When looking at building a new website (a website redesign project), it's important to do some calculations and figure out the return on investment (ROI) for that website. This article will give some tips and insights into website ROI.
To figure it out, here's a basic formula:
(Revenue Increase from the Website - Website Cost) / Website Cost = Website ROI
This means you take the amount of revenue you get from the new website, minus the cost of it, then divide that by the cost.
For example, if your new website had a cost of $10,000 and you brought in an extra $25,000 because of the new website, the formula would look like this:
($25,000 - $10,000) / $10,000
And that works out to:
1.5
Of course, it's actually not quite that simple.
There usually are other factors involved like how the industry and market are but this will give you a good comparison to the previous year - along with tangible and intangible metrics.
And don't forget that the website cost includes:
To figure out how much revenue increased, you'll need some good tracking in place so you can measure each channel. You'll first need this in place for your current website to get a baseline. This may include doing call tracking, channel tracking, and even tracking which orders were entered manually in Quickbooks.
A good place to get started is Google Analytics where you can find metrics like:
A big one is conversions. If the new website converts twice as many visitors into leads, then you can increase sales with the traffic you already have. The website must be optimized to convert so that your new redesign performs and gives you the best ROI.
And then if your website loads faster with a new design and has better structure, you'll see an increase in rankings. Website technology moves very fast - a website that's a year old is using old technology that is slower than what's available now.
Along with the new redesign, there will be a number of items, which cannot be measured too easily, like:
Spending $10,000 (just for example - a nice, round number) can mean different things for a company that sells $2,500 per day and a company that sells $25,000 per day. Or between a company that profits $1,000 per day or one that profits $10,000 per day.
If you're not sure what your average sale is, profit margin, and your cost of acquisition, then it's time to figure that out. Know your numbers before spending the cash. We want you to make the best decision, too - that way, we both succeed.
A good rule of thumb is to spend at least 15% of your yearly profit on advertising, which includes your website since that should be the central hub.
We're often asked something like, "Will a redesign make my website rank higher?"
The answer is yes, it can...
But, just putting a new design on the same exact thing can often be lipstick on a pig.
You must do more than just design:
Along with ranking higher, you need your website to impact your business in a positive way. It needs to:
When a new website does all of this better, then you'll definitely get a much better return on investment.
And I can tell you that clients who decline hiring a copywriter to write new copy are often just lighting their money on fire. Sure, there will be some improvement, but words matter. Good headlines get people to stay and read. Bad or no headlines make them leave.
"If Your Website Was a Shirt, Would You Wear It?"We used to say this back in the early 2000s when we started since design was so ugly back then but the phrase still works today.
Your website must be something both you and your staff are proud of - something they want to tell people about. With that in mind, remember that your website it NOT for you - it's for your customers mainly. They are the ones you need to like it and use it.
We have, unfortunately, lost many friendly battles with business owners where we had to go with what they wanted instead of them trusting our consulting, saying what's best for their business. There were a few we had to decide to not even have our name on or include in our portfolio because we knew they would not work - and we said so, as well.
And our clients have great ideas, too, so it's not like we're not flexible.
You could have the greatest content and products out there but if the presentation makes people leave, then your website is not a success. It does need to be attractive, reflect what you do/sell, and make people want to stick around.
Doing that well is both art and science, which definitely takes a team approach...
That's right.
There's nobody with the skills to do the whole thing themselves - not to the level where websites need to be today. They could try but we wouldn't let them because we know it takes specialists in each area to create a website that will provide the best return on investment for our clients.
Websites today are not like when we started back in 2001. They're not a novelty. They have work to do. You expect a lot out of them. A website is a salesperson working for you, 24/7 - so you don't want a bad salesperson, right? You want the best salesperson you can get... that's what Webstix does.
If you're ready to step up a level and finally have a website that works for you, returns 10, 20, or more times what you put into it, then let's talk. We have the capabilities to do practically anything. Tell us your website dreams - we'll listen... then we'll show you how.
Hey, there's no more messing around now with a "cute" website. It's time to roll up your sleeves and do it right.
Contact Webstix today and let's talk.
-Tony
