Why Are Websites So Expensive? (PS, ours are not!)

If you're starting to think about how a website could benefit your business (which, by the way, is tremendously!) you've probably researched a few companies and received a few quotes. Usually, the price is a surprise to those who haven't had a website designed before. Websites can cost thousands, or even tens of thousands of dollars through major design firms. But why? They can now be created by anyone without web experience on lots of free website services. Is it worth the money?

Websites have tons of moving parts to design, integrate, and test. They can be as small as a single landing page with "coming soon!" or as complex as an e-commerce online store. Large design firms code their websites by hand, which takes a lot of hours. They also may be using their own servers to host your website. If you add the hours of coding and testing to the hours spent speaking with the client about what they need, the cost starts to add up. You are not only paying the price for hosting your website and retaining a domain name, you're paying for their time. A lot of time.

So why are Radiant Resolution websites cheaper? As of April 2018, we charge less than a thousand dollars for even our highest website design package, which is almost unheard of. The reason is simple: time. By utilizing Wix websites (see why we use Wix here), we are able to build sites quicker, without coding and without using a template, so you have an original one-of-a-kind website that not only looks good and works well, but can actually be maintained by our clients if they'd like (we do offer ongoing support services too!). No more coding means a lot less time. We also host through Wix, which can be cheaper than going through a design firm's own hosting services. Your domain name, website, and even custom e-mail addresses can all be in one safe place.

So what else goes into building a website? It still seems expensive for something that looks easy to design, especially with so many templates available today. The truth is that the user's experience is so much more important when using a website than other designs (i.e. posters or brochures), so there is a lot of testing happening behind the scenes. From readability to accessibility, making sure websites are as easy to use on mobile devices as a computer, and a lot more. We need to make sure all links work and everything is easy to find within one or two clicks of the mouse (or tap of the finger!), and of course we optimize the website so it's easily found on search engines, using appropriate keywords and tags, fresh content, and links back to the website. There is a lot of behind-the-scenes work that you'll never notice on a website, but that is the point.

Visiting a website should be an experience, not a challenge. It takes time to make this experience, aim it towards your target audience, and then get it noticed by the world. While you can create free websites (usually with some ads on the page), if you don't have the experience or knowledge about web design, it's best to let a professional do it for you. And I guarantee the time you would spend making your own website is far more valuable to you by running your business and letting us do it for you.

So contact us today for a free quote on your website. Let us handle it, and enjoy the benefits to your business by having a gorgeous new website that's easily found!

Click here to view the website questionnaire (page 2) and click here to read more on why we use Wix.