Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about our CMS subscriptions, pricing, and support.

Understanding Our Services

This is the most important question to answer before choosing a plan.

Brochure Website: Your website exists to establish credibility. Potential clients might Google you to verify you're legitimate, find your address, or get your phone number. The site needs to look professional and stay online, but it doesn't actively bring in new business.

Revenue-Generating Website: Your website is a business tool that actively brings in leads, bookings, or sales. You measure its performance. When the site goes down, you lose money. When it ranks higher in search results, you get more customers.

Why this matters for choosing a tier:

  • If your website is a brochure, Basic gives you everything you need—professional hosting, security, and someone to call when you need updates.
  • If your website generates revenue, you need it to perform. That means faster loading (CDN), never going offline (dual-host failover), testing what works (A/B testing), and tools to engage visitors (blog, events, email campaigns). That's Business Pro or Enterprise.
  • If your website is your primary source of new clients, the SEO and AI/ML add-ons aren't expenses—they're investments with measurable returns.

You're not just paying for website hosting—you're getting a developer on retainer with enterprise-grade infrastructure included. Every subscription includes:

  • A professional keeping your site secure, backed up, and running smoothly
  • Guaranteed response times when you need help
  • Included hours each month for updates and changes
  • Tools to manage your own content when you want to

Think of it like having an IT department for your website, without the full-time salary.

The one-time build cost covers designing and building your website from scratch. This is the initial investment to create your online presence.

The monthly subscription covers everything needed to keep your site running, secure, and up-to-date after it's built—plus ongoing support when you need changes made.

Feature Explanations (In Plain English)

A/B testing lets you show two different versions of a page to different visitors to see which one works better. For example, you might test two different headlines or button colors to see which one gets more people to contact you. The system automatically tracks which version "wins" so you can make data-driven decisions instead of guessing.

Available on: Business Pro and Enterprise tiers

A CDN stores copies of your website on servers around the world. When someone visits your site, they get the copy from the server closest to them—making your site load faster whether your visitor is in New York or Tokyo. Faster sites mean happier visitors and better search rankings.

Available on: Business Pro and Enterprise tiers

Your website lives on two separate server systems simultaneously. If one system ever has problems, your site automatically switches to the backup—often before you or your visitors even notice. This is the same approach Fortune 500 companies use, but we've made it affordable for small and medium businesses.

Available on: Business Pro and Enterprise tiers

When we update your site's software or make changes, your visitors never see a "site under maintenance" message. The updates happen seamlessly in the background. Your business stays open 24/7, even during maintenance.

Available on: Business Pro and Enterprise tiers

A staging environment is a private copy of your website where we can test changes before they go live. Want to try a new page layout or feature? We build and test it on the staging site first, and only push it live once you approve it. No surprises for your customers.

Available on: All tiers

The padlock icon you see in your browser's address bar—that's SSL. It encrypts the connection between your website and your visitors, protecting any information they submit (like contact forms or payments). It's also required for good search engine rankings. All our plans include this at no extra cost.

Available on: All tiers

White-label means we remove any "Powered by" branding from your site. Your website appears as 100% yours, with no mention of the platform that runs it. This is especially important for agencies or businesses that want a completely custom appearance.

Available on: Business Pro and Enterprise tiers

DDoS attacks are when bad actors try to overwhelm your website with fake traffic to take it offline. Our Enterprise tier includes protection that automatically detects and blocks these attacks, keeping your site available for real customers.

Available on: Enterprise tier

APIs let different software systems talk to each other. This means we can connect your website to your other business tools—like your customer database (CRM), accounting software, or booking system—so information flows automatically instead of requiring manual data entry.

Available on: Business Pro (limited) and Enterprise (full)

Choosing the Right Tier

Choose BASIC ($250/month) if your website is a brochure:

  • Your site establishes credibility but doesn't actively generate leads
  • You have an established website that doesn't change often
  • You need someone reliable to keep things running and secure
  • You make minor updates a few times per month
  • You don't need a blog, event calendar, or email marketing

Examples: Local service businesses with referral-based clients, professionals who get work through networking, businesses where the website just needs to "exist and look good."

Choose BUSINESS PRO ($500/month) if your website generates revenue:

  • Your website brings in leads, inquiries, or bookings
  • You regularly publish content to attract visitors
  • You host events and need a calendar on your site
  • You want to send email newsletters to nurture leads
  • You need to test different approaches to see what converts best
  • Downtime costs you real money in lost opportunities

Examples: Private practices actively seeking new clients, service businesses that book through their website, companies running content marketing, anyone who tracks "leads from website" as a metric.

Choose ENTERPRISE ($900/month) if your website is mission-critical:

  • Your website is a primary revenue channel you can't afford to lose
  • You have multiple websites or brands to manage
  • You need a dedicated point of contact who knows your business
  • You require team collaboration with different permission levels
  • You need to integrate with other business systems (CRM, ERP, etc.)
  • You want monthly strategy sessions and quarterly business reviews

Examples: Multi-location businesses, agencies managing client-facing sites, e-commerce operations, companies where website downtime directly equals lost sales.

Yes, that's a smart approach. You can start with Basic to keep costs manageable, then upgrade to Business Pro when you're ready to add blogging, events, or email marketing. We make tier upgrades seamless—your site and data come with you.

Enterprise includes up to 3 websites in the base price, with additional sites at $150/month each. If you have 2-3 sites, Enterprise is almost certainly your best value. For a single site, evaluate based on the other features you need.

These add-ons are for businesses where the website is a revenue engine, not a brochure. The question isn't "can I afford this?"—it's "what's a new client worth to me?"

