• Search Engine Optimization
• Web Design
• Video
• Marketing/Branding
• Our Blog
• Contact Us

A. Search Engine Optimization & Internet Marketing –The client, in consultation with our representative, will agree on one or more ‘Keyword Phrases’ depending on which package you've purchased, for which your website will be optimized. Our goal is always to have your website on Page One of Google, Yahoo and Bing.

1. Charges for Time - The only commodity we have to sell is our expertise and time, and we must charge for them. Marketing advice and suggestions by phone or email are considered Marketing Consulting and will be charged at the same rate as Search Engine Optimization. Each of our SEO Discounted Plans includes a specific number of hours for SEO work and Marketing Consulting as shown on our homepage. Time over that will be charged at your SEO Package rate per hour. Clients feel this price is extremely reasonable for what they receive.

2. Writing Your Blog Entries, Social Media websites, and Articles - We can do all these services for you in your voice and in a professional manner, but they take time and would require the purchase of one of our higher SEO Packages such as the Star, Nova , or Constellation. For the Platinum and Diamond packages we can set up your Blog and Social Media Accounts and coach you or your staff on what to write about and how to do it, but these SEO packages generally do not allow us the time to write your entries for you. The Silver and Gold SEO packages may or may not allow us the time to set up these accounts for you depending on what other SEO services you require. We can talk about that once we've analyzed your site and made our recommendations.

3. Completion Time – We are working to make sure the money you spend on SEO is the best money you’ve ever spent, but it has to be done right. The first stage of SEO work is an analysis of your website to see what’s required to make it search engine friendly, analysis of your competitions’ websites to see what we need to do to get above them, research on the best keyword phrases for you, and providing you with comprehensive recommendations regarding all aspects of your Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimization. This first stage may take 2 to 4 weeks.

4. Timeline for Results – SEO work is not an instant process. If you have a large website even the process of making it search engine friendly can sometimes take weeks. Some work to increase your rankings can be done before your website is search engine friendly, but a great percentage of the SEO cannot be done until it is. Also, Google does not like too much to happen to your website and your external links too fast. They like things to appear as if they’re happening naturally. If things happen too fast they penalize your rankings, so we can’t do too much too fast. Another factor is your competitive situation. If you are in a large market or competing for quite general keywords, naturally it will take more work and more time to achieve good results, sometimes a number of months. As mentioned above, we believe the money you spend on SEO will be the best money you’ve ever spent, but it sometimes takes a little time to start bringing in results.
   

5. Price Protection - We guarantee your price will not increase for at least one full year from the original contract date. The large first month’s payment is due only in the first year.

6. Prior Client Approval – Before any changes are made to your website we will review it thoroughly and provide our recommendations for your approval or further discussion.

7. The Google Dance – During the first few months your rankings on Google may vary greatly from day to day and even from hour to hour before they settle down. This is called the “Google Dance” and is very common.

8. Payment – We require the first month's payment before work begins, and each month's payment from your credit card automatically on the 28th of each month for at least 11 months, and continuing as long as you are happy with our service.

9. Third Party Expenses –Payments to third party service providers are extra, such as some important internet directories and press release distribution companies. They bill you for these services directly. All third party expenses will be approved by you in advance.

10. Upgrading SEO Packages – UUpgrading can be done at any time by paying the difference in the first month’s payment of the new SEO package from the one you initially purchased, and then paying the new package monthly price after that.  

11. Monthly Report – All of our SEO customers receive a monthly report on their current rankings on the major search engines in the first week of each month.

12. Continuity – The first month of our Discounted SEO Packages is discounted because the next 11 months run continually. Customers buying Discounted SEO Packages are responsible for the complete first year's payments. After the first year, SEO packages can be changed or cancelled at any time with 30 days written notice. In subsequent years only the monthly charge is applicable.

13. Links to Your Website –– Please do not arrange for links to your website without having us verify them in advance. We cannot be responsible for the ranking of your website if you do. Search engines, especially Google, will penalize your ranking if you have a link farm linking to your website, and may even put you on their Black List which means they won’t include your website in their listings at all. If you have questionable links we’ll have to verify each one as the first step of our SEO services.

14. Link To Our Website–We request you allow us to put a couple of sentences of text that contains a link to our website in an unobtrusive place in the body text at the bottom of your homepage or another prominent page on your site.

B. Website Design, Print Design, Logo Design, Animation, Video, Email Marketing, Custom CD/DVD Presentations, E-Commerce, and Custom PHP & MySQL DataBase Work

1. Input From Client – The client has final say on all decisions for the website. And at the same time we hope you will seriously consider our recommendations. We are professionals with a proven track record. All of our decisions about your website are made with your interests in mind. If you succeed, we succeed.

2. 100% Money-Back Guarantee on Website Design – If you’re not happy with ‘the look’ we recommend for your new website, at our discretion we will either keep on working until you are, or return your payment in full.

3. Length of Pages – When charging by the page our prices are based on web pages of about 3 or 4 photos and 300 to 400 words of text. If your web pages require more content extra charges may apply.

4. Files Provided By Client – For Package A websites, after we agree on how many pages and the names of the pages, we need to receive the photos and text that will go on each page before work can begin on those pages.

