I will give you the classic answer… “It depends.” And while being located in Hawaii doesn’t directly affect a website’s cost, it can affect the prices of trained programming specialists (there aren’t too many in Hawaii).
Asking how much a website costs is like asking how much does a car cost.
You can’t send a car dealership a one sentence or one paragraph email and expect to get a quote on a car. But that’s what happens with Web Designers.
Just as there is no one price for a car, there is no one price for a website. Do you want a Honda or a Ferrari?
The answer to “How much does a website cost?” depends on what you want, what your budget is, and what your goals are for the website.
Let’s first talk about what the goal is for your website.
The Most Important Question to Answer!
In your mind, is a website an Asset or a Liability?
- An Asset is something that brings in money.
- A Liability is something that costs money.
I’m sure you want your website to be an asset, but what does it take for a website to make that transition?
Years ago I read a great book by Robert Kiyosaki called “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” and his practical wisdom about assets and liabilities really stuck with me.
Let me give you an example from the book to frame your thoughts about a website. Kiyosaki asked if purchasing a home was an asset or a liability.
Most people consider purchasing a home an asset because you build equity and at some point you can sell the house for more than you’ve purchased it. However a very successful businessman gave him another perspective. A Home Purchase is a liability because you have to constantly put money into it (mortgage, repairs, upkeep, etc). The only time the Home becomes an asset is when you sell it. That is the only time the Home Purchase brings in money.
An asset is something that brings in money, a liability is something that costs money.
So, what would you consider a website?
- Do you see a website as a necessary evil of doing business today?
- Is a website just something you have to have.
- Is a website nothing more than an online business card or brochure?
If you think a website is nothing more than an expense, you will probably want to spend as little as possible on having a website. You will want the cheapest options available.
Most people want their website to be an asset and bring in sales and customers, but they have no idea how to make that happen. So they settle for a website being a necessary evil of business and look for a cheap way to get a website. Our company, HawaiiWP.com, specializes in Conversion Focused Web Design; more on this further in this article.
There are many places you can get a Free or under $10/mo. website. You will have to do all the work, but you will limit your expenses by putting something together inexpensively.
My Recommendations for Free & Inexpensive Websites:
Free websites:
- WordPress.com
- wix.com
- weebly.com
Inexpensive $10/mo websites:
- WordPress.com (pay for premium upgrades)
- squarespace.com
The Turning Point Between Liabilities and Assets
Most people want their website to generate income and leads for them. After all, we live in a digital world where everyone is online. People are doing more and more shopping on their smartphones, and websites can be very profitable.
But the old addage is also true here as well, “It takes money to make money.”
If you want your website to generate leads and income for you, you must have a plan and strategy. And those things require an investment of money and time.
People don’t just find your website among the hundreds of millions of websites on the internet. And even if they happen to find you, they won’t stay on your website and do business with you unless you give them a good experience.
Designing a website is actually not the start of the process. First, you need to solidify the goals of your website. Are you looking for sales? Are you looking for people to try your product or service with a free trial? Are you looking to capture emails?
And before you answer, “I want to do all of those things.” You need to boil it down to One Thing.
Once you have your One Thing (That coincidentally is a great book by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan), you need a marketing strategy to drive traffic to the site and then processes to convert that traffic to paying customers. And marketing to local people in Hawaii is a specialty that people don’t always understand if they aren’t born and raised here.
Conversion Focused Web Design
This is where Conversion Focused Web Design comes in. Once you have your goal and marketing strategy for your website, we can focus on designing your website in a way that will foster conversions. This is the essence of Conversion Focused Web Design.
If you’ve read some of our articles on Conversion Focused Web Design, you know that there are a lot of details to consider on each page to focus your effort and get you results.
So How Much Does a Website, Focused on Conversions Cost in Hawaii?
A great looking, fast, and functional design for our company starts at $1,500. For this price you get two consultations with one of our professionals. You’ll be able to work out the goals and priorities of the website and we can help you create attractive content to engage your visitors. We will also optimize one page of your website for conversions (usually the homepage).
But just like when you purchase a car, you can get different option packages, your website can have different features which add additional cost.
Pages and Processes to Optimize for Conversion:
Beyond the homepage and other standard pages on a website (About, Contact, Services, etc.), we can optimize other aspects of your website for conversions and lead generation. Some common conversion workflows are:
- Email Opt-in signup process
- Check out and purchase process
- Request a quote process
- Book an appointment process
Common Additional Website Options:
Here are some common options small businesses in Hawaii often request:
- Business or Staff Directory
- Ecommerce Stores
- Email Newsletters
- Social Media Integration
- PDF Printable Pages
- Appointment Booking
- Event Calendars
- Media Players/Podcasting
Project Specialists:
In addition to these options, sometimes a larger project requires multiple people to be involved and many of these need to be local or it will add cost and complexity to the project.
- Photographers
- Videographer
- Graphic Designers
- UI Designer (User Interaction)
- UX Designer (User Experience)
- E-Commerce Specialist
- Project Manager
- Developers
Your Desires, Your Budget, & What’s Possible:
Here’s what you’re looking at in our experience:
- If your budget is about $750, we can make you a “Fast Affordable Website”. But note that this type of project has some caveats.
- Project Management is NOT included. The process is automated.
- Conversion Optimization is NOT included, this is just basic website design.
- Payment upfront.
- No Refunds.
- All content must be provided before we begin.
- Ongoing hosting costs starting at $25/mo will apply.
- Website access will be limited to WordPress Level (No FTP, SSH, etc)
- If your budget is between $1,500-$5,000 we can help you create a website that meets your goals and possibly involves one other professional.
- Project Management is included.
- Conversion Optimization for 1-3 processes will be included.
- 1-2 additional components can be added (e-commerce, marketing integration, podcasting, etc.)
- If your project is larger and you require more experts in multiple areas, we can coordinate an exceptional project for you.
When you invest in the design and ongoing marketing strategy of your website, you can expect a website that is a business asset and one that will grow and bring in progressively more business to your company. These are the costs and benefits of creating a great website.