Questions
A few straight answers.
How do I pay for a website?
Paid in full on completion, before it goes live. Every site we build comes with Top Tick Care ($249 a month + GST) from go-live. Cancel any time after the first month. Care covers hosting on an account in your name, backups, updates, an uptime watch, up to 30 minutes of changes a month and your Google listing. Your domain is included while you're with us, registered in your name. Once your website is paid in full, it's yours.
What if I only want my Google listing looked after?
That's Listing Basics: $99 a month + GST, plus a one-off setup of $299 + GST. It covers your Google listing only: 2 Google posts a month, up to 5 review replies a month (each one okayed by you first), hours (including public holidays) and photos kept right using photos you send us, watching for and fixing public edits, your review link and a QR card, and a short monthly email update. There's no website work. It's paid monthly, with a one-month minimum, then month to month. If you move up to Top Tick Care later, you don't pay the setup again. Sites we build come with Top Tick Care, so Listing Basics isn't for those.
What happens if I leave?
Just tell us, any time after the first month. Top Tick Care stops at the end of the month you've paid for. There's no exit fee, and part months aren't refunded. If we built your website and it's paid in full, it's yours. Your domain is in your name from day one, and hosting is included for sites we build, on an account in your name. So you just add your card, and from then on the hosting bill and the domain renewal come to you. If you already own a domain, we don't take it over. You can keep the site where it is or move it. We hand over the logins for free and remove our access, including on your Google listing, which stays yours. A website you've paid for in full is yours whatever happens with Top Tick Care: anything owed for Care is settled separately and never holds back your site. If part of your website price is still unpaid, we hand it over once that's settled. Third-party photos, fonts and other items keep their own licences.
Who owns my Google listing?
You do. You add us as a manager, and we'll send you a one-minute how-to. A manager can edit the listing and reply to reviews, but can't remove you or delete the listing. If you leave, you take us off and that's it. Google explains owners and managers here.
And no, we don't work for Google. Top Tick is independent.
Do you do SEO?
Yes, local SEO is included in Top Tick Care. We tidy your Google listing (categories, services, description, posts and photos), help keep real reviews coming in, and keep your business name, address and phone the same across the main directories. Where your website platform allows, we look after the page titles and descriptions, the business details Google reads behind the scenes, and wording that names your suburbs and services, and we check your site's speed and how it works on phones.
Listing Basics covers your Google listing only, which helps you show up in Google Maps. We don't run Google Ads or sell big content packages at this stage.
Can you get me to number one?
No one honestly can, and we'd be wary of anyone who says they can. Google decides who shows first, and says you can't pay it for a better spot. What we can do is keep your listing right and keep real reviews coming in.
What do you need from me?
A 15-minute chat to start, adding us as a manager on your listing, a few photos a month, and a yes or no on review replies.
What about a bad review?
We'll draft a calm reply and you decide whether it goes up. A fair bad review stays up; that's how Google works. If one breaks Google's rules, say it's fake or abusive, we'll report it for you.
And we'll never post reviews for you; only real customers can.
Do you work with online-only businesses?
No. Google only gives listings to businesses that customers can visit, or that travel to their customers. So this is for businesses with a shopfront or a service area. If you only sell online, we're not the right fit.
What if I don't have a Google listing yet?
First we'll check whether Google already has one for you, because it often does. If it does, you claim it. If someone else has it, you can ask Google to hand it over. If there's none, you set it up on your own Google account, so you're the owner from day one. Google picks how you verify, often a short video of your sign, van or tools, and we'll talk you through it by phone. Don't share Google's code with anyone, us included. Once you're verified, you add us as a manager.