When you hire us to build your website, the cost of the project may change from what we initially agreed.

Doesn’t seem fair, does it?

I hear you, and we hate doing it, but occasionally we simply HAVE to.

Truth be told, most projects go as expected and 90% of the time, the price we quote at the start of the project, is the final price.

But that still leaves 10% of our clients who end up paying more.

In this post, I want to explain why this might happen and how you can prevent it.

The cost of a website

We do our best to be as transparent as possible with our prices, and we even display our fees clearly on our website to avoid confusion.

To give you an idea of how much we charge, most of the websites we build cost between £3495–£5497 but some websites cost upwards of 10K–15K.

It depends entirely on what you need and how much time it will take.

Information gathering

Before we start working on the project, we do our best to gather as much information as possible so we can fully understand your requirements before we give you a quote.

We’ll ask you about:

• The website features you want
• Your design preferences
• What pages you want on the site
• How much advice will you need
• How many people will be working on the project
• What you want to accomplish with your new website
• And much more

The reason we spend time asking these questions at the start of the website project is because each answer you give can dramatically change the amount of work involved.

The more we know, the more accurate the proposal.

Now that you understand a little more about how we price website projects let’s discuss the elephant in the room.

If we spend so much time working out a specific price for your individual needs, why should this change?

Below, I’ve broken down the main reasons why this might happen.

1. Extra features & services

This one is to be expected. Adding extra features or services to the original package will understandably, increase the price.

Obviously, things will alter slightly throughout the build, and you may change your mind and want to tweak some bits. That’s ok. We always try to be as flexible as we can be.

However, we will have to charge for some things. Let’s say you start the web design process wanting a standard website to advertise your freelance services. But later down the line, you decide you also want an online shopping page to sell some physical products. This will need to be charged separately as it’s something we didn’t include in the original package and it takes more time.

Or let’s say you want us to set up a booking calendar for you so you can take online appointments, we may need additional tools for this, and it will take more time for us to configure. If this is the case, we’ll have to charge more.

The same also goes for:

• Additional pages you want to design
• Landing pages installing
• Email integration
• Changes to page layouts
• Extra support, e.g. online coaching from us

Essentially, anything that you didn’t agree at the start of the project could increase the final price.

2. Changing the schedule

Before we build your website, we try to establish how long the process might take. Most of our projects take between 12-16 weeks from start to finish, but this isn’t set in stone.

Every project is different and based on your requirements, it might be sooner than this, or it may take longer. Either way, we’ll give you a good indication of the time scale at the start of the process.

Once we’ve got started on the project, we’ll work with you to set a launch date for your new website. We’ll book it in the calendar, and we’ll schedule our other projects around yours. This way we can ensure we have a good amount of time to complete your website and get everything finished ready for launch day.

However, if we do agree on a launch date and you decide to change it, it may alter the final price.

Let’s just say, you want to bring the launch date forward and go live sooner than we initially agreed. This generally means we’ll have to re-arrange our calendar and block out some extra time to complete your website. If this is the case, we’ll generally have to charge more.

Alternatively, if we set a date to go live and then we have to move the date back due to delays on your end, this can sometimes change the final price of the project. In our experience, when a project is delayed we’ve found that this leads to more amendments later down the line and more work on our part.

3. Design Changes after approval

Before we build your website, we try to take every precaution to get your website exactly how you want it.

After our initial research and discovery phase, we’ll move on to the design stage. This means we’ll design all of your core pages on photoshop before we build them.

Once we’re happy with the designs, we’ll send them to you so you can see them too. You can then tell us what you like, what you don’t like and what you want to change, delete or add.

We’ll make another round of changes based on your suggestions. Once you’re happy and you approve the designs, we move on and get those pages built.

This design stage is your opportunity to tell us if you want to make any changes so that we can make them before we code anything at all.

If you change your mind AFTER we’ve started building your site, we may have to charge extra as this will take more time to rebuild some elements.

This doesn’t mean you can’t make some changes. Understandably, there will be some tweaks you might want to make, and if they’re small, that’s usually ok.

However, it’s always best to make sure you’re happy before we build anything to avoid any extra fees later down the line.

How to make sure the price STAYS the same price

If you are on a budget and you want to make sure the final price is what we agreed at the start of the process, then take the time to plan your project as much as possible before hiring us.

Download our website buyers guide and go through it step by step, making notes along the way.

This will ensure you are fully aware of what you might need to consider before we have our initial consultation.

