Frequently Asked Questions

Start with a free 30-day Starter trial, then $69.99/month per website. Starter includes hosting, 4,500 monthly chat credits, and ongoing Growth Engine work. For more capacity, Pro is $129.99/month with 7,000 monthly chat credits, more Growth output, and read-only code access. Basic is also available at $29.99/month for hosting and 1,500 monthly chat credits without ongoing Growth Engine work.

Every website can start a free 30-day Starter trial. Building a free draft does not start the trial. Review your amount due today and renewal terms at checkout. Existing offers and subscriptions may have different terms.

Growth Engine work included in your plan has a separate budget from the credits used for changes you request in chat. Additional editing credits are available as top-ups. See the Pricing page for the full comparison.

The first build is a starting draft, not the finished site. It gives you the structure to build on. Ask Theo in the website editor to match your old site using its URL and preserve the pages, photos, and wording you like. You can also attach a design preview you liked, then keep refining the draft until you are happy to publish.

Usually these emails are routine updates or non-critical suggestions, not a sign your website or checkout is broken. Redirected pages and alternate addresses often do not need to appear separately in Google. Product suggestions may be about richer search displays. Theo’s SEO repair works on these kinds of website improvements as part of the Growth Engine. If you want help with a particular notice, share its wording and affected page with Theo.

Generic shutdown threats from personal Gmail addresses claiming to represent Google, Shopify, Wix, or Theo are a common scam. Mark them as spam and ignore them; you do not need to pay the sender or hire their repair service. If you are unsure about a particular message, send us its wording and sender. Real provider account notices can be checked by signing into that provider directly.

Theo accounts use email, not a phone number. If this happens while paying for Theo, it is usually Stripe Link’s saved-payment verification. Choose Check out as guest if shown, or close Link and choose the Card option if available. If it happens while connecting a domain, the code belongs to your domain provider’s login. Tell us which screen you are on if you need help. To change a phone number displayed on your website, ask Theo in the website editor.

No, and that's the whole point.

Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, WordPress and all those other guys hand you a pile of tools and wish you luck. You're the designer. You're the writer. You're the SEO department. And even after all that work, none of them lift a finger to actually bring customers to your door. A site nobody can find isn't a business, it's a hobby.

I'm the opposite. You answer a few quick questions, and I design and publish the site for you. Then I keep going, writing content, optimizing for search, fixing what's broken, and driving real traffic on a steady cadence. My AI is a generation ahead of the template engines those builders run on, so the work is smarter and it keeps moving.

If you're coming from Wix, Weebly, WordPress, or Squarespace, you already know the hard part was never building the site. It's everything after. That's the part I take off your plate, from $69.99 a month.

Think of it less like a software subscription and more like hiring an online marketing department, one who never sleeps, never needs your dev team, and starts at $69.99/month instead of thousands a year. You can even use links to the blogs I write for you as posts on your social media feeds, saving you even more time and money.

Here's something I'm especially proud of: I find the errors on your site and fix them myself. No ticket queue. No "let me loop in the developers." I know of a business that hired a $60,000 employee just to fix site errors, and she couldn't, because every fix needed the dev team to track down the right pages and prioritize the work, and they never did. I don't have that problem. I have every skill the job needs, and I'm the one doing it. That's the difference between a tool and an employee.

Plus, I don't ask for vacation days.

Starter and Pro include this ongoing work. Basic is available if you only need hosting and editing.

After launch, I keep improving your site with useful content, better conversion paths, and maintenance so it keeps getting stronger over time. Starter and Pro include this ongoing Growth Engine work. You can see what I’ve done in the Growth tab and your weekly reports.

Open your website in Theo and describe the change in the editing chat. Name the page or section and attach photos if needed. Review the result in the preview, then use Publish to put your draft changes on the live site. Requests take different amounts of time depending on the work involved.

Every Theo site is built as a static website, which greatly reduces the number of ways it can be attacked. Your published website uses HTTPS to encrypt the connection between your visitors and the site. Store payments go through your connected payment provider.

An unsolicited email giving your site a low security score is usually someone trying to sell you a fix. You do not need to buy their service. If you want us to take a look, send us the report and we’ll explain it and address anything that needs attention. A full-page “Your connection is not private” or ERR_CERT warning while connecting a new domain is usually part of certificate setup, not evidence that your site has been hacked.

No. I keep the work moving without turning your website into another weekly job.

I'm best for small businesses that want a clear website, better search visibility, and less owner time spent managing vendors.

Agencies usually cost more and still require management from you. I combine the build, hosting, publishing, optimization, and maintenance in one ongoing system.

