Website Closers® presents a website development, website design and branding services business that now has an international presence, with clients spread across 3 countries. For the past decade, this company has been providing its services to businesses in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, customers who have largely become long-term clients. With a tremendous deal size of USD $30,000 to $60,000+, this business has brought in strong gross sales numbers while developing important business contacts in all 3 countries.
The field of web design and web development is not only a highly lucrative one, but a niche field that’s growing rapidly as more businesses shift to a digital strategy. Older businesses are eagerly redesigning their old websites to ensure they’re accessible on mobile devices and are user-friendly, and new businesses just starting up need a website before they can even begin selling. This company has approached web design in a boutique manner, relying on word-of-mouth referrals and strong recommendations from existing clients. In essence, this company has been highly profitable with virtually no expenditures put into advertising.
That provides a highly effective method for scaling quickly. This company could dramatically expand its digital marketing platform, using the same kinds of techniques they have used on behalf of their clients. That would include a social media marketing campaign, having their website optimized for SEO and adding a blog to drive more organic traffic to the site, and publishing additional types of online content.
The company could also expand by obtaining more customer reviews and highlighting them on their website, while running PPC ads on Google to boost sales.
Until now, the company has relied on more traditional methods for building their client base, from cold calling in the first year of trading in 2010, to cultivating more personal relationships with clients thereafter. So far, this has been very effective. Only about 2% of all clients have moved on to new developers. Among the other 98%, once their website is live, the client often needs additional work done (which is about 40% of all cases), or needs upgrades (30%), or requires ongoing technical support (28%).
The company was launched a decade ago in Sydney, Australia to provide clients with a host of services that include web development, web and UX design, branding and visual identity, and digital marketing such as SEO and social media management.
With a growing client base in Sydney, the founder relocated to New Zealand and began building a clientele there as well. A trip to Singapore convinced the owner that there were lots of opportunities available in that country, particularly with a limited number of local digital marketing agencies.
As the brand’s services became more in demand, they applied an hourly rate of $120 to cover general design and development and most other services.
Today, the average contract price range of $30,000 to $60,000 to covers 80% of their projects. Seasonality is not a factor for this business.
WordPress web development now makes up 55% of the company’s revenue, followed by website design (20%), branding (10%) and digital marketing (5%).
The company’s main lead generation tools so far have been word of mouth from repeat business. and they now have 30 clients and some substantial future bookings in place that are being launched this year. One of the company’s greatest strengths is a very strong portfolio of past work that can be used to leverage new contracts.
There are other growth options available to this business, starting more assuredly through digital marketing. Having relied so far on customer referrals, this company could put a stronger focus on SEO to boost traffic to their website. That could include optimizing their three websites, and reviving the company blog, which hasn’t been utilized since 2018.
The brand could also launch a social media presence to generate more organic traffic and run PPC ads on Google. Right now, the company devotes nothing financially to marketing so any new investments there are certain to pay off handsomely.
One new service the company could add that would definitely send profits higher would-be mobile app development, which is a service in high demand among businesses today looking to improve their customer relations.
The governments in New Zealand, Australia and Singapore all send out tender proposals for businesses that want to work on projects in the public sector, and there are opportunities to explore in this field as well.
The company has the ability to open new offices. In Australia, that could include offices in Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane, while in New Zealand, that could mean new offices in Auckland or Wellington.
The current owner now spends around 12 hours per week running this business, focusing on business development, sales, and responding to client inquiries. The company has a full-time developer onboard who has sole responsibility for all client websites. The company uses subcontractors for various projects.
This is a company with a great number of strengths and significant growth potential. The company’s ability to build lasting relationships with their clients demonstrates the high quality of their work, and the fact that sales grew largely from referrals and word of mouth also points to their appeal in the competitive digital space.
Today few businesses are willing to operate without a website and strong digital presence, which is how this company has been able to grow and prosper. By adding on more subcontractors, the company could easily take on more projects, and there’s no question that the use of stronger digital marketing techniques would also provide this business with a solid financial boost.
Since existing companies and new ones alike will definitely continue to require the services of a veteran web development agency like this one, the company has a very strong future and terrific opportunities to scale quickly.
