Your website has the opportunity to set you apart, tell your story and drive revenue long after you've gone to bed.  Websites can be as basic or complex as you need them to be.  Some are thousands of lines of custom code and countless hours of design iterations.  Others are built on a template, simpler, more cost-effective.  

As an agency, we're always working on more than the website itself. It's about understanding a brand, company or nonprofit, uncovering opportunities and issues, and then taking what we've learned to translate that into a website that makes an impact.  

Budgets make people uncomfortable.

I’m not a fan of talking about a budget. Money-related conversations have always been awkward for me. And yet, every time I get on a call or meet with a new client or potential client, I ask the same question:

What is your budget for this project? (I’m also nervously picking my nails under the table.)

Stating your budget feels counterintuitive like you’ve just thrown away all of your negotiation power. I don’t want you to feel powerless. Or worse, like you may get taken advantage of. Instead, being upfront with what you ideally wish to invest in a project can put your organization and ours on the same side of the table. How so?

Every project is unique

We’ve worked on projects that have ranged from $1,500 to $250,000. That would be an unfathomable range if every project was off-the-shelf and resulted in the exact same website (somebody got a deal of a lifetime; somebody else got ripped off). The reality is that every project is as vastly unique as the budgets we’ve worked within. The solutions we propose, from how we approach your brand's story to how we tackle your sales problem, are customized to solve the problems you present to us and what you want to achieve with your website. Knowing your budget helps us determine the resources to put towards creativity, strategy, custom-built features, and implementing a solution that fits with your goal.

There’s more than one way to solve a problem

As a client, you may come to us with an idea or an example from another website of something that could help your business. Knowing your budget provides us with the ability to get creative with that idea. Say, for example, you are looking to build your email list and get more leads. For a smaller budget, a digital agency can provide a simplified solution that captures emails and contacts on your website. For a larger budget, an agency can create anything from an engaging interactive form for capturing email addresses to a full inbound email marketing plan to help nurture and convert leads. An upfront budget conversation helps us to narrow down which options best walk the line between what you want and what you can afford.

An agency can be a vital part of your team

When you set out to hire an agency for your website, you’re often looking for something bigger than design and code. You’re looking to solve a business problem and your agency can play a major role in helping you strategize how to do so. The way being upfront about a budget plays into this is simply put: trust. Having open and honest discussions of goals, costs, processes, and capabilities can lay the groundwork for a successful relationship.

Think about it, a digital agency grows by demonstrating quality work and innovative solutions. And guess what, the best work comes from a strong, collaborative relationship. A good agency will seek to get to know you and your organization, spend the time to research your industry, look for unique solutions that fit your brand and solve your problems. They become your partner - a temporary member of your team - working towards the same goal.

Sure, the topic of the budget can be a stressful one to discuss. But a clear understanding of what you want to spend helps set realistic expectations, prioritize where to allocate resources and build the foundation for a successful project.

So then... how much does a website really cost?

$1500?  $250,000?  It all depends on what you need your website to do for you, determining a realistic budget for your organization and what impact you want to have for your service, product or non-profit.  Ask yourself what you're hoping to spend and what you're willing to spend.  The right solution may cost more but if it can solve problems and help you grow, then the return on investment typically far outweighs the cheaper option.  People hire our agency because they want our expertise with business strategy, marketing and web design.  They want to grow their business and need to stand out online.  We uncover what opportunities there are for each client, look at potential revenue growth and base our proposals on solutions that return on investment.