No products in the cart.
“I like what you’re offering, but I already have a website.”
We hear this daily. Usually followed by:
“It cost me €2,500 to build. I can’t just throw that away.”
Here’s what we don’t say on the phone: You’re not throwing away €2,500. You’re saving yourself from throwing away €2,500 more.
The Sunk Cost Fallacy (Applied to Websites)
You paid €2,500 for your website two years ago. It’s slow. Hard to update. Your developer doesn’t respond. But you keep it because “I already invested so much.”
Meanwhile:
- You pay €150/month for hosting and maintenance
- You spend 5 hours/month fighting with WordPress
- You’ve paid €400 in emergency fixes this year
- You can’t add the booking system you need (€500 quote)
- Your site is costing you €4,200/year to keep broken
Total: €6,700 spent since launch. For a website that barely works.
But you won’t migrate because you “already invested €2,500.”
That’s not business logic. That’s emotional attachment to a bad decision.
What Your Current Website Is Actually Costing You
Let’s do real math:
Direct Costs:
- Hosting: €15-30/month (€180-360/year)
- Maintenance contract: €100-150/month (€1,200-1,800/year)
- SSL renewal: €60/year
- Backup service: €10-20/month (€120-240/year)
- Security plugin: €100/year
- SEO plugin: €100/year
- Form plugin: €80/year
- Booking plugin: €200/year
Subtotal: €2,040-2,940/year in obvious costs
Hidden Costs:
- Emergency fixes: €300-500/year
- Developer calls for changes: €200-400/year
- Your time managing it: 5 hours/month = €3,000/year (at €50/hour)
- Lost customers (slow site): Impossible to calculate, but real
Real Total: €5,540-6,840/year
Compare to StartYour.Website:
- Business plan: €600/year
- Your time: 0 hours/month
- Emergency fixes: €0 (included)
- Changes: Usually free (or clearly quoted)
Savings: €4,940-6,240/year
Your €2,500 website costs you €5,000+/year to keep running. That’s not an investment. That’s a liability.
The Five Stages of Website Ownership
Every business owner goes through this:
Stage 1: Excitement (Months 0-3)
“My new website is amazing! It was expensive but worth it!”
Stage 2: Reality (Months 4-8)
“Why is it so hard to update? I’ll just email my developer.”
Stage 3: Frustration (Months 9-15)
“My developer takes forever to respond. Why does everything cost extra?”
Stage 4: Desperation (Months 16-24)
“Something broke and I don’t know who to call. This is costing me money.”
Stage 5: Acceptance (Months 25+)
“I need a new solution. Should’ve done this a year ago.”
Most of our customers come to us in Stage 4 or 5.
Smart ones come to us in Stage 2.
The Developer Breakup That Everyone Goes Through
Here’s the pattern:
Month 1-6: Honeymoon
- Developer is responsive
- Makes changes quickly
- Fixes issues immediately
- You’re happy
Month 7-12: Distance
- Slower to respond
- “I’ll get to that this week”
- Charges for small changes
- You’re annoyed
Month 13-18: Neglect
- Days to respond
- “That’ll be €200”
- Too busy for small jobs
- You’re frustrated
Month 19-24: Abandonment
- Emails go unanswered
- Voicemails unreturned
- They’ve moved on
- You’re desperate
It’s not personal. It’s economics. Your €100/month maintenance fee doesn’t cover their time when you need actual work done. They need new projects to survive.
You need reliable support. They need new revenue. These goals don’t align.
What “Free Migration” Actually Means
Most website companies offer “free migration” but here’s what that usually includes:
Standard “Free Migration”:
- We’ll move your content (text and images)
- Basic pages only
- No custom functionality
- You rebuild everything else yourself
Translation: We’ll import your blog posts. Everything else is on you.
Our “Free Migration”:
- Complete content transfer (everything)
- Form recreation (contact, booking, whatever you have)
- Feature matching (we replicate what you had, often improve it)
- URL redirects (so SEO doesn’t tank)
- Testing (we make sure it all works)
- Training (so you know how to use everything)
Real migration. Not data dump.
The Migration Timeline Reality
What Customers Expect: “How long does migration take?”
Our Honest Answer: “24-48 hours for us to do the work. But you’re the bottleneck.”
Here’s Why:
Hour 1: We export your current site Hour 2-4: We import content and set up your template Hour 5-8: We configure features to match your old site Hour 9: We send you a preview link
Then we wait.
Day 2-7: You review it when you have time Day 8: You send feedback Day 9-10: We make adjustments Day 11: You approve Day 12: We go live
The technical work is fast. The business decision takes longer (as it should).
What You’re Actually Afraid Of
Let’s address the real fears:
Fear #1: “I’ll Lose My Google Rankings”
Truth: Proper migration includes:
- Same URL structure (or proper redirects)
- Same content (actually, often better optimized)
- Same metadata
- Improved site speed (which Google likes)
We’ve done 200+ migrations. Never seen one lose rankings. Usually they improve because the new site is faster.
Fear #2: “My Customers Won’t Find Me”
Truth: Your domain stays the same. Your email stays the same. Your phone number stays the same. Nobody knows you changed platforms.
Fear #3: “Something Will Break”
Truth: We test everything before going live. And unlike your current developer, we’ll be here to fix it if something does break.
