this post was submitted on 09 Nov 2023
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I sell static brochure sites for $3500. 5 pages. Every page after that is $100 per page. $500 fee to add a blog. Shopify e-commerce sites start at $8k.
I’ve done a few $5k+ sites because of the blog and extra page fees. They’re just static pages. Information only. They don’t have apps or booking or anything inside of it.
Lump sum sites have a $25 a month hosting and general Maintenance fee. Hourly rate for edits.
I offer an upsell for $80 a month for unlimited edits, 24/7 support, lifetime updates, etc.
Or
Subscription sites cost $0 down and $150 a month, 12 month minimum contract. Month to month after that.
In the beginning I just cold called from google and yelp. Then after about 30-40 clients the referrals started to come in and my website was ranking well locally. Now I get all my work from my website and referrals.
I started out by teaching myself web development in my car while I did Uber. In between rides I was coding and watching tutorials and doing online self paced bootcamps. After about a year and a half of that I got good enough at it to start freelancing. And here I am 5 years later with a full time front end developer job and I run my agency that makes 6 figures a year working it part time. The subscription account for about half my income. It’s passive and recurring. I do less than 10 hours of edits a year. Pretty chill.
Here’s an example of an $8k site
https://madscientistbbq.com
An example of a $6k site
https://striveptwellness.com
And a $3500 site
https://realdealpainting.net
How do you get people to pay so much for such basic websites? I have dabbled in going freelance/own business here in UK years ago but the ultra competiteveness lowball offers on fiverr upwork etc made it near impossible or I would feel like im ripping someone for those prices. Instead I ran an ecommerce business for 10 years but have to shut down. Im having no luck with a job but strongly thinking of starting a developer/business business.
It's not just basic websites, though. It's a service. As always, it's a consideration of cost and value. Sure, you can get something for a lower cost, but what value are you getting for that?
If you hire someone on upwork and he makes you a WP site, who's going to be doing updates and content edits? It might be easy enough to do, but it's something to learn, so you need to spend your time learning + doing the stuff. How much time does that take, and how much is your time worth? What is the quality of the UI/UX/Layout design? Does he do your branding? Does he help you with the content? What kind of performance are you getting with that site?
Those type of low cost service usually provide fairly low value. I'm a corporate web dev and I do the same type of static websites for small businesses as a side hustle. My value proposition is that the website is the core of the service, but I handle all of the tech and design stuff. I provide analytics. I ensure GDPR compliance. My sites look good on all devices and perform great. They are accessible and secure. The clients don't need to learn anything new, or otherwise spend their own precious time on their website.
This value proposition won't be worth the cost to everyone, and that's fine. The businesses owners who value their own time and are running at a profit are my target demographic.
Still doesnt really answer the question who and why someone would pay 5k for a basic 5 page wesbite. Only thing i can think of is they are naieve. It doesnt matter if its WP most websites are word press and the client doesnt know anythig technical. The result is still gonna be the same which is a 5 page basic website service, granted designs can look better but im certain there are people that charge less than half the price for something the same quality.
Exactly and this is what I fail to understand. OP says is USP is that it's different back end/coding from WIX, etc. So that justifies cost? I feel like a lot of this stuff just targets busy/naive/eager-to-spend business owners (which is fine) while convincing itself it's something else, etc.
I personally offer my stuff as a service and not lump sum + billed hours. So I'm not saying $5k is necessarily a reasonable price.
Maybe you need to define better what you mean by a "basic 5 page website". There are many different skills that go into making a good website. If your site was built by a team of experts at UX/UI/Layout design, coding, and SEO, then a $5k cost might be considered dirt cheap. If your site is built by a dude who taught himself WordPress and did his best, then $5k is probably going to be way overpriced.
The result is not going to be the same between the two sites. Not in any aspect. The team will build a far more performant site, with a far better design and better SEO. How much those things matter depends on how important your site is to your business. Of course there are going to be great deals to be made, and terrible deals, but mostly, as in any industry, you get what you pay for.