Question 1

What services does Softlimes provide?

Accepted Answer

Softlimes builds custom business websites, Laravel web applications, and Shopify or WooCommerce stores for clients in the US, UK, and Gulf. After launch—or on an existing site you already own—we handle managed cloud hosting, daily off-site backups, technical SEO, and Google or Meta ad campaigns.

Question 2

Can you work on an existing website, store, or Laravel app we already have?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You do not need to rebuild from scratch. We regularly take over existing WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify, and Laravel codebases to fix technical SEO issues, upgrade older PHP/Laravel versions, integrate CRMs, improve mobile speed, or migrate hosting without downtime.

Question 3

How long does a typical website, store, or custom portal take to launch?

Accepted Answer

A custom WordPress or Next.js business website typically launches in 3 to 5 weeks. A Shopify or WooCommerce store with custom catalog filtering takes 4 to 7 weeks, and a custom Laravel portal or Bullhorn CRM integration runs 6 to 10 weeks with weekly staging demos.

Question 4

Who owns the code, domain, and ad accounts when the project is finished?

Accepted Answer

You own 100% of your codebase, Git repository, domain, cloud hosting account, Google Analytics 4 property, and ad accounts from day one. We never lock clients into proprietary CMS licenses or withhold administrator access.

Question 5

Should we choose WordPress, Shopify, WooCommerce, or Laravel?

Accepted Answer

We recommend the stack based on your exact workflow: WordPress for service and B2B marketing sites, Shopify for fast retail e-commerce, WooCommerce when you need custom checkout or B2B Bill of Materials (BOM) inventory rules, and Laravel + React/Next.js for custom portals, multi-vendor marketplaces, and CRM integrations.

Question 6

Can you integrate our website with Bullhorn CRM, HubSpot, or an ERP?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We build two-way REST and GraphQL API integrations with queued background workers. For example, we sync live job listings and candidate CV submissions with Bullhorn CRM and synchronize multi-warehouse stock with WooCommerce and Shopify.

Question 7

How do you track milestones and share progress during development?

Accepted Answer

Every project is managed in a shared Asana board and deployed to a private staging URL. You work directly with Ivan (Founder & Technical Lead) and our specialist leads, reviewing working pages and features each week before we move to the next milestone.

Question 8

Can you upgrade an older Laravel or PHP application without losing data?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We audit deprecated packages, refactor custom controllers and Eloquent queries in a staging environment, test database migrations against a full copy of your production data, and switch traffic over with zero data loss.

Question 9

What is included in a Softlimes technical SEO audit and fix?

Accepted Answer

Unlike automated PDF reports that leave the engineering work to you, our developers fix the issues directly in your code: Core Web Vitals (LCP, INP, CLS), crawl errors, canonical tags, XML sitemaps, internal linking, and JSON-LD schema markup.

Question 10

How do you optimize websites for AI search engines (AEO and GEO)?

Accepted Answer

We structure service and product pages with direct-answer summaries, question-based headings, semantic comparison tables, verified JSON-LD schema graphs (Service, HowTo, FAQPage), and machine-readable /llms.txt files so ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Google AI Overviews cite your business accurately.

Question 11

How do you track leads and orders from Google Ads and Meta Ads?

Accepted Answer

Before spending budget on clicks, we configure Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics 4, enhanced conversions, and server-side webhook attribution so you can see exactly which search terms and campaigns generate qualified enquiries and orders.

Question 12

Can you build dedicated landing pages for our paid ad campaigns?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We design and build fast, message-matched landing pages tailored to specific Google Search ad groups or Meta campaigns, complete with sub-2-second mobile load times and clear quote or checkout flows.

Question 13

Will our website go offline during a server or hosting migration?

Accepted Answer

No. We copy your files and database to the new server first, test every form, checkout flow, and SSL certificate on a temporary staging hostname, sync any final database records, and update DNS so traffic switches smoothly with zero downtime.

Question 14

How often do you back up hosted websites and databases?

Accepted Answer

We run automated daily off-site backups of both your application files and database with 30-day retention, plus an immediate pre-update snapshot before any plugin, theme, or core software upgrade.

Question 15

How do you protect websites against malware, brute-force attacks, and DDoS?

Accepted Answer

We configure Cloudflare WAF rules, rate limiting, strict HTTP security headers (HSTS, CSP, X-Frame-Options), isolated PHP-FPM process pools, and 24/7 uptime and SSL expiration monitoring.

Question 16

Do you offer monthly retainers for hosting, updates, and ongoing growth?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Our monthly retainers combine managed cloud hosting, daily backups, security patching, new development tasks, and ongoing technical SEO or paid ad management under one predictable monthly plan.

Questions about working with Softlimes

Ready to build something that grows with your brand?