After spending years developing websites the “traditional” way (paid in full, up-front, based on what we assume a website needs), I’ve found time and time again that it was taking projects too long to get off the ground and months (or even years!) to show a positive return on investment.
It was frustrating for business owners, who were overwhelmed by the process, stressed with the number of decisions that needed to be made, and out thousands of dollars before they ever had anything to show for it.
And the truth is, it’s not much better for the developer either — needing to get projects done as quickly as possible to maintain profitability.
A Website Plan (which has no large up-front costs, just a small, flat monthly fee) solves these problems and allows the business and agency to be on the same side, pulling in the same direction – working towards the same goals.
A website should never be “finished” and set in stone — in fact, a website’s greatest strength is its ability to quickly and easily adapt and change over time.
A website should never be “finished” and set in stone — in fact, a website’s greatest strength is its ability to quickly and easily adapt and change over time.
Unlike the traditional model where a website is “finalized” and published, a Website Plan is built for a more agile approach that allows the website to mature and become better over time (using analytics, customer feedback, and real-world experience to guide its features and improvements).
In this article, I’m going to take a look at the five biggest advantages a Website Plan has over the traditional website design approach.
1. Immediate ROI
The average website costs over $10,000 to design and develop — and in a traditional model, you’d need to pay all of that up front to get your website live. Excluding e-commerce stores, it could take a year or more to have a positive return on such a large investment.
Starting at as little as $200 per month, a Website Plan doesn’t immediately put you in the red and can start paying for itself immediately.
2. Less Risk
In a traditional model, you and your developer would spend a lot of time planning your website, then building out every feature you think it will need. But at the end of the day, it’s all based on assumptions — which you may or may not get right.
One wrong assumption can be a costly mistake, forcing you into change orders and more invoices.
With a Website Plan we can develop your website in phases, starting with the minimum requirements and adding content and features as they become necessary — all at one flat monthly rate.
3. Warranty
Once your website is built, it’s going to require ongoing management. Unless you or your team is comfortable with server maintenance, security, software updates, and backups — you’ll need to hire someone to take care of this for you. This will easily add another $1,200 or so per year to your website cost.
With a Website Plan, all the management is included in your monthly price — ensuring your website is guaranteed to be healthy and working properly.
4. Future-Proofing
Technology changes so quickly that a website’s average lifespan is between 2 and 4 years. Sadly, many businesses let their websites go far beyond their expiration date because of the large investment needed to start over again.
Great websites evolve and adapt over time as the market and your business changes. A Website Plan helps future-proof your website by giving you the ability to easily pivot, and keep it up to date without any additional costs.
5. Faster Turnaround
Because you only have one shot to get it right (and as we discussed, mistakes can be costly!), traditional website projects take anywhere from 6-12 weeks to complete. The majority of this time is spent in negotiations, planning, and prototyping.
Website Plans allow you to work iteratively (in small steps and phases), typically launching the first version of your website in less than a month and continually improving it over time.
Is a Website Plan Right for You?
In most cases, especially for small businesses, Website Plans hold a lot of advantages over the traditional approach.
Being able to have an immediate return on investment, mitigating risk, always being under warranty, future-proofing, and a faster turnaround time are all great reasons to consider this non-traditional approach.
Being able to have an immediate return on investment, mitigating risk, always being under warranty, future-proofing, and a faster turnaround time are all great reasons to consider this non-traditional approach.
But that doesn’t mean it’s for everyone. If your website needs to be highly customized — with unique requirements or deep integrations with other systems — it may not be a candidate for this more systematized approach.
You can learn more about what’s included in our Website Plans, including all the deliverables and pricing, on our Website Plans page to see if it’s a good fit for your business.
But before you make any kind of decision, I’d be happy to schedule a time to jump on a call and talk about your unique needs and which approach would be the best fit for your business.Â