A listing of the personal standards that we observe in our dealings with all our clients.

Website, SEO, and Marketing ethics are a complicated subject. There are many opinions, and many justifications for behaviors. What one company justifies as an acceptable course of action, may be loudly condemned by others. Our code of ethics is based on standards which give the most value and stability to the client, and the least degree of industry established risk.

We strive to provide the highest possible value, for the most reasonable price to our clients, in all areas of service. Because we provide services which cannot generally be guaranteed by predictable timelines or rapid cost/return evidences, there is a great deal of trust and judgment involved in evaluating outcomes. These standards cannot remove all doubts, nor can they eliminate the unpredictable nature of the results for the work we provide.

We commit unequivocally to the following set of standards:

We will not intentionally engage in any activity which causes harm to our client. We will not make recommendations for choices which will have a potential negative effect for our clients, without first ensuring that they have a reasonable understanding of what the risks of that effect are, and how it might influence their chance of success. We will not continue to use practices that are widely condemned in the industry as risky or harmful practices.

We will adhere to guidelines published by Search Engine Officials, for safe SEO practices. If we place elements on your page that are considered acceptable in the industry, and subsequent guidelines then declare those elements to be unacceptable, we will inform you of the change in a timely manner, and offer options for corrections. Because SEO is a hotly debated and often speculative field, we will rely on other published sources when their premise adheres to common sense, and when there is reasonable statistical or experiential evidence to suggest accuracy in the conclusions.

Insofar as it is appropriate to do so, we will leave all decision making authority in the hands of the client, and we will provide the necessary information and assistance so the business owner can make that choice with a full understanding of the ways in which the choice will affect long term performance and outcomes. There is a degree of personal judgment required in meeting this standard, but we will always strive to ensure that the client understands the choices they are making, to the best of our ability. This means, we will help to ensure that we respect your authority over the services we provide, and that we will assist you in obtaining the knowledge that you need to retain that authority in actuality, and not just in appearance.

We will be honest with you, and will not intentionally mislead you, or fail to inform you of things you need to know in order to make the best choices for your business. We know that the services we provide involve highly technical skills and knowledge, and that they use a language of their own which is difficult for many people to truly understand. We will not take advantage of your lack of experience with these aspects, but will do our best to communicate the issues effectively to you.

We will perpetuate the highest standards of integrity and honesty in all elements that we provide or encourage in your website. People who visit your site will not be mislead, nor will there be any intent to manipulate search engine results. Marketing messages and SEO will be accomplished with the goal of providing accurate information, and not of deception or manipulation.

We will respect copyright laws, and help you to ensure that your site complies with industry standards, and with legal issues which pertain specifically to internet marketing, to the best of our ability and understanding. We will not knowingly recommend a course of action which might be potentially libelous, or cause unacceptable liability, or create legal problems for you.

We will be open and honest with you about our background and experience. We will not misrepresent our references, and if we have not completed a specific type of work successfully prior to our discussions with you, we will inform you of that fact.

We will not misrepresent the amount of work that will be required from you, in order to complete the tasks in a satisfactory and timely manner. Most first time site owners are unprepared for the amount of information and input that they must provide. We will help you to know what your responsibilities are in the process.

We will not make promises that we do not have a reasonable expectation of being able to deliver on. If we promise a result in 24 hours, you will get the result within the stated time, unless there have been unforeseen events which were beyond our control. We do not overbook our time, nor do we make promises just to get a contract.

We will honor our confidentiality promises, and we will be completely fair to you when we have two clients who may be competitors. In our professional arena, we frequently work for clients who are competitors. When we do this, we give each the full benefit of our knowledge, and do not ever place the success of one as a higher priority than the success of another. We also do not ever share confidential business information, whether there is an issue of competition or not.

We will not make a recommendation for you which we do not fully believe will be to your benefit. We have never recommended a particular service or product just so we could sell another item. If we cannot fully justify and explain the benefit to you, we will not recommend it.

We will inform you clearly of any necessary or helpful elements which are NOT included in our contract with you. We promise that you will not be left at the end of the job, with features or elements missing that you need in order for the work that we did to benefit you. For example, we will not build you a site that is not registered with the search engines, or that is missing elements that are necessary for it to do what we said it would.

We will help you to consider long term as well as short term cost containment, maintenance, and ease of growth and expansion. Many long term options take no more time or money initially, but can have a huge impact on long term costs and work required. As we provide services for you, we will be mindful of your ability to sustain the benefits long term, not just while we are being paid for the job at hand.

We will keep your needs, and your best interests, at the forefront of all our recommendations and objectives. We will place the wellbeing of the client above our personal desires for making money, and will do our level best to be fair and honest with our clients at all times.

We will honor our guarantees in the most liberal manner possible. We offer many types of satisfaction guarantees which are very subjective for the client. We realize that your satisfaction is dependent on our ability to understand your needs and wishes, and we are committed to taking the time and effort to ensure that we reflect your business standards and image in all that we do on your behalf.

We will not accept a job which we cannot honorably perform, or which violates our personal integrity, health, safety, or moral standards. We maintain the highest standards of ethics within our industry, and will not violate those standards, even at the request of a client. We will not engage in any practice which we feel is unfair to you, or which compromises your ability to succeed, even if you feel it is acceptable to do so. We will not assist any business owner in promoting the sale or distribution of products or services which we feel will have a negative influence on society.

Certified and agreed to by the Design Team at Firelight Web Studio:

Laura Wheeler - Principle Designer and Technical Manager
Kevin Wheeler - Financial and Office Manager and Marketing Assistant
David Wheeler - Design and Technical Assistant
Erik Wheeler - Technical Assistant
Adriene Wheeler - Technical Assistant
Elizabeth Wheeler - Design Assistant