Terms

The deal, in plain English.

Last changed September 18, 2026.

Who I am

Jo Hoeflich. I build websites for small businesses from Bridgton, Maine. I answer the phone at (207) 693-5282 and the email at jo@modernwebsitesbyjo.com.

The shops on this site aren’t real

Every demo on this site is an invented business. The names, the menus, the prices, the phone numbers, the reviews: all made up to show what a site can do. Nothing on a demo page is for sale, and no booking or order placed on one goes anywhere. The photographs are licensed stock photographs.

Booking a website

When you book, you put half down through PayPal and I install the preview on your web address. Everything after that is in the Website Agreement, which is one document in plain English: what I build, what you send me, how you pay, who owns what, what I don’t promise, and what happens if either of us stops. You can read it before you book:

By paying the deposit, you’re agreeing to it. Standard is $1,000 and Commerce is $1,500; half to start, half at go-live. Add-ons are priced on the add-ons list.

The deposit. If I can’t do the job, you get the deposit back in full. If you change your mind after I’ve started, the deposit covers the work done. The details are in Section 9 of the agreement.

Your web address and your files. The domain and the hosting stay in your name, on your card. You own the site when it’s paid for, and you get the files. I never need your passwords.

The credit line. Every site I build carries a small line in the footer, “Site by Modern Websites by Jo.” It stays as long as the site is up. If you’d rather not have it, I’ll take it off for $100.

Buying the files (templates)

Every look on the templates page is for sale as files you open and edit yourself. Here’s how that works.

What you get. A folder of web files (the page, its styling, its photographs) that you can open in any editor and swap your own words and pictures into. No software to install, nothing that expires.

How you get it. Pay through PayPal and the download comes to the email address on your PayPal account, usually within the hour, always within one business day. If it hasn’t arrived, check your spam folder, then email me.

What you can do with it. Use it for one business, on as many of that business’s sites as you like, forever. What you can’t do: resell it, give it away, or put it up as a template for others. The photographs are licensed for use in the site you build with the files, not for resale on their own.

Refunds. These are files. Once they’ve been sent, I can’t take them back, so there are no refunds for changing your mind. If a file is broken and I can’t fix it within seven days of hearing from you, you get your money back in full.

The monthly plan

Webmaster is optional and month to month: $50 a month for a Standard site, $90 for a Commerce site. Quit any month, and nothing breaks. What’s in it:

• 60 minutes of small changes a month (hours, prices, a photo, a paragraph, a special), within two business days. Unused doesn’t roll.
• Phone or text for those — not email-only.
• Monthly health peek — load, broken links, hours still right; I text you if something’s off.
• One seasonal swap a year (summer ↔ winter hours/hero).
• Same-business-day response if the site is down when I’m working.
• Monthly form/booking smoke test on Standard and Commerce (contact/order lands in your inbox); Commerce also keeps PayPal-pipe fixes.
• Dated backup / restore — current copy kept; I can put last month’s copy back up.

Not included: new pages, redesign, writing, photography, ads, social, Google, domain/hosting bills, passwords. Bigger jobs are priced straight. Details also live on the checkout page and in Schedule B of the agreement.

What I don’t promise

I don’t promise sales, traffic, or a spot on Google. I build sites to good practice and I stand behind the work; what people do with a site is up to them. Outside companies (PayPal, hosts, domain registrars, Google) change and break things on their own schedule, and I’m not responsible when they do. If something goes wrong and it’s my fault, what I owe you is capped at what you paid me.

This site

The words, the code, and the design of this site are mine. The demo businesses are invented and the photographs are licensed. Don’t copy the site; if you like a page, the files are for sale.

Maine

Maine law applies to all of this, and any dispute goes to the courts of Cumberland County, Maine. We talk first, by phone, before anyone files anything.

Changes

If I change these terms, the date at the top changes. The terms in force when you book or buy are the ones that apply to that job.