A website is the first impression people get of your business, so it's important to make sure you have the best.
There are a lot of people online willing to sell you a website for $5000, $10,000, and even $25,000. But is this really a good idea? Or does the old saying "You get what you pay for" hold true?
The difference between spending $5000 on a website and $500 on a website can be the difference between making money and losing money. But not all things are as they seem, so in this post I'll give you a full breakdown of each project and let you decide for yourself whether a $5000 website is worth it or not.
The Difference Between $5000 and $500 websites
In this section, we'll dive into the major differences between a $500 website and a $5000 website.
Features:
Most of the time, you can expect to get more features when you pay more. For example, if you have a large team working on your site, then it might be worth it to pay more for a CMS that allows multiple people to edit content on the same site at once (like WordPress). If you're just starting out and don't need any special features right now though, it may not be worth paying for software that won’t provide value until later down the line. In this case, going with something very basic could save you some money in exchange for less flexibility later down the road when your business has grown and needs change!
Performance:
In general performance will increase as price increases—the more expensive hosting packages usually include better speeds than cheaper ones since they've been optimized by professionals who know what they're doing (which is why I recommend using SiteGround). However, there are also other factors that affect how quickly pages load such as how well coded your content is or what type of plugins/extensions are running on top of them so there's no guarantee things will run faster just because their technology costs more! If all else fails though try testing out several different options before making up your mind.
What is the full cost including hosting etc?
When building a website, there are several costs you'll need to consider.
- Domain registration and hosting: This is the most obvious cost - the price of registering your domain name, buying web hosting, setting up your site and paying for monthly service fees. You can expect to spend anywhere between $15 - $50 per month on this depending on the features that come with it and how much traffic you plan on getting.
- Ongoing development: If you want some kind of custom functionality or specific features built into your site (such as an eCommerce store), this will likely require hiring a developer. Depending on what exactly needs doing, it could cost anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars per month; however, if it's something simple like adding social sharing buttons or using an online editor tool like Squarespace then these things can be done relatively cheaply (or even for free!)
- Content creation: If someone else is going to write content for you then there's no additional cost here; however, if you're creating everything yourself then this will add another fee onto what other services may already cost (see above).
Will a cheaper website load slower?
In general, yes. A $5000 site will load faster than a $500 site because the people who create them use more advanced technology and spend more time in the development process. If you want your website to load quickly and rank well in search, then it’s worth spending more money on your website.
If you’re just starting out online and don’t know whether you need or want SEO yet, then I recommend going with a cheaper option until you figure things out. You can always upgrade later if needed!
Does more money mean better SEO?
SEO (search engine optimization) is a way to get more visitors to your site. A good website design is the first step to getting more visitors, and there are many ways that you can improve your website's SEO:
- Make sure the title of each page on your site has relevant keywords in it.
- Use meta descriptions on each page that use relevant keywords and summarize what's on the page.
- Write compelling copy that includes keyword-heavy content, but don't overdo it—don't stuff keywords into titles or text just for search engines; they'll penalize you for that!
When you're building a $5000 site, you'll probably have access to better resources than when you're building a $500 one—even if it's just having someone else write content for yours instead of writing everything yourself (like I did).
This means that not only will your design look better overall, but also all of these elements will be taken care of by professionals who know exactly how search engines work and what makes them tick.
Do you need SEO services?
When it comes to SEO, how much you're willing to invest depends on your goals. If you want to rank for generic terms like "cheap restaurants near me" or "best coffee in town," then don't hire a professional—just secure a good quality website and make sure the content is optimized for search engines.
If you're trying to rank for competitive keywords that are related but more specific (like "the best coffee shop in Perth"), consider hiring an agency with specialized knowledge of local industries and tactics.
The more specific your target market is, the more likely it is that hiring an expert will benefit your business by generating high-quality leads from users searching directly for what you offer.
For example: I'm currently building out a company blog site using WordPress because I know it'll be easy for me to update in case something changes within my industry; however, there are many ways I could optimize this site even further beyond simply adding great content and optimizing images!
When writing articles and website content, I start with keyword research tools like SEMrush, Google AdWords’ Keyword Planner tool as well as Moz's Open Site Explorer tool so I would understand which keywords people were already typing into Google when they searched for a specific topic or phrase.
Is a cheaper website worth it for your business?
The short answer is yes, depending on your requirements.
If you are a small business, the cost could be worth it. When I first started my company, we had very little capital for marketing or advertising and couldn't afford the pricey options out there. I had to make do with what little money I did have by buying ads on Google AdWords and Facebook Ads (which worked great).
My advice would be to use these paid advertising options first before buying a website because they're cheaper, have little commitment, and are easy to play around with, but if you're looking at building your own site from scratch then it could potentially cost more than $500 per month over two years because of maintenance fees.
$5000 is not an unreasonable amount of money for any type of company to spend on a website; however, many businesses will find ways around choosing this option due mainly due their monthly income being too low compared other available choices such as hiring someone else who specializes in web design instead which can cost anywhere between $1000-$10,000 depending on how much work needs done versus having someone else do all the work themselves!
Should you pay extra for conversion optimization and A/B testing?
Conversion optimisation is a great tool for your business, but it can be an expensive add-on to your website development project. The good news is that you don't have to put money into this right away. You can invest in conversion optimization and A/B testing once your site is up and running and generating traffic, which will help to get you on the right track with generating more conversions.
If you're looking into ways of improving your conversion rate without spending too much money, make sure you're using tools such as Optimizely or VWO (Visual Website Optimizer) so that they are fully customizable so that they align with the design of your website as well as providing real-time results based on user behaviour. This way we can see what works now while keeping things flexible enough if something needs changing later down the road!
How much should you spend on your website, and what should that money buy you?
Deciding what to spend on a website is more complicated than just looking at the price tag. The total cost should include not only the initial build, but also ongoing maintenance and support. If you're planning on making future changes and additions to your website, it's best to hire a developer who will be able to keep the site running smoothly for years to come.
For many small businesses and freelancers, building your own site can seem like an unnecessary expense when there are so many companies willing to do it for much less money. But as I learned from my experience with web design in general — it's important not just what you get now, but how well it ages over time.
Conclusion: Don't cheap out when it comes to your online presence
A cheap website might seem like a good deal right now, but when you're trying to get new customers (or keep existing ones), all they see is what's on the surface—and if there are bugs or other issues with usability and functionality (which I've seen happen many times with cheaper options), then your business could suffer from all sorts of problems later down the line, including lower conversions rates and lost sales opportunities due to frustration over poor user experience design issues such as:
- Slow loading times
- Bugs / Errors
- Outdated / conflicting technologies
- Lack of interactivity / engagement to keep the user interested
My takeaway from this article is that a cheap website isn't worth it in the long run. A good website isn't only an important part of your online presence, it's also a long-term investment that will pay off in the future.
You need to think of your site as an asset and make sure you're treating it like one. If you want people to use your site regularly or even just once, then put some thought into what goes on there and how easy it is for them to navigate through.
