How much does a website cost? Let’s change that to ‘How much should I invest in my website?’
Though a website does cost money, it should be thought of as a long-term investment into the future of your business. Once you have your website, you’ll have to update it and maintain your speed, SEO (search engine optimisation) and content, but the initial cost of it will only be paid once.
Your website should be your hardest working salesperson, working day and night to bring you leads and sales. That is why a website is an investment not a cost.
How much should I invest in my website?
There’s no fixed price for a website. It all depends on your business’ requirements:
- the number of pages you need
- whether you want social media links
- if you sell products or services
- functionality and experience needed for your audience
- data capture forms
- integration with CRMs and other IT systems
- And much more…
However, if you want a fully functioning, optimised, beautiful bespoke website designed by experts, you should expect to pay upwards of £2,000.
If you choose to create your website yourself or work with a friend etc, you can get away with creating it for free, but as we hear time and again from business owners:
- They are stuck when they want something changed or updated (only so many times you can ask a friend to do something for free!)
- It doesn’t always look professional or meet the needs prospects
- Slow to load
- Doesn’t perform key things you need it to for your business
- Is not ranking well in the search results.
All of this results in a free site, that doesn’t deliver sales for your business. So even for free, that’s not a good investment choice if you want to grow your business!
Ongoing website investment
When it comes to the cost of a website, it’s not just the development and creation that you should budget for.
As mentioned earlier, you’ll need to frequently update your website content, check speed and optimise for SEO.
There are initial gains when you launch a new website, but exactly like when you buy a car, if you don’t maintain it and have it serviced, you will see it start to decline in performance.
You may find within 6 months of having your website you’ve started offering a new service so you’ll have to invest in a new page for your website. Or your website speed may be lower, and you’ll need to work with a website agency to improve your score.
Your website needs regular, fresh, relevant and quality content too in order to keep it ranking well in the search results. There is an art of SEO-copywriting and although you may be able to do the bulk of it yourself, working with a professional will take your words and knowledge and turn it into something which is findable in Google’s search results and engaging for prospects.
Is it worth investing in a website?
All these figures and other ongoing costs might be a surprise to you, but remember that even though the initial cost of a website might be high, whe working a professional you’ll quickly earn this back.
Whether you’re using your website for sales, charity donations or information, the current climate almost requires you to have a website if you want to be found by people who need your service and products.
Even those businesses that rely on word of mouth, referrals, recommendations and/or repeat customers, you will find those who have been recommended to you will check out your website and social media profiles before getting in touch. So if you don’t have a strong performing website, a referral might not be enough to convince someone you are the supplier for them.
Your website will help you to create an online presence, establish your brand, and develop your customer base.
You’ll soon see a return on investment as website visitors turn into paying customers or generous donators. The more you invest in your website to make it easy to navigate and informative, the more return you can expect to receive as people choose to visit your website over your competitors’.
Over time, you’ll have made back the investment for your website and be achieving your business goals! Don’t let the initial price put you off!
How much does a website cost – Transparent website costs with Growth by Design
If you’re ready to take the next step forward in your business and invest in a high-performing website, take a look at our online website estimator to get a quote range of what you might need to invest to get the website your business needs.
If you have any questions about how our team of expert website designers and builders can help your business flourish online, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
