Stop Making People Hunt for Your Prices

There’s a particular kind of website that makes me want to close the browser.

You find a business you like. The photography is good, the branding looks solid, the work seems exactly what you're after. You start getting that little feeling that you've finally found the right person.

Then you look for the price.

Nothing.

You click Services.

Nothing.

You try Packages.

Still nothing.

There's an FAQ, but apparently the question “How much does this cost?” wasn't important enough to make the list.

Eventually, after clicking around the website like you're looking for a hidden room in a haunted house, you find it.

GET IN TOUCH FOR A QUOTE.

So now you have to fill in a form, explain your business, give them your phone number and email address, and potentially sit through a sales call just to find out whether you're looking at £800 or £8,000.

Why?

Because somewhere along the way, we've decided that hiding the price makes a business look more premium.

I'm not convinced.

SO, HOW MUCH DOES A WEBSITE ACTUALLY COST?

It's a perfectly reasonable question.

Search for website design pricing and you'll find a ridiculous range of numbers.

You can find websites for a few hundred pounds. You can find agencies charging five figures. You'll find freelancers somewhere in the middle, and you'll find bespoke studios charging different amounts depending on what the project actually involves.

So when someone asks, “How much does a website cost?”, there isn't one honest answer.

A five-page website for a local business isn't the same project as a 300-product ecommerce website with bookings, customer accounts and a complicated backend.

The cost can depend on the number of pages, the design, functionality, copywriting, photography, SEO, integrations and what happens after launch.

That's completely fair.

What isn't particularly helpful is using “it depends” as an excuse to tell people absolutely nothing.

If your websites start at £1,500, say so.

If most of your projects are between £3,000 and £5,000, tell people.

If every project genuinely needs a bespoke quote, explain why.

Give people a fucking clue.

THE CHEAPEST WEBSITE ISN'T ALWAYS THE MOST AFFORDABLE

This is where the word affordable gets abused.

A business owner searches for affordable web design and naturally starts looking at the cheapest options.

£499.

£699.

£999.

It looks attractive.

Until you find out what's actually included.

Maybe it's based on a generic template. Maybe you're expected to write all the copy yourself. Maybe SEO isn't included. Maybe you get five pages and anything else costs extra. Maybe you launch it and discover that making even a minor change involves another invoice.

Suddenly that £699 website doesn't look quite so cheap.

And that's why I think there's an important distinction between cheap and affordable.

Cheap is simply the amount you pay.

Affordable is whether you're getting the right thing for the money you're spending.

A £2,000 website that properly represents your business, brings in enquiries and lasts for years can be considerably more affordable than a £700 website you have to replace next year.

DON'T COMPARE THE PRICE. COMPARE THE PROJECT.

This is something I wish more businesses did when they're getting quotes.

They'll have three numbers in front of them:

£1,000.

£2,500.

£5,000.

And immediately assume the £5,000 designer is ripping them off.

Maybe they are.

But maybe they're not even selling the same thing.

The £1,000 option might be a basic template with five pages.

The £2,500 option might include bespoke design, content structure, mobile optimisation and SEO foundations.

The £5,000 option might include strategy, copywriting, photography, complex functionality and ongoing support.

They're three completely different projects.

So don't just ask “What does your website cost?”

Ask:

“What am I actually getting for that money?”

That's where a website quote starts to become useful.

HIDING YOUR PRICE DOESN'T MAKE YOU PREMIUM

There's nothing wrong with bespoke pricing.

Wilder Mind projects aren't identical, and we don't pretend they are.

But I don't think making somebody go through a sales process just to find out whether you're within their budget is particularly premium.

It's just inconvenient.

Imagine walking into a restaurant and having to explain your career, your family situation and your five-year financial plan before anyone tells you what the food costs.

You'd leave.

Yet websites do this all the time.

“Contact us to discuss your requirements.”

Fine.

But give me some context first.

A starting price is enough.

A typical project range is enough.

Three packages are enough.

You don't have to publish a spreadsheet of every possible cost.

You just need to respect the fact that your potential customer has a budget.

AND YOU MIGHT ACTUALLY GET BETTER ENQUIRIES

There's another reason transparent pricing makes sense.

It saves everyone time.

If your minimum website project is £2,000 and somebody only has £500, they're probably not your customer.

That's not an insult.

It's simply not a fit.

And finding that out before you've spent an hour on a call is a good thing.

The opposite is also true.

When somebody sees that your website projects start at £2,000 and still gets in touch, you already know something important.

They're comfortable with the investment.

Now you can have a proper conversation about their business instead of spending half an hour dancing around the question of money.

What are they trying to achieve?

Who are they trying to reach?

What's wrong with their current website?

What does the new one actually need to do?

That's a much better starting point.

WHAT IF THEY THINK YOU'RE TOO EXPENSIVE?

They might.

And that's okay.

There will always be someone cheaper.

There will always be someone charging more.

Trying to appeal to everybody is one of the quickest ways to make your business completely forgettable.

If someone sees your prices and decides you're outside their budget, you've saved both of you some time.

If they see them and think, “That's about what I expected,” you've got yourself a much more qualified enquiry.

And if they see the price and ask why it costs that much?

Excellent.

Now you get to explain the value.

That's a conversation worth having.

YOUR WEBSITE SHOULD MAKE THE DECISION EASIER

This is the bigger point.

Your website should be removing obstacles.

Someone arrives. They understand what you do. They see the work. They get a feel for the business. They understand roughly what it costs. They know what happens next.

That's a good website experience.

Making someone dig through six pages, fill in a form and wait for an email before they can establish whether you're affordable isn't clever.

It's friction.

And there's already enough of that online.

So no, you don't have to be the cheapest.

You don't have to publish every price down to the last pound.

And you don't have to turn your business into an online shop with a price tag attached to every service.

But if someone is genuinely interested in working with you, give them enough information to decide whether you're worth talking to.

Because your price isn't something you should be embarrassed about.

If the work is good, the process is good and the value is there, explain it.

Don't make people hunt for it.