The Real Cost of Your Website

7 years ago

To the untrained eye, a website is a website: some text, some pictures, a few forms and it’s done. But what makes some sites more valuable than others lies beneath the surface.

The saying goes that you get what you pay for, and when you save money by designing your own website, you’re missing out on a valuable investment in your company.

Websites are the face of your company. Their entire purpose is to make visitors feel something about who you are when they visit. Without experience in how design, colors, white space, and images work together to create emotion in the viewer, your website is a moot point. Sure, it hosts your storefront, but are you really selling the idea that you’re professional, trustworthy, and unique in your field if your drag-and-drop website looks like everyone else’s?

Probably not.

Like a complicated recipe, so many ingredients have to come together perfectly for your website to leave a good taste in your visitor’s mouth.

Imagine that you’re hoping to prepare an incredible beef wellington for a dinner party. There are over a dozen ingredients, prep time takes nearly an hour, and total time for cooking is two hours. It’ll cost you about $80 to make this meal, plus you have to get ready for the party while the food is cooking.

On the other hand, you could hire a professional to make it for you, and serve it, for $200.

While true that you would pay $120 for the same meal, you would save time, resources, and frustration, and probably pull off an all-around more successful dinner party because of it. Baking a beef wellington is kind of like building a website. It’s complicated, it’s expensive, and it’s delicious, especially when a professional handles the hard work, and you get to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

1. The Code

Simply put, most people don’t have the time and energy to put into learning how to code well. While some websites allow you to take the first steps in designing your site, you’re missing out on opportunities to create something that is totally and uniquely you.

2. Search-Friendly Content

A huge piece of having an incredible website it thoughtfully using content to get clients there. Search engine optimization helps Google find your content and show it to searchers. Without great content, you’re not going to have great results.

3. Design and Aesthetics

While most people have an idea of what they would like their website to look like, it takes an artistic eye to put it all together. Thoughtful use of color vs. white space, image vs. text, and clean, crisp, modern design doesn’t come naturally to everybody.

4. Edits, Updates and Optimization

Even the most experienced web developer can’t make a site perfect the first time around. Developers work with clients to assure that every element matches the vision that they have crafted together. Editing and reworking can sometimes mean taking 3 steps forward and 4 steps back.

5. Talent Acquisition

Web developers, like any specialty trade, have invested time and money into cultivating their talent. As with any service, the better they are at their job, the more you’ll be paying. It’s worth it. A great site can pay for itself with increases in sales.

6. Digital Marketing Strategy

Once your site goes live, your web developer still has work to do. Oftentimes, they are in charge of leading digital marketing. Whether it’s email blasts or social media posts, your developer puts time and energy into curating marketing posts that draw customers in.