A veterinary website is a tool for the business – and like all business tools it should be evaluated primarily for its return on investment. In this article, we are going to guide you through the process of determining expected costs for your veterinary website’s development, and will give you important questions to ask any company you are vetting. By the end of the article, you will feel knowledgeable and empowered!

Fundamentally, there are two different pricing philosophies from website development companies. The first is to maximize profits by charging as much as possible for digital marketing services. The second is to charge a fair price and focus on quality work so that you become their “brand evangelist.” You can discover which company falls under which category by looking at the quality of their past work, finding their pricing information, and asking good questions. We will now cover the full range of costs that you can expect.

Traditionally, there are two costs associated with your veterinary website: a development fee and a monthly service fee. Development fees can be small (usually a few hundred dollars) if you work with a template website company, but the quality of work will be very poor. The development fee for a professional design agency usually ranges in the thousands of dollars – full disclosure, ours is $1999. It really depends on the pricing philosophy that the company has adapted, and doesn’t necessarily have to do with the quality of work.

The monthly service fee typically covers support, maintenance and hosting. For the simpler “template” companies, this typically ranges from $50-$100. For the professional design agencies, you will usually see a range from $200-$400. Full disclosure – ours is $129.

Now we are going to give you advice on what questions to ask when you are vetting these companies – we recommend taking a thorough look at all of your options, and making sure to ask each one these questions.

  • Could you give me a detailed overview of your website development process, including timelines?
  • What does the revision-process look like? Are we “capped” at a number of revisions?
  • Could you show me your “best” site (in your opinion)? Could you show me your “worst” site (in your opinion)?
  • What does your monthly subscription cover? Is anything not unlimited?
  • Do you require us to sign a contract? What happens if we want to leave?

 

Your website is your veterinary hospital’s most valuable marketing tool – it is where people form their first impression of you, and largely determines whether or not there will be a second. We hope this article was helpful, and please contact us if you have any questions!