This is the legalese that protects you and us.
Please read the following information on Sharpe Digital before engaging Sharpe Digital. Hopefully this makes it clear for you but if unsure, please ask.
When you enter into a service with Sharpe Digital, you agree to be bound by and consent to these terms and conditions. If there are problems with our service that arise, please contact us immediately in writing, include all relevant information and explain the issue. We’ll try to settle your complaint in a satisfactory manner.
Important Definitions
The Client: The individual, business, or company entering into the agreement with Sharpe Digital. For the remainder of these terms and conditions The Client may be referred to in the context of ‘You’, ‘Your’, ‘You’re’.
Sharpe Digital: Us, the collective employees, affiliates, or other agents of Sharpe Digital. For the remainder of these terms and conditions The Client may be referred to in the context of ‘We’, ‘Our’, and ‘Us’. Sharpe Digital is the trading name of ’Southeastpt ltd.’, which has a registered address of ‘SoutheastPT Ltd. Kemp House, 152 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX.
The Site: The Client’s website/s to be optimised as part of ‘The Services’
Page One: Any position in Google’s search results within the top 10 organic search results.
SERPS: Search Engine Results for a Google search given a specific keyword.
Targeted / Agreeed Keyword/s: This/these is/are the phrase(s) agreed by The Client and Sharpe Digital that a specified webpage shall be optimised for to achieve a page one ranking in Google.
Fee: The recurring monthly payment for the Services.
Services: Any digital marketing performed by Sharpe Digital for the benefit of the Client. This includes but is not limited to: Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Pay Per Click (PPC) Google Adwords Optimisation, Site Content Curation, and Website design.
Black Hat: Search Engine Optimisation Techniques which are considered to give a website unfair advantage in the SERPS over others, and thus risks penalisation by Google.
The Relationship: The relationship between Sharpe Digital and The Client.
File Transfer Protocol (FTP): The industry standard system by which individual files of the Site are accessed.
live website: a website that can be viewed via a web browser online by any computer.
1. Contract: Overview
1.1. You agree to set up and pay our fees via monthly direct debit. Apart from for additional one-off fees, no other form of payment is accepted by us.
1.2. The SEO Services will be deemed to have commenced on the same day the first fee payment is transferred into the account of Sharpe Digital (SoutheastPT Ltd.)
1.3. Upon Service commencement, the Client has 6 calendar weeks in which they are entitled to a full refund of all SEO fees paid. There are no stipulations, and the Client is under no commitment to give a reason for terminating the Relationship, or for asking for their money back.
1.4. We optimise for Google only. Sharpe Digital is not liable for any SERP changes of your site in any other online search engine.
2. Terminating The Agreement
2.1. The Client may terminate the agreement and our Services at any time by emailing contact@sharpedigital.com and stating they wish to do so.
2.2. After 6 calendar weeks from our SEO Services commencement date (see 1.3), the Client will no longer be entitled to any form of refund. Should The Client wish to terminate our services at any point after 6 calendar weeks from our SEO Services commencement date , no pro-rata refund will be offered. Instead they may cancel the direct debit with their bank and Sharpe Digital will not be entitled to any further payments.
2.3. Sharpe Digital may terminate the agreement with the Client at any time. However, the Client will be eligible for a pro-rata refund of that month’s Services.
2.4. The Client is not entitled to any refund – either full or pro-rata – based on the performance of their website in online search engines. The Client accepts that because Google is in control of the SERPS, Sharpe Digital cannot be help accountable for the position of your Site or any position movement either up or down them.
3. Failure to pay Fees
3.1 Failure of the Client to pay our fees within 10 working days will result in termination of the Services with no refunds.
4. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO): Explanation of Services
4.1 By entering into an agreement with Sharpe Digital, the client asserts that they have read and agree with the statements outlined below:
4.2 Search engines have proprietary algorithms, techniques and software that affect how search results are ordered for any given search keyword. These search engine algorithms change periodically with a consequent impact on any given website’s position in the search engines. Should Google issue an algorithm change which negatively affects your website’s ranking, Sharpe Digital is not accountable for this because all websites worldwide will be affected to some degree. Sharpe Digital will endeavour to reverse any negative impact on your website’s ranking in Google but we place no guarantees on timeframes with which the client can expect to see positive ranking results again.
