies, proprietary tools, or templates used in the creation process.
• Email Signatures: The finished signature you build with the email signature builder is yours to use for the people you paid for. Your logo, photos and details stay yours. The signature templates and the builder itself remain the property of Saltline Studio and may not be copied or resold.

9. Confidentiality

I acknowledge that during our engagement, I may have access to confidential information regarding your business. I agree to maintain the confidentiality of such information and will not disclose it to any third party without your express consent, except as required by law. Using the service providers and AI tools I rely on to do the work, as set out in my Privacy Policy, is not a disclosure for this purpose: I only give them what the job needs.

Your results and case studies: After your website launches, I keep access to the analytics and search tools I set up for it, so I can see how it performs and learn from it. With your written permission, I may share your project as a case study on my website or social media, including results such as visits, enquiries and search rankings. I'll show you exactly what I plan to share before it goes out, and you can withdraw your permission at any time. Without your permission, any example I share of your work leaves out your business name and your numbers.

10. Termination

Either party may terminate the agreement with 14 days' written notice if the other party commits a material breach of these terms and fails to remedy that breach within the notice period. If you terminate a project mid-progress for convenience, you agree to pay for all work completed and any non-refundable costs incurred up to the date of termination.

11. Governing Law

These terms are governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia. Any disputes arising from these terms will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New South Wales.