Blog · Web
In a saturated market, agencies need to sell solutions, not websites
“The reason it seems that price is all your customers care about is that you haven’t given them anything else to care about.”
Downwards pricing pressure, long close times, and high competition makes selling websites in 2025 difficult. Web agencies need to adjust their strategies and swim with the current and not against it.
My Web Director Survival Story
But before I get too far into what I see as working and not working for web agencies in 2025, let me tell you a little story…
A few years ago I took over as executive director of a website department at a small agency I ran with my brother. Our pricing and services no longer fit the market. Every website we built was on a different CMS and our website projects were going over budget by as much as 150%. Oh and just about 0 of our web design and build projects were under budget. We had a 7-person person team and we couldn’t afford them.
In short, my work was cut-out for me.
I worked nights and weekends for two years trying to turn it around. I had to layoff employees, fend off lawsuits and lawyers letters, and got yelled at more times than I care to count. It sucked (but I also learned a lot).
I succeeded in stopping the bleeding and establishing a new support program that we could actually make money from, but that also involved pissing-off clients who had become accustomed to NOT getting billed for the value we provided. (We had to be tough and part-ways with a number of them.)
And just when we started to see the RED months turn GREEN … I quit.
(It was a slow quit. I’d worked too hard to let everything fall-apart again. I eased my way out over a six months.)
There were reasons that go beyond our web department troubles that were part of my decision, but what I realized was I had reached the limit of my influence and authority and there was still a lot of change that needed to happen in order to build a web department that could thrive (and I was tired).
The result of this experience was that I learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t when selling and building websites for small business. (Our website projects typically ranged from 20k-150k by-the-way).
During my tenure as web director, I talked to a lot of experts and agency owners because I was desperate to dig my way out of the mess I found myself in. And I gathered some pretty good intel. So even if I am no longer in a position to implement these things myself, I figured they can definitely be of use to other agencies.
(I know not every tip here will apply to every firm, so please apply what makes sense for your agency)
How to sell web services in 2025
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How To Talk About Website Pricing With Skeptical Clients
If you do a Google search for “how much does a website cost in 2025?” you will generally see estimates from about $500-10k. This is because most websites are built by freelancers on Wix and Squarespace or pre-built WordPress templates. This can be confusing for clients who do research and then get a proposal with a 60k price tag.
This one from Forbes is a doozy:
- Initial build: $0 to $450
- Hosting and apps: $15 to $150 monthly
- Maintenance: $20 to $100 annually
How Much Does A Website Cost? (2025 Guide)
(I mean WTF Forbes! Who builds these websites? Slave children?)
I had the marketing director of a company in the semi-conductor industry tell me his website budget was 1-3k for a new website for this exact reason.
There are AI systems now that will generate a complete website with all the copy and a logo for you in just a couple of clicks. If this is the case, then why would anyone pay more than a few hundred bucks for a website?
This is what you have to answer and it’s not an easy question to answer. It’s complicated.
Why not just agree? Websites are easy to make and therefore they don’t cost that much.
But you know what does have high value?
Great design, UI/UX, CRO, brand strategy, SEO, copy writing, integrations, expertise, analytics integrations–all the stuff that you add to the website is what is valuable.
Website Pricing Market Data (2024-2025)
I like this little pricing chart from WebFX Website Cost Guide. It’s likely pretty accurate for small agencies in the U.S. But keep in mind websites are super unique (and some cost millions).
I did create a website pricing calculator that is much more nuanced if you want to check it out. I also have an article on website pricing specifically here.
Most Popular CMS Platforms For Agencies (From 2024)
From a great report by promethean research here.
Take note of that Webflow percentage. It’s becoming the go-to tool for design and branding agencies that want to get into no-code web design.
The Bottom Line on Sling’n Code Buckets in 2025
Clients don’t want to invest in big websites projects, but they will invest in big business solutions. You can adapt by:
- Website builds can be approached as client acquisition, not profit centers
- Use retainers to for sustainable income
- Creating systems that make each build more efficient than the last
- Using no-code/low-code tools to meet shrinking budgets
- Breaking projects into smaller, more manageable phases
The more you can position yourself as a problem-solver rather than a website builder, the more you’ll stand out from the commodity website market.
Feel free to reach out if you want to talk more about any of these strategies. I’m always available in the Grow Your Agency Slack group — one of many online marketing communities worth joining. @Chris Bolton – Admin
A free creative agency community on Slack for …
- Marketing & Creative Agency Professionals
- Agency Owners, Leaders, and Entrepreneurs
- Agency Job Seekers and Freelancers