We created the website buyers guide to protect you when hiring a web design agency. It will also help you get a better idea of how much budget you should allow and what features you might need.

Summary

Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of why the price might change throughout the website build.

No, we don’t charge for every little thing. There are some larger agencies especially, who charge for extremely small amendments. We are pretty fair and understanding. But, we may have to charge if it takes us a lot more time.

Martin Huntbach

Web designer & marketer for small businesses. Martin is an experienced search engine and web design specialist, with over a decade of experience working with large corporations to small businesses.

jammydigital.com

The post Why the cost of your website might increase during the build? appeared first on Content Marketing & SEO Agency | Get More Sales From Your Website.

Yes, you definitely should put your prices on your website. Why? What’s the first question you ask yourself when buying a product or service? Yep, How much does it cost? Now, imagine you answered that question on your own website – you get tons of traffic and build up so much trust and credibility.

But, even with all this, the majority of business owners still shy away from displaying their prices online. It’s a debate we get into often. So, we’re here to put forward our view on why you SHOULD display your prices on your website.

Prefer video? Watch our Video on Why You Should Put Your Prices On Your Website

You Don’t Need a Pricing Table

Before you run and hide, hear me out. I’m not saying you should have a pricing table on your website that clearly defines what you charge. That would be bold. However, the least you can do is talk about your prices.

If you take a look at our pricing page, you’ll see we don’t tell you exactly how much a new website will cost. Not because we’re sneaky, but because it depends on a number of factors.

We say our prices start from £3497, and we tell you what that includes. We also describe what will add to that cost, for example, an e-commerce shop or a booking system.

You don’t HAVE to be too specific, although the more detail you give, the better. The least you should do is open up the conversation and give your reader an idea of your prices.

What About E-commerce Websites?

It’s worth noting that I’m not talking about B2C e-commerce websites here. Hell, if you’re wondering whether to display your prices in this instance, the answer is absolutely and unequivocally, YES!

If you run a service-based business and you’re currently not displaying your prices on your website, here’s why you should:

1. It Builds Trust

The biggest benefit to displaying your prices on your website is it builds trust with your audience.

Your potential audience will feel comfortable dealing with you if they know what you’re likely to charge. They won’t have those thoughts. You know the ones I mean: ‘Will this guy rip me off?’ or ‘Will they charge me more than someone else?’

By displaying your prices, you smash your potential customers’ protective barrier, and they’ll feel more comfortable in dealing with you over your competition.

2. It Avoids the Awkward Conversation

Customer: So…er…what are we talking?

You: Well, that depends. I mean, what’s your budget?

Customer: Well. I’m not really sure. What do you normally charge?

You: Well, erm….it all depends really.

I hate that conversation. You hate that conversation. And most importantly, your customer hates that conversation. So why the hell are you having it?

Since we started displaying our prices on our website, it’s so easy to talk money. Nine times out of ten, the potential client already knows how much we charge. We don’t have to ask them how much money they’ve got (it’s none of our business), and we get to delve right into the good stuff of learning more about them and their business. No awkward conversations. It’s a win/win for both.

3. It attracts the customers you want

Displaying your prices on your website helps attract the kind of customers you want. You may think that your potential audience will go to a cheaper competitor, but often that’s not the case.

By displaying your prices, you’re making it clear who you’re targeting.

We’re not cheap by any means, but we also don’t charge ‘high-end’ agency prices upwards of 10k. This makes it clear that we work well with established small-business owners and personal brands. We’re not the right fit for new business owners or huge corporations.

We find that our target market responds well to our prices, and you can do the same. If you’re cheap as chips and wanting to attract the very price conscious, then fine, say it! If you’re more expensive and want a different kind of client, no problem, but explain what makes you different, and why they should choose you.

4. It Could Save Hours of Admin Time Per Week

Before we started displaying our prices on our website, we spent approximately two-three hours per week having calls or replying to emails to people who were completely wrong for our business.

Some had a budget of five hundred quid, and some had a budget of twenty grand.  We spent time getting to the bottom of what they wanted, when in the end we were either too expensive or not the right fit. We wasted our time, and there’s too.

5. It Will Make You Stand Out

One of the most common concerns business owners have when it comes to displaying their prices on their website is this: It’s not the done thing in our industry.

Our response?

Well, that’s bloody fantastic.

