Determining what to budget for a new website can be difficult. Many times a company has a “brochure” site from 5 or even 10 years ago and is now ready to build a “real” website. In my experience companies choose a number based on their current cash flow or what they paid the first time around. “If we paid X dollars then we should pay 2 times X this time”. I can understand that way of thinking but I think there is a better way of determining the correct budget for a best-in-class website.
First off the Web and media has changed substantially since that “brochure” site was launched. In the late 1990s and early 2000s it didn’t do much harm for a company to have a brochure style website. But now companies need to see their websites more like broadcast platforms. Often times their website’s content will be accessed as much from third party sites and services (Google Local or Maps, Search Engines, RSS feeds, Social Media etc).
Companies need to think of websites as being similar to radio or TV stations that are broadcasting their content 24/7. Websites are no longer just destinations. They are channels that flow out and across the web in various formats. At least that is what a modern website does. So before you think about what to spend think about how this is not the Web of the late 90s or early 2000s. Heck this isn’t even the web c.2006!
So how much should you spend on a modern website that acts as a broadcast platform?
I recommend looking at your media budget and determining a percentage to invest in the Web . I would recommend at least 50% since it’s pretty clear from all the data that the Web has the best and most demonstrable ROI of any marketing effort. The take that amount and extend it to 3-5 years. If you spend $2000 a month on marketing then allocate $1000 a month to the web times 36 to 60 months.
The beautiful thing about the Web is that you can test and see what works, tweak and repeat until you are seeing a phenomenal return. Every investment takes time to bring a return but with the Web you will be able to see it more clearly and usually more quickly.
Folks,
I gotta tell you, I am constantly being impressed by the little nuggets of information you put out – like this one for instance. Never thought of the website as a broadcast channel. SOLID !
[...] started to hit on this idea in my last blog about how much to pay for a website and it seems to resonate with some people so I wanted to pull the idea out and expand on it [...]