In researching stuff for wedding planning/articles I’m writing, I’ve been stymied, more often than not, by businesses that offer no indication of pricing on their websites. It’s been frustrating, to put it mildly.
The case for putting a pricing page on your website
It minimises the risk of wasting time, be it yours or a client’s.
When you don’t post a price list, punters don’t know what field you’re playing on. Are you budget? Are you mid-range? Or are you premium?
All we then have to go on is the coherence of your writing, the design aesthetic of your website, and other indicators (that a non-specialist may or may not judge correctly). And as we all know, a slick website is not an indicator of quality in the 21st century.
But every project is different!
I get that in many cases it’s very much an individual thing and it’s hard to quote on something sight unseen (although with some things, like venue hire, surely there is a more or less fixed price that is the default minimum and won’t change all that much, except perhaps for time slots when demand is higher. If you provide photography or videography, there is surely an hourly rate you won’t go below, or a package that is the absolute floor in terms of price point).
But if it’s at all possible to even indicate a wide price range, that would be helpful for so many people. There’s nothing more frustrating than emailing for more information when you have no idea what ballpark companies are playing in, only to receive an ulcer-inducing quote back.
But if I put prices on my website, people will be scared off!
Yes, being upfront about your price bands will scare some off – but odds are they were not going to be able to afford you anyway. A price list simply saves everyone some time.
But updating the website to reflect price changes is a pain!
If you’re having to adjust your prices more than, say, once or twice a year tops, that’s probably a warning sign. And if even doing that is technically difficult for you, consider taking a closer look at how your website is run.
Put a price tag on it!
