The solution
What is included in my subscription package?
Your subscription gives you -
- access to the Lutho® Builder that allows you to quickly and easily build a website at your chosen domain (www.yourname.com).
- access to the Lutho® Control Panel that allows you to quickly and easily add dynamic content such as photos, news articles and products to your website.
- the exclusive use of an available domain of your choice. We will automatically register and renew the domain as necessary.
- hosting of the website and content generated on secure and reliable servers with a top-class connection to the Internet.
- a branded email address (like info@yourname.com) with email forwarding and webmail facilities.
The subscription does not include access to the Internet itself. To access the Internet, you will need to use/retain the services of an Internet Service Provider (ISP) - generally via a dial-up, ADSL or 3G connection or via your employer's network.
Although we do not charge any additional fees for e-commerce integration, should you choose to sell your products online by making use of the PayFast or Paypal gateways, you will be liable to them for the fees they charge to process your transactions in accordance with the seperate agreement that you enter into with them when you register for their services.
For more information on what the subscription entails, please visit our website's
features page.
What is the Lutho® Builder?
The Lutho® Builder is a web-based wizard that allows you to capture business information, content, aesthetic preferences and a domain name that will be used to build your website.
After taking you through five steps (you can complete one or more steps, save and contrinue later), the software will automatically build and set up your website and branded email address "behind the scenes" so that you do do not have to worry about the technical details such as domain name registrations or setting up hosting.
The Lutho® Builder also takes care of the design work (based the templates and colour scheme that you select), giving you the time to concentrate on the content that you want on your website. It allows you to choose your own domain name (provided that it is not yet registered) and to provide a business description and keywords to assist with search engine optimisation (SEO).
As soon as you've run through the five steps, your website is ready at your chosen domain (eg www.yourname.com) and your branded email address (eg info@yourname.com) is ready for use.
Initially, the home, about us and contact us pages are displayed. Additional pages are automatically added once you load the relevant content (news, photos, products, documents and more) on the site using the Lutho® Control Panel.
The Lutho® Builder can be accessed from https://builder.lutho.com/. To use the system, you will need a voucher number that can be purchased online.
What is the Lutho® Control Panel?
The Lutho® Control Panel allows you to activate additional functionalities on your site after is has been built using the Lutho® Builder.
The system allows a wide variety of content to be uploaded and will automatically create the relevant wab pages on your website to publish the content added.
We currently allow the following content to be automatically published on your site and are continuously expanding our service offering:
Through the Lutho® Control Panel you can also -
- Set up your email preferences (such as forwarding emails sent to your new email address to your existing email address).
- Set up your payment preferences via the Financial Centre.
- View statistics and trends on visitors to your website.
The Lutho® Control Panel can be accessed at
https://cp.lutho.com. You will need your domain name and password.
What type of content can I publish?
In general, you can use the Lutho® Builder and the Lutho® Control Panel to publish any information that you are legally entitled to publish.
We do, however, specifically prohibit the publication of any adult content, graphic violence, hate speech or any content that is subject to another's copyright (without their written consent). You also cannot publish anything that is related to illegal activities.
For more information, please refer to our Acceptable Use Policy.
Is my personal information protected?
Yes.
We have developed a privacy policy to ensure that our clients' personal information is protected and to ensure that we comply with all relevant legislation. As the privacy policy may be reviewed from time to time, please check back here for the latest version.
You can read our full privacy policy at www.lutho.com/PrivacyPolicy.aspx.
In summary, the policy says that we collect personal information for our internal use and to allow us to build your website. We also collect financial information if you elect to pay by credit card or debit order but ensure that it is always stored in an encrypted form to safeguard your details.
We only disclose your information to trusted third parties that provide services such as credit card processing and the sending of SMS communications. Although your business name will be displayed on your website, you can choose which contact details will be made available on a screen in the Lutho® Builder. We do not publish any other personal information on your website.
What type of customer support do you offer?
Providing excellent customer service is a very high priority for us.
To achieve this, our friendly support staff take customer calls during working hours between 08:00 and 17:00 (GMT +02:00) on Monday to Friday*. We also offer full email support.
In addition to our email and telephonic support, we also have a wealth of information available in the knowledge base and have prepared video tutorials and manuals to address every aspect of using the Lutho system.
We are certain that you will find our service friendly and efficient and invite you to provide us with feedback on the level of service that you received.
* Our SA call centre number is 086 123 3210 if dialling from within South Africa or +27 12 682 9201 for our international callers.
The cost
How much does the service cost?
