Clear terms. Clean work.
These Terms explain the baseline rules for HOTTTdesign’s website and professional services. A signed proposal, statement of work, order, contract or other written agreement may add to or replace specific parts of these Terms for a particular project.
When these Terms apply
These Terms apply to use of the HOTTTdesign website and, unless a separate written agreement states otherwise, to professional services supplied by HOTTTdesign to business clients.
Project-specific documents such as proposals, statements of work, estimates, orders, contracts or written email approvals form part of the agreement. If they conflict with these Terms, the project-specific document takes priority for that project.
How projects are defined
HOTTTdesign may provide web development, UX/UI and digital design, SEO, analytics, automation, AI integrations, paid advertising, research, technical implementation and related consulting.
Scope, deliverables, timing, dependencies, review rounds, fees and acceptance criteria should be defined in the applicable proposal or statement of work. Requests outside the agreed scope may require a revised estimate, timeline or separate approval.
Timelines depend on timely access, feedback, approvals, source materials and third-party systems. Dates may move where a dependency outside HOTTTdesign’s reasonable control is delayed.
What clients are responsible for
- Providing accurate information, lawful content and the access required for the agreed work.
- Confirming that they have the rights and permissions needed for supplied trademarks, images, data, advertising accounts and other materials.
- Reviewing approvals, legal claims, prices, offers and regulated content before publication where the client is responsible for them.
- Protecting their own credentials and promptly revoking access when it is no longer appropriate.
- Paying third-party platform, media, hosting, domain, API, software and advertising costs unless expressly included in HOTTTdesign’s fee.
Fees, invoices & expenses
Fees, deposits, billing frequency, payment dates and included expenses are set out in the applicable proposal, order or agreement.
Unless expressly stated otherwise, third-party costs such as advertising spend, cloud infrastructure, software subscriptions, stock assets, hosting, domains and external licenses are separate from HOTTTdesign service fees.
Where payment is overdue, HOTTTdesign may pause affected work or delivery after reasonable notice, subject to any different terms in the applicable agreement.
Google Ads and authorized account management
HOTTTdesign may audit or manage Google Ads and other advertising accounts only where the client or account owner has authorized the required access.
HOTTTdesign Ads Control is an internal agency tool. It may support reporting, campaign analysis and controlled management of campaigns, ad groups, ads, keywords, negative keywords and budgets for authorized accounts.
Clients remain responsible for their advertising account ownership, payment methods, platform charges, business claims, product availability, legal compliance and final business decisions unless a written agreement assigns a specific responsibility to HOTTTdesign.
Platform policies, auctions, algorithms, attribution systems, moderation and account decisions are controlled by the relevant third-party platform. HOTTTdesign cannot guarantee platform approval, uninterrupted access, a particular ad position, cost per click, conversion rate or return on advertising spend.
Intellectual property
Each party keeps ownership of intellectual property it owned before the project or developed independently of the project.
Ownership or license terms for project deliverables are defined in the applicable proposal or agreement. Unless otherwise agreed, transfer of agreed final deliverables is conditional on payment of the corresponding fees.
HOTTTdesign retains ownership of reusable methods, internal tools, frameworks, know-how, libraries, workflows, templates and non-client-specific components, while granting any project license needed for the delivered work as stated in the applicable agreement.
Third-party fonts, software, APIs, stock assets and open-source components remain subject to their own licenses.
Non-public information
Each party should protect non-public business, technical and commercial information received from the other party and use it only for the relevant work, except where disclosure is authorized, already public through no breach, independently developed or legally required.
Credentials, API keys, access tokens and private account information should be treated as confidential and shared only through an appropriate secure channel.
Third-party services
Projects may rely on Google, Meta, hosting providers, analytics services, payment services, APIs, plugins, open-source software and other third-party systems. Their availability, policies, pricing and functionality may change independently of HOTTTdesign.
HOTTTdesign is not responsible for outages, suspension, policy changes, data loss or other failures caused solely by third-party services outside HOTTTdesign’s reasonable control, although we may assist with diagnosis or remediation where included in scope.
No guaranteed commercial outcome
HOTTTdesign performs agreed services with professional care, but digital performance depends on factors including market demand, competition, client decisions, product quality, pricing, website conditions, advertising platforms and user behavior.
Unless expressly guaranteed in a signed written agreement, forecasts, projections, audits, scores, SEO expectations, conversion estimates and advertising recommendations are professional estimates rather than promises of a specific commercial outcome.
Liability
Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot legally be excluded. Subject to that limitation and any project-specific agreement, each party remains responsible for losses directly caused by its breach, negligence, unlawful conduct or misuse of credentials.
To the extent permitted by applicable law, HOTTTdesign is not responsible for indirect or consequential losses, lost profits, lost opportunities or platform decisions outside its reasonable control.
Any project-specific limitation of liability stated in a signed agreement takes priority over this general section.
Suspension & termination
Either party may end a project according to the termination terms in the applicable proposal or agreement. If none are stated, either party may end ongoing services by reasonable written notice.
Fees for work completed, approved third-party costs and other amounts already due remain payable. HOTTTdesign may revoke its access to client systems and the client should revoke HOTTTdesign access when the engagement ends.
Sections that by their nature should continue after termination, including confidentiality, ownership, payment obligations and applicable liability provisions, remain effective.
Applicable law & disputes
The governing law, venue or dispute-resolution process may be specified in the applicable client agreement. Where no different written agreement applies, these Terms are interpreted under the laws applicable to HOTTTdesign’s place of establishment, subject to mandatory laws that cannot be excluded.
Before starting formal proceedings, the parties should first make a reasonable good-faith attempt to resolve a dispute directly.