So I'm relativity new to web design, been thorough college and just started uni so I know compared to most of the sites I've seen on here this one is basic and not worth thousands of pounds but...

 

I've started freelancing along with my studies to earn some extra money and the biggest problem I have is what do I charge...

 

I'm at a stage where I feel I cannot charge full amounts because I'm not a 'web designer' (experienced / qualified etc) yet I like to think I know my stuff when it comes to a standard static website.

 

BEFORE YOU LOOK>It is horribly made, I made it a few years ago before I knew how to 'properly' make sites. Yes, it uses tables and the html is extremely messy, I darent validate it, but please just ignore that, assume that it is well made, just for the sake of getting a rough idea of price.

 

So heres the site...

 

<a href="http://www.finelinedecorators.co.uk" >www.finelinedecorators.co.uk</a>

 

Any general idea is good, i would rather have a total rather than an hourly rate, just so I can give prices in the future that are relitivly decent, for both me and the client!

 

Thanks.

Edited March 2, 201214 yr by Jake@21Design

First things first, remove that 2.6MB image on the front page!

... and on the portfolio page.

 

And the "Advice" page too.

 

You need to optimise those images.

... and on the portfolio page.

 

And the "Advice" page too.

 

You need to optimise those images.

doing it now! didnt realise it was that bad, but dont worry, i would never do that now, it is 2/3 years old...before i knew, pretty much anything about standards etc. But ignoring the absolutely awful mark up and images etc, assuming it was well made and optimized etc, a rough estimate...?

 

EDIT : done! so should be quicker

Edited March 2, 201214 yr by Jake@21Design

I charged £100ish for sites like that when I started.

 

I'm not saying that is right or wrong though.

Take a good, hard look at yourself and your skills. Weigh up the working hours you have available in the year and work out how much you want to make - a little basic maths gives you an hourly rate.

 

From the hourly rate you can start working out what to charge for a site based on how long you think it'll take you to complete.

Edited March 2, 201214 yr by Renaissance-Design
Early morning grammar

I know you asked total price but imo you should look in to how to work out your own hourly rate. That way your price system stays consistent and and as you get better and do work faster you earn more, which helps you learn that hardwork = mo' moneh. It's also easy to increase prices if you use a baseline. Use a project time tracker on a few personal projects to work how long and average site takes, Harvest is a good one. There's loads of articles about it on Google, Freelance Switch even have a calculator.

 

On what that sites worth: It looks to me like one of those sites a typical "£99 WEBSITE!!!1!" company makes.

 

Goodluck m8,

~evu.

I also used to charge around 100 for sites like this when I was starting

I think £100 for sites like those sound about right. The most important stage for you at the moment is build up your skills and portfolio.

I did my first websites for free!!!

See it like this:(if you're self taught) if you go to school you don't charge your teachers for educating you....

Also when working out your price (hourly rate x time taken) I think it's important to get the hourly rate correct.

 

If you know what you're doing, then perhaps £20 - £25 an hour is about right.

 

If you're still learning (probably like you are) then more like £10 an hour or something - you are doing honest work but you're a lot slower than the £25 an hour person.

 

If you're an expert then it goes up beyond £25 an hour to £40, £60 or whatever, dependimg on expertise.

 

Remember - the paradox is that a lot of clients think they're getting better value with the cheap guys, but if a cheap guy takes 20 hours to do a job at £10 an hour, that's 200 quid. If an expert takes 5 hours at £30 an hour to do the same job, then that's 150 quid.

 

If people are pricing this job of yours at about 100 quid, divide that by number of hours it took you to do it - then you have your current hourly rate (until you become more skillful) - you can use that to attempt to quote on future projects, if you can estimate how long they will take.

I charge £20 an hour. I would always set the price of a basic brochure website at £399 as it would take me about three days max to create one - 1 day to design, 1 day to build and 1 day to test and tweak. But if you are starting out then £199 would still go down nicely to most people. It's only when your portfolio starts looking is built up nicely you can raise your rates.

 

I am actually thinking of raising my rates to £25 an hour as from next month as I have plenty of work coming in. But you never know if that will put a stop to it or not?? Only one way of finding out I suppose.

I am so slow that an average hourly rated website would cost my clients around £8.000,- so have to come up with an realistic price.

 

I think that extra income, although small, can be made by offering to host sites and offer maintenance contracts.

 

Perhaps offering to work on social sites for them, make facebook page etc. could also offer extra income.

 

Compare yourself to others, see what they offer and be competetive.

 

P.H.

Remember - the paradox is that a lot of clients think they're getting better value with the cheap guys, but if a cheap guy takes 20 hours to do a job at £10 an hour, that's 200 quid. If an expert takes 5 hours at £30 an hour to do the same job, then that's 150 quid.

 

^ This.