5 Questions

Everyone Asks Before

Buying a Website

OGAL Web Design

I’ve found that about 80% of people end up
asking me the same 5 questions when we first
start talking about building a new website.
If you find yourself in the market for a website, I bet you have at least some of these
same questions too (or end up wishing you had asked them).

My hope is that by sharing my answers to the most universal questions, when we talk I
can spend more time focusing on the questions you have that are unique to your
business goals and circumstances.

How much does a Will my website show

1 website cost? 4 up in search results?

How long does Do I need to provide all

2 it take to complete 5 the content for my
a website project? website?

How will we keep

3 our website updated
once it’s finished?
QUE STION 1

How much does

a website cost?
The cost of a website is often one
of the biggest determining factors
a business will have to weigh when
choosing a web developer.
Like buying a house, a car there are no ‘set’ prices for websites— it
really depends on what sort of features your website needs, the
scope of the project, and the individual rates of any web agency.
Here at OGAL, I try to simplify this process as
much as possible and provide ranges for
typical types of websites: like a simple brochure
website, are bigger & more complex corporate
website or an ecommerce website.
Simple brochure style websites are how most
businesses start out, and my pricing starts out
at $2,500 and can go up from there depending
on if there is specific functionality or additional
marketing services that will be required.
Ecommerce websites are more complex, and
have more moving parts. Those projects
typically start at $5,000 but can easily reach
ten or twenty thousand.
Because I realize many small businesses don’t
have a few thousand dollars to invest in a
website at the start of their business, I also
offer a “one page” website that starts at $750
and is great for businesses to establish their
online presence, and is a scalable system that
you can add to as their business grows.
Keep in mind that there are ongoing costs to
owning a website too— things like hosting,
domain registration, and even the software
that powers your website. Beyond the cost,
there is the time commitment to keeping your
website up to date, secure, backed up, and
online.
If you’re getting multiple quotes (which you
probably should), you’re likely to find that
prices will vary pretty wildly from agency to
agency.
Larger agencies that have a physical office,
staff, etc. have to charge more to stay in
business— while smaller agencies (like OGAL)
or freelancers that have less overhead costs
are typically less expensive.
Average Website Prices in the
United States
Brochure or Small Business Website (8-16 pages)
$2,000 - $10,000 + $400-$1,200 annual upkeep
Corporate Website (25-75 pages)
$10,000 - $35,000 + $2,000-$15,000 annual upkeep
Ecommerce Website (100 - 1,000 products)
$12,000 - $75,000 + $10,000-$30,000 annual upkeep
$80K
$60K
$40K
$20K
Brochure Corporate Ecommerce
Data Source: WebFX.com
QUE STION 2

How long does it

take to complete
a website?
On average the typical project
takes about 4 to 6 weeks from
start to finish— however that
timeline can vary.
We follow an 8-step process to break a big project down into
smaller chunks. Together, we’ll move methodically through each
step to take your project from concept to completion.
Having this process in place helps us stay on
track, make continuous progress, and keeps us
from having to go back and redo things that
could slip through the cracks.
Most brochure style websites take just a couple
of weeks to complete, while bigger websites
(like Ecommerce) can take a few months.
The best way to get a project done quickly is to
have a plan— and that’s why we follow a
step-by-step process to ensure your website is
completed quickly and accurately.
Average Timeline
Brochure Website: 1-3 Weeks
Corporate Website: 3-9 Weeks
Ecommerce Website: 3-16 Weeks
Phase 1 - Sitemap
During the first phase of your project we will
make a simple visual “map” of your website.
This will help us determine exactly what pages
need to be created, and how all the structure
will work in terms of hierarchy.
Phase 2 - Colors & Typography
Using your branding as our guide I’ll create the
full color palette and typography that will be
used throughout your project. While this isn’t a
full design (more on that next), this sets the
tone for a lot of the design and visual choices
we will make throughout the process.
Phase 3 - Initial Design
The initial design includes the Header, Footer,
Home Page, and 1 Interior Page. We can spend
time during this phase hashing out the details,
making changes, and getting the design
exactly how we want it.
Phase 4 - All Content Due
At this point we’ll need to make sure all of your
content (including written word, photos,
graphics, videos, testimonials, etc.) are in place
so we can develop the entire website.
Phase 5 - Full Site Development
With all of the content in place, and the key
design elements done, we will marry everything
together to produce the rest of your website.
Phase 6 - Pre-Launch
Once you’ve seen and approved everything I
put your website through a 50+ point checklist
to ensure everything is in place for the
successful launch of your website.
Phase 7 - Website Launch
With everything in place, we’ll publish your
website live on the internet. This process
typically takes a couple of hours.
Phase 8 - Testing & Debugging
Over the course of the next 30 days we will test
and debug any issues with your site. This
“grace period” is something companies love
because it’s only human nature to spot
something we forgot only after the new website
is live.
QUE STION 3