Yes. I can launch your first site and keep improving it after it goes live.

If Theo already tried connecting your domain and could not finish, message our team with the domain and error so we can help. For a new connection showing a parked page, “Your connection is not private,” an ERR_CERT error, or “Not Secure,” start here:

• Connect both versions of the domain: the root domain (@) and the www version. Connecting only one can leave the other broken or insecure.
• Turn off domain forwarding and parking at your registrar, especially GoDaddy. Those settings can override Theo’s connection and show a parked page instead.
• Give DNS and the security certificate a few hours to finish processing. A full-page certificate error can look scary, but during initial setup it usually clears once the connection and certificate are ready. It does not mean your site has been hacked.
• Do not delete your MX email records while you change DNS settings. Removing them can stop your email service.

Your old site stays live until you change the domain’s DNS records, so there should not be downtime during the transition.

A one-click connection sets up the two essentials:

• Google Analytics
• Google Search Console

That gives Theo the information needed to understand how people are finding and using your site.

Your dashboard and weekly reports show the work I have completed, the changes made to the website, search and traffic performance, and the overall progress of the site.

Boost is a practical checklist of places where your business should have a listing or profile. It includes free directory listings you can complete yourself and optional paid directory submission packages.

If you already have a listing, such as a Facebook Page, mark it complete or skip it. No need to do the same work twice.

Sign in with the email address you used when you created the website, either through Google or an emailed login code. Click the circle with your photo or initial in the top-right corner to see your account and switch websites. If the site is missing, check that email before creating another site or paying again. If you cannot access the original email, our team can help investigate account access.

Your preview runs in a workspace that goes idle when you step away for a while, so when you come back you may see “Your preview went to sleep,” a loading spinner, a brief flash, or a blank panel for a moment.

None of this affects your live website, and none of your work is lost.

If you see “Your preview went to sleep,” click Reload preview and it will wake up in a few seconds. If it says “Waking your preview…”, just give it a moment. Cold starts can take up to a minute, and it will appear on its own, so there’s no need to reload. If the panel stays blank, reload the page in your browser.

Drag the photos straight into the chat, or click the + button in the bottom-left corner, then tell Theo where you want them used, for example, “Use this on the About page.” Your own photos will almost always look better than generated ones, and there’s no limit to how many you can add.

Yes. Your site goes live on a temporary address first, and it works there. What waits for your own domain is Google: Analytics and Search Console connect only once your domain is active, and the Growth Engine switches on only after the domain and both Google connections are in place. Until then you have hosting and editing, and none of the ongoing search work included in Starter and Pro.

Connect your domain early in the trial so the trial shows that work. Open your site and click Connect in the Publish panel. Already own a domain? Type it in and Theo walks you through pointing it at your site. Don't have one? Choose Buy a domain and it connects automatically.

Normally, no. Connecting your domain changes the records for your website and leaves your email settings alone. The main exception is if you have email-related records tied to the root domain, where changing an A record could cause issues. If you are unsure, email us and we will happily check your settings before you make the switch.

Google usually takes a few weeks to find a new site, and ranking well for competitive searches builds over months. Google's own guidance on hiring an SEO puts the payoff at four months to a year. Month one: the site goes live, Search Console gets connected and the first pages are published and the sitemap is submitted; impressions start to show. Months two and three: pages get indexed and start ranking for the less competitive searches, and the first clicks arrive. Months four to six: clicks build as pages move up. After that the work compounds, because every page stays on the site and keeps earning. Connect Google Search Console in the Analytics tab and we'll submit your sitemap so Google finds every new page, which is the fastest route available. Anyone promising quicker isn't being straight with you.

Yes. Shopify and Wix connect directly, with your store managing products, stock, orders, shipping, and payments. Open E-commerce in your Theo website to connect. You can also use Theo alongside WooCommerce, Etsy, or another existing store by linking to its products or checkout.

You’ll usually use more credits at the start while shaping your site, then less as you settle into occasional edits. Your credits cover changes you request in chat; the ongoing Growth Engine work included in Starter and Pro uses no chat credits and keeps going when you run out. Your published site stays online too.

Open the gear icon and choose Plan & credits to add credits now, or wait for your monthly allowance to renew. Unused monthly credits do not roll over; purchased top-ups carry over. Grouping related changes into a clear request helps reduce back-and-forth. If a particular edit or charge needs a closer look, we can help.

Just tell Theo in the chat box what you want changed, in plain English. There's nothing to drag, no template to fight, and no separate editor to learn. It makes the change and shows you the result.

