It’s the question that everyone wants to know. How much do I need to pay to get a website developed? What is a good deal? The answer is actually quite simple, but most people don’t realize it until it’s too late.
Let’s say that company ABC, Inc. wants a website developed to sell the Widgets that they make. Each Widget sells for about $50 and they generally sell 50 Widgets a day. That’s $2,500 in revenue every day or about $75,000 every month.
ABC Pty Ltd. decides to go to two different web design companies to get quotes. Each company comes back with a price. Web Company A says they can build the site with full ecommerce capability for just $300. Web Company B says they can build the site for $6,000. Which is the better deal? Web Company A, right? Well, maybe not.
The real answer is in the value that each web company can provide. For example, let’s say Web Company A develops the site for $300, but they don’t optimize it for search engines, they don’t make it easy to use, and the site just looks plain ugly. ABC, Inc. goes ahead with the site and, drum roll please, makes three sales from the site during the next month. So a $300 investment returned $150 in revenue. Not too great.
ABC Pty Ltd realizes that they may have made a mistake. Web Company B told them that if they went with their $6,000 website, it would be optimized for search engines, built so that it’s easy to use and secure, and designed to look amazing. Web Company B also told ABC, Inc. that they could expect to make at least 25 sales a day from the website. ABC Pty Ltd tells Web Company B to go ahead with the website. They’ve already wasted time and money using Web Company A, but they decide it may be worth their investment to use Web Company B.
Well, Web Company B sets up the new site and their predictions are correct. ABC, Inc. sells about 25 Widgets each day for a total revenue of $37,500. That’s $31,500 more than they spent on their website. It’s also $37,350 more revenue than ABC got from using Web Company A.
While this is just a fictional story, it’s inspired by real life events. Far too many times, we’ve heard stories of companies choosing a super cheap website company, only to later regret their decision. Most of the time you really do get what you pay for. I’ve been guilty of this myself many times. So many times in the past, I’ve purchased a cheaper product to save a few dollars, only to go back to the store a few days later and get the more expensive version. The cheaper product was cheaper for a good reason. It didn’t work very well.
Well, now that you know that value is usually more important than cost, how do you determine the value that a website will provide your company? It’s actually quite easy. Just ask. That’s right, ask your prospective web design company what kind of results you can expect if you choose them to design your website. Also, make sure to ask them to show you examples of how they’ve provided value to other clients as well.
Just remember, you don’t have to be an internet expert to get a good website designed for your company. Just make sure that your web design company can provide you with a good return on your investment.
