Pricing pages on design studio websites, why oh why???

Over the last couple of months (or maybe already since the beginning of 2008) more on more upcoming design studios are having a "pricing" page of sorts on their website explaining their pricing structure, what they charge for, sometimes already with a PayPal button.


A lesson in history

Let's go back a bit more in time, when the first pricing tables appeared on web design / development based websites - the hosting companies. Here a pricing table is what sets you apart from the competition, if you can offer a decent hosting service with extras to a competitive price then users will come to you. Here it makes sense, because users tend to shop around before they commit to a hosting provider. But web design studios?


Pricing pages reduce conversion

I really do not know why design studios do this. Real life example: some of you know I am working as a consultant and manager, and one of my roles is to look for potential designers / animators as well as upcoming studios to outsource to. This is how I got into the business, and I want to give something back.

But whenever I see a pricing chart or a pricing page on a website of a potential designer I wanted to hire or studio I wanted to outsource to I immediately went somewhere else, not even looking at the portfolio.


(In)Flexibility and greed

Having a pricing page indicates that the designer or design studio tend not to be flexible or tend to be after money rather than providing a decent service. In a day and age where the competition is literally a click away this can mean that this potential high-profile contrac just slipped by your nose.

Casing point: a design studio in Suffolk, UK. I was contracted to improve conversions with the help of SEO and redesign. Looking at their Google Analytics stats I noticed that 65% of their visitors went to the pricing page and left. My first question was: "Did you think about reducing the prices?" They did. Four times in fact. So I suggested removing the pricing page and bumping up their contact call to actions. No SEO, no redesign other than fixing the nav. Within 6 weeks their online conversion tripled.


Please, for the sake of a web design generation: you are a designer / design studio, get rid of the pricing page!