Should You Put Pricing On Your Small Business Website?
Six Leaf Design is a Brand + Web Design Studio for Small Businesses located in Denver, Colorado
As a small business, your website is an incredibly crucial tool for attracting visitors and converting them into clients. As you're focusing on your web design, one of the key decisions you'll have to make is whether or not to display your pricing information publicly. There's no right or wrong answer — do you opt for transparency to streamline the client journey, or do you keep your cards close to your chest to allow for flexible pricing? Let's look at the pros and cons!
Pros of Public Pricing
Builds Trust Through Transparency
In the realm of small business, transparency is a valuable asset. Displaying your pricing clearly can build trust immediately. Visitors appreciate knowing what to expect financially and whether or not your service/product is in their budget, which can encourage them to engage further with your business.
Filters Out unQualified Leads
When your pricing is available publicly, you naturally weed out unqualified inquiries from people who aren't ready to commit to your price point. It saves everyone’s time and ensures that the leads you do get are more qualified and potentially ready to sign on.
Enhances Accessibility and Convenience
When designing a website for small businesses, making your offerings accessible and easy to understand is super important. And part of that can be the pricing. Listing your pricing allows potential clients to make quick assessments, which is great for those looking to make fast decisions who might be turned off by having to inquire about pricing.
Available For Quick Reference
It's not only a benefit to your website visitors to have pricing publicly available, it's great for you to use as a quick reference! It can be convenient to send inquiries a link to your packages + pricing as a starting point to make sure neither of you are wasting time. Meaning your conversations can start at more advanced stages.
Cons of Public Pricing
Lack of Pricing Flexibility
Once you set a public price, it can be challenging to adjust those rates based on scope when potential clients have already seen them listed. It's a bit like promising one size fits all when really, that one size fits just some.
Complex Pricing Quirks
If your pricing strategy adjusts based on who’s asking (think big corporate vs. small startup), showing a flat rate might simplify things too much. It can deter the bigger fish who may think you're too small potatoes, or scare away the little fish who assume they can't afford you. This is a common challenge with my small business web design clients when their services may need more explanation than a simple price listing can provide.
Competitors Be Creeping
When pricing is public on your website, it's also public to your competitors. That means they can adjust their own pricing based on what you're charging and potentially undercut you to attract clients.
Risk of Scaring People Off
Especially with high ticket offerings, sometimes the price tag can deter potential clients who may have inquired if they had first understood more about your process or the value provided. If the first impression is the most important part of your client's journey, high prices displayed front and center might be a turn off.
Showing your pricing can absolutely simplify processes and clarify your business offerings — which can cut through the back-and-forth of the inquiry process. But on the flip side, it can also back you into a corner and potentially turn away business before you have a chance to prove your value. It all depends on your business model and customer base, but the choice you make should help you attract the right clients, streamline your process, and help your business goal.
Whatever you decide, here’s a golden nugget of advice: please don’t make folks sign up for your newsletter just to peek at your prices. It's a pet peeve of mine, and you're probably missing out on a lot of inquiries simply because people don't want to clog up their inboxes.
