Why People Pay 10K For A Website

Welcome to The Web Designers Cookbook, my name is Robert Williams, the founder of RS Web Design Agency & RS Web Academy. This weekly series was created to share insightful tips, advice, and strategies to help start, build, and scale your web design business. Get ready to launch your web design career to new heights with RS Web Academy & The Web Designers Cookbook. 

Do people really pay 10k for a website? The short answer is yes! But the 10k doesn't just buy them a website, it buys them so much more. With the title of web designer it can be easy for people to put what we do into such a simple box and downplay our skills. Don’t get me wrong, the process of designing the website for me anyway is the fun part, it’s the part that any of us could do in our sleep. The hard part, the part that commands the 10k asking price for our service is the ability for us to solve the problems of a business using our knowledge in design, psychology, and sales to get the end user to convert into a paying customers In this article we’re going to break down the process of creating a 10k website. 

Start off solid design process

You’re 10 minutes away from a zoom call with a highly qualified and motivated prospect who wants the website for his SaaS company completely redesigned. Before the call starts the first thing every web designer should have at the ready is their design process. Having a clearly defined process shows prospective clients you know what you're doing and you are every bit a true professional. The details of your process will begin to take shape during your meeting with the prospect. As they begin to answer questions about their company it will give you more insight into creating the perfect website to solve their needs. 

STRATEGY SESSION

During your call establishing an answer to complete your strategy is number one. The key to forming a good strategy is;

1. Understanding the core challenges the business is facing. 
2. Understanding that you won’t be able to solve all the problems. But focusing efforts on solving the most important one. 
3. The bigger problems you're able to solve the more value you're able to bring. This equates to a higher asking price for your work.

*Always remember your asking price is in direct relation to the amount of value your able to bring.

The next thing you want to focus on during the call is finding out the KPI’s for the new website. This allows you to find out what the prospects expectations may be when it comes to measuring website success. 

Examples of vital KPI’s

After the call is over

Conducting Market Research

Conducting market research is essential. Knowing what the competitors are doing will ensure you don’t create a website that looks exactly like theirs; it also helps you as the designer understand the industry conventions.  

When conducting market research and visiting competitors websites ask yourself these questions;

1. What do they look like online (what colors are they using?, what layout? What images?)
2. How do they speak (what words are they using, how do they explain their value?)
3. What content do they have on their website? (what pages, how are they structured?)

While on their website don’t be afraid to save images and text for reference and future client discussions

While conducting market research ask yourself what content will help achieve the client’s goal/s

Taking Shape

This is the part of the design process where the idea of website begins to take shape. Through content architecture we’re able to create the sitemap of the website while also making sure we organize space correctly. During this part of the process ask yourself what would better suit the goal/s of this company: a one page website vs. multi page website. Each has pros and cons but choosing the correct one comes down to overall goals and KPI’s.

After the strategy sessions 

To your surprise the client agrees to your 10k proposal with no problem. After seeing how redesigning his company's website with you has the potential to increase the MRR over 20% he’s sold. This is where the real work begins.

HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW

After the strategy sessions we know important vital information like;

1. What the goal and KPI’s are
2. What content is needed
3. What visual direction the project is going to go in
4. How to estimate time and cost.

Crafting The Story

Sales 101 people buy with emotion and justify it with logic. But in order to get them to emotionally connect with the brand you need to craft a compelling and captivating story, the sale is all in the story. The story you create makes a clear signal in the sea of noise. 

Creating a story start with story brand framework

Key components of every story are the character and the problem. 

Building the character starts with asking 

Who are they? The character needs to be relatable to the customer. 

What problem is the customer facing?

What is it that they want

The 15 Second Rule

If you're a web designer and not familiar with the 15 second rule, now is the time to familiarize yourself with it. So what is the 15 second rule? It’s a rule that says 85% percent of customers will leave a website they visit within the first 15 seconds. To minimize this ensuring that every website you design has a clear and simple hero section along with a strong value prop is essential.

Copywriting

Copywriting is a great skill for any web designer because being able to write to convey emotion is powerful. Not to mention it eliminates the need to hire a copywriter. A rule of thumb to remember when writing copy is people typically don’t read long paragraphs they scan them. Be sure to use bullet points, sub headings, and create great subheadings. The sub headings are typically what captures people's attention to read more. 

 Sitemap to Wireframe

Before creating a wireframe from the sitemap be sure to have the clients approval and don’t be afraid to collaborate with them throughout the design of the both hi and low fi wireframes. Be sure to get feedback because your wireframe will be the blueprint for the look and feel of the website. 

Putting It All Together 

 If you were able to stick to your design process and get consistent feedback and approval from the client the actual development of their website will be a piece of cake and you’ll probably get through relatively quickly. Be sure to plan accordingly for mobile responsiveness since most websites will be viewed on mobile devices over desktop computers. 

Charing 10k and above.

The difference between a 10k website and a 2k website is more than just design but also functionality and its ability to solve the businesses problem/s. Sure an aesthetically pleasing website is great to look at but if it does a poor job of converting it’s a waste of money. If you're able to solve problems using your skills in design you can command much higher prices for your work. 

Get ready to launch your web design career to new heights with RS Web Academy & The Web Designers Cookbook. Learn More Here