Is your government contractor website attracting the right attention? Deciding whether it’s time to redesign your website usually correlates with the need to improve the quality of visitors coming to learn about your company. Whether it’s potential partners performing due diligence, prospective employees, or new customers, your government contracting website is usually the first opportunity to introduce your business.
When millions of dollars are at stake, businesses often come to the realization that lower cost usually doesn’t lead to better outcomes. There are many factors that play into whether or not it might be time to consider this project. Today we will explain when to consider upgrading your government contractor website, as well as break down different factors that play into the overall cost of the project.
Signs you consider upgrading your government contractor website?
- Your website lacks visual appeal or appears outdated
- Your website lacks offerings or well defined services
- Your CMS system does not allow your business to make easy updates
- Your website data is not secure
- Your website is not mobile responsive or user friendly
- Your website is not optimized to improve conversion rates
- Your website lacks the capability to measure important metrics and visitor data
- Your website navigation is confusing
- Your website content is disorganized and lacks flow of information
Why Your Website Still Serves as a Selling Tool
Many government agencies and contractors don’t want to invest the time and energy into their website because it may not sell directly to visitors. However, over 67% of buying decisions in the B2B space are now influenced by having a digital presence. And even government agencies are preforming due diligence on your firm. This is even more true during the COVID-19 Pandemic when more activities are taking place virtually, so it is important to make sure your website runs as efficiently and creates the best experience possible.
Since the sales process is often longer and requires multiple decision makers for a government contractor business, your website should serve as a tool that educates and builds trust in your brand. This can be done directly through a new website by:
- Optimization techniques to improve search engine results and online conversions
- A better visitor experience through more organized page layout, simple navigation, and a mobile responsive design
- Creation of new content and website functionality such as a blog, case study section, or real time data presentation
- Better imagery that helps visitors clearly identify your brand
- A website that is secure and performs well
How to Improve Search Engine Results through Website Design
The worst feeling is being invisible in a conversation, the same applies to a website. Imagine if there’s a prime contractor that has tasked an administrative assistant with finding new subs- at some point in the process they’re going to Google local firms. Being apart of the conversation- in this example search engine results is critical during the COVID-19 time when almost everything has gone digital. Here are some ways your website can benefit from website optimization:
- Reduce the amount of code so search engines can better understand your content
- Improve page speed and higher security
- Incorporate additional forms of content such as a blog
- Avoid duplicate content or page similarity
- Use meta description tags (which gives search engines a better idea of what they page is about)
- Create dedicated pages to certain keywords you want to rank well for
Design for Education & Curiosity
The educational component of a website is essential to building brand awareness and trust. The first time a visitor comes to your website, it should be very clear as to what you do, who you work with, and how you can help them.
Below are a few examples of how to use your website effectively to help visitors answer these immediate questions.
- Use a clear mission, vision, and value statement
- Have a clear connection between services and solutions for each area
- Provide examples of brands you have partnered with
- List awards your business has won on your homepage
- Use other forms of media such as infographics, project image galleries, videos, etc.
How to inspire curiosity:
- Give visitors the ability to download educational materials
- Use real time examples of past successes with your brand
- Incorporate buyer persona specific language on calls to action attract certain individuals
Preparation for Investment
So why invest in a brand new website? Over 94% of visitor impressions are design related. So even if your website provides great content, a poor experience or lack of visual appeal can lead people to discredit the value your business can provide. The digital space also heavily influences buying behavior, with over 85% of B2B customers visiting a company’s website before making a purchasing decision.
So how much should your government contractor business be prepared to spend? The scope of the project work will largely determine the cost, which more than likely is dependent on the size of your business. If your business is smaller, be prepared to spend at least $20,000 for a full redesign while it could cost upwards of $175,000 and over for larger businesses. The more content your website requires, the longer the project is likely to take and will likely take a larger team of individuals to help complete the project on time.
Avoid Website Builders and Templates
If a website developer is quoting you significantly less than these ranges they are likely cutting corners and could be creating your website off of a template based design, which will significantly limit your ability to make updates and add new functionality as your business needs change over time.
The problem with template design:
- Tends to fail more often as they are overloaded with code used to create something that can be executed quickly
- Can offer a poor user experience as they are not designed with your specific visitors in mind
- Not optimized for search engine use
- May not allow for tracking of important metrics and visitor data
- Can be difficult to integrate new software after it is first developed
- Lacks the capabilities of high power CMS software such as WordPress or Drupal
How to Budget/Prepare for Your Website Redesign:
When creating a budget for your government contracting business be prepared take into account what a successful project will mean to your organization. A modern website should work as a successful employee, the more its nurtured and invested in the better your project outcome will be.
- Allocate a percentage of each new business contractor towards a proper redesign project
- Determine what limitations there are with your current website
- Create a vision for how you would like your business to be portrayed online
- Find the right development team for the project that understands the needs of a government contractor business
What is the Cost for a Government Contractor Website?
Whats the difference between spending six figures on a website and half that? It comes down to expectations. Just like building a house, the more you spend the more feature rich and impressive a site can become. A professional website design company can help you evaluate where you are and work within your budget. Expect to budget anywhere between $30,000 to $55,000 for a medium sized business and between $50,000 to $100,000 for a larger company that requires a more advanced website.
Here are some of that costs that impact a government website contractor website:
- How long the project is expected to take and how soon the it will need to be completed
- How much content your current website has, and what additional content will need to be created
- How the website will need to be restructured
- What types of functionality will need to be integrated into the new website
- What type of CMS system you choose to migrate to
- New photography and imagery for the website
- How big of a team the project will require (such as developers, designers, marketers, SEO specialists or website maintenance experts)
- How frequent communication will be for the project and tools offered to your team for this purpose
- How many creative revisions are allotted and how much say your team has on the creative aspect of the site
We understand that investing in a new website for your government contracting business can be an overwhelming and costly process. But by determining how to get the most from your website redesign project and asking website developers the right types of questions, you can determine which ones offer the right type of experience and provide the best possible solution for your needs.
Alliance Interactive is a digital, web design, web development, and website maintenance agency for nonprofits, associations, b2b organizations, and more. Give us a call today at 888-222-9056 or contact us here.