Thoughts

Saving Money on Websites

How can a website built within 10 hours compete with a website that has over 720 hours of time invested in improvements?

In recent years, it seems that everyone (even the president) is learning to code. The quality of web development has also seen a positive change and getting a good website is an easier process.

Of course, there are many companies still charging the same pricing that they did before all of these improvements. With refined sales processes, a lack of pricing logic, and ROI justifications, many web development companies charge 2-3X more than they should.

Websites are not created equal and there are many factors that affect the price, but too many companies sell starter websites for a premium price.

Other web companies charge too little and don’t actually have the budget to give the company what it really needs to succeed.

The pricing logic should be simple. Web development is a service so there is a time factor for every project. The average agency hour is roughly $130/hour, so websites should somewhat match the cost with the time of development.

But here is the problem:  One agency charges 60 hours for a website at $130/hr ($7,800). They call a website development company that is supposedly going to build it in 40 hours for $130/hr ($5,200), which is a $2,600 profit for the first agency. Now the second agency calls up a freelancer who is going to build it for only $2,600 ($130/hr X 20 hours), which a $2,600 profit for the second agency. The freelancer is a great developer and uses a platform like WordPress with a customized theme and plugins. This dramatically reduces the time it takes to build the website and the freelancer gets the site done in 10 hours. The freelancer is paid $260/hr, which is double the average cost per hour for an agency.

Seriously, there are so many middlemen and people getting their cut. The company pays $7,800 for a 10-hour website.  It’s a starter website for a premium price.  

Now let’s assume that this freelancer meets directly with the company and cuts out the middlemen. The freelancer is used to getting paid $260/hr and sees this opportunity as something that is no different than before. He or she is accustom to building sites for these companies, so this freelancer charges $2,600 for the website. The company saves big, but the company ends up with a 10-hour website. Let’s assume that their competitor has a small team of 3 people that each spends 5 hours per week working on the website. That is over 60 hours of work on the website each month. In a year, this competitor has a website with 720 hours of work. The SEO value, the testing, the content niches, etc., all factors are improved with this added effort.

How can a website built within 10 hours compete with a website that has over 720 hours of time invested in improvements?

Again, not all websites are created equal.

The difference between websites that work and those that don’t can be a very big difference. It can also be a small factor that plays a crucial role in success.

This is also true for App development, marketing campaigns, chatbots, etc.

At OklaMedia, our approach is different. We reduce the cost of starter websites to reach more people and offer a premium service to the companies that want to dominate their space. Pricing logic is built into our system so there isn’t any guessing or vague justifications.

Our professional websites start at $199/month and increase based on your needs, but our starter websites are great for most small businesses. In fact, they perform many times better than a lot of the websites we see selling for 8-10k.

If you would like to work with us, fill out the form below and we will send you some more information about our offerings.

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