When it comes to budgeting for your business, there are known knowns, known unknowns, and then there’s digital marketing.
All small and medium business owners know that some projects are easier to estimate the costs of than others. Painting the office and buying that new coffee machine will probably be more straightforward to budget for than a company-wide restructure and relocation.
So if you want to launch or redevelop a website – with all the campaigning comes with it – how much should you put aside? Ultimately, the price could vary massively, but here are a few factors to keep in mind.
Define your goal
First, work out exactly what it is that you want to achieve. Are you:
- Starting from scratch?
- Taking things to the next level?
- Refreshing what you’ve got?
- Sustaining what’s already there?
Then, work out the scale of the scale of your project and approach. Is digital marketing central to your business, or more of a support? Are you going cut corners, get ‘the works’ or something in between?
Remember domain name and hosting
Depending on the package you buy and name you choose, your website domain name could between $10 and $100 per year. Once you’ve registered your awesomebusinessdomainname.com you’re all good to go, right?
Not quite – you’ve got the letterbox, but you still need to buy the land. The cost of web hosting varies between different services, and can cost extra if you need a security certificate or automated backup service.
Plan for the development
Now it’s time to design and build the house. The cost of web development this could vary dramatically depending on what you’re after, but for a typical website, budget for a few thousand dollars as a starting point.
Part of your budget will have to go into nailing your branding and design. But there are also functional needs like mobile optimisation, SEO and user experience to take into account.
Don’t forget content
Content is king, and your customers can tell if the crown is made of cardboard. Don’t just drag over the content from your existing website without seriously thinking about it first – that’s a bit like buying a new car but stapling in your old upholstery. Having new copy and audiovisual content created can make your small business’ digital marketing shine.
Budget for post-launch
The finish line is just the beginning. Digital marketing isn’t set-and-forget – whatever your goals are, it’s important to budget for maintenance and marketing after you’ve launched. That will keep your presence growing and allow you to stop any problems from blowing out into catastrophes.
You don’t want to end up spending twice as much as you expected, or getting half the functionality you wanted.
Ultimately, the best way to work out your digital marketing budget is to speak to an expert. Want to speak to an experienced expert about how to get the most out of your digital marketing budget? Give Redline Digital a buzz today and we’ll talk you through your options.