What would you expect to pay for quality website design and development?

by Nick Nichols, Online Marketing Expert

A recent question posted at LinkedIn was, "What would you expect to pay for quality website design and development?"

That’s like asking, "How much should you pay for a car?"

If you just want a basic WordPress website, you can get one free with a hosting account at GoDaddy and other major hosting companies. All you have to do is set it up and GoDaddy, for one, will walk you through it. You’ll get the boring, plain-vanilla WordPress default theme that you’ll need to customize. No custom graphics. No custom formatting. And most important, no strategic advice on how to make your website sell.

Or you could go through one of the freelance sites and get a more customized site created for a few hundred bucks. And that’s all you’ll have – a website that might look good aesthetically, but will be next to useless if you want to sell anything.

Or you can hire someone who is a marketer first, web designer second to help you develop an online marketing strategy to create an online lead generation and sales system, instead of just a website.

In addition to setup and design, this should include, at a minimum:

• A consultation to formulate an online marketing action plan;
• Sales copy that immediately tells visitors why they should do business with you over your competitors, and why they should act now;
• Development and deployment of a "bait piece" that will motivate qualified prospects to give you their contact details and grant permission to email them in exchange for free value-based information that addresses issues that are important to them;
• Development and deployment of an automated follow-up system that offers additional value;
• One or more short video clips that introduce you to your visitors and answer frequently asked questions or questions you wish your prospects and customers would ask you.

So, what should you expect to invest in an online lead generation and sales system? Think of how much business this might generate for you over a year’s time and allocate a meaningful percentage of that for design and ongoing advice. Then hire a marketer-first, designer-second individual or firm for the best possible results.

I can help you with this. Call me: 214-458-2290.