Your finished website will be ready within 10 business days after we receive your completed content. Our guided content process walks you through pulling your content together – most clients can finish it over a few days; if you’ve already worked on your marketing and have taglines and copy (text) ready to go, you can wrap up your content in just a few hours. Realistically, from purchase to a live website typically takes two to three weeks.

Nope – and you won’t be staring at a blank page, either. Our guided content process, built from 25+ years of creating websites for small businesses, walks you through exactly what to say on every page, one simple prompt at a time. Plus, we show you how to choose and prepare your images. Once you give us your content, we start building – your finished website is ready within 10 business days.

For your first 60 days, you can get help any time over email or during my weekly Zoom ‘office hours.’ After 60 days, if you host with us ($49.99/month), anything web-related support is included in your hosting package. If you host elsewhere, I offer hourly help ($150/hour, minimum $75) as needed.

First things first: if we made an error in your build – a typo we introduced, a photo in the wrong spot – we’ll fix it right away, at no charge. Always. Beyond that, it’s your site, and changing it is easier than you’d think: your Dashboard includes step-by-step guides for swapping images, editing your copy, and adding pages. For your first 60 days, if you get stuck, email me or drop into weekly office hours and I’ll walk you through it. And if you’d rather us handle your updates entirely, we offer that at an hourly rate ($150/hour, minimum $75).

The ‘look’ for a WordPress website is controlled by a theme, and we will build your custom theme around your branding. So, it is best that you have chosen your brand colors and fonts before we build your website. (If you need help with this, we offer complete brand development: reach out to learn more.) But if needed, you can change your colors, fonts, and logo later – our built-in tutorials make it easy.

First, take a look at the next package up – it may be the better value. Beyond that, your website dashboard includes how-to guides on adding pages yourself. With WordPress, adding a page is easy: click the “Add new page” button, and your custom theme includes dozens of drag and drop blocks and patterns to simplify adding content. But if you prefer, we can add additional pages for you at $250 each.

That’s the plan! Although you can always hire us to edit your website content, you’ll have full access to customize everything, and your website Dashboard includes how-to guides teaching you how to do it. (I firmly believe that even if you plan to hire someone else to edit your website, every business owner should have a working knowledge of the basics, just in case, and you’ll get that here.)

The Growth Site package includes a landing page with automated lead-magnet delivery and an option for a blog as one of your pages. Beyond that, additional landing pages, blogs, and e-commerce setup are available for $250 each. Once your initial site is set up, adding these is as simple as sending us an email. However, you may discover that adding these features in WordPress is easier than you expect – you may not need us to do it for you.

Absolutely! That’s the beauty of WordPress: most online apps not only support WordPress; typically they have an easy-to-use interface already built in. If you run into any problems connecting your app to your website, we’ll be glad to help you troubleshoot it (at no additional charge) during your 60-day free hosting window.

Your site will be built on the WordPress platform, with a custom blocks theme so you can take advantage (if you choose) of all the bells & whistles WordPress has to offer. I design websites almost exclusively in WordPress, and have for over 15 years. There’s a reason WordPress is the #1 platform for business websites: it’s flexible, mobile-ready, SEO-friendly, and secure. It gives you the tools to help your business grow. The only downside to WordPress is the setup learning curve – and a Her Website Launchpad website lets you skip that.

Your site starts from one of our three professionally designed styles and is then tailored to your business, with your logo, colors, fonts, and content built into your own WordPress installation. That streamlined starting point is why Her Website Launchpad sites cost hundreds instead of thousands. If your business needs a 100% from-scratch custom design, my agency does that: reach out and we’ll talk about whether it’s the right fit.

Better SEO. More flexibility. Expandable. You OWN your WordPress site completely. Her Website Launchpad sites are single installations (not multisite), which means you can move your website anywhere, anytime.

No problem. We’ll deliver your finished website on a private preview link that only you can see, and it stays private until you connect your domain name – our guides show you how, and we’ll help if you need it. Your 60 days of free hosting begin at delivery; after that, hosting is $49.99/month, whether your site is public or still private. There’s no deadline to launch, although I reserve the right to go into mom-mode and start nagging you after twelve months.

We’ll set up everything on our server initially, and you don’t need your domain name for that. If you already own a domain, we’ll help you connect it when you’re ready to go live. If not, I can guide you through purchasing a domain name, and show you how to connect it when your site is ready (even if you choose to host it somewhere else).

Your first 60 days of hosting are free, starting the day we deliver your finished website. Then:

Option 1: Stay with us for $49.99/month (includes email @yourdomain, WordPress/plugin updates, and support)

Option 2: Move to any host you want (we’ll show you how, or do it for $49)

Yep. I’ll give you step-by-step instructions (including recommending a plugin to help with the migration). I even offer a $49 migration service if you want me to do it for you – no stress, no hidden fees.

Yes. Your website will meet WCAG’s current accessibility guidelines for ADA compliance, to ensure your content is accessible to all website visitors.

Nope. While there are many great WordPress plugins that have one-time or annual fees, the plugins I’ll install on your website will be free. (And I only choose plugins from reputable, solid vendors.) If you choose to add fee-based plugins, you will be responsible for paying any associated costs.

Unless you choose to add fee-based plugins, the only ongoing fees you’ll have for your website are your hosting charges and your annual domain name registration/renewal.

I’m Leslie Walters Smith, owner of Heron Design. (You can learn more about me on the Heron Design website here, and on LinkedIn here). I started my company in 2001, and since then I’ve built 200+ websites for small businesses and nonprofits. You can Google me – I’m very real and very committed to your success. In my personal life, I raised three boys who are now in their 20s, and I volunteer with several nonprofits in Chattanooga, mainly with organizations who support women and children.

I am a single-mom-turned-empty-nester who spends my free time advocating for women’s rights, so my focus is definitely on supporting busy moms and women solopreneurs. However, I’m happy to help any professional who needs a quick, no-hassle website!