If your website isn’t helping you find your pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, isn’t it time to start asking what your website should be doing for you?
This is the question we get often over the phone and through our contact form. Simple and to the point. What’s the price of a website? And our answer is pretty straightforward too.
It depends.
The question has always bothered me. Websites aren’t a boxed commodity, although these days there’s a mentality that websites are in fact commodities. They’re all the same. There’s no differentiation. Whether it’s built on WIX, by hand with HTML, or on a platform like WordPress, they’re all the same, right?
Recently in answer to such inquiries over the phone I respond with the following question. “What’s the price of a car?” Or even better, “What’s the price of a house?” Callers usually pause for a moment, and then 99% answer, “Well it depends on the type of car or home……” And my response is simple. “So, it depends eh?” That’s usually the “Ah Ha” moment for the caller.
What’s the value of a website?
While I understand that customers want to know the cost of a product I really find myself wondering often how many also want to know the benefits or value of a professionally built website. Maybe I’m alone when it comes to considering the total cost benefit analysis of products we buy. And I really do consider all sides before making any purchasing decision. A new car is expensive. But there are benefits that go along with the expense. Good fuel economy, the ability to get to and from work safely, passenger room if you have a growing family, lower insurance costs for safer vehicles.
So, what is it you’re trying to get out of a website. Global reach to sell your products? Filling your RV Park with new guests and reaching 100% occupancy during your peak season? Interacting with your customers on a new level? Tracking your potential leads and reaching out to them? These are all potential benefits of your website. They have value.
In the case of one client at the start of 2016, the value of his website was pretty high. Saving his failing business. Of course, his first question to us was about cost as well. But as we started talking about what he wanted to do, and what he needed to do to save his business he started thinking about the websites value. And in the end, within a month after re-launching his web presence he made enough extra income to cover the cost of the website and put some profits aside for himself. I’d say that’s a pretty big benefit!
What an online business strategy can do for you
So, before you start calling web professionals asking, “What’s the price of a website,” ask yourself what it is you’re trying to achieve. Is this an online business card? Or is this an actual vehicle to help you reach new customers and grow your business? If it’s an online business card, you don’t need an online pro. If it’s more than that, and you’re using it to grow your business locally, nationally, or globally, do your research before you start calling. There will be an expense, but the right design group will provide you with tremendous benefits.
RLC Design Services specializes in creating sites and social media tie ins that drive new customers to your business. We understand SEO (Search engine optimization), and can actually get you listed for searches relevant to your business. Your website will actually stand out and get noticed, and with hundreds of millions of websites out there, that’s saying something!
The value of Point of Rocks’ updated website is clear. For the month of May the value of their search traffic topped $1,200.00 for the month. Imagine paying Google for those clicks! Plus their search traffic has done nothing but grow since RLC Design re-launched their site in January of 2015!