Imagine being the first in your industry to say, hey! You know all these guys (this is where point to your competitors), they’re not going to tell you their prices. But guess what? I am. I have nothing to hide. I want to be upfront, open and honest with you.

Do you know how powerful that is? It’s huge! We’ve seen countless examples of this working, and your potential customers will respond positively. It makes you stand out from the competition and positions you as a leader in your industry.

6. Search Engine Optimisation

How on earth does displaying my prices help search engine optimisation?

Good question. Do you know what’s likely to be one of the top questions about your industry? How much does it cost?

How much does it cost for a website?

How much does it cost for an editor?

How much does it cost for a business coach?

Cost-related keywords and phrases are highly popular search terms. If you discuss your prices on your website, especially when much of your industry shies away from it, then you could be looking at so much more traffic to your site from Google.

But more than that, you can write articles about it. Yes, entire articles just about your pricing. We do it all the time. Look at…

Why are we so expensive
Why are we so cheap
Why New Businesses Shouldn’t Spend 1000s on a New Website
How Much Does it Cost For a Website

Not only do these articles get huge amounts of traffic from Google, but they also explain what makes us different, attracts our target audience AND builds trust.

Where did we get the idea?

We’d love to tell you that this is all our idea, but it’s not.

If you want to know more about why we started displaying our prices on our website, then check out Marcus Sheridan’s book, They Ask, You Answer. This book has been hugely influential in our lives and has transformed our business for the better. We couldn’t recommend it enough.

I hope this article has shown you the benefits of displaying your prices on your website. Are you still considering it? Is there anything holding you back?

I’d love to know your thoughts. Let me know in the comments below.

Lyndsay Cambridge

Owner at Jammy Digital, Digital Marketing Specialist and Writer of Young-Adult Fiction.

jammydigital.com

The post 6 Reasons You Should Put Your Prices On Your Website appeared first on Content Marketing & SEO Agency | Get More Sales From Your Website.

We’re a web design agency. We charge thousands for websites. You might think we’re a tad strange for dissuading brand new businesses from investing in us. But there’s method to the madness.

This isn’t something we’ve come up with on a whim. Every phone call or enquiry we get now, we ask: are you a brand new business?

What Do We Mean By Brand New Business?

We define a brand new business as business owners who have never owned a business before. We often design websites for business owners starting a new venture, but that’s slightly different. We’re talking about people who are completely new to business.

Do We Not Trust New Business Owners?

Of course we do! Everyone starts off as a new business owner. We started off as new business owners. This isn’t about not having faith in your business. It’s about doing you a disservice.

When we set up our first business we invested thousands in a website and we made HUGE errors that cost us both financially and emotionally. All worked out well in the end. But at the time, we would’ve appreciated someone telling us straight: investing thousands in a website right now might not work.

I’m going to tell you why investing a boat-load of money into a new business website might not be a good idea.

You’ve Got to Test Your Idea

Ideas are wonderful, aren’t they? Sometimes they just pop into our heads at the most inopportune times (usually when you don’t have a pen) and they light a fire within us.

You might think you’ve got a great idea, but do people fully understand what you’re offering? Are they willing to pay you money for it? Is the business viable long term? You’ve got to test your idea out first.

How to Test Your Idea

1. Start by setting up a cheap website

Yup. That is what we recommend! In fact, Martin tells you how to set up a cheap website in his blog post.

2. Get to grips with social media, content marketing, email marketing and SEO

Think of your website as the heart of your business, but you still need to get blood to it! This is where your marketing efforts come in. Now is the time to learn as much as you can, create a buzz about your business and drive traffic to your site.

3. Join membership groups like Content Marketing Academy and Atomic

Not only will they teach you more about content and social media marketing, but they’re also great places to gain feedback, ask questions and make friends. There are plenty of membership sites out there but we’re personally part of these and they’ve transformed our business for the better!

4. Evaluate

Once you’ve underway with all of these things you can evaluate how successful your idea is. Most of the time, businesses stay within the same industry but they tweak their offering to something more desirable for their target audience. They often niche down too, offering more targeted services.

I’m not going to lie, when I started out I felt so overwhelmed with all the information out there. That’s why it’s good to start off slow without the pressure of spending huge amounts of money on a new website.

If you’re looking for helpful advice and support about web design and SEO, why not join our Facebook Group – Website Tips for Non-Techies.

2. Things Change

Businesses are constantly evolving, but nothing changes quite so quickly than in the first twelve-eighteen months of business. Imagine investing thousands in a website, only for your business to change a few months later?

