Frequently Asked Questions

Click the "Start Free Trial" button on our homepage or pricing page. You'll need to provide your email, create a password, and enter your business name. No credit card is required, and you'll have instant access to all features for 14 days.

No, we don't require a credit card to start your 14-day free trial. You can explore all features without any payment information.

Most tradespeople complete their initial setup in under 30 minutes. You can add your business details, upload your logo, select a theme, and start adding project photos immediately.

After your 14-day trial ends, you'll need to select a paid plan to continue using Site Seedling. We'll send you reminders before your trial expires, and your content will be saved for 30 days if you need more time to decide.

We offer professionally designed themes specifically for tradespeople including Trusted Tradesman (clean and professional), Skyline Pro (bold design for builders), Smart Heating (modern look for gas engineers), and more. All themes are fully responsive and look great on mobile devices.

Yes! You can customise colours, upload your logo, and adjust branding elements. Higher-tier plans offer additional customisation options including custom fonts and advanced layout controls.

All plans include unlimited team members. Each member can have their own profile with photo, biography, qualifications, and specialisations.

Yes, custom domains are available on higher-tier plans. We'll provide instructions for pointing your domain to your Site Seedling website, and we handle all the technical setup.

Every website includes enterprise-grade SEO: Schema.org structured data for rich search results, XML sitemaps, optimised meta tags, mobile-responsive design, fast page loading, and clean URL structure. Higher-tier plans include advanced analytics integration.

Yes, Site Seedling makes it easy to display your trade certifications including Gas Safe registration, NICEIC, NAPIT, TrustMark, Checkatrade, and other accreditations. Showing your qualifications builds customer trust and helps you win more work.

We take data protection seriously. All data is encrypted in transit and at rest, stored in UK-based secure servers, and backed up daily. We're fully GDPR compliant and follow industry best practices for security.

Yes, Site Seedling is fully GDPR compliant. We include cookie consent management, privacy policy tools, data retention controls, and make it easy for you to handle data subject requests.

All data is stored on secure servers in the United Kingdom, ensuring compliance with UK data protection laws and providing fast access for UK visitors.

We offer 2 plans: Starter (£47/month), Pro (£77/month). All plans include core features. View our pricing page for a detailed comparison.

Yes, you can upgrade or downgrade your plan at any time. Upgrades take effect immediately, and downgrades take effect at the end of your current billing period.

Yes! Save 10% by choosing annual billing instead of monthly. Annual plans are paid upfront but offer significant savings over the year.

We accept all major credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express) processed securely through Stripe. Direct debit is available for annual plans.

You can cancel anytime. Your website will remain active until the end of your paid period. We'll provide an export of your content, and your data is retained for 30 days in case you change your mind.

No, there are no setup fees, onboarding fees, or hidden charges. You only pay the monthly or annual subscription fee for your chosen plan.

All plans include email support with responses within 24 hours. Higher-tier plans include priority support with faster response times.

Our support team is available Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm GMT. We aim to respond to all enquiries within 24 hours, with priority support customers receiving faster responses.

Yes, we provide video tutorials, written guides, and webinars to help you get the most from Site Seedling. Higher-tier plan customers can arrange dedicated training sessions.

Log into your account, go to Billing settings, and select "Change Plan". Choose your new plan, and the upgrade will take effect immediately. You'll only be charged the prorated difference for the current billing period.

Yes, you can export your content at any time from your account dashboard. We provide exports in multiple formats: JSON for structured data (ideal for migration to other platforms), CSV for spreadsheet-compatible data (team members, services, contacts), and HTML for static page content. Images and media files are downloadable as a ZIP archive. There's no lock-in - your data is always yours.

We provide professionally written content templates for services, FAQs, team bios, and more. These templates are designed specifically for your profession and can be used as-is to get your website live quickly, or customised to reflect your unique business.

No, using our templates will not harm your search rankings. Here's why: Most local professional services websites aren't competing against large national businesses with substantial marketing budgets. Your primary goal is establishing a professional online presence so potential clients can find you and verify your credentials. Having a well-structured website with clear service descriptions is far better for your business than having no website at all. Our templates provide a solid foundation that you can personalise over time as your business grows. Many successful businesses start with template content and gradually update their services, FAQs, and team pages to highlight what makes them unique.

Absolutely! All template content is fully editable. You can modify your service descriptions, add your own FAQs, write personalised team biographies, and tailor everything to reflect your unique expertise and approach. We encourage you to personalise your content over time as it helps differentiate your business.

Using our templates, you can have a professional website live within minutes. Simply enter your business details, select a theme, and choose which template content to use. You can then refine and personalise your content at your own pace while your website is already working for you.

We take subdomain security seriously. When you register a subdomain (e.g., your-business.siteseedling.com), it becomes exclusively yours for as long as you're subscribed. Even if you cancel, we reserve your subdomain for 90 days to protect your brand, SEO rankings, and customer trust. This prevents anyone else from claiming your subdomain and potentially misdirecting your customers or hijacking the reputation you've built.

If you cancel your subscription, your subdomain enters a 90-day protection period. During this time, it cannot be registered by anyone else, giving you time to reconsider, allowing DNS caches to expire, and protecting your existing SEO value and customer bookmarks. After 90 days, if you don't return, the subdomain may become available for new customers. We also retain your content for 30 days in case you change your mind.

Over time, your subdomain becomes a valuable business asset. Search engines index it, customers bookmark it, directories link to it, and your marketing materials reference it. Without protection, a bad actor could immediately claim your subdomain after cancellation and exploit your hard-earned reputation, potentially phishing your customers or damaging your brand. Our 90-day reservation prevents this type of subdomain takeover attack.

Yes! Higher-tier plans include custom domain support. You can use your own domain (e.g., www.yourbusiness.co.uk) while still benefiting from our platform. We verify domain ownership before activation to ensure security, and we'll guide you through the simple DNS configuration process.

When you add a custom domain, we provide you with DNS records to add to your domain registrar. Once you've added these records, we automatically verify that you control the domain before activating it on your website. This verification process prevents unauthorised use of domains and ensures only legitimate domain owners can use them with Site Seedling.

Yes, absolutely. All Site Seedling websites use HTTPS encryption (SSL/TLS) by default, ensuring all data transmitted between your visitors and your website is encrypted. We also encrypt data at rest, perform regular security audits, keep all software updated, and follow industry best practices for web application security. Your business data and your customers' information are protected with enterprise-grade security.