Some of Theo’s most valuable work happens behind the scenes. Things like Google descriptions, page speed, and the technical structure search engines read can improve without changing how your site looks. You can always see a summary in the Growth tab.

For a visible edit, check the preview and press Publish to put draft changes live. If you just published, refresh your browser to load the latest version. If something still needs adjusting, tell Theo which page and what you want changed.

Yes. We bring your content across and set up redirects from your old pages to their new equivalents to help preserve the search visibility you’ve built. If you are also changing domains, there is an additional step in Google Search Console, and we’re happy to help you with it. Keep your old hosting until the new site is connected and working.

No. Theo builds and hosts the site itself, so there are no WordPress plugins, updates, or security patches for you to manage. You keep your domain. Pro includes GitHub access so you can copy your website’s code if you want to move. You can also keep an existing WordPress or WooCommerce store and connect it to your Theo site with links.

Shopify and Wix both connect directly to Theo so products can appear on your Theo pages with a cart and provider-hosted checkout. We recommend Shopify when choosing a new store, and Wix is also a fully supported direct option. Both connections are available to every Theo account.

You can also keep WooCommerce, Etsy, or another existing store and link to its products or checkout from Theo. For WooCommerce, keep its WordPress hosting; the store can use an address such as shop.yourdomain.com while Theo hosts the main website. You do not have to migrate to Shopify.

Yes. Your store stays where it is and your site links to it, with buy buttons or product pages pointing at your listings. You can also keep a store on a subdomain like shop.yourdomain.com. Buying happens on your store's platform.

No. Keep managing products in your store like today. After changes in Shopify or Wix, open Theo’s E-commerce tab and click Refresh my products. This updates your published catalog and uses no chat credits. For another store, ask Theo in the website editor to refresh its products.

Nothing changes inside it. Inventory, orders, payments, shipping and customer records all stay in your store. Connecting just shows your products on your site, and you can disconnect anytime.

Click the circle with your photo or initial in the top-right corner to open the account menu, switch websites, or sign out. Open the intended website and click the gear icon for Website settings, including Plan & credits, Collaborators, and Code access when included in your plan.

Yes. If Theo could not finish the domain setup, directed you to support, or you already tried the steps and are still stuck, message our team with the domain and what happened. We can investigate the DNS and certificate setup. Keep existing email records and hosting in place while the issue is checked.

Open E-commerce in the intended Theo website. If the store is not connected yet, connect Shopify or Wix and use Put my products on my site. If the connection was lost, use Reconnect my store. If it is connected but the cart or buy buttons are missing, ask Theo in the editing chat to add or fix them. If that already failed, or a live checkout is failing, send the website and error to our team. For an external store, check that the buy link opens its working store or checkout address.

Yes. Open the website’s gear-icon settings, choose Collaborators, and invite their email address. They should accept the invitation and sign in using that same address. Editor access is separate from website ownership, billing, and GitHub code access.

Canceling stops the next charge. Your site, the editor, and the Growth Engine keep working until the end of the period you have already paid for.

When that period ends, hosting ends with it. Your site is kept, not deleted, so subscribing again brings it straight back as it was. Your domain stays yours to point anywhere.

Only want to keep the site online without the ongoing search work? Move to Basic ($29.99/month) instead of canceling: hosting and editing stay, the Growth Engine stops.

Yes. The site, its pages, blog posts, images, and your domain are yours. Theo builds and hosts the site so there is nothing for you to maintain, and Pro includes read-only GitHub access so you can copy the complete code at any time. If you connect a store, it stays entirely with its provider, such as Shopify, Wix, Etsy, or WooCommerce, never with Theo.

Pro includes read-only GitHub access. Open Website settings using the gear icon, find Code access, enter your GitHub username, and select Give access. Accept the invitation while signed into that GitHub account. You can browse and clone the code, but cannot push changes into the repository Theo manages.

Use the support chat on this website or email team@theo.site. You can ask for a human in the conversation. Website changes belong in Theo’s editing chat; account access, payment questions, and problems that Theo could not resolve can be reviewed by our team. Please include the website and the relevant error or request, but never send passwords or full card details.

Yes. You can create and explore a draft with an initial editing allowance before publishing. When you are ready to publish, start your free 30-day Starter trial at checkout. The trial begins then, so you can explore your draft first. Once the trial starts, connect your domain early: the Growth Engine and Google connections wait for it, so a trial spent on the temporary address never shows Theo's ongoing work.

Each website has its own subscription and credits. Your account can contain multiple websites, and you can switch between them using the circle in the top-right corner. A top-up or plan for one website does not pay for another.