Cheap doesn’t always equate to affordable when it comes to websites. Is the cheapest website really the most affordable website for your business? Get a good deal on your website by avoiding these 6 cost-cutting measures that will end up costing you more time and money.
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1. Overseas or High-Volume Website Creators
Lower labor costs and tighter profit margins enable overseas and high-volume website developers to offer lower prices than most local agencies who do the work in-house or use subcontractors based in the United States. Unfortunately, it is not unheard of for these low-cost website vendors to simply not deliver as promised, leaving you to find another web developer, change any passwords you shared and take the financial loss.
Support is also difficult to come by and may be only available according to the developer’s time zone. If you’re dealing with a high-volume seller, you may have to wait even longer. The support provided also varies in quality and may consist of guiding you through troubleshooting steps as opposed to resolving the issue autonomously.
2. Doing Everything Yourself
Unless your business happens to be a reputable marketing agency (and have extra time or manpower available) it’s not likely that doing everything in-house will get you the greatest return on investment. Consider hiring a professional photographer, content writer or even a marketing agency to assist you with planning the structure of your DIY website as well as how to promote your site online. Avoid putting in countless hours only to hire out the entire project when you become frustrated.
3. Disregarding Your Brand or Aesthetics
While attractiveness itself is not quantifiable, aesthetics contributes greatly to the perception of quality and communicate a great deal about your business. An outdated design will make your business look outdated. If your website doesn’t match the look and feel of your logo or branding, it may even cause confusion – especially other businesses have a similar name or logo.
4. Not Planning for Upkeep
Websites are no longer static and need regular maintenance that includes installing the latest updates for security and functionality. It’s not just the code that needs to be updated but the content on the page as well. To maintain or improve your rank on the search engines, your website will need to be updated with fresh content as often as possible.
If you planned to leave your new website as-is once it is finished, you’ll not only lose out on the opportunity of reaching new audiences, but your website itself may also become a security risk. Once your site has major issues that need immediate attention, your investment may increase dramatically while your reputation may suffer.
5. Using Low-Quality Hosting
Even well-established marketing agencies may rely on the cheapest hosting available to keep down the overall cost of your website as a way to make their website design services appear more affordable. However, multiple studies have shown that faster load times result in more conversions, or visitors who respond to your Call-to-Action, and your website host is one factor for web page speed. So, a slower site due to cheap hosting costs you business.
Cheaper hosts are also more likely to host less-than-scrupulous websites alongside yours on the same server, which can even result in their reputation for spam rubbing off on the reputation of your own site. You are also likely foregoing important features, such as malware and regular site backups, that could save you in the long run.
6. Leaving Out Any of the 5 Website Must-Haves
Our list of the five website must-haves is so fundamental that not including any of the five will either cost you missed opportunities, and a positive return on investment, or the additional time and expense of implementing them later. Anytime you add a feature later, it will almost always cost more than if you had included that feature in your pre-build plans.
Recap: 6 Costly Ways to Save Money on Your Website
- Using an overseas or high-volume website seller can be risky if the seller fails to deliver or does not offer a satisfactory level of support.
- Attempting to do the website entirely on your own is sure to cost you time and often results in hiring out the entire project later.
- Neglecting aesthetics or your company branding leaves a negative, and potentially confusing, impression.
- Skipping regular maintenance can result in major issues that require costly fixes later.
- Cheap hosting can cost you speed, site reputation for spam and expensive cleanup due to the lack of regular backups and malware monitoring.
- Not including the five must-haves in the planning phase of your website will result in a poor return on investment or higher costs for implementation later. Review the 5 Website Must-Haves here.
For good ways to reduce the cost of your next website, be sure to read How to Save Money on Your New Website. If you’re in Northwest Houston, reach out to us at (281) 798-2406 or use our Contact Form. We’d be happy to help you get the best website for your budget.