Sarasota Web Design-Customer Questions and Answers

A Sarasota Website Design Gone Wrong: Q and A

So, just last month I got a call from a friend in Downtown Sarasota, who wanted me to “fix” his website.  The first thing the Dr. said was, “A couple of years ago, I hired a Sarasota area website agency to make my practice a professional site, but $12,000 later, I still get very few leads or people contacting me for my services, what the #$@! is going on??? So we setup a meeting at his place off of Main St. to take a look at the website problems…

Website Design Questions: Top 3

Dr.’s question #1:  Do I think that $12,000 was a fair price for building a website, especially for a two doctor office in a smaller city like Sarasota?

My answer:  “Some of the cost depends on the functionality and size of your website…but what I always look at first is the cost benefit potential of your website design related to how much you make from the site. 

For example:  If your website design and maintenance costs $12,000, you better be getting at least $12,000 in after tax proceeds directly from the website.  If not, there is a problem.  Paying a web design agency is an investment…and you expect a return on your investment!  We monitor, test, and optimize your website to generate leads for you.  These are not leads from some yahoo(not the search engine 🙂 in another country, but real Sarasota Area customers looking for your services.  Of course, we can target anywhere…but for you, local website leads are number one.  For any business in Sarasota web design is more than just a pretty page.

Dr.’s question #2: Do you charge for updating my website?  The last guy I used would call me every month or so, and say my website needed updating($75 per update)…I had no idea what he was talking about…I just was scared the site would stop working, so I said yes.

My answer:  Well let’s take a look at the updates.  I looked in your website logs, and the only updates that correspond to some of the invoices are plugin updates.  While I would love to make $75 for just pushing the “update” button on your web pages administrator console, our web designers in Sarasota would like to get referrals from you and be able sleep at night…so the answer is NO we don’t nickel and dime our customers.  You will always have full transparency on what the charge will be for.  It won’t hurt our feelings if you question us about any website marketing charges.

Dr.’s question #3: What if you have two website design clients in Sarasota and in the same type of business? My Dr. friend, who’s business is also in Sarasota was using my web agency also.  That just seems a little shady…

My response: I should say that I am shocked, but since this website designer information can be hidden so easily, I must say this doesn’t surprise me.  While I need to make a living, I don’t need to make a killing.  I always try to keep my customers’ interests from overlapping, by only taking on one website client per specific industry in Sarasota Area. For example: If you are a General Practitioner in Downtown Sarasota, I can take on a General practitioner targeting Lakewood Ranch, but not near Downtown Sarasota.  Long term, this is in both of our best interests as it maximizes internet leads to each client.   

Did he choose us as his web design agency?

Of course we wouldn’t say no.  He chose us to manage his website design, and he has been with us ever since.  If you are in the sarasota area, not sure what you need in a website or website agency, or just have no clue what internet or website marketing can do for you, please contact us either by phone or the red icon at the top of the page.  We absolutely have no obligations.  Thank you.