LocalForge Terms of Service

1. Services

LocalForge may provide services including:

• Website design
• Website development
• Website redesign
• Search engine optimization
• Local SEO
• Content creation
• Website hosting
• Website maintenance
• Conversion optimization
• Analytics implementation
• Lead tracking
• Technical SEO
• Website consulting
• Related digital services

The exact scope, deliverables, pricing, timeline, and responsibilities for a customer project may be defined in a separate proposal, statement of work, service agreement, or order.

2. No Guarantee of Results

LocalForge does not guarantee specific:

• Search engine rankings
• Website traffic
• Leads
• Sales
• Revenue
• Conversion rates
• Google Business Profile rankings
• Advertising results
• Search engine indexation
• Business performance

Search engines, advertising platforms, algorithms, competitors, consumer behavior, and other third-party systems are outside LocalForge's control.

SEO and digital marketing involve uncertainty.

Any examples, estimates, projections, case studies, or past results are provided for informational purposes and do not guarantee future performance.

3. Search Engine Changes

Search engines may change algorithms, policies, ranking systems, indexing systems, or technical requirements at any time.

LocalForge is not responsible for traffic or ranking changes caused by search-engine updates, penalties resulting from activities outside LocalForge's control, competitor activity, changes made by customers or third parties, or other external factors.

4. Client Responsibilities

Customers are responsible for providing information, materials, approvals, credentials, access, and feedback reasonably necessary to complete their projects.

This may include:

• Business information
• Logos
• Images
• Service information
• Pricing information
• Testimonials
• Website credentials
• Domain access
• Hosting access
• Analytics access
• Google Business Profile access
• Legal disclosures
• Required licenses or regulatory information

Project timelines may be extended when required information or approvals are delayed.

Customers are responsible for ensuring that information they provide is accurate and that they have the legal right to use materials supplied to LocalForge.

5. Customer Content

Customers represent that they own or have appropriate rights and permissions to use all content, trademarks, photographs, videos, logos, documents, and other materials supplied to LocalForge.

Customers agree not to provide material that infringes intellectual property rights, violates privacy rights, is unlawful, defamatory, deceptive, or otherwise violates applicable law.

6. Intellectual Property and Website Ownership

Ownership of final website deliverables should be specified in the applicable proposal, statement of work, or service agreement.

Unless otherwise agreed in writing, LocalForge retains ownership of its pre-existing intellectual property, including reusable:

• Code
• Components
• Templates
• Design systems
• Processes
• Frameworks
• Software
• Internal tools
• Automation systems
• Methodologies
• Know-how

A customer's rights to final project-specific deliverables will be governed by the applicable project agreement and may be conditioned upon full payment of all amounts due.

Third-party software, fonts, images, plugins, APIs, libraries, platforms, and other licensed materials remain subject to their respective licenses and terms.

7. Portfolio Rights

Unless otherwise agreed in writing, customers grant LocalForge permission to display publicly available portions of completed work for portfolio, case-study, marketing, and promotional purposes.

LocalForge will not knowingly disclose confidential customer information solely for portfolio purposes.

Customers requiring confidentiality should notify LocalForge before the project begins and ensure that confidentiality requirements are included in the applicable written agreement.

8. Fees and Payment

Fees will be specified in the applicable pricing page, proposal, invoice, order, statement of work, or service agreement.

Unless otherwise agreed in writing, project work may require an initial payment before work begins.

For split-payment projects, remaining amounts may be required before final launch, transfer, or delivery.

LocalForge may pause work or withhold final delivery when invoices are past due, subject to applicable law and the applicable agreement.

Customers are responsible for applicable taxes unless otherwise stated.

9. Deposits and Project Payments

Project payments compensate LocalForge for reserved capacity and work performed.

The refundability of deposits, retainers, milestone payments, and other project fees will be governed by the applicable project agreement.

Customers should review project-specific cancellation and refund provisions before making payment.

10. Recurring Services

Certain LocalForge services may be offered on a recurring monthly or other periodic basis.

Examples may include:

• Hosting
• Maintenance
• SEO
• Content
• Reporting
• Performance monitoring
• Website updates

The applicable agreement will specify recurring pricing, billing frequency, included services, cancellation requirements, and other material terms.

Where required by law, LocalForge will provide applicable recurring-billing disclosures and obtain required authorization.

11. Cancellation

Cancellation rights and obligations for paid services will be governed by the applicable project or recurring-service agreement.

Cancellation does not automatically entitle a customer to a refund for work already performed, expenses incurred, reserved capacity, completed milestones, or previously billed service periods, except where required by law or expressly stated in the applicable agreement.

12. Hosting and Third-Party Platforms

LocalForge may use third-party providers for:

• Hosting
• Domains
• Databases
• Email
• Analytics
• Payment processing
• Content management
• APIs
• Website infrastructure
• Other technology services

LocalForge cannot guarantee uninterrupted availability of third-party services.

LocalForge is not responsible for outages, policy changes, service discontinuations, security incidents, account suspensions, price increases, or other events caused by third-party providers outside LocalForge's reasonable control.

13. Domains

Unless otherwise specified in writing, customers are encouraged to own and maintain control over their primary domain registration.

Customers are responsible for maintaining accurate domain registration information and paying applicable renewal fees unless LocalForge expressly agrees to manage those services.

LocalForge is not responsible for domain loss caused by customer nonpayment, expired registration, inaccurate registration information, registrar actions, or circumstances outside LocalForge's reasonable control.

