How I Increased Website Project Profitability by 88%
When I began as the creative director of a boutique marketing agency a few years ago, I ran reports and found that website projects consistently exceeded allocated budgets. A lot.
I wish it had been one, obvious issue. It was several. Some projects were poorly estimated. Some projects used a platform or process too complex for its scope. Sometimes, team members had few, if any, guardrails.
I established a multi-pronged approach to get the agency to produce highly efficient websites for its clients while simultaneously building the highest-performing sites we’d ever done:
Introduced a simpler platform for smaller-scope website projects so solutions were no longer one-size-fits-all
Wrote project processes for larger WordPress sites that created reusable components that were easily customizable
Introduced a messaging strategy framework to streamline copywriting and wireframes and establish a more firm strategy from the start
Designed a standardized section for all website proposals, cementing baseline pricing for features that are always needed
Created a proposal calculator spreadsheet with appropriate costs assigned to optional features
Established a QA process so all our sites launched with best practices in speed, accessibility, and SEO performance no matter the scope or budget
Implemented a new timekeeping system so team members had more visibility on project budget so that they could self-manage better in real time
Running the same reports a year and a half later, projects were coming in significantly under budget and also converting better. Not only that, client satisfaction improved, with over $100,000 in upsells in the same period.
I successfully stopped the bleeding and then some. But that was just the beginning. We established reliable, sustainable processes that created a stable foundation for the long term.
Before vs. After: Budgets for Website Projects
Could use improvements like these on your team? Get in touch and see if I can help you.