Website Pricing

[Kathleen Coyne]

I have been creating websites as a hobby for quite a few years, and
it's gotten around that I'm pretty good at it.

I've now been hired to create a website for a company. The person
wants to pay me hourly, but given my slow methodical nature, and his
nature to pick at and change and test this and that, this can easily
creep into thousands of dollars.

Well... I'm too honest to run away with more money than he would have
spent if he hired a professional.

I want to give the guy a fair deal. What is the average pricing
meathod for websites?

What I am required to do is create a website for an architecture firm.
Essentially, just a portfolio and contact information. From what he
has given me, he would like to have about 40 pages. I also have to do
everything that is required for getting the site up onto the internet
- finding webspace, domain name, and upload. After the site is
completed, I'll then be required to maintain it by updating
information every year or so. I also may be required to get the
portfolio into a digital media... such as scanning slides and
presentation boards.

Would a fair deal be to charge hourly for meetings discussing the
site, and for scanning slides, but then charge per webpage? If so,
how much is the going rate charging by page?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Dan Brussee]

Well done!




Charge fairly. Remember, you are methodical, and you do it once. And only
once. Don't undercharge though.




Start thinking that you're a professional. If you have a problem with that,
then why not suggest a take-on fee for the first 10 pages at $20 per hour,
and a rate thereafter that is negotiable and agreeable to both parties.

Sid

I agree. Being a professional is really just a matter of being paid for
doing it. Also keep in mind that just because you are paid, does not
automatically make you "good"!

Assuming the client knows your method of doing work, do not assume they
will have a problem - even with "thousands of dollars". Depending on
what they want and how much time "THEY" spend tweaking it, if they
suggested per hour, give it to them. That way when they are micro-
managing the site, they know up front they are paying you for the
privilege.

My 2cents anyway

 

[Leslie]

I have been creating websites as a hobby for quite a few years, and
it's gotten around that I'm pretty good at it.

I've now been hired to create a website for a company. The person
wants to pay me hourly, but given my slow methodical nature, and his
nature to pick at and change and test this and that, this can easily
creep into thousands of dollars.

Well... I'm too honest to run away with more money than he would have
spent if he hired a professional.

Well, if he's hiring you that makes you a professional, doesn't it?

I, too, created web pages, basically as a hobby, for several years. I
did sites for friends and never charged them anything because I was
still learning (and hope I always will!) and I was having so much fun
doing it.

Last year I was approached by a friend, CEO of a local business, to
take over the maintenance of their web site and to 'fix' some errors.
He asked me to look over the site and get back to him with my
thoughts, recommendations and my fee. Visually the site was very
attractive (designed by a graphics guru who had no idea what HTML was
- she was given a copy of Dreamweaver and let loose.) but the code was
enough to give me a migraine.

Long story short: I told my CEO friend that the site's coding was a
mess, and that if he still wanted to hire me I'd start from scratch,
but keep the original design and graphics. I told him it would take
many hours to bring the code up to snuff, but when I was finished it
the site would be cross browswer compatible and wouldn't display willy
nilly - depending on what browser was used. After swallowing real
hard I have him an hourly rate that was way above what I thought he'd
go for. He didn't blink an eye. The job was mine at the first rate
I'd quoted.

Since that time I've put in a quite a few hours on this site, and you
know what? Sending that monthly invoice has made working on their
site that much more fun. The best part, though, is that the people at
the business are very pleased with my work and frequently tell me so.
AND, I'm getting jobs from other companies based on the work on my
friend's site.

My point - don't ever be afraid to ask for a decent hourly rate, and
make sure you're prompt in responding to requests for updates/changes
and you may soon see your hobby turn into a fun, lucrative business!

Good luck!

Leslie

 

[Blindsya]

Well, if he's hiring you that makes you a professional, doesn't it?

I, too, created web pages, basically as a hobby, for several years. I
did sites for friends and never charged them anything because I was
still learning (and hope I always will!) and I was having so much fun
doing it.

Last year I was approached by a friend, CEO of a local business, to
take over the maintenance of their web site and to 'fix' some errors.
He asked me to look over the site and get back to him with my
thoughts, recommendations and my fee. Visually the site was very
attractive (designed by a graphics guru who had no idea what HTML was
- she was given a copy of Dreamweaver and let loose.) but the code was
enough to give me a migraine.

Long story short: I told my CEO friend that the site's coding was a
mess, and that if he still wanted to hire me I'd start from scratch,
but keep the original design and graphics. I told him it would take
many hours to bring the code up to snuff, but when I was finished it
the site would be cross browswer compatible and wouldn't display willy
nilly - depending on what browser was used. After swallowing real
hard I have him an hourly rate that was way above what I thought he'd
go for. He didn't blink an eye. The job was mine at the first rate
I'd quoted.

Since that time I've put in a quite a few hours on this site, and you
know what? Sending that monthly invoice has made working on their
site that much more fun. The best part, though, is that the people at
the business are very pleased with my work and frequently tell me so.
AND, I'm getting jobs from other companies based on the work on my
friend's site.

My point - don't ever be afraid to ask for a decent hourly rate, and
make sure you're prompt in responding to requests for updates/changes
and you may soon see your hobby turn into a fun, lucrative business!

Good luck!

Leslie

And how much was the hourly rate you charged?

 

[P@tty Ayers]

Assuming the client knows your method of doing work, do not assume they

will have a problem - even with "thousands of dollars". Depending on
what they want and how much time "THEY" spend tweaking it, if they
suggested per hour, give it to them. That way when they are micro-
managing the site, they know up front they are paying you for the
privilege.

Amen to this, and to others who are encouraging you to charge real fees for real work.

I have an article on this at my site which might be of interest: "What Should I Charge? Finding Your Own Right Answer" - http://webdevbiz.com/ ..

 

[Leslie]

And how much was the hourly rate you charged?

I really don't think my hourly rate is relevant to this conversation.
I live in a small town in the Midwest, USA where the cost of living is
less than in other, more urban areas. Because the cost of living is
less so is the general pay scale. In a place like NYC my hourly rate
would be considered incredibly cheap, but here it's well above the
average wage.

IMHO hourly rates should be based on ability and what the market will
bear. In this particular instance my first rate fee was well above
what I thought the local market would bear, and I priced myself high
to be able to dicker a bit. Again, *in this particular instance,* I
didn't have to dicker, but that doesn't mean that the next time I
quote that rate to a new client I won't be laughed out of her office.

The point of my first post was not the specific dollar amount to
charge, but to never short-change yourself in the market.

Leslie

 

[P@tty Ayers]

The point of my first post was not the specific dollar amount to
charge, but to never short-change yourself in the market.

Hear, hear. Under-pricing is rampant in our trade, and it doesn't help anybody to have people offering to work for less than a living wage (which covers the *real* costs, including keeping up an office, hardware, software, paying utilities, spending time at sales and marketing, etc.).