Why "Cheap" Can Cost You

Article: Why “Cheap” Can Cost You – Big Time
By Julie Friedman Bacchini

Oh, the seduction of “cheap” web packages! Whether you are a start-up firm or an established business, it can be tempting to purchase a web site for a promised $499 or whatever the current offer may be. After all, a web site is a web site, right? And for a couple hundred dollars, isn’t it worth it?

Before you answer those questions, you need to seriously consider:

What are you really getting?
What will you actually be paying?
What might you be sacrificing?

Let’s take those one at a time:

What you are really getting?
This hits at the question of “a web site is a web site, right?” Look at it this way: you are a unique business. You have a unique product or service. You are trying to present yourself as outstanding in your industry. You want prospective customers to choose you above all the competition.

So let me ask you: if you are unique and you want to stand out, why would you choose a cookie-cutter web site?

Typically, “cheap packages” are “cheap” because they have a set of standardized templates. Hundreds if not thousands of customers select from the same menu. That means that you are going to look just like a lot of other companies! And if they offer standardized copy as well, you may not only look like your competition – you may be using the exact same words as they are! Where’s the uniqueness? Where’s the differentiator?

And if you think it doesn’t happen, I can assure you that it does. I recently got a call from a local chiropractic office. Why? Because they had used a template web service to put up their web site … and so had their local competitor! Two chiropractic offices, literally a few miles apart, had the same graphic design and canned copy for their web sites. Now that’s a problem!

What will you actually be paying?
Sure, $499 sounds good. But typically that is not all you will end up paying. The $499 may be a base price … and just like the airlines nowadays, anything you want may be added on as an extra. Before you know it, the price has doubled or tripled, and you still have nothing more than a canned web site for your trouble.

Another add-on is hosting. Oftentimes you are required to go with the company’s hosting service in order to get their special deal. But their hosting may be $49.99 a month – compared to $12.99 a month for a comparable hosting package elsewhere. What are you getting for all that extra money each month? Answer: probably nothing.

And how about maintenance? Maybe it is $499 to set up … but then every time you add new content (which is essential to your web site’s success), you are gouged on price. They make up for that “cheap” cost on the front-end by sticking it to you on the back-end.

So suddenly in 18 months or so, you wake up to realize that this “cheap” site is just not representing your company the way you want, and you really need an entire site re-design. You sit down and add up all the invoices to date, and you are staggered to find that “cheap” really cost you $7000 over 18 months. In fact, it cost you the same amount that it would have cost to have had a custom site designed and launched in the first place. But now, that money is down the drain, so you’re going to end up paying twice for what you really wanted from the beginning.

What might you be sacrificing?
Another danger zone of “cheap” packages is that you may find that you have been sucked into a very dangerous position: You may end up paying licensing fees that you never bargained for. You may find out that you don’t own your own domain name. Or your data. Or your content. You may find out that you don’t have access and administrative rights to your own site. Then, if you want to change web hosts or service providers, you are stuck.

Then, of course, there’s the issue of support. One way that “cheap” packages survive is by offering little or no customer or technical support. Sure, they have a phone line you can call … but will you get a person on the line (and will they know what they’re talking about)? Sure, you can send an email request … but will anyone respond? Basically, their business is to churn out canned sites. Once your site is live, you often turn from a customer into a nuisance.

This is your company: your business, your livelihood, your future. Do you really think “cheap” is the way to go? Is it worth it, for the sake of getting a “good deal,” to risk paying through the nose on the back-end? To get a site that looks like everyone else’s? To worry about how safe the future of your site may be?

The old sayings are all too true when it comes to “cheap”:

There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
You get what you pay for.

What are you paying for?

You have my permission to reprint and distribute this article as long as it is distributed in its entirety, including all links and copyright information. This article is not to be sold or included with anything that is sold.

About the Author:

Julie Friedman Bacchini is President of Neptune Moon Design (www.NeptuneMoon.com), a full-service agency providing businesses and non-profit organizations with custom web designs, web site marketing plans, and strategic search engine optimization (SEO), all designed to build brand recognition, increase site traffic, and generate leads, clients, and revenue. Be sure to visit NeptuneMoon.com to read additional articles that will help you reach your business goals!