With an overwhelming majority of the American population spending about five hours online every day, it is vital to invest in online technology to get in front of this large pool of potential customers. No matter your industry, it is almost certain that a customer will visit your website before visiting your store or reaching out to you for service. Since most of your customers will form their first impression of your business based on your website, it’s important to get this right. A bad site design could spell disaster for your company as most people will hold a negative view of your product or service while researching competitors. Investing in a high-quality website and online strategy is one of the most affordable and profitable methods of reaching and winning customers. Whether your budget is $1,000 or $10,000+, any website you invest in should follow the same general plan to maximize your business’s sales.
A good plan to create or redesign your website addresses several key areas of your business. Think of a website as the central nervous system of your business’s marketing strategy. Ultimately, a marketing strategy exists to reach and convert more people into paying customers. So, how does having a good website bring in more paying customers?
Once you launch your website, you’re instantly included in the search results on Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. Every word, phrase, and product you add is now a part of the massive online conversation. 24/7/365, your website is on standby to answer questions and “field calls” from anyone in the world. You can drop advertisements directly in front of your ideal customers. You can offer deals and feature items directly to customer inboxes. With so many more people viewing your services, it's almost certain you'll convert more people to customers.
Make this attention count by impressing people when they first open your website. Studies show that 70-80% of people research a company online before visiting or purchasing from your business and 75% of people judge a company by the quality of their website. Not having a website or having a poor website is hurting your business because most of your customers will form their first impressions based on what they see there. However, if they find an impressive, useful site with thoughtfully displayed products and services, they’ll be more inclined to purchase from your business. A good website design that considers the goals of customers is a great way to build trust in your product and show customers exactly how you benefit them.
Let's work together to get your business in shape online. A well established website is vital for startups and recently acquired businesses. No matter where you are on your journey, Optics can help you plan, design, and launch an affordable, successful website.
You can determine how much you should spend on a website by asking yourself a few basic questions. On average, how much is a single customer worth to your business? How many more customers do you think you can get by building or growing your website and online presence? Let’s say your business earns around $1,000 per customer and services 500 customers in a year. In this scenario, you set a reasonable goal to build a website to bring in 50 new customers this year. At $1,000 in net earnings per customer, this new site will profit your business $50,000/year. A professionally designed website for a small business can cost anywhere between $3,000 to upwards of $50,000, depending on your goals and needs. In this situation and price range, the website is guaranteed to pay for itself within the year and boost earnings for your business.
Perhaps you are wondering why the price of a website varies so much or how it could get so expensive. It all boils down to how much you want to make sure your goals are met. The more tools and resources you put into play, the higher the chance to get more visitors and convert them into paying customers. For instance, you might spend $10,000 on a website that makes it easy to post blogs, schedule appointments, sell products, setup an email marketing campaign, rank higher on Google, and has built in analytic tools to track visitors. All these features expose your business to a new audience and keeps them engaged in a unique way, pushing you closer to your goal. If you get a simple website that looks good for $3,000, it might only have a blog and analytic tools. Sure, you can still reach your goals, but depending on what they are, this could be a bit more challenging. So, once you narrow down what tools you want built into your website, you’ll be able to get an accurate estimate for how much to invest. Building a website is comparable to buying a car in the sense of, you can spend $3,000 or $50,000 or way more on a vehicle. However, the more expensive the car, the more it can do for the driver. In comparison, a higher price for a website usually means you are getting more features that will help your business achieve its traffic and conversion goals. After talking with a professional, you should determine how much to invest in your website by considering the tools you need and how certain you want to be that you’re going to reach your goal.
