What types of websites do you build for more than $5,000?
What do you charge for monthly maintenance?
How do you advertise/get clients?
How did you start out your business?
Other people that don’t fit the criteria feel free to chime in about your business as well.
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.
Different markets.
I’ve spent some time in the US recently and can safely say that there’s a lot more money in small-town USA. It’s difficult to envisage and was quite an eye-opener.
Unless you are a master-tier salesperson a small business in the UK isn’t going to pay £5k for a basic static html/CSS website in 2023.
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.