Lighthouse Web Design & Marketing

We were notified on March 6, at 8:PM that the client's website was down and responded at 8:PMThe client acknowledged that email by replying at 8:PM which we replied the reason at 8:PMAt 2:the following day we were told the client was moving the website elsewhereWe do our best to reply to clients within a reasonable timeWhen we have a large outage like we had that day we are all hands on deck working to get services restored

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because:They say that: The Client was sent content recommendations which were done first by us when the Client was not happy with it; That's exactly right, because it looked light a year old slapped something together with no thought to it in the leastand also I did not breach the contract, THEY did by not doing anything , and I mean ANYTHING to optimize my site and then on top of that I had to harass them to even get a response when my site completely crashed and was not even live, and then after several days when they did get something back on line it was COMPLETELY different and was not what I had constructed myself, "that I had paid them to do" I have no doubts this was intentional and completely malicious on there part, I will tell you what Lighthouse web design is great attalking a good game and collecting moneyAs for as me "breeching" a contract, that is a bunch of BULL!!!! They breeched the contract by NOT delivering on services promised, [redacted] is a dishonest person and should be ashamed of herself which I'm sure she is not ! I have had to hire at MY expense a company to work overtime to get my site back the way it was, only by there diligence of them backing up my site before it crashed was I able to recover what I have on my site nowthis whole thing has been a nightmare[redacted] / Owner Regards, [redacted] ***

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because: For starters its not true that there was improvement on the search engine results, also its unacceptable that I HAD TO HARRSS these people to even get a response, and I only hired a new company to rebuild my site AFTER I was told that all of the previous content had been lost by Lighthouse web design and that there was nothing they could do about.... I will say this again, THE ONLY TIME THAT [redacted] OR ANYBODY ELSE WAS REACHABLE BY PHONE WAS WHEN THEY WANTED MONEY ! My site should have been backed up, they should have produced the results they promised, and the truth is she " [redacted] " should have not made or relied on me to personely have to do all that I did to get my site to the point where it was before I lost everything. Regards, [redacted] ***

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because: I did have a hosting account and *** told me a year ago that she had put it on my hosting accountThis happened as soon as I paid in full for the websiteNow she is acting like that never happenedWhy would I give her access to my account in the first place if I didn't believe she already moved it to my GoDaddy accountI only revoked it when I didn't need her maintenance service anymoreAlso, she did not attach a zip file to that email nor would it be acceptable after she ruined my business name and lost business for me by making sure my website said suspended by LighthouseWhat *** did was unacceptableShe lied and ruined my business nameI was promised a up and running website on my GoDaddy hosting account and she did not provide that so I want a full refund and if she does not cooperate, I will sue her for the full amount and damages
Regards,
*** ***

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because: I'm done, The one true God will hold each of us accountable, Ive told the truth and now I'm moving on, *** should be ashamed !
Regards,
*** ***

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: For starters its not true that there was improvement on the search engine results, also its unacceptable that I HAD TO HARRSS these people to even get a response, and I only hired a new company to rebuild my site AFTER I was told that all of the previous content had been lost by Lighthouse web design and that there was nothing they could do about.... I will say this again, THE ONLY TIME THAT [redacted] OR ANYBODY ELSE WAS REACHABLE BY PHONE WAS WHEN THEY WANTED MONEY ! My site should have been backed up, they should have produced the results they promised, and the truth is she "[redacted]" should have not made or relied on me to personely have to do all that I did to get my site to the point where it was before I lost everything.
Regards,
[redacted]

We were notified on March 6, 2017 at 8:01 PM that the client's website was down and responded at 8:10 PM. The client acknowledged that email by replying at 8:22 PM which we replied the reason at 8:35 PM. At 2:10 the following day we were told the client was moving the website elsewhere. We do our best to reply to clients within a reasonable time. When we have a large outage like we had that day we are all hands on deck working to get services restored.

