Terms

1. About these terms

These Terms of Service (Terms) govern every service provided by [Legal entity name] ABN [XX XXX XXX XXX] trading as SMEL Media Group (we, us, our) to you, the client (you, your).

By placing an order, ticking the checkbox at checkout, signing a quote or paying an invoice, you agree to these Terms. If you are accepting on behalf of a business, you confirm you are authorised to bind that business.

If a written quote or proposal we give you conflicts with these Terms, the quote or proposal applies to the extent of that conflict.

2. Definitions

• Deliverables: the website, pages, designs, code, copy structure and other materials we create for you under an Order.
• Order: a package bought through our checkout, or work set out in a quote or proposal you accept.
• Package: one of our fixed-scope offerings (currently Launch, Growth and Signature), as described on our website at the time you order.
• SEO Services: our ongoing monthly search engine optimisation services, including any free months included with a Package and the optional SEO retainer.
• Billing Date: the date each monthly payment for SEO Services falls due.
• Business Day: a day other than a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday in Brisbane, Queensland.
• Third-Party Services: products and services we don’t own or control, such as hosting, domains, WordPress, plugins, Stripe, Google, AI providers and booking or email tools.

3. Your agreement with us

The agreement between us is made up of your Order, any written quote or proposal for that Order, and these Terms. Together these are the entire agreement and replace any earlier discussions, statements or representations about the Order, except anything we cannot exclude by law.

4. Our services and scope

We will provide the services described in your Order with due care and skill. The scope of each Package is limited to what is listed for that Package on our website when you order, or in your written quote.

Anything outside that scope (for example extra pages, features, integrations, copywriting, photography or work requested after launch) is not included. We will quote it separately, and we only start once you approve the quote in writing.

We may engage subcontractors to help deliver the services. We remain responsible for their work under these Terms.

5. Prices and GST

All prices are in Australian dollars (AUD) and include GST, unless we state otherwise in writing. We will issue a tax invoice for every payment.

We may change our published prices at any time. A price change does not affect an Order you have already paid for. For SEO Services, we will give you at least 30 days’ written notice before a price change takes effect.

6. Payment

Packages are paid in full, upfront, at checkout or on receipt of our invoice. We start work only once your payment has cleared.

Payments are processed by Stripe. We never see or store your full card details. Stripe’s own terms apply to your payment.

If a payment fails, is reversed or is charged back, we may pause all work and SEO Services until it is paid. Any reasonable costs we incur in recovering an overdue amount, including dishonour fees and collection costs, are payable by you.

7. Your responsibilities

To deliver your project on time, you agree to:

• give us accurate information about your business;
• supply your content (text, images, logos, product details) within 10 Business Days of our request;
• give feedback and approvals within 5 Business Days of each request;
• provide access to accounts we need (domain, hosting, Google Business Profile, analytics), or set them up when we ask;
• nominate one contact person who can make decisions for your business.

If you don’t provide content, feedback or access when needed, timelines will move back accordingly. If you don’t respond to us for 30 days in a row, we may treat the project as complete, deliver what has been done, and close the Order. Restarting a closed project may incur a fee.

8. Timelines

Any timeline we give you, including turnaround times shown on our website, is a good-faith estimate only. Delays caused by you, Third-Party Services or events outside our reasonable control are not a breach of these Terms.

9. Revisions, approval and launch

Each Package includes the number of revision rounds stated for it. A revision round is one consolidated set of changes, supplied in writing at one time. Extra rounds, and changes after you approve a design, are charged at our hourly rate of [$X] (inc. GST) or quoted separately.

When we ask you to review a design or the finished website, you must approve it or list the required changes in writing. If you haven’t responded within 5 Business Days, or you start using the Deliverables publicly, they are treated as approved.

Once the website is approved and launched, the project is complete. Later changes are new work.

10. SEO Services, billing and cancellation

SEO Services are an ongoing monthly subscription that continues until it is cancelled under this section.

Free months. If your Package includes free months of SEO Services (currently 1 month with Growth and 3 months with Signature), the first paid month begins automatically when the free period ends. We will show the date of your first payment at checkout and in your order confirmation.

Price and billing. SEO Services cost $500 per month (inc. GST) unless your Order states otherwise. Each month is billed in advance on your Billing Date to the card you used at checkout. You authorise us, through Stripe, to charge that card each month until the subscription ends.

What is included. Each month we provide the SEO activities described for the service on our website or in your Order. Unused activities, time or deliverables do not roll over to the next month and cannot be exchanged for other work or a refund.

How to cancel. You can cancel SEO Services at any time by emailing admin@smelgroup.com. Cancellation must be in writing. A phone call or message to an individual staff member is not enough.

The notice period also applies during free months: to avoid your first paid month, cancel at least 14 days before the free period ends.

No partial refunds. Monthly payments are not refundable and are not pro-rated for part months, except where required by the Australian Consumer Law.

Failed payments. If a monthly payment fails, we may pause SEO Services until it is paid. Unpaid months remain owing.

11. No guarantee of results

We design and build every website to give you the best chance of being found and converting visitors. However, we do not promise or guarantee any particular outcome, including:

• search engine rankings, positions or placement for any keyword;
• website traffic, enquiries, leads, bookings, calls or sales;
• revenue, return on investment or business growth;
• approval, ranking or display by Google, Bing, AI search tools or any other platform.

Search engines and other platforms control their own algorithms and change them often, without notice. Results also depend on things outside our control, such as your market, competitors, pricing, reputation and how you respond to enquiries.

Any examples, case studies, estimates or forecasts we share are for illustration only and are not a promise of your results. You are not relying on any such statement in deciding to buy.

This section does not limit your rights under the Australian Consumer Law (see the “Australian Consumer Law” section).

