When you’re writing the services page for your website, there’s an important decision you need to make: whether you’re going to list your prices on your website.
This might not seem like a complicated issue. But if you browse blog posts or social media content about the topic, you’ll find fierce debates about it.
Some people think you should never list your prices on your website so that you can customize the pricing conversation to each potential client or customer and highlight your value in a pricing email or call.
But the reality is that pricing is one of the most important pieces of information that people consider when deciding whether to buy or pay for something. So if you don’t include it on your website, you might be losing out on customers and sales big time!
Keep reading below to learn why it pays (literally!) to include your prices on your services page (or custom product page).
Want a services page that gets you more clients and makes you more money?
Download my ultimate services page copy template + full example.
It stops people from making assumptions
Imagine walking into a clothing store you’ve never been in before. You quickly spot a pair of jeans you love and think of how great they would look with sweaters or shoes you already own.
But then you search for the price tag and discover that there isn’t one. There isn’t one on any of the other pairs of jeans either.
So what do you do? You’ll probably assume that the jeans are outrageously expensive and not even bother to ask the sales associate before walking out of the store.
Your potential clients or customers will do the same thing if you don’t have any pricing information on your website. Most of them will assume that you must be insanely expensive and out of their price range even if you aren’t. And they might not bother to contact you to find out for sure.
What does this mean? You could be missing out on customers and sales just because some people in your audience are incorrectly assuming that they can’t afford you.
But if you put your prices on your website, won’t you end up scaring people away?
You might. But the people who get scared by your prices probably aren’t the right client for you anyway. They either can’t afford you or they don’t value what you have to offer. It’s unlikely that talking to these people over email or on the phone is going to make them change their mind.
But what about the people who can afford you but might be scared off by prices before they’ve had a chance to understand the value you have to offer?
That’s why it’s important to put your prices close to other copy or visuals that demonstrate your value. These can be any of the following:
- testimonials or reviews
- a portfolio of your work
- a comparison table showing how you offer more than what your competitors offer
Related: 8 tips and examples for writing a high-converting services page + free template
It makes it easier for them to hire you
If there’s anything you know for sure, it’s that you lead a busy life, right? Well, so do your potential customers. That’s why they’ll be more likely to hire you or buy from you if you make it easy for them to do it. And one way that you can make the process easier for them is by putting your prices on your website.
Whether people are looking for a copywriter, photographer, or custom mailbox designer, they usually research a few different options before deciding who to hire. And one piece of information that they’ll use to size up their options is price. So the last thing you want is for a potential customer to rule you out just because your competitors have pricing info right on their website but you don’t.
Again, some people might not want to go through the trouble of emailing or calling you to find out how much you charge. And they probably won’t want to waste time on a “consultation call” with you just to find out how much they’d have to pay.
Related: 6 reasons why people STOP reading your sales page + free list of 100 copy phrases
It saves both of you time
When you put your prices on your services page or custom product page, it lets people prequalify themselves before contacting you for more info. If people see your prices and realize that you’re out of their price range, they won’t bother to call or email you with a long list of other questions.
But if your prices aren’t on your website, you might spend lots of time on calls or in back-and-forth email exchanges with people only to eventually realize that they can’t afford you anyway.
Related: 8 services page mistakes you may be making + free template and example
Want a services page that gets you more clients and makes you more money?
Download my ultimate services page copy template + full example.
It can boost your SEO
Want to rank higher in Google and other search engines? Include your prices on your website!
Why does this help your SEO?
Many people don’t display their prices on their website. So if you optimize your services page or custom product page for price-related keywords and keywords for your niche, you can rank for searches that your competitors don’t. In other words, if a potential customer searches for pricing info related to the service or product you offer, they’ll be more likely to see your website in their search results.
Related: How to implement on-page SEO to boost blog post visibility
Still hesitant to display your prices?
You’ve read about the benefits of including your prices on your website. But you might still be hesitant to display this info if you have one of these concerns…
“What if my prices change in the future?”
Businesses update their pricing all the time. After all, just think about the number of times your Netflix monthly fee has changed over the years.
You can change your pricing any time you want. All you have to do is update the info on your website and inform your existing customers.
Related: 9 copywriting secrets to write better sales pages + free list of 100 copy phrases
“My pricing is custom”
You might think that you can’t list your prices on your website because every project you work on has a custom price. For example, if you’re a website designer, you might determine your price based on the needs of each particular client you work with.
But even if you can’t list definitive prices on your website, you can still list “starting at” prices. This will help potential customers understand if you’re even within their budget. With this approach, you’ll still have enough flexibility to price projects based on each customer’s needs.
“I have different rates for different types of customers”
Depending on your business, you might have different prices for different customers. For example, you might have different photography rates for major corporations vs. charities. Or you might have a special discount for long-term business contacts that you’d rather not advertise online.
Can you still put your prices on your website? You bet.
If you don’t want to get into the nitty-gritty details of the differences in your rates, use “starting at” prices. Alternatively, just display the prices for the customers who are most likely to contact you through your website.
“My competition might see my prices and use them against me”
Some people are reluctant to put their prices on their website because they’re worried that their competition will see this info and use it to undercut them.
But the reality is that if someone really sees you as their competition, they probably already know what you charge. After all, it’s not hard for someone to pose as a potential customer to get your pricing info out of you.
So instead of focusing on what your competition is or isn’t doing, focus on optimizing the value that YOU offer to your audience.
What will you choose?
There’s no hard-and-fast rule that says that you MUST put your prices on your website. But as I’ve shared above, displaying your prices makes it easier for your ideal customer to choose YOU over your competitors. And you know what that means…more sales!
Want a services page that gets you more clients and makes you more money?
Download my ultimate services page copy template + full example.
