Website Design and Development Agreement Template

What is a Website Design and Development Agreement?

Get a free Website Design and Development Agreement contract between a web developer and an individual or business in need of a new or redesigned website.

A business that requires a new website or a developer that provides a website development service needs a free Website Design and Development Agreement to set out the nature of the website, the ownership of the site, and the service expectations for both parties.

A Website Design and Development Agreement sets out the requirements of the website, the payment arrangements, and the rights and obligations of both sides.

What is the purpose of using a Website Design and Development Agreement?

Businesses or individuals use this agreement to hire a freelancer or an agency for providing Website design services. Having a well-drafted Website Design and Development Agreement in place will help both parties to ensure the work is completed according to the predefined norms and the payment has been paid accordingly.

Benefits of Website Design and Development Agreement

Having a web presence improves a business’s visibility in the online world but you do not want to have someone else’s website redesigned as yours. Hence a web design and development agreement ensures that you are able to get a unique product at the end of the day. Having an agreement in place ensures that you are hiring professionals who will get the job done. Moreover, it protects the confidential information of the hiring company by restricting the developers from sharing any kind of information related to the project with outsiders.

Most importantly, having a web design and development contract in place is a great way of protecting yourself legally. A contract ensures that both parties are well aware and clear about their responsibilities

What should be included in a Website Design and Development Agreement?

These are the important things that should be included in a Website Design and Development Agreement:

Parties’ information: Concise information about the parties involved should be clearly written down. This includes the date of contract, name, and address of both parties and a valid signature.

Description of the project: An overall description of the projects is very crucial to finish the project on time. For e.g.: The number of pages to include in a website, who is responsible for providing the content, logo, and overall looks and feel of the website is very important.

Payment detail: A clear breakdown of the payment including the hosting fees, any copyright images or videos, and web developer fees is essential to avoid any dispute in the future. There might be different payment arrangements like hourly basis or one-time project completion payment.

Intellectual property right: All the images, videos, and logos are the property of the client and are being used with proper rights.

Confidentiality: It is very important to maintain confidentiality because any information leak may cost huge damage to the client. The developer should not reveal the codes or algorithm of the website.

Revision detail & maintenance: How many revisions does a client is entitled for free and how much do they need to pay for each revision should be clearly mentioned in the website design and development agreement.

Timelines for milestones associated with the project: mention what the key milestones for your project will be and set a date on the project timeline about when you expect them to be completed.

Details of dispute resolution and contract termination: Your agreement should contain details of how a dispute will be resolved in case one arises. You should also mention how termination will take place if need be along with when it can be done and why and when a contract can be terminated. This is a crucial part of the agreement that should include all the details well.

Governing law: This section deals with the procedures that will be taken by both parties when conflicts or disputes arise. It allows the parties to choose the state and county laws that will be used to interpret the agreement. This section also allows the parties to seek equitable relief. For instance, any court remedies requiring a party to perform or refrain from performing certain acts for any violation of the agreement.

What is meant by acceptance testing?

Once the website designer has completed the design and development of the site in accordance with the project plan, the designer can invite customers to attend acceptance tests. These tests are for the purpose of further redevelopment of the website to ensure its quality, thus, the tests ought to be done from time to time. Such tests also act as a measure of customer satisfaction in using the website and changes can be done to maximize the quality and experience of the website.

Common mistakes to avoid in a web design and development agreement

Here are some things to look out for in a web design and development agreement.

Undefined scope of work: make sure the scope of your work is well defined. As clients make sure the work is getting done as promised. If you are undertaking a project, make sure you are not doing things that you haven’t agreed to.

Vague property rights: make sure the property rights are well defined. This can often lead to friction and misunderstandings mid-project. Set clear rules about the ownership of intellectual property.

Conclusion

A Website Design and Development Agreement is a legally binding agreement between two parties; i.e.; a website designer and business outlining the terms and conditions for delivering the website. It will also help to address the issues like poor requirements, late deliverables, revisions, and maintenance.

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Along with this document, make sure you see these other templates in our library:

• SaaS Agreement
• Freelance Agreement
• Software Development Agreement
• Fast Agreement
• Share Option Plan

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