The B2B website market is confusing.

You’ll see agencies offering to build websites for anything from $500 to $50,000 and beyond.

Clearly, that’s a massive range.

How do you make a smart purchasing decision in such a confusing and noisy marketplace?

In this article, we explore what you can expect from low-cost presence websites compared to higher-cost business websites and how this translates into a return on investment in both the short and long term.

Presence B2B websites under $5,000

If you’re investing under $5,000, you’re almost certainly buying a templated website.

This means the agency buys a template from the internet on your behalf.

They then change the colours to match your logo, add text and images, and your website is ready.

It’s a quick process and you can have a presence online fast.

But there are a few key drawbacks with this low-cost, presence type of website.

1. You won’t rank.

Very low-cost websites look pretty but don’t rank on Google.

There’s simply not enough investment in structure, search engine optimisation (SEO) and content to make your business appear in the Google search listings.

The only way to get traffic to these low-cost websites is to feed them with advertising and social media, which is an expensive, ongoing drain on the business.

To add insult to injury, advertising and social media are hugely less effective in generating ideal business in the B2B space than free search.

2. You won’t generate business.

Low-cost template websites are generally designed for the B2C (business-to-consumer) market.

They lack the professionalism the B2B website space demands.

In a crowded marketplace where you have just a few seconds to build trust, an unprofessional look and feel simply won’t cut it.

3. There’s more cost coming…

Because these templated websites are not flexible, you’ll need to start again from scratch when the business evolves and you want to upgrade your brand, the website layout or your product and service range.

Do it once do it right

To do it once and do it right, you need to spend $10,000 or more on a new B2B website.

At this level of investment, you should expect:

1. A business website designed just for you.

The agency should take time to understand your business and market and produce carefully considered design files that feel exactly right for your business and meet your market’s expectations.

You should expect to see designs for all page types and understand the user flow through the website.

2. A comprehensive search plan.

You should expect detailed keyword research and a plan to build your ranking for a well thought out niche on Google.

3. Professionally written content.

To really nail your message to the market, you will need to have several conversations with one of the agency’s professional content writers.

Content writing is a hugely important piece of the website puzzle and can make the difference between the success and failure of your new site.

(And no, AI-generated content won’t work – here’s why)

Growing into a high-traffic hub

B2B information hubs are websites that have high-traffic loads coming from free Google searches.

Once you have the base investment of a high-quality website, adding more content to it gives your market more information and grows your Google footprint.

Over time, your website can become a high-traffic hub that generates large volumes of business from new markets.

At Brilliant Digital, we pride ourselves on building long-term relationships with our clients across multiple B2B industries.

Many of our clients started out with websites at investments of $10,000-$15,000.

Then,  over time, we worked with them to evolve their websites into powerful information rich traffic hubs that deliver millions of dollars worth of business every year.

Our strategic planning skills and coding skills allow us to make this change seamlessly for our clients without having to re-design from scratch.

This is important as it delivers consistency and continuity to the market and delivers the possible best return on investment for our clients.

Meet the author

I’m Deb Croucher, a former veterinary surgeon with a passion for B2B marketing.

In 2008, I permanently traded my stethoscope for SEO after successfully leveraging Google to power my vet business.

Diagnosis and treatment is still part of my day though!

In Brilliant Digital I identify issues, uncover opportunities and formulate strategies that lead to success and longevity.

You can read more B2B marketing articles here. I love to chat so feel free to, drop me a line!