It costs ZAR 145.00 or USD 16.00 or GBP 12.00 per month to keep your Lutho subscription current. This fee includes a website at your chosen domain and professional email address as well as all the tools needed to manage the website yourself. For more information on what is included in the subscription, please see this article. We offer a variety of payment methods as explained here.
As there are no long term contract commitments, you can cancel your subscription at any time.
Are there any additional costs involved?
No. Many small business owners have been unpleasantly surprised after paying a small forture to a web page designer only to find out that they also need to pay for hosting of the site, registration and renewal of the domain name, etc.
As we prefer to keep things simple at Lutho, we charge one monthly subscription fee instead. The monthly subscription fee includes everything that you need to get your website up and running at your chosen domain, maintain its content and send and receive email from a credible email address. We take care of all the technical details behind the scenes. This allows you to plan and manage your cashflow better.
In exceptional cases, you may need more space or traffic than typically allocated to our clients. This may, for example, be the case if you need to make many large documents or photographs available for download from your site. Where your resource allocations are exceeded, we will contact you to explain how to reduce your resource usage and offer you additional resources at a reasonable price.
Included in your monthly subscription you get access to email and telephonic support. In certain regions, we also offer the services of specialist consultants at an additional cost (entirely optional). These consultants visit clients' premises and assist with photos, content development and optimisation of your website in additional to the usual monthly subscription package.
In summary, you should never get an unpleasant "hidden cost" surprise with Lutho - any costs in addition to the monthly subscription will be well explained to you and are entirely optional.
Would you consider discounts?
Lutho believes in the virtue of being a responsible corporate citizen. We will therefore consider special pricing or discounts for registered non-profit organisations or charities. If you believe that your organisation qualifies, please contact us for more information.
We could also consider discounted subscriptions and/or consulting services where bulk orders are placed, for example by trade associations. Please let us know if you are interested in utilising our services for a number of your organisation's members.
All our clients can also realise significant savings by purchasing a lifetime subscription upfront. Lifetime subscriptions involve a large upfront payment (ZAR 9 995) that covers your subscription for life. For more information, please contact us.
What is your refund policy?
We believe in our service and in providing total customer satisfaction and offer a 100% money back guarantee. In terms of the guarantee, we will gladly issue a full refund on your Lutho subscription if you are not entirely satisfied, provided -
- that you cancel your subscription within 21 calender days from the time of purchase; and
- that you have not contravened our Acceptable Use Policy or the terms and conditions of the puchase.
Any refund will be made in the
same manner and to the same person that the original payment was received from. For example, credit card payments will only be refunded to the same credit card and EFT payments will only be refunded as an EFT deposit.
Clients that opt to make use of Lutho® Consultants to assist in the development of their websites should note that we cannot issue any refund of the deposit paid in respect of consulting services after work has commenced on your website.
Further information on our money back guarantee is available
here.
Can I cancel my subscription at any time?
Absolutely.
If you feel that you no longer need Lutho's services, simply do not renew your monthly subscription and it will automatically lapse on the expiry date. If you do plan to stop using our services, we do request that you let us know as a courtesy so that we can plan accordingly.
Note that you will forfeit any monies received from you as at the termination date if you cancel your subscription.
Is my real-time payment safe?
Yes.
Our real-time credit card payments are processed through a trusted third party (Netcash) that collects your credit card information directly from you. Netcash interfaces with the acquiring banks over a secure channel to process the transaction and employs Verified by Visa and Mastercard Securecode technology to protect against fraudulent transactions.
All communication between our site and the credit card gateway provider is encrypted using secure socket layer (SSL) technology.
Real-time Instant EFT transactions are processed via your bank's Internet banking website, which is usually also SSL encrypted. The Instant EFT transactions as well as Ukash redeptions are handled by PayFast over a secure communications channel.
Real-time PayPal payments are also secured via SSL to provide you peace of mind when using that method of payment.
On the technical side
How long will it take before my website and email address are ready?
Although it depends on the client and the amount of information that you have ready before you start, we have found that the typical client will have a branded email address and website (home page, about us and contact us page) up and running at their chosen domain in less than two hours.
It then takes additional time to load dynamic content such as news articles, photos, products and documents for download onto your website via the Lutho® Control Panel. The amount of time to set aside for the loading of content depends on your individual content requirements.
This means that you will be able to send and receive email under your business name and showcase your business on the Internet within two hours of purchasing your website voucher, after working through five easy steps in the Lutho® Builder. Content loaded via the Lutho® Control Panel will be instantly added to your site and, if you have registered with PayFast or Paypal, loaded products will be available for sale immediately.
What do I need to get started?
Firstly, you need access to the Internet via your company's network, dial-up connection, ADSL or 3G connection. If you are reading this, then chances are you are already connected to the Internet.
Secondly, you will need a voucher number. The website voucher number gives you access to the Lutho® Builder - a website in itself that will generate your website for you. You can purchase a voucher online and you can access the Lutho® Builder from https://builder.lutho.com/.
Thirdly, you will need about two hours to work through the five steps in the Lutho® Builder. Your progress is saved after each step, so it is easy to break and continue at a later time, but it should take about two hours in total.
That's it! The system will automatically take care of everything else for you.
I already have a domain name registered. Can I host my website under the same name?
Yes, as long as the person or company that originally registered your domain name gives permission for the domain name to be transferred.
A domain name points to a computer where your website is to be found. Therefore, when someone enters http://www.yoursite.com/, they might be forwarded to your current service provider's computer (IP address) to look for your website. The same applies to email.
We usually suggest that you create your Lutho website under a new domain name (for example your-site.com in stead of yoursite.com) to get everything up and running.
Once you are satisfied with your website at the new domain, the computer (IP address) referenced by the original domain needs to be amended to point to Lutho's servers. You will usually need to contact the person that originally registered your domain name and instruct them to approve the transfer of that domain to Lutho's servers. (This means that they need to approve the change in the registration of http://www.yoursite.com/ so that the domain name will, in future, point to Lutho's servers. After that is done, anyone going to http://www.yoursite.com/ will be forwarded to Lutho's computer to show your new website.)
After you have notified your current service provider of the pending transfer, please let us know, also mentioning your current domain name and the new domain name under which your Lutho site was created. We will then make the necessary arrangements with your current service provider to transfer the domain as the process differs depending on the domain name.
Once the domain transfer has gone through, all traffic to the original domain will be redirected to the new domain.
Lutho's nameservers, in case you need the information, are:
ns1.lutho.com at IP address 72.52.250.67 and
ns2.lutho.com at IP address 72.52.250.68
Can I host my own website / scripts?
No, we do not allow custom websites to be hosted on our server.
We do not provide hosting space per se. Instead we provide an all-encompassing solution to small businesses that need a branded email address and website that can be easily managed. These services are packaged as a monthly subscription and includes much more than the hosting of a website.
All the websites hosted on our server are automatically generated using our proprietary software. Because of the risk to the server and for consistency, we have chosen not to host websites developed by third parties or clients. We also do not allow custom scripts on client websites.
If you need a place to host an already developed website, then Lutho may not be the right solution for you. We do, however, encourage you to have a look at the features of our solution to assess if it will meet your business needs.
Will I be able to monitor my site visits?
Yes.
We automatically include functionality with your website to allow you to draw all kinds of statistics on the visitors to your site. For an example of such a report, please click here.
Will I be able to sell my products online?
Yes!
Your Lutho website sports full integration with e-commerce gateway providers PayFast (for SA clients) and Paypal (for international clients). After opening an account with one of these providers and capturing your account details via the Lutho® Control Panel, your website will automatically contain the necessary links next to your product details to allow visitors to your site to purchase your products online. Product particulars, including prices, descriptions and photos can be easily maintained via the Lutho® Control Panel - see this article for more information.
You will be able to accept credit cards, InstantEFT transfers (PayFast), Ukash vouchers (PayFast) or Paypal credit (Paypal) from your clients. We do not charge any additional fees to enable e-commerce functionality, but your chosen e-commerce gateway may charge additional fees on your transactions processed. For further particulars on these fees, please visit PayFast or Paypal directly.
Please contact us for more information.
Can you design an exclusive layout for me?
Yes, subject to resource availability.
If you are satisfied with the standard features and pages available, then we can design a new template to use those features in the format that you prefer.
If you need additional features specific to your company (for example stock tracking or stock quotations) then we can develop additional features for inclusion on your website. Please also see this article.
Please contact us for a quotation and applicable terms relating to custom template and/or feature development.
I need a custom feature added to my website
The websites created by the Lutho® Builder and Lutho® Control Panel have been designed to cater for a wide variety of business needs whilst being easy to learn and user-friendly.
If you do find that your business requires a specific feature that is not available in the generated website, we encourage you to let us know about it so that we can consider incorporating the feature in client websites in future.
You can also request that custom development to be done on your website to meet your business's specific need. Custom web development is subject to the availability of our developers to work on your site and is charged for seperately. Please let us know if you would like us to quote on a custom job.
What if my needs change later?
Our system is designed to be entirely scalable and to easily accommodate changes in our clients' requirements. You can always buy additional email boxes, additional domain names or additional resources later if you find that you have outgrown our normal package.
They say that a change is as good as a holiday. If you feel like a change on your website, it takes only minutes to implement a new template or colour scheme using the Lutho® Builder.