5. Right to Use Files –We assume that you have the legal right to use all the materials you provide for your project. We request that you hold Standard Marketing Ltd, Standard Marketing & Graphics, Standard Graphics, as well as our staff blameless for copyright infringement or other penalties arising from use of materials you authorize or suggest for your project.

6. Changing or Adding New Features –Our proposals are based specifically on the number of hours we estimate your project will take to complete, depending on our conversations with you to that point. If features are added or changed after our proposal has been accepted extra charges will apply.

7. Assumption of Normal Conditions –Our estimates assume conditions are normal, for example, that your existing files are up-to-date and well maintained. If we come to an abnormal situation after the project has started we will quickly contact you to explain the situation. Extra charges will be required depending on how long the additional work takes to complete.

8. Viewing Work In Progress – For most of our design and production services you will be able to view your work in progress on a private page on one of our websites. We’ll send you the link by email. For print projects we'll send a low res pdf by email as proof.

9. Delivery – Package A websites can usually be completed in 2 to 4 weeks depending on the availability of text, photos, and graphics from you, as well as your availability for approving work.

   Package B websites can usually be completed in 3 to 6 weeks depending on your availability for discussion, decisions, and approval of work in progress.

   Larger websites start with presentation and approval of the design within 5 business days. Then you and I discuss and decide what features your website should have. For example if your project involves a shopping cart, some options might be direct calculations of UPS shipping charges, discount coupons, limited time offers, a customer wish list, etc. When we know exactly what features and functions your website will have we can give you a more accurate estimate on the cost and completion date.

10. Link To Our Website –We request you allow us to put a couple of sentences of text that contains a link to our website in an unobtrusive place at the bottom of the body text of your homepage, or another prominent page on your website.

11. Two Design Revisions on Projects Other Than Websites – After discussions with you we will present either a non-functioning mock-up, or a detailed written description of the look and function. After approval by email from you and completion of the first draft of the project, two minor revisions, if necessary, will be done at no charge. Additional revisions are charged at $85 an hour. Please be assured that a situation like this almost never arises.

12. Payment –For projects under $2,000 a 50% deposit is required before work begins, with the balance due when the work is complete and you’re happy, but before delivery. For larger projects we take a deposit of $1,000 and then installments at previously agreed upon milestones during production. We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, PayPal, Cash, and Cheque. Work can begin as soon as we receive your deposit.

13. Termination– We reserve the right to terminate work on your project at any time without cause. If this situation ever arises we would charge only for work performed to date.

C. Chinese Translation. Layout & Design.– We need to see the document to be translated before we can provide an estimate of the cost.

1. Source Documents For Translation Only – For translation we require a plain text or Microsoft Word document. Extra charges will apply if we have to type the text to be translated from a fax or image file. We require legible, clearly written documents as well as documentation pertaining to the subject matter such as glossaries or previously translated files to ensure consistency in terminology. If the text to be translated is technical in nature our translation fee will increase to reflect the additional expertise required for a qualified translator in your field, and research time required if any. The original format of the document will be kept as much as possible.

2. Layout– Most of our customers ask us to do the layout for their Chinese brochures. This is because Chinese text is a different shape than English text. It is taller and thinner and will require subtle but important adjustments to your layout. Also, the same Chinese character can have very different meanings depending on which other characters it is beside. This means line breaks are very important to the meaning of the text. In addition we have a wide selection of Chinese fonts, both Traditional and Simplified in order to provide an aesthetically pleasing end result. We do very good layout work. All of our customers have been pleased with the overall look and the attention to detail.

3. Source Documents for Layout – For layout work we require either an Adobe Illustrator file, an editable “Press Quality” pdf, an eps file, or InDesign file including all fonts and linked files. Fonts do not need to be supplied if they have been converted into paths or outlines. Linked files should be 300 dpi, CMYK. We can charge you less if all the text to be translated is on a separate layer. Files larger than 3 Megs should be sent using the free website www.yousendit.com to our email address info@standardmarketing.ca.

4. Confidentiality– All information submitted shall be confidential. No information will be disclosed to other parties other than to those employees or contractors directly involved in the translation process.

5. Client Revisions – If you wish to revise our translation we will make every effort to accommodate you, but cannot be responsible for the effectiveness of the translation. No refunds will be issued.

6. Viewing of Proof –We will send you a low resolution pdf proof by email when work is complete. When you are happy with the work and full payment has been received we will send a high resolution pdf file that any printer can use, or an Illustrator or InDesign file, whichever you prefer.

7. Payment–We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and PayPal. For projects under $500 we require full payment in advance. For larger projects we take 50% in advance with the balance before delivery when you’re happy with our work.

8. Cancellation Fee –Once an estimate has been approved and work has begun, a cancellation fee will be charged according to the amount of work done at the time of cancellation.

9. Legal Contracts–Our translators are highly skilled and write beautiful Chinese, however, they are NOT accredited to translate legal contracts.

D. Rush Orders –We charge a 50% premium for rush orders on all projects. Usually a rush order is any project with a deadline under 5 working days. We are happy to have the business, but please understand we are very busy and accepting a rush order means we have to stop work in progress for a number of other clients, muster and reorganize our people and resources onto different tracks.

E. Cancellation – We charge only for out-of-pocket expenses and work that has been done to date. If the project is cancelled for any reason before work has begun we charge only 5% of the value of the project.