Is £10 too much for a website?
How much should you spend on a website? What is good value? In this article we walk through some examples to help reframe how you approach this important question.
Our ideas about quality & value are funny old things.
I mean, as an example, what is a quality watch?
Let’s compare an Omega Speedmaster which was flown into space compared with the new little Casio wristwatch from Argos.
Which one is better? Which has more quality? And offers more value?
The answer depends on what we mean by better.
If by ‘better‘ we actually mean accuracy, then the £16.99 Casio wins hands down (ha!). The exquisite mechanical precision of the Omega is no match compared to the accuracy offered by digital.
But if by ‘better‘ we mean of more historic importance then a classic timepiece such as the Omega Speedmaster wins easily (the above piece went for just under £37K in April of 2020).
So the interesting thing here is that price is only one dimension when we consider the concepts of quality & value.
How does this relate to websites?
Websites, like any other product or service, also have a vast range of prices. On one hand, you can set up a free website at Wix, and on the other B&Q spent over £60M on their website. Yes, that’s £60,000,000 (+VAT).
Which website is better?
Which one offers better quality?
There is no easy answers as so much depends on context and depends on our personal disposition.
Glass Mountains and Websites
We take a lot of pride in our large scale WordPress web design projects. These are no veneer, surface-level redesigns – no, instead we wrestle with the client’s business, getting to grips with the core of their offering, their products/services, target audiences, vision, journey etc etc. There is a lot of discussion and research which goes on long before we even get to start considering designs.
And this due diligence pays off in terms of the longevity of our websites.
How long does a website last?
I was talking with one of our clients the other day, one for whom we created a bespoke designed WordPress site, and one which had a highly complex structure and information layout. We were talking about some fairly fundamental structural changes and I then realised the site was over 5 years old. In web years, that is a long time! Yes, we had helped maintain and enhance the website over that period but the structure and heart of the website was the same as when we built it.
WordPress, like any software, moves relentlessly onward – and there is only so much retrofitting & restructuring you can do before you want to start again with a clean slate.
Daily Cost
Let’s pretend the website in question cost the client £18,250 (it didn’t but for the sake of argument, let’s pretend it did).
If that were the case, the website had cost the client £10 a day.
£10 a day for a highly polished, highly effective online presence, which was constantly positively representing the client’s brand, and 24×7 helping attract and convert countless new customers. Customers who may well refer them further customers.
How much is that worth?
I’m guessing more than £10 a day.
Reframe the question
The point I’m getting at here is not that you should only pay £18,250 for a website but perhaps challenge your perceptions as to why you think a website can only be worth £3K, or £5K, or £10K, or £25K, or £100K.
The key is to consider what value it brings to you & your business.
Final Thoughts
As a final point, I would say this: our clients say very nice things about us – yes they found our process hard & challenging, but it was rewarding and they love the end results.
Such clients compare this end result with previous website design experiences they have had where they have been less than enamoured. And in a 5 year period the client may have previously had 2 or 3 (or more!) different mediocre performing websites – websites which ended up costing X per day but not delivering worthwhile results.
The bottom line is that you need to consider your website as an investment and not simply as a box to tick.
Thanks for listening.
Joel