Actually, we are not used to this sort of thing. We do however, try to keep record of emails, phone calls, and activity on each of our accounts. In our responses previously, we have provided emails, contracts, and evidence that does back the case that web site design and search engine optimization services were provided as contracted. Web hosting services were provided up to the time that we had a server issue. We have admitted that this was an issue and provided evidence of our attempt to rectify the situation and get the client's website back up and running. We do strive to provide honest services at a fair rate. We stay up to date on search and what is required from the search engines for a website to rank. I hate that this has turned to this and hope we can work it out. We have responded with facts even though as a business owner when a complaint like this comes up it is emotional.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:They say that: The Client was sent content recommendations which were done first by us when the Client was not happy with it; That's exactly right, because it looked light a 3 year old slapped something together with no thought to it in the least.... and also I did not breach the contract, THEY did by not doing anything , and I mean ANYTHING to optimize my site and then on top of that I had to harass them to even get a response when my site completely crashed and was not even live, and then after several days when they did get something back on line it was COMPLETELY different and was not what I had constructed myself, "that I had paid them to do" I have no doubts this was intentional and completely malicious on there part, I will tell you what Lighthouse web design is great at... talking a good game and collecting money. As for as me "breeching" a contract, that is a bunch of BULL!!!! They breeched the contract by NOT delivering on services promised, [redacted] is a dishonest person and should be ashamed of herself which I'm sure she is not ! I have had to hire at MY expense a company to work overtime to get my site back the way it was, only by there diligence of them backing up my site before it crashed was I able to recover what I have on my site now... this whole thing has been a nightmare.[redacted] / Owner
Regards,
[redacted]

[redacted] does have account with GoDaddy which is where her domain is hosted. When we provide maintenance on websites, we also host them. Traditionally hosting provided by GoDaddy is on a shared plan and security is an issue. We had [redacted]'s website hosted on our VPS. When [redacted] asked us to move it, we looked in [redacted]'s account, we did not see a hosting account, we did add it to her cart, but it was not purchased to our knowledge. When [redacted] contacted us in May, we again requested that she purchase a hosting plan at GoDaddy which will hold the website files. Without access, which was revoked in April, we had no way of knowing if there was a hosting account available and if there was, had no way of loading the files there or pointing the domain to the new hosting account. We simply did not have access to do what she requested. In my original response I did provide the emails that were sent in May and also in the last couple of days showing where we did request her give us access to a purchased hosting account. When that did not look to be an option, we uploaded the website to DropBox. These files tend to be large and can't be emailed. This email is also included in what has been submitted. We still would like to help [redacted] get her website up and going again. If we had access, we would load the website on her hosting plan and point the domain to that hosting account. No other requirements from us are needed from [redacted] and she could use whomever she chooses to assist her from there. I do hate that it has gotten to this point, looking back we tried to make every effort to help.

[redacted] at [redacted] contacted us about a website and had asked if she could make payments on the website. When we allow clients a payment plan on their website, we do host the website until it is paid for in full. Once the website was paid for we discussed moving it per our...

contract agreement. There are two options, we can host it, or she could setup a hosting account at another provider that we can move the website. [redacted] does have a GoDaddy account, but no hosting account was there to move the website to when we last had access. It is company policy that we do not purchase a product in a client’s account, they would need to do this. We continued to host the website until this was done. In May of 2017, [redacted] disputed a charge we charged her for quarterly hosting and maintenance. I reached out to her and she stated that she wanted the website hosted on her GoDaddy account. (email attached)  We asked [redacted] to setup hosting that we could move the website to. On May 30, 2017 she emailed and let us know she would have the information back to us by the next day. We did not hear back from her until August 24,2017. We still had her website files and had it marked as pending for the move. We simply didn’t have the information to be able to do what she asked. We did at one point have access to her GoDaddy account however, she revoked our access in April of 2017. When it was clear that we were not going to get the required hosting information we emailed her a zip file which includes the complete website, database and CMS files. GoDaddy does offer a service to assist in loading these on a hosting account for a fee. It is our practice that if a client decides to move the website away from us, we do not fight or argue as it is there more as a courtesy for our clients that do not have the resources for maintenance. We do encourage them to have a plan for backups and security for their website. Once a client pays for their website, they can host it where they choose. We do not and have not forced a client into our hosting once the website is paid for.

P[redacted] hired my company in October 2015 to build a website for him that was similar to another design which was on the portfolio page of the website. The charge for this website was $750 because we could accomplish the goals of the Client by using a content management system (CMS)...