4.3 Sharpe Digital’s SEO service is deemed to have been completed once the client’s website is on the first page of Google for the agreed keywords. Although we will endeavour to climb from position 10 up to position 1 for the client, Sharpe Digital will not enter into any discourse as to how and why a client’s website might not be climbing beyond position 10. Should the site drop to position 11 or worse Sharpe digital will be expected to explain why and what is to be done to correct it.
4.4 Sharpe Digital must thoroughly stress that there is no guarantee to our services. We do not have the ability to offer an ironclad guarantee on the rank that our customers will receive. We also cannot calculate or even estimate the amount of increased traffic that will occur as a result of our optimisation services. Marketing online is unpredictable and Sharpe Digital cannot in any way guarantee the position that a site will earn except that it will be on the first page. Note that failure to deliver on this guarantee after 6 weeks from the beginning of The Relationship will not be cause for any refund of any kind – this is because the client is free to discontinue The Service at any time.
4.5 Sharpe Digital must be granted the right to optimise our customer’s website. This can sometimes cause a slight visual impact, but is normally not noticeable. We will work with our customers to ensure that the page is left intact and that only the most minimal of changes takes place.
4.6 The client must supply Sharpe Digital with their logins and passwords for FTP purposes to allow us full access to the website. Sharpe Digital will fully protect all login and password information, keeping it under the tightest security. It is vital that customers inform their webmaster and any other individuals that work with their website that Sharpe Digital is optimising the website. Sharpe Digital is not accountable for any negative impact upon the site as a result of logins and passwords being accessed by hackers whilst Sharpe Digital is working on the site.
4.7 Sharpe Digital is not responsible for any negative impact, either directly or indirectly financial, upon a client’s business or website at any time. The client allows Sharpe Digital to access and work on their website at their own risk.
4.8 All notices must be in writing or email. All notices and communication to Sharpe Digital must be addressed correctly to Sharpe Digital (Kemp House, 152 City Road, London. EC1V 2NX) or contact@sharpedigital.com. Notices that are sent from Sharpe Digital to our clients will be considered valid if they are sent to the mailing address as it appears in our terms of service agreement or such address as was supplied by our customer in writing.
4.9. The client agrees to allow Sharpe Digital to place a link to any page on the domain www.sharpedigital.com, from the homepage of their website.
4.10 In case of any invalidity or un-enforceability of any portion of this agreement shall in no way affect, impair, or nullify any other portion of this provision. No waiver of the due rights that Sharpe Digital has under the protection of this agreement shall occur due to any failure of Sharpe Digital to successfully enforce any portion of this agreement.
4.11. Sharpe Digital is not responsible for any hacking of, spyware or virus infiltration in, or defacing of, your website at any time.
4.12. Once the relationship between the client and Sharpe Digital has ended, Sharpe digital is not responsible for the reversal of any actions it took when conducting the services. Any request for reversal, removal, or addition to any elements of Sharpe Digital’s work will attract an associated cost of £70 per hour per engineer.
4.13 Once the relationship between the client and Sharpe Digital ends, the Website’s position in the SERPS for the agreed keywords will start to fall. Sharpe can only influence the SERPS when a client is active.
5. Client Responsibilities
The Client Agrees To Honour The Following Stipulations During The Service Period:
(a) No other SEO company will be working on The Site/s while we are.
(b) You or anyone else will not use any ‘black hat’ techniques on the Site, including but not limited to exchanging links with link farms, using spamming links, or otherwise do any online activities that may cause Your Site’s Google search engine ranking to drop through penalisation.
(c) Your Site is not hosted with a free hosting service. It must be on paid hosting such as a shared server, VPS or dedicated server.
(d) You allow Sharpe Digital the necessary access to edit web pages of Your Site as we require.
