Calculating What a New Website Is Worth to You
By CodexierPublished 5 min read
Whether a new website pays off depends on your numbers, not on industry averages. If you know what a customer is worth, how many enquiries you get today and how many of them you win, you can work out how many extra customers the site needs to bring in to break even. This guide is a worksheet you can fill in with a pen in twenty minutes.
Start from customer value
Start with one number: what is one new customer worth to you after direct costs? For a one-off job, it is the margin on that job. For a salon, a clinic or an accountant, customers return, so multiply the margin per visit by visits per year and by the number of years a typical customer stays. Be conservative. If you are unsure, use the lower figure — a calculation that only works with optimistic inputs is a warning in itself.
Leads and close rate today
Next, write down what happens today. You probably know more than you think: count enquiries from the contact form, email and phone for the last three months, and how many of them became customers.
| Input | How to find it | Your number |
|---|---|---|
| Enquiries per month | Form submissions, emails and calls that mention the website | … |
| Close rate | Customers won ÷ enquiries, over the same period | … |
| Customer value | Margin per customer over their lifetime, from the step above | … |
| Where enquiries come from | Ask new customers how they found you | … |
If you have no tracking at all, start measuring now. Even a month of honest counting beats a guess.
Realistic improvement scenarios
A new website improves results through a few specific mechanisms, and it helps to know which one you are counting on. It can turn more existing visitors into enquiries through clearer offers, faster pages and a simpler form. It can win more of those enquiries because they arrive better informed. And it can bring more visitors, but only if it is combined with SEO, a Google Business Profile or ads.
Cautious
One extra customer every two months, from better conversion of the traffic you already have. Use this as your planning case.
Moderate
One extra customer a month, when the old site had clear problems: slow on mobile, no clear call to action, no booking option.
Ambitious
Several extra customers a month. Only realistic with a traffic plan behind it — do not base the decision on this one.
Break-even calculation
- Add up the total cost for the first year (see the next section).
- Divide by customer value. That is how many extra customers you need to break even.
- Divide that by extra customers per month in your cautious scenario. That is the number of months to break even.
- Compare with the site's expected life, usually several years. If break-even comes well inside the first year, the decision is easy.
A worked example without invented market figures: a site at 22 990 kr, where one new customer leaves a margin of about a quarter of that amount, needs four extra customers to break even. In the cautious scenario, one extra customer every two months, that is eight months. A simpler landing page starting at 6 990 kr lowers the bar further if one clear offer is enough.
Costs you must include
- The build itself, from a fixed-price quote rather than an hourly estimate.
- Your own time for texts, photos, approvals and meetings — often underestimated.
- Domain, hosting and email, per year.
- Maintenance and updates, especially on WordPress or anything with payments.
- Tracking setup so you can see whether the forecast came true.
- Traffic: SEO work, ads or local listings, if your plan depends on more visitors.
When is a new website not worth it? If your calendar is already full through referrals, if customers never look you up online, or if the break-even calculation only works in the ambitious scenario, spend the money elsewhere — or fix the few things that are broken on the current site. Our package prices are on the pricing page, and in a call we can run your numbers through this worksheet together.
Frequently asked questions
Should I use revenue or margin in the calculation?
Margin. Revenue overstates the value of a customer, because materials, subcontractors and your own time still have to be paid for. Using margin gives a break-even point you can trust.
How long should a website last?
A well-built site typically serves for several years with ongoing maintenance, although design and content need updating along the way. Base the calculation on the first year to stay conservative.
What if I cannot measure where my customers come from?
Start by asking every new customer how they found you, and set up basic tracking of form submissions and calls. After a month or two you have real input instead of guesses.
Can a website pay off without more traffic?
Yes, if the current site loses visitors it already has — slow pages, unclear offer, no easy way to book or ask. That is the cautious scenario, and it is the one to plan with.
Run your numbers with us
Bring your enquiry count, close rate and customer value. In 15 minutes we work out a break-even point and tell you if a new site is the right investment right now.
Book a free 15-minute call