Red Flag #1: “We’ll build your website in 24 hours.”
Can a website be built in 24 hours?
Technically, yes. Should your business website be built in 24 hours? Most of the time, no.
Fast builds usually mean one (or more) of these things: the company is using a generic template with minimal customization, there’s little to no research done about your business, the copy is rushed (or AI-generated without your voice), and the site architecture isn’t mapped to how people actually search for what you offer. That’s how you end up with a “pretty” site that doesn’t rank, doesn’t convert, and doesn’t support long-term growth.
There are scenarios where a quick build makes sense—like a temporary landing page for an event, a short-term promotion, or an MVP site when you’re validating an offer. But if you’re investing in a website as a long-term asset, speed should never be the main selling point. Quality planning beats speed every time.
Red Flag #2: “$500 flat for a full SEO website.”
This one is tricky because it’s not that $500 is “bad,” it’s that “full SEO” is often undefined (and honestly, sometimes meaningless).
Real SEO isn’t just toggling a couple settings or adding a few keywords to headings. A website that ranks well typically includes intentional page structure, keyword research tied to real search behavior, clean technical setup, strong internal linking, thoughtful content, optimized images, fast performance, schema where appropriate, tracking setup, and an ongoing plan to build authority over time.
If someone is offering “full SEO” for a flat number without clarifying what’s included, ask for specifics. What pages are they optimizing? Are they doing keyword research? Technical fixes? Content strategy? Are they setting up analytics and conversion tracking? What does success look like after 60–120 days? If they can’t answer clearly, the offer is probably just marketing language.
Red Flag #3: Discounts and flashy promotions that ignore the real goal
“X% off websites” isn’t automatically a dealbreaker. But it can be a sign that the company is selling websites like a commodity rather than a business asset.
Your website shouldn’t be priced like a Black Friday TV. A good partner doesn’t start the conversation with discounts—they start it with questions: What are your goals? What’s your competitive landscape? What’s your sales process? Who is your customer? What makes you different? What should the website do for you?
If the offer is all about price and urgency, and not about outcomes and strategy, you’re likely going to pay for it later—in fixes, rebuilds, and lost opportunities.
Red Flag #4: Guarantees that sound too confident
Be careful with promises like “We guarantee #1 on Google,” “We’ll triple your leads,” or “Instant results.” Any good marketing company knows there are variables you can’t fully control: competition, market demand, seasonality, your internal follow-up process, your reputation signals, and more.
A real partner will talk about what they can control (strategy, execution quality, tracking, iteration, and consistency) and what they can’t (algorithm shifts, competitor moves, and how fast your industry changes). Confidence is good—overpromising is not.
What you should look for instead: planning, research, and a real strategy
Here’s the part most businesses don’t hear enough: websites don’t win because they were built fast or cheap. Websites win because they were built
with a plan.
As
GroClix founder
Nick Desrocher puts it: “At GroClix, every website we build starts with research before we ever touch the design. You need to research the company, its competitors, the industry, and talk to stakeholders about what you offer and what you’re trying to accomplish. If you skip that, you’re not building a website—you’re just putting pages online.”
That research shows up everywhere in the final product: the structure of the pages, the way services are positioned, the wording of headlines, the calls-to-action, the content priorities, and the way the site supports your marketing.
The pricing reality: it’s hard to put one number on a “good website”
One of the most honest answers in marketing is: “It depends.” Because it really does.
Traditionally, you’ll see agencies charge something like $10,000–$15,000+ upfront for the build, and then layer on monthly fees for hosting, maintenance, SEO, and other support. And if you’re also working with an agency for growth, you’re typically paying monthly for social media management, content, ads, strategy, and reporting too. That model isn’t wrong—sometimes it’s a great fit—especially for larger companies that prefer big upfront projects and have internal resources to maintain momentum.
At GroClix, we allow clients to pay upfront, but we intentionally offer monthly plans because it proves our partnership. We want you to feel that we’re not just launching a site and disappearing—we’re building it with strategy, supporting it with consistent execution, and then helping it perform on Google and in modern search environments (including AI-driven discovery like ChatGPT).
How GroClix pricing works (and why)
Our monthly plans typically range from $500 to $3,000+ per month with no upfront cost, depending on what a business is looking for.
Some businesses want a high-quality website that’s built correctly, supported by professional photography/videography, and paired with strong SEO fundamentals so it can grow over time. Other businesses want a true marketing partner—someone who actively manages the website, builds high-quality social content, drives strategy, tracks performance, and keeps everything aligned as the business evolves.
It’s not one-size-fits-all, because businesses aren’t one-size-fits-all.
Quality over volume: we don’t try to take everyone
This is important: GroClix is a young business, and we’re okay with not being the right fit for everyone.
We’re not trying to take as many clients as possible. We screen intentionally because we refuse to overwork ourselves and dilute quality. We’ll always give honest marketing advice, but we also won’t force a partnership when the timing isn’t right. Sometimes a $1,000/month plan simply isn’t a fit for a brand-new business still building its operational systems and sales process. That’s not a knock—it’s reality. If the foundation isn’t there yet, the best marketing in the world can’t fix it.
Another difference: we’re not locked into one industry
GroClix doesn’t specialize in only one niche, and we’re transparent if we work in overlapping categories. That said, we actively try to limit competitor conflicts because we don’t want clients to feel like they’re getting a “copy/paste” agency experience.
If we worked with 100 HVAC companies, the relationship becomes transactional. Our goal is partnership, and partnership requires focus. That’s also why our work is priced like a high-touch service—because it is.
So… is GroClix a fit for you?
If you’re looking for a basic cookie-cutter website as cheaply and quickly as possible, GroClix probably isn’t the best fit—and that’s okay. We’ll still happily point you toward options that make sense for what you’re trying to do.
But if you’re looking for a high-quality marketing partner that’s going to handle your brand with care, build your website with real strategy, and stay involved to help it perform long-term, GroClix could be a great fit.
Because in the end, a website shouldn’t be a rushed expense you regret. It should be an asset that compounds—month after month, year after year—supporting the business you’re actually trying to grow.
If you’d like to learn more about GroClix—or see if we’re the right fit for your business—email
hello@groclix.com or visit our Contact page to start the conversation.
GroClix is a Connecticut-based website design and marketing partner helping businesses grow with strategy-first websites, SEO, and content support across Ellington, Bloomfield, Hartford, West Hartford, Simsbury, Windsor, Enfield, Manchester, Vernon, and surrounding towns—built to rank, convert, and stay competitive long-term.
