By Tom Mason, Communications Director
I was speaking with a client the other day about their website and the fact that they wanted to explore building a new one.
Whenever a client brings this up in conversation, if I don’t already know why, I always ask why?
There is much more to a website than just having a digital presence and the objective of a site differ depending on each businesses needs.
Is this intended to build brand awareness or lead to direct return on investment through the regular creation of new leads? Or both?
This got me thinking about whether we could put a definitive figure to the ROI of a new website and, if so, what that would be given that every business comes to the decision with different objectives that determine their return.
I’ve broken this down into our key specialist sectors – legal, accounting, care and small business marketing – but I’m sure the principles will apply to your industry too.
How to calculate the ROI of a new website (skip if you’re an accountant)
There’s a really simple formula for you to use here and in any other marketing considerations but first you need to work out the current value of your website:
- How much traffic and how many visitors does it get?
- Can your current clients use it to get the information they need?
- Does it convert users to enquiries?
Next, you need to calculate how much better your new website would be at making you money, be it through direct enquiries via the site or better brand visibility.
You’ll need to think about how many more prospects you could be converting, will your users appreciate the change and whether you’ll start attracting bigger and better clients.
Plus, you need to know how much a new website will cost you.
Then, use the below equation:
In addition to calculating the ROI of your new website, it’s important to remember that the benefits don’t just show up on your balance sheet.
They also play out in areas like customer satisfaction, lead generation and your long-term business growth goals.
It is never always a super simple equation (or maybe it is), some websites are designed to improve the quality of leads and others are there to just drive better overall numbers, but this at least gives you a starting point to help you make a decision about investing in a new website.
Should you update your website?
Whether or not to update your website comes down to your own evaluation of the potential benefits against the cost of the investment.
Although we can help you do the maths, we can’t tell you if the maths works for you!
The point is that a website redesign isn’t just about aesthetics and making things look pretty.
You need to see this investment as improving user experience, boosting lead generation, improving navigation, converting more prospects and keeping your clients happy.
Equally, if your website hasn’t been updated in a while, you could see damage to your SEO ranking, restrict AI algorithm’s ability to access and read your webpages or expose your systems to unnecessary cybersecurity risks or experience poor website health, which results in more digital downtime.
In my opinion, when your website is outdated, difficult to navigate or not optimised for lead capture, it’s hindering your business’ growth potential.
If it’s time for you to improve your digital shopfront, get in touch with our team for help!