(e) You give Sharpe Digital the authority to submit Your Site’s webpages to wherever we feel necessary for The Services to be actioned.
(f) You agree not to divulge any information about Sharpe Digital to another SEO company. This information includes but is not limited to: our pricing, our SEO practices and methods, these terms and conditions, your relationship with us, and our email, phone, or text correspondence with you.
6. Payment Terms and Conditions:
6.1. We will accept payment via direct debit only.
6.2. All direct debit terms and conditions are in accordance with our direct debit manager ‘Fastpay Ltd.’.
7. Marketing Policy
7.1. Sharpe Digital will never give Client details of any kind to any 3rd party for the purposes of marketing.
7.2 By agreeing to these terms and conditions the Client consents to Sharpe Digital using their trading name within its own marketing.
8. Disclaimer:
8.1 If any payments from the client are made through a bank transfer that is not in the client’s name or the client’s business name, then it is the sole responsibility of the client to reimburse any and all payments to the card or bank account holder from which the payment was made on behalf of the client.
9. Money Back Policy:
9.1 We have complete confidence in our ability to perform expert work in the website optimisation of our customers. Should the customer be displeased with our services for any reason, they may send a refund request in writing. Please include the reasons for your refund request. Once we receive the request, and it has been recieved within 6 weeks of the agreement / Relationship being made, Sharpe Digital will return all SEO Services fees paid to date via bank transfer.
10. Loss of Service:
10.1 Sharpe Digital accepts no liability in the case of a loss of service, files being unavailable or inaccessible, damage of data, misuse of equipment by other clients, failure or breakdown of externally managed equipment, or any communication devices or services that are beyond the control of Sharpe Digital.
11. Security:
11.1 We do not in any way have or offer any affiliate/reseller type of program. We do not have resellers or affiliates. We only accept outsourced project requests if there is a true benefit to the customer and there is a written agreement. It is important to note that Sharpe Digital will hold no responsibility for a third party outsourced business.
11.2 We will never ask for any of your financial information.
11.3 You should only share your personal usernames and passwords once you have entered into an agreement with us.
11.4 If Sharpe Digital must create any accounts for the work carried out, then at the request of the client, provide all login details (username & password) via email.
11.5 If you receive any strange emails, phishing requests, or fake emails please report them immediately to contact@sharpedigital.com, and do not respond to the email or open any attachments that are included.
11.6 We will never have a third party contact you by email or by phone unless this is a part of the original written agreement or has been agreed upon through email beforehand.
12. Website Design
12.1 The design period of a new website by Sharpe Digital for The Client is deemed to be the period from which the client pays their deposit, until the website goes live.
12.2. The client has 14 days from the beginning of the design period with which to receive a full refund of their deposit.
12.3 The client has 7 days from the end of the design period to pay Sharpe digital the full fee for the website, minus the deposit.
12.4. If The client wishes to cancel their new website from 14 days after the deign period begins, until the end of the design period, the client will be liable to pay 75% of the full website costs and must pay via bank transfer within 7 days.
12.5. Sharpe Digital will not own the rights to or any part of the website once the design period has finished.
12.6. The ‘Refinement date’ of the new website is defined as the date the new website is first presented to the client on Sharpe Digital’s personal server. This will be a link via an email to the client.
12.7. If the client is receiving a new website with no maintenance package included by Sharpe Digital, the client will have 2 calendar weeks from the refinement date to ask Sharpe Digital to make any alterations. Each working day for two calendar weeks from the refinement date entitles the client to a maximum of 3 alterations, totalling no more 2 hours work. Any requested alteration/s that would result in one individual website engineer at Sharpe Digital working for more than 2 hours will be billable at a rate of £70 an hour. The client will be informed of any additional costs before any alterations are made.
12.8. All alteration requests made 2 calendar weeks after the refinement date will be subject to billable at a rate of £70 an hour, with 1 hour as a minimum payment.
12.9. The client agrees to allow Sharpe Digital to place a link to any page on the domain www.sharpedigital.com, from the homepage of their new website.
