Website Guidance
Helping you navigate today's web with practical advice and proven experience
September 2026
In This Issue
- → Feature Article: What Is One New Client Worth?
- → Question of the Month: How Do I Know Whether My Website Is Paying for Itself?
- → Website Tip: Ask One More Question After “How Did You Hear About Me?”
- → A Real-World Improvement: Turning Buyer and Seller Pages Into Useful Resources
- → Know Someone Who...?
What Is One New Client Worth?
A website is often judged by what it costs. A better question may be: “What would just one new client be worth to my business?” Depending on the type of business, one new client may pay for an entire year—or considerably more—of keeping a website working.
That does not mean a website will automatically produce a steady stream of new clients. It means the value of a website should be considered in relation to the value of the business it can help generate.
Your Website Is Your Web House
Building a website is much like building a house. The first year is usually the most expensive because that is when the planning, design, construction and initial content development take place.
After the website has been built, the major construction cost is behind you. If you truly own your website, you are not buying it again year after year. You are paying for the services needed to keep it operating.
Those services may include hosting, domain registration, maintenance, security and technical support. For a real estate website, they may also include an IDX home-search service.
In other words, you have built the web house. The ongoing expenses are largely the cost of keeping the lights on.
Make Sure You Really Own It
Not every website arrangement works this way. Some companies provide a website only while you continue paying a monthly subscription. Others may provide a website through a brokerage or organization, but the website disappears if that relationship ends.
Neither arrangement is necessarily wrong, but it is important to understand what you are buying. Ask whether you own the design, written content, images and underlying website files. The answer should be clearly stated in your written agreement.
There is an important difference between paying to use a website and paying to have a website built that you actually own.
The Cost of Keeping the Lights On
The example in this month’s graphic uses approximately $80 per month for IDX and hosting—$960 per year, or about $2.63 per day. The exact cost will differ from one website to another, and a business website without IDX may cost considerably less.
The point is not that every website costs the same. The point is to compare the ongoing expense with what the website provides.
Where else can a business present its services, experience, useful information and contact details 24 hours a day for the approximate price of a cup of coffee?
Working for You Around the Clock
Your website does not take evenings off. It does not close for weekends or holidays. It remains available whenever someone decides to look for you, whether that happens at ten o’clock in the morning or ten o’clock at night.
It can introduce you, explain what you do, answer common questions, display your work, establish your experience and make it easy for someone to contact you. For real estate professionals, it can also provide access to current property listings and detailed community information.
A prospective client may never examine every page. But the right information, available at the right moment, may be exactly what helps that person decide to take the next step.
The Website May Not Get the Credit
Someone may say, “A friend gave me your name.” The friend quite rightly receives credit for making the introduction.
What may remain unknown is what happened afterward. Did the prospective client search for your name? Did that person visit your website, read about your services, review your experience or look for evidence that confirmed the recommendation?
No one may say, “Your website convinced me to call.” There may be no contact form identifying the website as the source. Yet the website may still have played an important role in turning the recommendation into an actual inquiry.
That is why “How did you hear about me?” does not always tell the whole story. It identifies the source of the introduction, but not necessarily what helped the prospective client make the final decision.
One New Client May Be Enough
No website can guarantee that the next visitor will become a client. It is also unrealistic to expect a website to operate like a vending machine, producing a new customer every time money is put into it.
But a good website does not need to produce hundreds of new clients to be worthwhile. Depending on your business, one new client may cover an entire year of ongoing website expenses. A few good clients may represent many times that amount.
The better question is not simply, “What does my website cost?”
It is, “What is one new client worth—and what role might my website play in helping that person choose me?”
Your website is your web house. Own it, maintain it and keep it working for you 24 hours a day.
Question of the Month
How Do I Know Whether My Website Is Paying for Itself?
There is rarely one statistic that provides the complete answer. Contact forms, tracked phone calls and website statistics can show direct activity, but they may not reveal every role your website plays in gaining a new client.
Someone may hear about you from a friend or co-worker and then visit your website before making contact. When asked how they heard about you, they naturally credit the person who made the referral. That tells you who introduced them, but not whether your website helped confirm their decision.
Your website may also answer questions, demonstrate your experience, introduce your services and reassure prospective clients that they have reached the right business. Those contributions are valuable even when they do not produce an easily tracked form submission.
To get a clearer picture, look at the information you can measure—and ask new clients one additional question: “Did you visit my website before contacting me?” Their answers may reveal value that website statistics alone cannot show.
Website Tip of the Month
Ask One More Question
Most businesses ask a new client, “How did you hear about me?” It is an important question, but the answer may identify only who made the introduction.
If someone says that a friend, past client or co-worker recommended you, ask one more question: “Did you visit my website before contacting me?”
If the answer is yes, ask what they looked at and whether anything there helped them make their decision. They may have reviewed your experience, read about your services, searched property listings or simply looked for reassurance that the recommendation was a good one.
The referrer still deserves credit for introducing you. This additional question reveals whether your website helped turn that introduction into an inquiry. Ask it consistently, and you may discover value that website statistics alone cannot measure.
A Real-World Improvement
Turning Buyer and Seller Pages Into Useful Resources
Many real estate websites have pages for buyers and sellers, but sometimes those pages say little more than, “Contact me to get started.” That provides a call to action, but it gives a prospective client very little useful information before asking them to make contact.
Recently, I improved several existing buyer and seller pages by adding clearer headings, helpful explanations and answers to questions prospective clients commonly ask. The goal was not to overwhelm visitors with information. It was to answer enough of their initial questions to help them feel comfortable taking the next step.
Frequently asked questions were also supported with appropriate Schema markup behind the page. Visitors see useful questions and answers, while search engines and AI-assisted search receive clearer information about the agent’s services and expertise.
The websites still look familiar. But pages that once did little more than ask for a phone call now help prospective clients understand the value of making that call.
Know Someone Who...?
Isn't Sure Whether Their Website Is Earning Its Keep?
Perhaps they are paying for a website but aren't sure what it is contributing to their business. Maybe it looks dated, important information is difficult to find, or it isn't working as well on phones, iPads and tablets as it should.
They may not need a completely new website. Sometimes clearer content, better organization or a few thoughtful technical improvements can help an established website work much harder.
If you know someone who has questions about their website, I'd be happy to take a look and offer an honest, experienced second opinion—without pressure, obligation or any assumption that everything needs to be rebuilt.
Sometimes knowing what doesn't need to change is just as valuable as knowing what does.
Missed last month’s Website Guidance?
Read: Your Website Is Not a Vending Machine
More Website Guidance coming in October.