How will we keep

our website
updated?
Unlike a brochure, your website
can stay current with the latest
information at all times— and it’s
important that it does!
Not only is this important for your users, Google (and all the other
search engines) love websites that get updated often and tend to
favor those websites in search results.
I build websites using WordPress which is the
most popular website building tool in existence,
and when setup properly, can be very easy to
make updates (like posting new blogs or
changing text or photos).
Your website will be built to be easily edited at
any point, and I’ll even provide you with the
training you need to make small updates
yourself.
However, many of my customers opt for my
Continued Success Program which covers all
the website maintenance, making changes to
the site, and bundles in many of the ongoing
costs.
During the proposal process I’ll explain more
about the Continued Success Program so you
can decide if you’d rather handle website
upkeep yourself, or if it would make more sense
for me to take care of it for you.
Either way you go, your website will be able to
be updated in an instant. This helps extend the
longevity of your website and increase the
return on your investment.
You have a business to run...
In order to operate a successful website, you need a
plan for keeping content fresh, security tight, and
software up-to-date. Do you have the time and
technical expertise to ensure your website’s success?
Most small business owners don’t— and that’s why
we’ve developed a Continued Success Program™
that specifically handles all the tasks that your
website will need.
 Optimized Hosting. Your website will load
quickly & stay online giving your visitors the best
experience possible.
 Website Security. We’ll ensure a strong
security stack that helps prevent attacks keeping
your website from being hacked, or passing viruses to
your visitors.
 Scheduled Backups. Automatic daily
backups mean we can restore your website
immediately if anything ever goes wrong.
 Analytics & Tracking. At any time, you’ll be
able to see how many people visit your website, how
they found you, and what their behavior is while
browsing
 Done-For-You Updates. Need something
new put on your site? It’s as easy as a phone call or
email and we’ll handle the rest.
 Bundled Pricing. No need to keep up with all
your software licensing and invoices— it’s all bundled
in one monthly invoice and taken care of for you!
The Continued Success Program starts at $100/mo and is
often more cost effective than paying for all these
individual services on their own.
Learn more at: ogalweb.com/csp
QUE STION 4

Will my website
show up in
search results?
When it comes to your website
showing up in search engines,
that’s where we begin to talk
about Search Engine Optimization
(or SEO).
Being an agency that is heavily focused on marketing and SEO,
each website we build will have all the foundational elements (like
proper structure and markup) to make it search engine friendly.

After your website is launched, I’ll submit your

website to all the major search engines like
Google, Yahoo, and Bing. This will ensure they
index your website in their database so they
can serve it to people searching online.
As far as your position in search engines, that
depends on hundreds of factors. The main
components are:
• Build Quality & Technical SEO
• Optimized, Relevant Content
• Domain Age and Authority
• Backlinks from Quality Websites
Search Engine Optimization
is an ongoing strategy, not a
one-time service.
If ranking in search engines is vital to the
success of your online presence, then it’s
important to realize that SEO is a
competition that will require ongoing
effort in order to be successful.

