Sorry if this has been asked before. Someone wants me to make them a website and i was wondering how much to charge and how to charge. Is it by the hour, number of pages etc? It won't be a big job so i doubt i'll get much.

 

Please ask if i've missed out information.

 

Thanks, Peter

Hi Peter,

 

It varies wildly but I charge based loosely on the number of pages. I have three packages of 3, 5, and 10 pages, and I can add and subtract pages at a set rate from those packages. But it all depends on the consultation - if the client says they want 10 pages but they sound really simple, I'll offer them the equivalent of, say, an 8-page site. But if they want contact forms and this and that, I may add a little on.

 

The biggest consideration, at least for me, is not so much the number of pages but the type of site they're looking for and how long I think it will take to design and set-up. From there, copying a little bit of content here and there isn't so bad... but charging by the page is a lot easier to explain than, "Well, that sounds like a lot of CSS and GIMP, so it'll be GBP550..."

 

When I first started I Googled "web design prices", made a spreadsheet of ten different companies, and worked out what the average was for each type of service. From there I had a ballpark figure of what I should charge and adjusted accordingly to what I actually wanted to charge.

I'm just getting started into it as well. I tried breaking down everything that had to be done and estimate how long it'd take. Then set an hourly rate for myself which gives me a sum I present to the client. (Allways good to have a little buffer to haggle over.)

 

I also keep a timesheet where I write down what I do and how long it takes me to do it. That way I can see how well I'm doing with my estimate. And that also gives me an idea if I'm on schedule in regards to time and budget.

Interestingly, I've never worried too much about what my time is worth, aside from knowing the basics (e.g. "this project will take me about a week to do so I can schedule a new project for the following week"). Even so, if I were to have a fully booked schedule (40 hrs/wk, 100% of the time) I'd be way beyond comfortable financially.

 

I dunno - I guess I never understood how professionals (lawyers, psychiatrists, web designers , etc) could charge GBP100+ for their time. Maybe I undervalue myself, but I've never been able to work like that.

 

That's just me though.

I personally charge for the package, not per page, or per hour, as If I get poorly, or if I go out, they are paying me to do nothing.

 

Per site is much fairer.

Thanks, that sounds ok. What if they want examples of your work first or a selection to choose from. With articles, you'd have to pay the writer for examples. I wouldn't charge this time but i've already started making designs. Do you have a database of basic designs you've made and change them slightly for each person or remake them completelly?

You can use anything as examples (your portfolio) so even if you're just starting out and have no paid client sites to show off, you can still show off hobby sites you've done (WP Themes, personal site, something you did for a friend of a friend for free, etc).

 

I do 100% customised work and ask them what they're looking for (show me sites you like, what colour scheme do you want, etc), but that's just me. Some designers offer templates and charge an additional fee for custom work. It depends on the person really. Template designs are generally cheaper.

 

There's a thread somewhere around here (I think) about how many sample designs is appropriate. I think the average answer was to give the client 2-3 mock-ups to choose from.

That's what i was going to do, and i can keep the unused ones. I thought getting them to give me a few links to sites they like was a good idea.

 

Anyway, thanks for all the help, it's been useful.

In theory, one would charge as much as the market will bear for your particular skill level. But "knowing how much the market will bear for your particular skill level" is not so easy. Unfortunately, it will have to be trial and error. If 90% of my bids are being rejected, that mean I'm charging too much for my skill level and no one is buying. So I have to lower my price. If 90% of my bids are being accepted, I raise my rates in order to get a higher profit. After a few of these trials and errors, you find the right price for yourself.

 

Mostly I give a flat base fee for the project. I say to client, "I'll do this project for you for a flat fee of $X amount plus $Y per hour in case of any special requests or change orders that happens along the way."

When I started out I used to calculate costs on a per page kind of basis. I used to split my costs into:

 

- fee for site set up of hosting / domain / emails

- fee for the design

- fee for teh build of each page

- fee for extra coding - e.g. contact forms

 

It was easier for me to do it that way. But as the years have gone by I have become more aware of how long it takes me to do stuff and I now break down my costs differently and it's more project based and generally includes the following...

 

- site set up of hosting / domain / emails

- the design

- build of a skeleton site

- site cross browser testing and validation / debugging issues + errors

- adding content

- getting the site live

- training / manual for updating the site

- follow up support