We Don't Compete on Price. We Compete on ROI.

A cheap website is not a bargain. It is a liability.

In the business world, there is a dangerous misconception that a website is a commodity. Business owners shop for the lowest bid because they think they are being "smart" with their budget.

They hire a $500 freelancer. They choose the "budget-friendly" agency. They get a website that looks like a website.

But six months later, the phone isn't ringing. The traffic isn't converting. The competitors are enjoying the lion's share of the market.

That "cheap" website just cost you $50,000 in lost revenue.

At 10com, we don't compete on price because we aren't selling the same product. Amateurs sell "pages" and "pixels." We sell ROI.

The High Cost of "Cheap"

When you hire the cheapest option, you aren't saving money. You are just deferring the cost and paying interest on the failure.

1. The "Invisibility" Tax: A cheap website is almost always invisible. Amateurs don't understand content hierarchy, engagement structure, or the semantic data required to rank in the AI era.

• The Reality: If you build a website that no one sees, you have built a billboard in the desert. You are held out of the conversations you should be a part of.

• The Consequence: You save $5,000 on the build but lose every single customer searching for your service.

2. The Ad Spend Incinerator Many business owners think they can fix a bad website by running paid ads. This is a fatal calculation. Platforms like Google and Facebook assign a "Quality Score" to your landing page. If your site has low engagement or poor structure, they penalize you.

• The Math: You pay more per click to get less reach.

• The Result: You are feeding the ad platforms bad data. You are paying a premium to send traffic to a bucket with a hole in the bottom. A premium website lowers your ad costs and increases your conversion rate.

The Fisherman's Protocol: Why "Simple" Means "Starving"

Clients often tell us, "I just need a simple, 3-page website." They think they are being efficient. In reality, they are choosing to starve.

Picture yourself as a fisherman. Your livelihood depends on catching fish.

• The Amateur: Walks out to the ocean with one pole and one hook. He has one opportunity to catch a fish.

• The Pro: Goes out with ten poles and ten hooks in the water. He has multiplied his opportunities by 10x.

Web pages are hooks.

If your main competitor has a 30-page website and you launch a 3-page website, you have already lost. You cannot compete with a warship in a dinghy.

The Strategy of Multiplication:

• Service Pages (The Bait): Customers rarely search for generic terms. They search for specific needs (e.g., "Emergency Water Heater Repair" vs. "Plumber"). If you don't have a dedicated page for that specific service, you don't have a hook in the water for that customer.

• Location Pages (The Net): You might be located in Chicago, but you want clients in Naperville and Hinsdale. Google will not rank your Chicago homepage for a search in Naperville unless you build a bridge. We build dedicated Location Pages that walk, talk, and sell to those specific communities.

We don't recommend more pages to run up the bill. We recommend them because we want you to catch more fish.

The "Obese Bodybuilder" Problem

Success breeds success. If you want to compete at the highest level, you cannot hire a partner who is operating at the lowest level.

You wouldn't hire an obese trainer to help you win a bodybuilding competition. Why would you hire a struggling, low-budget freelancer to help you dominate your market? They cannot lead you to a level of success they have never experienced themselves.

The Best Time to Plant a Tree

SEO is not instant. It is like compound interest. Any change we make today can take weeks or months to reflect in the AI recommendations and search results.

A cheap website delays this process. It forces you to restart the clock later when you finally decide to take your business seriously.

• The Cost of Time: Every day your site sits broken or invisible is a day your competitor gains "Time Equity" in the search results.

• The Fix: Do it right the first time. The best time to build a dominant web presence was 10 years ago. The second-best time is now.

Why We Upsell (The Win-Win)

Our data shows that we expand 43.8% of projects into larger ecosystems. Some clients fear this means we are "selling" them.

We are not selling. We are consulting.

We don't take orders. We manage success.

• We identify the gaps amateurs miss. We build the citations, the press mentions, and the entity signals that spoon-feed the AI platforms.

• We establish the "boring" pages that protect you (Privacy Policy, Terms, ADA Compliance).