SEO Optimization ($1,500/month) is valuable if you:

  • Want to appear higher in Google search results
  • Are in a competitive market where organic traffic matters
  • Have a content-heavy site (lots of pages or blog posts)
  • Want to reduce dependence on paid advertising

The ROI math: If you're a private practice—a therapist, attorney, consultant, or specialist—what's one new client worth? $500? $2,000? $10,000 over the lifetime of the relationship? If our SEO work helps you land just one extra client per month, the $1,500 investment pays for itself immediately.

AI/ML Predictive Analytics ($2,500/month) is valuable if you:

  • Make decisions based on data and forecasts
  • Have a complex customer journey you want to optimize
  • Need to predict trends and stay ahead of your market
  • Want AI to help identify opportunities you might miss
  • Are a rapidly growing business or e-commerce operation

The ROI math: If predictive analytics helps you identify which visitors are most likely to convert—and you focus your follow-up efforts there—even a modest improvement in conversion rate can mean tens of thousands in additional revenue.

Our recommendation: Most businesses should start without add-ons and consider them after 6-12 months once baseline performance is established. But if your website is already generating leads and you know what a client is worth, do the math—these add-ons often pay for themselves within the first month.

Value and Pricing Questions

The short answer: Your time is worth money, and DIY solutions have hidden costs.

When you go the DIY route, you become responsible for:

  • Security updates and patches
  • Backups and disaster recovery
  • Uptime monitoring
  • Plugin conflicts and troubleshooting
  • Integrating 5+ separate tools (blog, calendar, email, analytics, forms)
  • Learning curves and ongoing maintenance

Our Business Pro tier at $500/month replaces $600-1,200/month in tools PLUS 5-15 hours of your time each month. If your time is worth $50/hour, that's $250-750/month in hidden costs on top of the tool expenses.

With GirschWorks, you get one platform, one point of contact, and it just works.

Three things no one else offers at our price point:

  1. Developer on Retainer: You get a real developer (not a marketing coordinator) included in your monthly fee. Problems get solved, not escalated.
  2. Dual-Hosted Infrastructure: Your site runs on two separate systems with automatic failover. This is enterprise-level reliability that most agencies cannot offer at any price.
  3. All-in-One Platform: Blog, event calendar, AND email campaigns built into one system. No paying for Mailchimp, no integration headaches, no plugins that break after updates.

Your included hours cover:

  • Content updates (text, images, videos)
  • Minor layout adjustments
  • Form modifications
  • Adding or editing pages
  • Troubleshooting and bug fixes

The hours are meant for routine maintenance and updates. Larger projects like new features, redesigns, or complex integrations are quoted separately.

Additional work is billed at $150/hour in 15-minute increments. We'll always let you know before starting work that would exceed your included hours, so there are no surprises on your invoice.

Included hours represent our commitment to be available for you each month. They ensure you always have access to support when you need it, rather than accumulating unused time. This model lets us staff appropriately and maintain fast response times for all clients.

Tier GirschWorks WordPress DIY Webflow DIY
Basic $250/mo $170-280/mo + 2-4 hrs your time $300-550/mo + 5-10 hrs your time
Business Pro $500/mo $610-960/mo + 5-10 hrs your time $630-1,230/mo + 8-15 hrs your time
Enterprise $900/mo $1,340-2,070/mo + 10-20 hrs your time $1,980-2,960/mo + 15-25 hrs your time

When you factor in the value of your time and the developer hours we include, GirschWorks is the most cost-effective option at every tier.

Support and Service Questions

Tier Response Time
Basic Within 48 hours
Business Pro Within 24 hours
Enterprise Within 12 hours (24/7 emergency line)

These are maximum response times—we typically respond much faster during business hours.

Enterprise clients get a dedicated account manager who knows your business and serves as your single point of contact. Basic and Business Pro clients work with our support team, but you'll always be dealing with someone who has access to your full history and account details.

We require 30 days notice for cancellation. We'll export all your data and provide everything you need to transition. New clients also get a 30-day money-back guarantee—if it's not working out, you get a full refund.

No. All plans are month-to-month with no long-term commitment required. We earn your business every month.

Getting Started

There's a $500 one-time setup fee that covers site migration, initial configuration, and training. However, we waive this fee for annual prepayment or for early adopters (first 10 clients).

We handle the entire migration process. We'll import your existing site, configure everything, train you on the platform, and ensure a smooth transition. Migration assistance is included with setup.

We offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you're not satisfied within the first month, you get a full refund. We're confident you'll see the value immediately.

Contact us for a free consultation. We'll discuss your needs, recommend the right tier, and answer any questions. There's no pressure—we want to make sure GirschWorks is the right fit for your business before you commit.

Quick Reference: Tier Comparison

Feature Basic Business Pro Enterprise
Monthly Price $250 $500 $900
Included Dev Hours 1 hour 2 hours 3 hours
Support Response 48 hours 24 hours 12 hours
Uptime Guarantee 99.5% 99.9% 99.95%
Backups Monthly Weekly Daily
Content Editor Yes Yes (Advanced) Yes (Advanced)
Blog Manager No Yes Yes
Event Calendar No Yes Yes
Email Campaigns No Yes Yes
A/B Testing No Yes Yes
Dual-Host Failover No Yes Yes (Enhanced)
Zero-Downtime Updates No Yes Yes
Staging Environment Yes Yes Yes
Strategy Calls No Quarterly Monthly
Account Manager No No Yes
Sites Included 1 1 3
Business Email Addresses 3 15 Unlimited

Still Have Questions?

We're here to help. Contact us for a free consultation and we'll answer any questions you have.