12. AI features

Some Packages, including Signature, include features powered by artificial intelligence, such as chat assistants, lead qualification, recommendations and automated follow-ups.

• AI can produce responses that are inaccurate, incomplete or inappropriate. You are responsible for reviewing how these features are set up, the information they use, and the decisions you make based on them.
• AI features must not be your only way of giving customers important, legal, medical, financial or safety information.
• AI features rely on Third-Party Services. Their usage and subscription fees are [included for the first X months / payable by you from launch], and their providers’ terms apply.
• You must make sure your use of AI features (including collecting and storing customer data through them) complies with privacy and consumer laws.

13. Third-Party Services

Your website will use Third-Party Services. We don’t control them and aren’t responsible for their availability, security, pricing, changes, outages or data handling. Their fees are payable by you unless your Order says otherwise, and their own terms apply.

If a Third-Party Service changes or stops working after launch (for example a plugin update or a Google policy change), fixing it is new work unless your Order covers it.

14. Hosting and domains

Unless your Order says otherwise, you are responsible for buying, renewing and paying for your domain name and hosting. Wherever possible these should be registered in your name. If we register or manage them for you, you will reimburse the costs, and we will transfer them to you on request once all amounts owing are paid.

15. After launch: security, backups and maintenance

After launch, you are responsible for your website, including software and plugin updates, security, backups, uptime and the content you add, unless you buy a maintenance service from us.

We are not liable for any loss caused by hacking, malware, data loss, hosting failures, or changes made by you or anyone else after launch. Keep your own regular backups and keep your passwords secure.

16. Intellectual property

Your website. Once you have paid in full for an Order, we assign to you ownership of the copyright in the Deliverables we create specifically for you. Until you have paid in full, we own them, and you may not use them.

Our tools. We keep ownership of our pre-existing and general materials, such as code frameworks, themes, templates, components, processes and know-how, even where they are used in your Deliverables. We give you a non-exclusive, perpetual, royalty-free licence to use them as part of your website.

Third-party materials. Fonts, plugins, stock images and other third-party materials are licensed to you on their owners’ terms, not owned by you or us.

Portfolio. Unless you ask us not to in writing, we may show your website, its design and non-confidential results in our portfolio, case studies and marketing, and include a small credit link in the website footer.

17. Your content

You are responsible for all content you supply or approve, including text, images, logos, product information, claims and testimonials. You confirm that:

• you own it or have permission to use it;
• it is accurate and not misleading;
• it does not infringe anyone’s rights or break any law (including consumer, privacy and advertising laws).

We may refuse to publish content that we reasonably believe is unlawful, offensive or infringing.

18. Refunds and cancelling a project

Because we reserve time for your project as soon as you pay, Package payments are non-refundable once work has started. Work starts when we hold your kick-off call or begin planning or design, whichever happens first.

If you cancel in writing before work has started, we will refund your payment less [payment processing fees / an administration fee of $X].

If you cancel after work has started, no refund is payable, and we will hand over any completed Deliverables once all amounts owing are paid.

This section does not limit any right to a refund or other remedy you have under the Australian Consumer Law.

19. Australian Consumer Law

Our services come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts or modifies any right or remedy you have under the ACL or any other law that cannot lawfully be excluded.

Where the ACL allows us to limit our liability for a failure to comply with a consumer guarantee, and the services are not of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use, our liability is limited, at our option, to supplying the services again or paying the cost of having them supplied again.

20. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, and subject to the “Australian Consumer Law” section:

• we are not liable for any indirect or consequential loss, or any loss of profit, revenue, business, opportunity, goodwill, data or rankings, however caused;
• our total liability to you for all claims arising from an Order, whether in contract, negligence or otherwise, is limited to the total amount you paid us for that Order. For SEO Services, it is limited to the fees you paid in the 3 months before the claim arose;
• we are not liable for any loss to the extent it is caused by you, your content, your instructions, Third-Party Services, or events outside our reasonable control.

21. Indemnity

You indemnify us against any claim, loss, cost or liability (including reasonable legal costs) arising from content you supply, your use of the Deliverables, or your breach of these Terms or of any law. This indemnity is reduced to the extent the loss is caused by us.

22. Confidentiality and privacy

Each of us will keep the other’s confidential information private and use it only to perform the Order, unless disclosure is required by law.

We handle personal information in line with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and our Privacy Policy. If we access personal information about your customers while doing the work, we will use it only to provide the services.

23. When we can end the agreement

We may suspend or end an Order or SEO Services by written notice if:

• any amount is overdue by more than 14 days;
• you breach these Terms and don’t fix the breach within 7 days of our notice;
• you are abusive or threatening towards our team; or
• you become insolvent.

If we end an Order for one of these reasons, amounts already paid are not refunded (subject to the “Australian Consumer Law” section), and amounts owing for work done become payable straight away. The sections on results, intellectual property, your content, refunds, the Australian Consumer Law, liability and indemnity continue to apply after the agreement ends.

24. Disputes

If a dispute arises, either of us may give the other written notice of it. We will both try in good faith to resolve it within 20 Business Days. If it isn’t resolved, either of us may refer it to mediation in Brisbane before starting court proceedings, except for urgent relief or the recovery of unpaid amounts.

25. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time by publishing a new version on this page. The version in force when you place an Order applies to that Order. For SEO Services, we will email you at least 30 days before an update takes effect, and you may cancel under the “SEO Services” section if you don’t agree.

26. General

These Terms are governed by the laws of Queensland, Australia, and both of us submit to the courts of Queensland. If any part of these Terms is invalid or unenforceable, it is severed and the rest remains in force. A failure or delay in enforcing a right is not a waiver of it. You may not transfer your rights under these Terms without our written consent. Notices must be in writing and may be sent by email.

27. Contact us