If part of your motivation for building a website Build Quality and

Technical SEO
is to get organic traffic from search engines, I
offer several packages in my SEO Success

Relevant Content
Quality Websites

Program that are specifically designed to

Backlinks from

Optimized,
improve search engine rankings over time.

If you already have a website and are worried

about how a redesign will affect your existing
rankings, during the proposal process I’ll be
sure to analyze how your website is performing
in terms of SEO, and put in the proper Domain Age
procedures to not only retain your rankings, and Authority
but in most cases improve them in the redesign
process.

Learn more about our SEO Services at:

ogalweb.com/seo-success
QUE STION 5

Do I need to
provide all the
content?
When it comes to written content,
no one knows your business like
you. Because of that, I believe it’s
vital that the business themselves
play a role in the content creation
process.
Most business owners aren’t professional copywriters nor do they
have a deep understanding of how to write content specifically for
websites that’s optimized for search engines.

My process is simple, and brings together the
best of both worlds— your subject matter
expertise, and my experience in editing and
optimizing for web.
We’ll create a content plan for your website
(which might include content from an existing
website or other marketing materials) and I’ll
provide you with templates you can fill in with
“rough draft” copy.
When it comes to images, videos, testimonials,
and graphics, I’ll have you supply me with
everything you have so that I can curate the
best assets and we can fill in any gaps with
professional stock photography if needed.
Lastly, I can help you with any custom graphic
design work you need whether it’s editing and
updating existing pieces or creating new
artwork.

We’ll work in collaboration to ensure that the

content on your website is a perfect
representation of your company, gives your
visitors the information they are looking for, Types of Content to Consider
and is optimized for search engines so you get
When you think of content, you typically think about
found online. the written word— but there are many types of
content that make up most websites:
Typically the content creation process takes
the longest out of any part of the website
development. Because of this, we often kick
things off focusing on the content, and while
you’re working on the rough drafts, I’ll begin
some of the prep work for the website. Images

The content needs to be in place before we can

begin the full design process, so that we make
sure we are designing a website that fits
around your message and not trying to just
cram words into a pretty template. Graphics

If you don’t feel comfortable writing any copy, Most websites have a mixture of all kinds of different
or simply don’t have the time, we can hire a 3rd content— and you can increase engagement on your
party copywriter to come up with all of the website instantly by including videos.
copy.
Did you get the answers
you were looking for?
I hope that this quick guide was able to provide
some clarity for you and that you are now
more confident moving forward to your new
online presence.
I’m genuinely excited that you’ve taken the
time to read through this, because In the
process of working on hundreds of projects,
I’ve found one common trait that the most
successful projects have...
Informed buyers.
Tech can be overwhelming and confusing—
that causes people to be unsure of what
exactly they are looking for and even what
questions they should ask. It’s simply hard to
make reliable decisions buying anything when
you’re in that position.
Becoming informed reduces risk.
I don’t suspect this guide answered all of your
questions, so I look forward to booking a
meeting with you soon and answering those
for you.
I’ll admit— I’m a bit of a nerd for this stuff, so I’ll
be more than happy (and excited!) to answer
any questions you have.
Feel free to hit reply to my email and we can
setup a time to chat soon.
All the best,
Kyle Van Deusen
Owner | OGAL Web Design
Thanks for reading!

Phone: 940.231.1051
Email: kyle@ogalweb.com
Website: ogalweb.com

Kyle Van Deusen

Owner, OGAL Web Design

Born in California and raised in Texas, Kyle is a

husband and proud father of three. After spending 15
years in graphic design and acquiring a business
degree, Kyle launched OGAL Web Design in 2017.
Kyle is passionate about helping small businesses
succeed online through custom websites and digital
marketing campaigns.
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