• We structure the user journey like a grocery store. We put the "milk and eggs" at the back to force engagement and increase the likelihood of conversion.

We increase your investment because we are increasing your Average Order Value.

The Right Way to Build a Website (If You Care About ROI)

After working on 30,000+ websites, one thing is clear: Results do not come from shortcuts. They come from structure, strategy, and execution.

This is exactly how we build for ROI:

1. Build for Strategy First, Not Design First A website should be engineered around how users search, think, and convert, not just how it looks. Messaging, layout, page hierarchy, and calls to action must all support a specific business outcome.

2. Create Pages for Search Intent, Not Just Navigation. Most underperforming websites fail because they lack depth. High-performing sites do not just have a homepage; they include purpose-built pages designed to capture real search demand (Service and Location pages).

3. Treat Content as a Revenue Asset. Content is not filler. It is how search engines understand your business and how prospects decide whether to trust you. Effective content is structured, intentional, and written to convert—not generic copy written just to check a box.

4. Build on a Platform That Can Scale. A website should support growth, not restrict it. We choose platforms that allow for ongoing optimization, expansion, integrations, and SEO improvements over time, without requiring a tear-down rebuild every year.

5. Optimize for Performance From Day One, SEO, mobile optimization, page speed, and technical setup should be handled correctly at launch, not patched in later. Fixing foundational issues after the fact is always more expensive than doing it right the first time.

6. Invest Once and Execute Correctly. The most expensive websites are not the ones that cost more upfront. They are the ones that require constant rebuilding, patching, and replacing because they were never built correctly to begin with.

The 10com Investment

You can buy a $500 website and hope for the best. You can pay the "Invisibility Tax." You can stand on the dock with one fishing pole while your competitors use a net.

Or you can make an investment in a Revenue Engine.

We don't build websites to check a box. We build them to pay for themselves.

If you think a professional is expensive, wait until you hire an amateur.

Stop Losing Money. Start Dominating.

FAQs: The Economics of Web Design

Why are 10com websites more expensive than freelancers?

We don't sell the same product. Freelancers sell "time." We sell Execution Certainty. We employ a team of Sales Architects and SEO specialists to ensure your asset performs. You are paying for the result, not just the effort.

Does a cheap website hurt my Google Ads performance?

Yes. Search engines assign a "Quality Score" to your website. A cheap, poorly structured site lowers this score, causing you to pay significantly more per click while receiving less exposure.

Why does 10com recommend more pages than I asked for?

"Simple" websites limit your ability to compete. We recommend a robust sitemap to create more "hooks" (Service Pages) and "nets" (Location Pages) for search engines, maximizing your ability to capture leads.

What is the "Invisibility Tax"?

This refers to the revenue lost when a cheap website fails to rank. If your site is not structured for SEO and Engagement, you are invisible to potential customers. The money "saved" on the design is lost instantly in missed sales.

Does 10com fix bad websites?

Yes. A large portion of our work involves "Rescue Missions." We fix projects where cheap freelancers failed to deliver or where DIY attempts resulted in zero traffic, often requiring a complete structural overhaul.

Why do I need separate pages for each service?

Customers search for specific problems, not general categories. Having a dedicated page for every service allows you to rank for specific, high-intent keywords (like "Emergency Roof Repair") that a general "Services" page would miss.

Why does 10com recommend Location Pages?

If you service a wide radius but only have one physical address, Google struggles to rank you in neighboring towns. Location pages act as semantic bridges, connecting your business entity to the specific cities you serve.

Can I just build a website myself on Wix?

You can, but "access" to tools does not equal "expertise" in execution. DIY sites often suffer from poor structure, slow speeds, and lack of conversion psychology, resulting in a site that exists but does not perform.

How long does it take for a new website to rank?

SEO is not instant; it is compound interest. It can take weeks or months for AI platforms to trust your new signals. Delaying a professional build only delays your "Time Equity" in the market.

Why does my project scope increase after the consultation?

We don't take orders; we manage success. We often identify gaps—such as missing legal policies, citations, or engagement structures—that you didn't know you needed but are critical for your market dominance.