Thoughts from web developers

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15/08/11 - How much do you value your website

Are you thinking of getting a new website or planning to upgrade your website but are wondering the age old question, how much should I spend?

You may have done a little research and wonder why there is such a broad range of website prices for what sounds like the same thing.

The truth is starting a website design company is very attractive, there are a large number of resources for aspiring learners. Creating a basic website is simpler than what you may think and the overheads are very minimal. Unfortunately, in such a crowded market many businesses end up competing on price instead of quality. When work is scarce they might accept business, which is out of their expertise leaving the customer disillusioned about the whole industry.

In order to ascertain how much you should spend on a website you need to discern what makes a good web design company and understand the value of your website.

Many businesses seriously underestimate the value of their website to their business. There are many ways your website can save you money, for example, a website can reduce the number of telephone enquiries to your business. IBM claim to save $2 billion a year in call centre costs with their online support website. Printing costs can be reduced by putting catalogues and other resources on a website. With the right structure your website can advertise your business, educate your customers and make a sale without any human intervention from your business. Financially speaking a website could be the equivalent to a full time paid sales person, a call centre service and a sales audit system. How much would you pay for these? Certainly not £500. Even £2,000 sounds like a bargain. Spending as little as 1 - 5% of your annual revenue on a marketing tool that is working for you 24/7 is a smart investment, doesn’t it make you wonder why you are not already doing this?

Many website companies will argue that paying for your website is a ‘one off cost’. Whilst this is partially true I would be wary of falling too much for this argument. The pace of the Internet is very fast. One minute Facebook is the social platform that users have flocked to. And yet suddenly Google+ is released and has a user base of over 10 million within a couple of months. Such large changes should effect your online strategy - your web developer will still need to have an active involvement in your website. A good web design company should be in it for the long run. They should not only have a reputation for creating sites which look good, but also sites that get the number of targeted visitors you would like and clients that speak highly of their support.

Despite the sentimentality of some people trying to start out in website design, the expertise of a valuable designer and developer can take years to develop. Experience means a lot and professional customer service is essential. A businesses brand should reflect their uniqueness - what differentiates them from their competition. You can not do this by using templates, or sites which have very little appeal. A good website development company can prove through their customers return on investment that in the long one they are cost effective even if they seem expensive; that is, if you want your website to help your business make money.