Fear #4: “I’ll Lose Features”
Truth: We match or improve your features. Booking system? We have one (usually better). Contact forms? Included. Custom stuff? We’ll build it or find an alternative.
Fear #5: “It’s Too Much Work”
Truth: You review a preview, give feedback, approve. That’s it. We do the technical work.
The Businesses That Waited Too Long
Case 1: The Restaurant
Stayed with their broken site for 18 months because “we already paid for it.”
Meanwhile:
- Lost €15,000+ in bookings (system kept breaking)
- Paid €800 in emergency fixes
- Spent hundreds of hours dealing with issues
Finally migrated. Now processing 40+ bookings/week with zero issues.
Their quote: “We should’ve done this a year ago. Calculate what our stubbornness cost us.”
Case 2: The Salon
Kept a €3,500 custom site because it “looked unique.”
But:
- Couldn’t add online booking (€600 quote)
- Couldn’t update it themselves (€150 per change)
- Mobile version was terrible (50% of traffic)
Migrated to our template. Now books 30% more appointments because mobile actually works.
Their quote: “I was paying for ‘unique.’ I should’ve been paying for ‘functional.'”
Case 3: The Consultant
Held onto their site because they “knew how it worked.”
Reality:
- Spent 3-4 hours every week managing it
- Paid €180/month for hosting and maintenance
- Still needed developer help monthly (€200-300)
Migrated. Now spends zero hours on website management.
Their quote: “I was spending €400/month and 15 hours to maintain what I now get for €50 and zero hours. I was an idiot.”
The Math That Should Scare You
Let’s project three years:
Keeping Your Current Site:
- Hosting + maintenance: €1,800/year × 3 = €5,400
- Emergency fixes: €400/year × 3 = €1,200
- Developer changes: €300/year × 3 = €900
- Your time: €3,000/year × 3 = €9,000
- Total: €16,500 over 3 years
Switching to StartYour.Website:
- Business plan: €600/year × 3 = €1,800
- Your time: €0
- Emergency fixes: €0
- Changes: Mostly included
- Total: €1,800 over 3 years
Savings: €14,700
Your “investment” in keeping the old site costs you €14,700 over three years.
What Migration Doesn’t Include (Let’s Be Honest)
We won’t:
- Rewrite all your content (but we’ll improve formatting)
- Take new photos (use what you have or hire a photographer)
- Redesign your logo (but we’ll use it properly)
- Do your SEO strategy (but we’ll implement best practices)
- Manage your social media (but we’ll integrate it)
Migration is about moving your business online, not rebuilding your brand.
The Questions That Stall Migrations
“What if I don’t like the new site?”
48-hour free demo. Try it before committing. If you don’t like it, walk away. No hard feelings.
“What if my customers complain about the change?”
In 200+ migrations, we’ve had zero customer complaints. Because customers don’t care about your backend—they care if booking/buying/contacting works.
“What if I want my old site back?”
We keep backups. But nobody’s ever asked. Because the new site works better.
“What if you can’t match my custom feature?”
We tell you during the demo. Either we build it, find an alternative, or we’re not the right fit. We won’t take your money if we can’t deliver.
The Migration Process (Transparent)
Step 1: Free Consultation (30 min)
- You show us your current site
- We explain what we can match/improve
- You ask questions
- No pressure
Step 2: 48-Hour Demo
- We set up a preview with your content
- You test everything
- We make adjustments
- You decide
Step 3: Migration (if you proceed)
- We do the technical work (24-48 hours)
- You review and approve
- We schedule go-live
- We monitor for 48 hours after launch
Step 4: Training (included)
- We show you how to update content
- We document your specific features
- We’re available for questions
Total time investment from you: 3-4 hours of reviewing and approving.
What Happens to Your Old Site
Before Launch:
- We keep it running
- You keep both sites during testing
- Zero downtime
During Launch:
- We switch DNS (takes 1-24 hours to propagate)
- Old site stays accessible at temporary URL for 30 days
- You can reference it if needed
After Launch:
- We keep a backup for 90 days
- Then we can help you cancel old hosting
- Or keep it archived if you’re paranoid
The Vendor Lock-In Escape
Your current situation:
- One developer knows your site
- Only they can fix it
- You’re trapped
Our situation:
- Built on WordPress (open platform)
- Standard hosting architecture
- Export everything anytime
- Take your data wherever you want
If you hate us in a year (you won’t), you can leave. For real.
The Real Reason People Don’t Migrate
It’s not the technical work. It’s not the cost. It’s not the risk.
It’s admitting the first decision was wrong.
“If I migrate, it means I wasted €2,500 on the original site.”
No. You learned what doesn’t work. Now you’re fixing it.
Every successful business owner has vendor regrets. The unsuccessful ones just stick with bad decisions longer.
The Question That Decides Everything
“Is your current website helping your business grow, or is it just another problem to manage?”
If it’s helping: Stay.
If it’s a problem: Fix it.
That €2,500 you spent? It’s gone whether you migrate or not. The question is how much more you’ll throw after it.
Ready to stop managing a website and start running your business?
Schedule a free migration consultation – Show us your current site. We’ll tell you honestly if we can improve it. No pressure. No BS.
P.S. – We’ve migrated sites from every platform imaginable. Wix, Squarespace, WordPress.com, custom builds, GoDaddy builders, you name it. Your site isn’t special—migrating is our Tuesday morning. Let’s get you unstuck.