In the world of website design, there are two main ways you can pay to get your business out there in front of your audience. You can either pay a one-off, upfront cost and get a website, or you can pay monthly in smaller amounts over a longer period for your site.
This is a decision that deserves your attention, as it will depend on what stage your business is at, what your ongoing requirements are and how much time you have to spend on your website yourself going forward.
To give you a bit more insight into what the two different payment options mean and what they offer you – and to help you decide which one best suits you – we’re going to break it down into some neat little chunks for you.
We’ll begin with a bit more detail on how the two payment packages differ.
What are the big differences between pay-monthly websites and one-off payments?
You’ll find some subtle differences in what companies offer for your money, but here are the big four things you’re going to be weighing up.
How you pay
With a one-off payment, you’ll pay for the website upfront in one larger cost, with all the fees for the website included. When you choose the pay-monthly route, you’ll be paying a monthly fee over a set period (or indefinitely if you have an agreement for ongoing support and work), generally giving you a low price per month.
What you own
This is a point on which might differ depending on who you work with, but generally, you’ll have complete ownership over the website with a one-off payment, and it will be up to you to decide who you want to pay to host it with. Pay-monthly websites usually mean the design company holds onto ownership of the site – images and content rights stay with you, but the build of the site sits with the design company and they’ll host it for you.
How you grow
When your website has been paid for upfront, at one cost, you generally don’t get any ongoing support included. You’ll pay for hosting separately and any new pages, new content or updates will require you to pay an agency a fixed fee for any agreed work. Paying for your site monthly, depending on what you pay, will usually include hosting and ongoing support. So when you want to change an image, you won’t be hit with a huge new fee. Larger upgrades might still mean creating an additional payment, but it’s likely to be less if you have an ongoing arrangement already.
How you troubleshoot
Over time, your website might fall behind design trends or some update might break certain parts of the site. With a one-off payment, you’ll have to spot these things and enlist the help of a website design agency or developer to pay for additional support. With a pay-monthly site, ongoing support is generally included. If you have health checks and updates included in your package, even better, as you’ll know your site will remain at its best without any additional work for you.
How to decide which website payment option is best for you
Now it’s time to put on your thinking cap and work out which of the two payment options best suits your business, but how do you do it? Let’s consider the factors at play and see which direction you’ll want to lean towards.
The size of your business.
If you’re running a huge, national or international company then you can probably afford to make the one-off payment and simply cover the costs of any upgrades and changes whenever the time comes. You’re not bound by a contract and can move your site as you please.
For small and medium-sized businesses, the upfront cost might not be something you can afford to spend all at once. Monthly payments will likely be lower and more manageable when spread out, helping you to still represent your brand and grow steadily without sinking costs into one marketing aspect.
Your need for flexibility.
Does your range of products or services change regularly? Or are you pretty static? It’s worth thinking seriously about, because it can cost you more money in the long run if you choose a one-off payment website and then need to constantly pay for changes. You get more flexibility for changes in a monthly payment plan, saving you the headache and giving you more freedom to cater for your audience as times change.
Your technical ability.
Are you pretty savvy when it comes to website coding, writing content and dealing with hosting? If so, you might be able to tackle some of your upgrading and changes, making a one-off payment site ideal.
However, if you’re not comfortable updating websites and managing technical issues that arise, you could lose out on business when your site breaks and you don’t have someone to help you right away. Paying monthly gives you that technical support to avoid downtime and additional headaches on top of your general workload.
Even those who feel comfortable online and dealing with modern technology can underestimate the challenge of keeping a website looking great, feeling fresh and in line with optimisation requirements, so it’s always better to be honest about what you’re capable of handling.
Do you need to grow?
There aren’t many companies out there that don’t need to think about growth and change within their market. Even if you’re lucky enough to be in a niche, static market, the world of websites and design is always evolving. Choosing to pay upfront for a website will mean that, eventually, you’ll have to start from scratch all over again, while monthly payments help you to meet new challenges. Then, when the time comes for an overhaul, you’ll have a solid foundation with a company that knows you in order to negotiate a redesign package.
Do you have the staff?
If you don’t have an internal website management team, you’re likely to find it difficult to manage your work and your website when you pay for it upfront. Paying monthly for website design gives you the backing of an expert team so that you can focus more on other aspects of your business.
Pay monthly website design from Leblek
While we can generally offer both pay-monthly and one-off payment website design, here at Leblek we’re experts in all things digital marketing and design. That’s why we often recommend the monthly payment option to our clients. It means we’re able to provide ongoing support to help businesses grow, without having to constantly quote high additional fees for work.
We’re always happy to discuss pay-monthly website design with clients in Nottingham and across the country, so contact us today and let’s find out which payment option will best suit your business and your ongoing needs.