You might think, not such a big deal, I’ll just change the text on my website, right?

Wrong.

Any good website (and, in particular, one that’s going to cost you thousands!) should be informed by certain key factors.

Things that Might Change Early On in Your Business

1. Your target market

Not just the age, sex and location of your target audience, but other stuff. Deeper stuff. Things like what issues are they facing, what’s their ultimate goal, what’s their biggest fear? Your website should be designed in a way that appeals directly to your target market.

2. Your key services

As I said before, a lot of business owners change their offering within the first twelve-eighteen months. They often niche down. In fact, we did this very thing. Over a period of five years, we’ve gone from offering web design, social media marketing, SEO, email marketing and graphic design to just WordPress web design.

3. What you want your users to do?

It’s not always as simple as ‘buy now’. Often people need a little more coaxing to invest in you, that’s why we encourage our clients to think about their users’ journey. Should they sign up to your email list first for example? If so, every page has to be geared towards this action.

These are just a few examples of what we take into consideration when we build your website. There’s a heck of a lot more that goes into it. As well as a lengthy video call with our clients, we also send them a website questionnaire and undertake our own research too.

So if you’re not clear on the answers to these questions, the likelihood is, you’re not ready to invest.

And that’s okay! It’s expected that within the first twelve months of business these things will change. If you have a website professionally designed before then, you might find yourself spending money again to put it right, or your website won’t speak to your target market. Either way, its lose/lose.

3. There’s Less Pressure

We never underestimate the cost of our website packages. £3500 – £6000 is a lot of money to spend for most small business owners, so they have to be confident they can make that money back. If you want to find out why we specifically charge what we do, then read Martin’s post, Why Are We So Expensive?

The likelihood is, investing thousands in a new website will put a dent in your business finances.

You might think, what do you care, we have the money to spend!

Well, actually, we do care. We want our clients to be successful, and you cannot gain success from a website alone. The days of ‘build it and they will come’ are well and truly over. If you invest in a website straight away, you’re already thousands down, with no knowledge of content marketing, social media marketing, email marketing or SEO behind you.

Now you have to spend your time learning about those marketing tools.

If you have an existing platform behind you, you’re at an advantage. You’ll already know how to promote your business and use content management systems. You’ll know exactly what you’re selling and who your target audience is. You might have even built up a loyal audience already. This takes the pressure off when investing in a new website because you can focus on what’s important: your business.

4. You Need to Establish Who You Are

If you’re going to invest thousands into a website, you need to understand who you are and what you stand for.

Before we design your website we ask you to describe your brand using certain words like cheeky or funny, bold or innovative. How you position yourself within the market informs everything from the design, images and copy.

Even if you think you have these nailed down, you’d be surprised how much your business will change. When we first started, we were ‘yes men’, designing websites for under a thousand pound for anyone that would come through the door. As our skills and knowledge has developed, so have we. We now see ourselves teachers in our industry.

This process takes time, and there’s a lot you need to consider when it comes to brand. Of course, this includes your logo, fonts, colours, branding and style. But it’s also your tone of voice (i.e. how you speak to your audience).

Are you formal or informal? Do you incorporate humour? Do you have a teacher relationship with your audience or more of a friend relationship?

It takes time to solidify your brand, and there’s no point having a website designed if you haven’t considered who you are and how you present yourself to your target market.

Conclusion

Recently, a client approached us about having a website designed. He was a brand new business owner, and instead of taking his money we recommended he set up a website himself.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we’re angels here. We want our clients to be on the same page as us: with a strong sense of who they are and armed with the knowledge they need to make a successful business. He was thankful for our advice, and we’re pretty sure that down the line when he’s ready, he’ll come back to us.

Successful clients are happy clients, and they’re far more likely to trust us, work with us and recommend us in the future if they gain success from their website.

Over to You

Have you ever invested thousands in a brand new website? How did you find the process? Or perhaps this article has made you think twice about investing thousands? If so, I’d love to know your thoughts.

And don’t forget, feel free to join our FREE Facebook group to help newbies get to grips with web design and SEO – Website Tips for Non-Techies.

Lyndsay Cambridge

Owner at Jammy Digital, Digital Marketing Specialist and Writer of Young-Adult Fiction.

jammydigital.com

The post Why New Businesses Shouldn’t Spend Thousands On A Website appeared first on Content Marketing & SEO Agency | Get More Sales From Your Website.