14. Website Maintenance

Websites may require ongoing updates, maintenance, security monitoring, content updates, software updates, or other services after launch.

Unless expressly included in a purchased package or ongoing service agreement, post-launch maintenance is not automatically included.

15. Revisions and Scope Changes

Projects may include a specified number of revision rounds.

Requests outside the agreed scope, including additional pages, functionality, integrations, redesigns, or revision rounds, may require additional fees and timeline adjustments.

LocalForge will endeavor to communicate material scope changes before performing additional billable work.

16. Project Timelines

Any project timeline is an estimate unless expressly guaranteed in writing.

Timelines may be affected by:

• Customer response times
• Delayed approvals
• Scope changes
• Third-party integrations
• Technical issues
• Hosting or domain issues
• Unforeseen development requirements
• Events outside LocalForge's reasonable control

LocalForge is not responsible for delays caused by the customer's failure to provide required materials, approvals, credentials, or feedback.

17. Website Content and Legal Compliance

LocalForge may assist with website content, design, and technical implementation but does not provide legal advice unless expressly stated otherwise by a properly qualified professional.

Customers are ultimately responsible for ensuring their business and website comply with laws and regulations applicable to their industry, location, products, and services.

This may include requirements concerning:

• Privacy
• Accessibility
• Advertising
• Professional licensing
• Industry disclosures
• Consumer protection
• Email marketing
• Text-message marketing
• Intellectual property
• Cookies and tracking technologies
• Terms and conditions

Customers should obtain professional legal advice when appropriate.

18. Accessibility

LocalForge may use reasonable design and development practices intended to improve website accessibility.

However, unless expressly agreed in writing, LocalForge does not guarantee compliance with any particular accessibility law, regulation, technical standard, or accessibility level.

Customers with specific accessibility requirements should communicate those requirements before the project begins.

19. Backups and Data

Where backups are included in a purchased service, LocalForge may maintain backups according to the applicable service configuration.

No backup system is infallible.

Customers should maintain independent copies of important business information and content where appropriate.

20. Prohibited Uses

You may not use LocalForge's website or services to:

• Violate applicable law
• Infringe intellectual property rights
• Distribute malware or malicious code
• Attempt unauthorized access to systems or accounts
• Conduct fraudulent or deceptive activities
• Interfere with website security
• Scrape or extract protected content in violation of applicable law or contractual restrictions
• Impersonate another person or business
• Use LocalForge services for unlawful activities

LocalForge may suspend or terminate services when reasonably necessary to address prohibited or unlawful activity, subject to applicable agreements and law.

21. Confidentiality

Where LocalForge receives non-public business information in connection with a project, LocalForge will use reasonable measures to protect such information and use it for legitimate project and business purposes.

Additional confidentiality obligations may be established through a separate written agreement.

22. Disclaimer of Warranties

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE LOCALFORGE WEBSITE AND SERVICES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE,” EXCEPT FOR EXPRESS WARRANTIES CONTAINED IN A SEPARATE WRITTEN AGREEMENT.

LOCALFORGE DISCLAIMS IMPLIED WARRANTIES TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

Nothing in these Terms excludes warranties or rights that cannot legally be excluded.

23. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, LOCALFORGE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS, LOST REVENUE, LOST BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES, LOST DATA, OR LOSS OF GOODWILL ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE WEBSITE OR SERVICES.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, LOCALFORGE'S AGGREGATE LIABILITY ARISING FROM A PARTICULAR PAID SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT PAID TO LOCALFORGE FOR THAT SERVICE DURING THE PERIOD SPECIFIED IN THE APPLICABLE AGREEMENT.

Some jurisdictions do not permit certain limitations of liability, so some limitations may not apply.

24. Indemnification

To the extent permitted by applicable law, customers agree to indemnify and hold harmless LocalForge and its owners, employees, contractors, and agents from third-party claims arising from customer-provided materials, unlawful customer activity, infringement caused by materials supplied by the customer, or the customer's violation of applicable law or these Terms.

Specific indemnification obligations may be further defined in a separate service agreement.

25. Force Majeure

LocalForge will not be responsible for delays or failures caused by events outside its reasonable control, including natural disasters, internet outages, utility failures, cyberattacks, government actions, labor disruptions, third-party platform failures, or other force majeure events.

26. Termination

LocalForge may suspend or terminate access to services for material breach, unlawful activity, nonpayment, security concerns, or other grounds specified in an applicable service agreement.

Rights and obligations that by their nature should survive termination will survive, including applicable payment obligations, intellectual property provisions, disclaimers, limitations of liability, and dispute provisions.

27. Governing Law

Unless otherwise required by applicable law or specified in a separate written agreement, these Terms will be governed by the laws of the State of Colorado, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.

28. Disputes

Before initiating formal legal proceedings, the parties are encouraged to attempt in good faith to resolve disputes through direct communication.

Any specific arbitration, mediation, venue, attorney-fee, jury-waiver, or dispute-resolution provisions should be established in the applicable customer service agreement after appropriate legal review.

29. Changes to These Terms

LocalForge may update these Terms periodically.

Updated Terms will be posted with a revised effective date.

Changes will apply prospectively except where otherwise permitted or required by law.

30. Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with any applicable proposal, statement of work, order form, invoice terms, service agreement, privacy policy, or other incorporated agreement, constitute the applicable agreement between LocalForge and the customer concerning the relevant services.

31. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is determined to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in effect to the extent permitted by law.

32. Contact

Questions concerning these Terms may be directed to: