What’s the Right Price to Pay for a Website?

For anyone reading this who doesn’t know, building a WordPress website doesn’t just mean buying a theme off the shelf and launching a website in 10 minutes. Over 25% of the Internet is powered by WordPress, including professional websites for large companies and government organizations. 

Cheap websites don’t deliver results

Beware web designers and web building platforms like Wix and SquareSpace who appear inexpensive, promise results they can’t deliver while providing low quality services. Business owners looking to launch new websites or upgrading existing websites shouldn’t focus on the cost but rather focus on getting things done right and done with a minimal investment of their time.

return on investment (ROI)

When a business owner is re-investing in their business, the question is NOT…

“What does it cost?”

The question is…

“What is the likely return on investment (ROI)?”

As long as there’s a high enough ROI, then the cost is really irrelevant. 

When I say ROI, I don’t necessarily mean a strictly monetary return. Sometimes the return is monetary, but the return could also be in terms of happier customers, happier employees, time savings or brand building. The point is that business owners should focus on what they’re GETTING instead of what they’re SPENDING.

Does this sound familiar?

Most designers and developers do a pretty bad job of serving their clients because they don’t understand them. 

Here’s what typically happens…

– Roofing Contractor: “I need a website.”

– Web Designer w/ Employee Mindset: [THINKING: COST IS PROBABLY THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS TO HIM. HE COULD BUILD IT WITH WIX. I REALLY NEED THE PROJECT.] “How about $1k?”

– Roofing Contractor: “Great!”

Next, the web designer does their best to build a decent website within a $1k budget. However, they really can’t spend that much time on it because they’re only being paid $1k, and they don’t understand what their business owner client wants anyway, so they build a website that they think is cool from a design/technology standpoint. 

They spend time adding parallax scrolling (because that’s on trend!).

But they don’t add a “Free Estimate” form above the fold or a big phone number in the upper right hand corner. Because they don’t even know that more people requesting a free estimate is what the client really wants.

Then they get a call…

– Roofing Contractor: “I haven’t gotten any leads? Can we put a big form on the homepage so people can contact me easily?”

– Web Designer w/ Employee Mindset: [THINKING: HE WANTS ALL THESE CHANGES FOR $1K? HE DOESN’T UNDERSTAND DESIGN. A FORM WILL LOOK UGLY. HE COULD HAVE JUST USED WIX] “Ugh OK.”

– Roofing Contractor: “Then I’ll get leads, right?”

– Web Designer w/ Employee Mindset: [THINKING: NO. YOU WOULD NEED TO DO SEO OR DIGITAL MARKETING OR SOMETHING TO GET TRAFFIC. BUT YOU WOULDN’T PAY FOR THAT.] “Yes.”

So what’s the final result?

The client pays $1k for a website that they’re NOT happy with, that does NOT deliver them results.

It wasn’t even DESIGNED to meet their NEEDS!

Work with a designer who understands what you really want 

Here’s how the conversation goes…

– Roofing Contractor: “I need a website.

– Me: [THINKING: I WONDER WHAT HE REALLY WANTS?] “Why? What are you looking to accomplish?”

– Roofing Contractor: “I need more leads. I need more people to request free estimates.”

– Me: “What kind of leads do you really want?”

– Roofing Contractor: “Large slate roofing jobs are the best.”

– Me: “We can definitely build you a website that will convert better than your existing one. The existing one doesn’t even have a phone number on the homepage or free estimate form. And we can gear the site towards getting you commercial slate roofing leads. Are you doing any advertising at this point?”

– Roofing Contractor: “Yes, we have some billboards.”

– Me: “Ok, so generating leads online comes down to 2 things. Traffic, which is the number of people who go to your website, and conversion rate, which is the percentage of website visitors who actually call you or fill-out a form on your website. If we fix the website, you’ll get a better conversion rate from the traffic you’re already getting from the billboards, but you won’t get a TON of additional leads unless you do SEO or digital marketing.”

– Roofing Contractor: “That makes so much sense. How much would it cost?”

Nobody ever explained it to me that way. That makes so much sense.

– Me: “I will send you a WEBSITE RESCUE package tailored to your needs with all inclusions and costs.”

– Roofing Contractor: [THINKING: I ONLY NEED TO GET 1-2 JOBS TO GET A RETURN ON INVESTMENT FROM THIS.] “OK. Let’s do it. Here is my deposit.“

So what happens next?

Well, I go to work building a website that’s actually in-line with what the client wants. Plus, I’m getting paid what I’m worth, so I can afford to spend the time creating a design that looks great and will convert really well. I can have a professional writer write SEO-optimized content, meta descriptions and title tags. And I can move the project forward as quickly as possible with minimal time investment from the client. Because, again, I’m being paid well and can afford to spend time providing high-quality services.

And I install a user-friendly Visual Composer with online training videos and blog post templates, because I know the client is going to want to jump right in and start blogging.

So what’s the final result?

The client loves the website and starts seeing leads coming in very quickly.

So bringing it all back to the question of what’s the right price to pay for a website…

What’s has more value? Paying $1k for a website that’s not in-line with your needs & wants because the web designer didn’t have the resources to do it right? Or working with a web designer who takes the time to understand what you need & want, and charges according so that you can have an amazing website that providing an enormous return on investment?