Before choosing a business website
Small-business website costs and scope.
Compare the website, the ongoing care and the customer handoff together. CityApollo Website & Care is one defined package: $3,000 setup and $497 per month, including an inbound voice receptionist. Phone and messaging usage is included.
A practical buying guide for owners.
Bring your current setup and real requirements.
One core package
What does the $3,000 setup cover?
The initial project covers one business, one location and one primary customer journey, with up to 35 useful pages in an agreed initial sitemap. The page plan follows your actual services and the information customers need before contacting you. A page allowance is not a reason to publish empty city or service variations.
We agree the content responsibilities, supported integrations, inquiry fields, inbound voice answers, handoff route and launch acceptance checks before work begins. Suitable standard booking can be part of that agreed journey after we confirm platform and operational fit.
The setup payment is $1,500 to start and $1,500 at launch acceptance. Monthly service starts at launch. If delivery is phased, the remaining pages and milestones need a written schedule.
Ongoing care
What does the $497 monthly service cover?
The monthly package combines hosting and technical upkeep with routine corrections, agreed updates to the existing website, system checks and care of the delivered customer journey. It includes organized inquiry capture, Google review-request automation and a standardized inbound voice receptionist.
Define the maintenance boundary before signing: which changes count as routine updates, how requests are submitted, how urgent faults are escalated and which changes need a separate quote. A new service line, a redesign, another location or a custom integration is different from correcting existing hours or updating approved website copy.
Phone numbers, calls, voice processing, messages, email delivery and provider registration are included for the agreed setup. Domain registration and payment processing are separate too. The plan confirms the included setup before activation.
- Ask what is included in the recurring fee and what is metered separately
- Identify who supplies current prices, hours, policies and approved images
- Agree the update request process and any response commitments in writing
- List existing software subscriptions before deciding what to replace
Inbound voice is included
What can the receptionist do?
The included voice receptionist handles the agreed inbound call route: answer common questions from approved business information, capture lead details, offer supported appointment booking and hand the conversation or callback request to the right person.
We confirm the real phone routing, business hours, escalation destination, calendar fit and fallback before launch. Test the answers and the handoff with your actual services. If the system cannot answer or a request needs judgment, it should collect the right details and route it to your team.
This is a standardized business receptionist, with a defined knowledge set and workflow. Complex dispatch, custom multi-system logic, outbound sales campaigns and human staffing are not part of the standard scope. An appointment slot is offered only when the approved scheduling connection supports it.
From inquiry to completed work
Who is responsible after a customer contacts you?
Agree who receives each inquiry, where it is recorded and who responds. An acknowledgment is useful, but it is not a substitute for a real callback, quote or service conversation. Your team remains responsible for business decisions, exceptions and delivering the service.
Google review requests belong after actual service completion is confirmed. A booking ending or an estimate appointment taking place does not establish that the work is complete. Requests should ask for honest feedback without incentives or filtering customers by satisfaction.
We configure the agreed journey around duplicate inquiries, replies, bookings, cancellations, staff takeover and opt-outs. Existing customer consent and provider requirements need to fit the actual business account before messaging is activated. A website inquiry is not automatic consent to a newsletter.
See the follow-up scopeBefore changing systems
Do you need to replace your existing platform?
Bring a list of your current website, domain, phone service, calendar, customer records and payment tools. If your present booking system already handles memberships, class rosters, deposits or specialist scheduling well, review those dependencies before changing anything.
The standard package uses an agreed primary customer journey. Commerce, complex migrations, multi-location operations, custom integrations and specialist scheduling require separate scoping. We should establish whether your operation fits before proposing a cutover.
Before launch, agree administrator access, domain control, account responsibilities and what happens to content, records and integrations if the service ends. Put the export and handover terms in the agreement rather than assuming every platform transfers in the same way.
Request a fit reviewReal work you can inspect
What evidence should you look for?
Inspect a provider’s delivered websites on a phone as well as a desktop. Try the service navigation and contact route. Ask which parts they delivered, what the business staff maintain and whether any performance claims are backed by actual measurements.
Our Wigs by Jolie project shows a consultation-focused website connected to booking, CRM and customer follow-up. Helmann Cigars shows branded retail presentation, product discovery and commerce work; commerce is scoped separately from the standard service-business package.
These are examples of delivered work. A project screenshot demonstrates a website, not a guaranteed revenue increase or search position. Your plan needs its own approved content, configuration and acceptance checks.
A repeatable start
What should you prepare for onboarding?
- Your business name, actual location or service area, hours and public contact details
- Your main services, approved prices or quoting approach, and common customer questions
- Domain, website and relevant platform access supplied through an agreed secure process
- Your logo, approved photos, written content and permissions to use them
- The staff member who receives leads and the fallback for unanswered calls
- Current calendar requirements, phone routing and completed-service confirmation process
- The correct Google Business Profile review destination and existing customer-permission records
We use those inputs to confirm the sitemap, customer journey, receptionist scope and launch checklist. Work can begin with a clear scope; an unsupported feature should not be promised just to close the sale.
A clear scope before we begin
Start with your business, not a list of tools.
Share your current website, services and the next step a customer should take. We will assess the fit and agree the deliverables before work begins.
Practical customer workflows
AI implementation and phone reception for your city.
Explore approved phone answers, organized callbacks and compatible booking within the same Website & Care package. Delivery is remote, with testing and a staff handover. These are two service needs, not different pricing tiers.