12.10 Sharpe Digital is not responsible for any copyright infringements actioned against the client due to material – either textual or graphical – placed on the website.
12.11. If the client has a maintenance package included with the new website, they will be entitled to unlimited alteration requests. However, the daily sum of the requests must not equal more than 1 hour of work for one engineer. If it is anticipated that the request will require more than this, Sharpe Digital will give the client warning and send them a separate quotation for the additional work beyond this hour. Once an alteration has been requested Sharpe Digital will do everything it can to action the request as quickly as possible. However no guarantees are to be made of the time it will take to action the request.
12.11 Sharpe Digital reserves the right to build the new website on any platform it sees fit.
12.12 The Client agrees that Sharpe Digital reserves the right to include any work done for the Client in a portfolio of work.
13. Statutory Rights
These Terms and Conditions do not affect your statutory rights as a consumer.
14. Interpretation
14.1 This agreement shall be governed by the laws of England and Wales which shall claim venue and jurisdiction for any legal motion or claim arising from this agreement. This agreement is void where prohibited by law.
14.2 By accepting a quotation or making a payment of invoice to use the services supplied, the Client acknowledges to have read, understand, and accept the Terms and Conditions of this Agreement, and agrees to be legally binding by these Terms and Conditions.
14.3 Any and all matters pursuant to this agreement are governed by English Law and are under exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.
14.4 Where one or more terms of this contract are held to be void or unenforceable for whatever reason, any other terms of the contract not so held will remain valid and enforceable at law.
15. PPC Management
15.1 The Monthly Budget
The Client and Sharpe Digital will agree a monthly Adwords budget for Sharpe Digital to manage on the client’s behalf. The client agrees to allow Sharpe Digital full autonomy with this monthly budget to decide keywords, bids, and Ad copy. Sharpe Digital agrees to utilise the budget in such as way as to maximise the click through rate (CTR) of potential leads for the client. Once allocated to Adwords, the client will have to recourse for reimbursement from Sharpe Digital for any funds put in the account. Southeastpt Ltd, trading as Sharpe Digital is not liable, either directly or indirectly for any losses or damages, either material, by reputation, or financial, in connection with this agreement.
15.2 Access
The client agrees to allow Sharpe Digital full access to its Google Adwords account so that we can optimise the PPC campaigns fully. No other company apart from the client is to be involved in altering or monitoring our efforts. The client agrees to allow agents affiliates with Sharpe Digital full access to their Adwords account in order for us to optimise it. As such passwords for the account will be required and the client is aware of this.
15.3 Google Ad Placement
Whilst Sharpe Digital will endeavour to achieve the first position in Google for the client’s PPC ads, we do not guarantee this. Google decides where your Ad will be placed so it will be up to us to strike the balance between the Ad bid and the position achieved.
15.4 Payment
Sharpe Digital charges a monthly fee for Adwords (PPC) Management. This is payable by the client via direct debit. No other form of payment will be accepted. The PPC management service will begin as soon as funds are first received.
15.5 Keyword Changes
The client is entitled to up to 2 keyword changes in any one calendar month for the focus of the PPC campaigns. This limit is placed to prevent the significant work involved in setting up and managing a PPC campaign for any given keyword being lost.
15.6 Monitoring
The client understands and agrees that they have the ultimate responsibility for monitoring all the advertising metrics. These are including but not limited to: ad pricing and bid amounts, daily spending, impact of Adwords on their sales and profit, all other advertising metrics.
15.7 Cancellation
The client is free to cancel the PPC management agreement laid out here at any time. However we require 1 month’s notice in writing, and no pro rate refunds for the monthly billing cycle will be given.
16. Changes And Alterations To These Terms and Conditions
Sharpe Digital reserves the right to add, delete, or modify any provision of these terms and conditions at any time without notice. Any changes will be binding. These terms and conditions are available in downloadable form on our website www.sharpedigital.com. Therefore it is the responsibility of the client to make sure they understand and comply with the terms and conditions of Sharpe Digital at all times.
