What is the ROI Difference Between a $2,000 and a $20,000 Website?

If you are looking for a new website design for your business, chances are you’ve noticed a significant difference with your pricing options.

Sure, a cheap website might seem more convenient and cost-effective upfront, but what are the real costs and sacrifices you’re making by choosing this route?

An expensive website may seem like it will perform better, but how do you know if it’s really worth spending that much on a website for your business?

If you invest in a low quality product, your website won’t ROI at the level that it could.

When considering a cheap website versus a high quality website, there are some key performance indicators that are important to look at.

In this article, we will be walking you through each of these indicators and explain why they are important to the success of your business.

1. How Fast They Load

The loading speed of your website is extremely important.

If you choose a cheap website, your page may not be built to load quickly.

These pages are hosted on low-quality servers that don’t have the capacity to load your pages efficiently. On top of that, the site content isn’t formatted to optimize for load speed, making your load speed even slower.

This is a big issue when it comes to the user experience of your potential customers.

The longer a user waits for your webpage, the more likely they are to leave.

Users’ attention spans are shorter than ever, and if your page takes longer than a couple of seconds to load…

… you lose traffic.

2. Cheap Websites Get Hacked

A high quality website will have strong protection that is less likely to get hacked.

Cheap websites are easy targets for hacking.

They have weak protection and are full of vulnerabilities.

Getting hacked puts all your business data at risk.

Not only could you lose all of your valuable data and information, but that data could become public and fall into the hands of your hackers.

You may have to pay a lot of money in order to get that data back, and sometimes that won’t even be enough.

With a high quality website, your data is secure, protected, and at a lower risk of getting hacked.

Your data is more likely to stay safe from getting into the hackers’ hands.

3. How They Rank on Google

Going the less expensive route may also mean missing out on search engine (SEO) rankings.

A cheap website won’t optimize your ranking on Google, leading to users not being able to find your site.

Customers are constantly searching for your services on Google and if your site doesn’t show up on the first page then they may never visit.

Even worse, those customers will visit your competitor’s site and they may get your potential business.

4. How Many Sales You May Generate

Generating sales and revenue is the goal of every business website.

Cheap websites aren’t designed to funnel users into a sale.

They lead to a poor user experience and don’t generate as much revenue.

If your site doesn’t function as an automated selling funnel, then nothing else about the site matters.

Cheap websites may look nice on the outside, but if they are not built to help you generate more sales, then you may be losing valuable time and revenue.

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5. How People Use Your New Website

A website should be planned around the goals of your audience.

In order to save money, cheap websites are built on a production template.

This means that the design of your site is not built around your audience or their goals.

They don’t have the features and pages that your audience wants to interact with because it isn’t planned with the audience in mind.

6. Strategy & Planning

In order for a cheap website to stay profitable, they need to make it as quickly as possible and then move on.

That means there is less time for in-depth strategy or planning that builds a premium online customer journey for the user.

Not only does this lead to a poor user experience, but these customers are not likely to return to the site again.

With a high quality website, there is in-depth strategic planning that builds specifically around the customer journey.

This not only drives more revenue and sales but will also increase customer lifetime value and brand loyalty.

7. How Long Users Spend on Your Site

On the outside, a cheap website may look nice, but they aren’t designed to meet your user’s goals.

Each user that comes to your site has a goal in mind and a cheap website isn’t likely to take that into consideration.

If a clear path to reaching their goal isn’t laid out their session ends..

The Real Cost of Inexpensive Websites

Choosing a cheap website may seem like the best route in order to save money, but it’s important to remember what the real cost is.

You may be saving money upfront, but what about the long-term and overall effect on your ROI.

1. Lost Time

You will lose time and resources if you have to regularly fix issues that come up on your website.

Website management is complex and an inexpensive website can become a constant source of upkeep.

2. Lost Sales

Another cost is lost sales because your website isn’t designed to turn visitors into customers.

Cheap websites don’t create a customer journey for your visitors and they don’t funnel users into a purchasing decision.

3. Lost Investment

Cheap websites can be a headache but also need to be replaced sooner.

Every website has a shelf life and it’s important to consider how long you need your site to last.

Cheap websites may need frequent redesigns which is an added cost down the road.

Summary

When it comes down to the ROI difference between the $2,000 website and the $20,000 website, there are many considerations.

A cheap website is a quick win but may lead to headaches with the amount of time, energy, and opportunity cost they incur.

At the end of the day, you need to consider your business goals and what you need to get out of your website.

In every case, a website is an investment that should match the goals you have for your business.