Q: How much for a website? A: Why?

I have started to ask why to pretty much every request I get. “Can you design a new logo for my business?” – Why? “How long will it take to make an app?” – Why? “How much for a website?” – Why?

Is seems childish to some, but in reality, this has helped pretty much all my clients think twice about a decision and sometimes realised that the thing they thought they needed wasn’t necessarily the right one.

The most common one I get is “I need a new website.” – Then I am like “Why do you need that?”.

– Well… The site is not generating enough traffic and I think the design is the reason.

– Ok… How much traffic do you have today?

– About 2.000 monthly – and I really wanted that number to be at least 10 times bigger.

– What are the primary sources? Where do the majority of your visitors come from?

– I don’t know actually. We do a monthly newsletter which have a few clicks and then some social media.

… and the conversation goes on.

In the end it usually turns out that the website itself is good, but it is actually a matter of marketing. Some enhancements on the website could help you get better analytical data, but no need for an entire re-design. And let’s consider you having your newsletter – how many receive it monthly – and can we increase that number? How many active followers on social media, and what do you share online? Are you reposting your suppliers’ professional pictures, or have you considered making unique content for your business?

I want to encourage business owners to start asking themselves more questions like that. It will help you get a much better overview of potential issues in your branding and marketing and in the end save you time and money to fix. I see too many small business owners go in to website companies and say “How much for a website?” and they answer “X.XXX €, it will take three months to build and we require you to pay 50% up front and deliver all text and images. If you need us to do it, we charge that separately.” They haven’t taken time to understand your business needs, they simply accepted your request for a new website, and plan to make one.

This is what separates the production business form the consulting business.