I get asked this kind of question a lot. And the information rolling
around online completely fails to give a clear answer to this question
for a business owner or startup. After years of experience designing
sites for small business owners, and after observing their results over
and over, I finally devised a formula which can be applied in any
situation, to any level of web development.
First, understand that marketing and web design go hand in hand. You
cannot pay for one and neglect the other, or your investment will be
useless – for it to work, you must invest in both.
This is the formula I devised:
How much do you expect to earn from your website in the next year?
Divide that number by four.
You should be willing to spend that much on website design and basic
search engine optimization (which should mostly be done as the site is
built).
You will have to spend another fourth of the amount on marketing to get
the site launched and stabilized – later you can spend a smaller
percentage, but to get it started you'll need to back it with a sound
marketing campaign.
Any good web designer and marketing consultant team should be willing
to give you reasonable assurances of meeting the goal of doubling your
investment within 1 year of the launch date. Most of the time you can
do much better, but if your product is sound, you can almost always
meet this goal.
This means, if you spend $150 on a website and marketing, you really
have no reason to complain if you make only $300 from it the first
year. Your site will still work, and it will still grow from a small
investment, it will just be MUCH slower.
Long term, your ongoing costs for maintenance and marketing could be
closer to 20% of your profit margin each year. The higher cost applies
to getting started.
The purpose of this formula is not only to give you an idea of what you
should expect to pay, but also to help you understand the minimum you
can expect to get in return. Many web designers and marketers are
reluctant to give any kind of assurances of returns. We all know that
it is slow, and many small business owners give up before the website
starts to pay if they did not have sufficient funds to compete right
away.
Even if you market on the cheap – most of my clients do their own
marketing – if the strategies you use are sound, this formula will
still work! Most of my clients in fact do much better than this, but it
is due to their dedication and drive.
A website and marketing are well worth paying for. They are the
backbone of online business, and they can return your investment many
times over.
Written by Laura Wheeler, Mom to Eight, and owner of Firelight Web Studio - http://www.firelightwebstudio.com/
. Laura is an expert in small business startup, frugal website
development, and cost effective SEO and marketing. She has published 11
books, and has been published in 3 books which were edited by other
authors. Her web design firm does business differently - with policies
and procedures designed from the ground up to benefit small business
owners and first time website owners.
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
