The web site design industry is one of the most competitive around. Try to advertise for web design services and you are up against a host of competitive suppliers, one cheaper than the other. Makes you wonder how they do it sometimes. If you are determined to have a crack at the web site design business, you have more than likely been tempted to cut prices by offering big discounts and cut corners to get some orders. Experience will show though that offering big discounts and cutting prices is not the way forward to setting up a viable and sustainable web site design business. More important, it is not even necessary to cut prices to grow your web site design business. Why not just cut prices and grab the business? You cannot have everything in this world. If you offer big discounts something must go in order to sustain the business and this does not sound like a sound business strategy, neither for your business nor for your customers. If you are cutting prices, more than likely you are compromising the quality of the web sites or the service your web site design customers should receive for their money. Even if you have a sound business model and you are able to cut cost through, for instance, outsourcing abroad it is unlikely that you will be able to offer cheap web site design services. Yet some people seem to do it.
There are dangers in offering big discounts on web site design work from the outset. First, the quality and service levels will probably suffer as we have mentioned above. Second, you are not generating enough revenue to invest into development, research, training in new web site design techniques. It is difficult to grow a web site design business without investing, much of which could come from a decent revenue from decent products and services. Third, you could be losing web site design customers who themselves avoid buying cheap stuff and would prefer to go for the more expensive product with a perception of higher quality and value.
Experience has showed that customers are very often willing to pay more for quality products and services, at least those who mean business and want to get somewhere with their web site. The fact is, the web site design market is big enough and growing fast enough and it is possible to find market segments that are willing to pay more for quality web site design. Those who advertise discount web site design will inevitably attract customers who are only willing to spend very little on their web site. These customers have little resources and will very often demand a lot at minimum cost – not the easiest customers to handle, let alone make a profit.
On the other hand, try advertising more high value web site designs with a professional web site and quality service. You will attract the same number of enquiries and orders but of higher value and you will collect more revenue for the same amount of work. Selling discount in the web site design industry is not, in my opinion, a good business strategy. Target the good customers who are not necessarily looking for the cheapest web site but who are willing to pay a bit more for a professional solution and a good customer service.
----------
Ralph Ramah is the webmaster of Discount Web Design, one of the leading web design company in the UK offering quality web site design services