and a theme. This approach allowed the Client to make changes to the website without needing to pay for regular updates as was the case with his existing provider. The website launched in October of 2015 and the Client was trained to make updates. We naturally add extra hours to allow for additional training, so the client feels comfortable editing his website. Refer to website contract which is attached. We gave the client the option of hosting plans and he elected for the unmanaged plan which includes just hosting. Within our contract, we do not guarantee results in regard to rankings or position in the search engines and do recommend a local search campaign. As part of our website services, we do hook the website up with tools that Google provides Analytics which allows tracking of traffic to the website as well as Search Console which allows us to see how Google “sees” the website. Search Console includes reporting to the health of the website as well as the ability to submit a sitemap which was done when the website launched. This sitemap is a file that tells Google what pages are on the website. Using WordPress (the CMS) this sitemap is updated as additional pages, images, etc. are added to the website. This automatic update does help with optimization but is just the first step needed, as was explained numerous times to the Client. In November of 2015, the Client did request information about marketing his website which the Client choose not to pursue. At the beginning of 2016, the Client expressed concern that his website was not coming up well in search at this point we recommended an SSL and agreed to help him, without a contract. During this time, we helped set up a Facebook page for his business, claim, complete, and set up local citations. These citation links are trusted by Google that not only helps build up domain authority of the website but also helps build up the physical location of the business by building up the Name, Address, and Phone Number of the business based on the type of business it is. The link building process is a core fundamental of local search. While working together, we expressed to the Client numerous times that organic/natural search engine optimization takes time. We have to make adjustments and then wait as those changes are, for lack of a better term, processed by Google and they update rankings for the website through their ever-changing algorithm.  At this point, we recommended and started a PPC marketing campaign on Google search which would give him more immediate results for now while we were still building up his organic rankings. Our services were canceled shortly after that. In August, we were made aware of an issue with the backend of the website. Since Client was not on a maintenance plan, it was due to an outdated plug-in which prevented the contact form on the website from delivering. Client upgraded on 8/30 for hosting to include maintenance and backups. In October of 2016 Client reached out again for optimization assistance which we found that he was with another company and just not happy. We did get a contract in place which is attached. This contract was for local search. Since citations were established previously, we updated a few of them and focused primarily on the content of the website itself which is a large factor in Google’s eyes to how the website ranks. Our efforts were to use location based keywords throughout the website and then build up additional content to increase the authority of the website for those words. In SEO terms, we were building the theme of the website based on his keywords. The Client was sent content recommendations which were done first by us when the Client was not happy with it; and wanted to make the changes himself. Going forward, we sent changes to him based on recommendations. As of the end of January, the Client was still implementing the changes on the website. The search campaign continued through February of 2017 with a clear goal for each month. Since Client had a $250 budget, we were scheduling items out to accomplish the goals of the Client while still honoring his budget. The goals were as follows. November – January – Knock out the website content February – build on existing content in the way of articles based on the keyword list. We ended up receiving content for one article which was written and added to the website in February. As a small company, we take pride in the work we do and are up front and honest with clients to set a level of expectation. We believe that the more the client understands the process they will understand the work we do and see value in it. No reputable company that performs search engine optimization services can guarantee results, which we do not. We do guarantee our efforts. We follow industry standards and use the recommendations that are set forth by Google. There are many shady companies out there, that promise rankings and prey on small businesses. We are not one of them. Organic search takes time and effort to be successful. Two or three months here or there will not accomplish the desired results. This is why a 6-month commitment is required. The Client did breach contract even after evidence was provided that his local rankings had improved. We have included a screenshot taken January 11, 2017, of an incognito search in google for “wrought iron entry doors” based in Ridgeland which is where his store is located.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: Its NOT true.......... I called constantly with NO response until I threatened taking legal action, I'm sick of this, [redacted] has cost enough money like it is and she is use to this sort of thing, NOT ME, Ive said the truth about what happened. I'm going to work !
Regards,
[redacted]

Ranking a website for search is mostly based on the content of the website. This includes how user-friendly the website is, the text that is on the website, as well as how mobile-friendly the website is. Google has made it clear that they are ranking websites higher where people do not have to pinch and zoom to see the content. That being said, the recommendations were to change the layout to be friendlier for mobile users. A common framework that is used is bootstrap, it helps make the website look good on mobile as well as desktops. This is the framework his website was built on. When the Client asked us to go ahead and make the changes we took the existing page content (pictures, descriptions, captions, etc.) and converted it to this more mobile-friendly layout. When the client was not happy and changed the pages again. Some of which did impact our search efforts. We have provided evidence that the local search campaign was effective in our previous response as the client was ranking in top positions for multiple key phrases. Based on the agreement which was also attached to our previous response, services are non-refundable (4) and we cannot be held responsible for the Client overwriting SEO work to the Clients site (5 & 7). As for the incident that happened with his hosting, this was on us. We had 10 websites that were impacted by a server issue which effected the databases. The database is where the content, layout, etc. is all stored for the website. This was a situation that our backup of the backup was messed up on 3 of the websites we host. We were in the process of restoring the website when we were contacted that the client wanted to point the domain to another host and cancel our services. To say that we did this intentionally does not make sense as we fix these for free, we are out hours  and hours of work to get these websites back up and running. We would never do this on purpose.