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"How much does a website cost?" – a survey of web designers

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Re: "How much does a website cost?" – a survey of web designers

#61

Post by [deleted] »

anons2011 wrote: post #28
sambeau wrote: post #26

When freelancing I tend to work a simple system. £250: An update to content - an evening or two's work. £500: A tiny static site with some original design. I then slide upwards for jobs I don't want and down for people I like. I've never gone above £5000 for a 'homer'. I also have a mate-rates scale that appears below this: Free: Family. Charities I like. Updates + tiny static. Bottle of Wine: As above but close fami…

Sounds very reasonable, I am definitely going to up my rates, but if you've worked with someone before with cheaper rates, how do I try and up my rates? As for a dynamic site, I mainly use Wordpress as my CMS of choice, usually great for clients as they find it pretty straight forward to go in and add/update content, add pages etc. Another thing I have found now that I am working full-time is the absolute top-most im…

[deleted]

Re: "How much does a website cost?" – a survey of web designers

#62

Post by airlocksoftware »

anons2011 wrote: post #28
sambeau wrote: post #26

When freelancing I tend to work a simple system. £250: An update to content - an evening or two's work. £500: A tiny static site with some original design. I then slide upwards for jobs I don't want and down for people I like. I've never gone above £5000 for a 'homer'. I also have a mate-rates scale that appears below this: Free: Family. Charities I like. Updates + tiny static. Bottle of Wine: As above but close fami…

Sounds very reasonable, I am definitely going to up my rates, but if you've worked with someone before with cheaper rates, how do I try and up my rates? As for a dynamic site, I mainly use Wordpress as my CMS of choice, usually great for clients as they find it pretty straight forward to go in and add/update content, add pages etc. Another thing I have found now that I am working full-time is the absolute top-most im…

You tell the clients that you have been working with that due to an increase in demand for your time, you have had to raise your rates. Simple economics.

If they decide they don't want to work with you anymore, well, that's ok. You don't have any sort of obligation to continue to offer your services at the same rate.

Re: "How much does a website cost?" – a survey of web designers

#63

Post by ChrisLTD »

geuis wrote: post #50

I really take issue with this: "All prices are for design only, i.e. they don’t include any sort of coding (no HTML, no CSS, no Javascript, no PHP, etc.)". I'm sorry, but a design is only a tiny, tiny fraction of a website. Usually it's the most minor and inconsequential part. I've lost count of how many clients thought their apparently simple designs can built for a toothpick and olive. Coding the HTML, CSS, javascr…

It's a little much to say design is the "least" important part of a site. Good design can instill potential users/customers with confidence, ease the sign-up or purchasing process, and give the site a personality.

Re: "How much does a website cost?" – a survey of web designers

#64

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

wetbrain wrote: post #42
reason wrote: post #34

What do you guys get out of your smart-ass answers to potential clients? You do know that they come to you because they know that you are the professionals. Many of them are completely clueless as to how pricing works for dev/design-work. Asking "how much do you charge?" is a perfectly reasonable question for someone understandably uninformed to ask. You may be skilled at your trade, but from the sounds of it, many o…

I think part of it is the cynicism that develops from bad clients. Some people don't understand that the designer is a professional. Designers just draw all day, and love what they do, so why would I pay big bucks for a website? After all, my nephew does computers and I can have him make a website for cheap. There's also the "Of course we want you to have creative control. We just want to be able to tell you how it l…

That's understandable to a certain extent, but there is no need for anyone to be rude about it. Someone wants a Facebook clone for $500? Simply respond "it's a huge amount of work and I won't be able to do it for that." If they press, explain why.

It's one thing to be cynical; it's something else entirely to show that cynicism to a potential client.

Hell, this isn't limited to the tech world: my wife trains horses and gives lessons and she has the same problem with clients making snarky comments and dumb assumptions. If she wants to keep getting business she has to swallow her irritation and answer politely and informatively.

Re: "How much does a website cost?" – a survey of web designers

#65

Post by mattm »

nobleach wrote: post #56
wetbrain wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think part of it is the cynicism that develops from bad clients. Some people don't understand that the designer is a professional. Designers just draw all day, and love what they do, so why would I pay big bucks for a website? After all, my nephew does computers and I can have him make a website for cheap. There's also the "Of course we want you to have creative control. We just want to be able to tell you how it l…

I came here to say basically the EXACT same thing... even including the "my nephew can make websites" remark. My method is to try to figure that out VERY early in my discussions with a potential client, and then quote them a "scare off price" whereby they'll likely say no, but IF they say yes, the extra money will make it worthwhile as I KNOW they'll be asking for tons of changes. (Can't you just open Dreamweaver and…

The best advice I have received about pricing:

Price your service so that you would not regret it either way.

Before giving a price I usually think of how I will feel if I don't get the job and how I will feel if I get it. If I would be comfortable with both situations, then I know it is the right price regardless of what happens.

In line with this, I have given higher rates to "difficult" people I have worked with before that have asked me to do work for them again. I didn't get those jobs (usually I don't even get a response) but I was happy about it. If the work and person seems interesting, I may quote a lower rate.

Re: "How much does a website cost?" – a survey of web designers

#66

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

asto wrote: post #46
jurre wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know that you're right and I know that it is the wrong question to ask, but answering it like that is what makes a lot of non-dev/designers dislike us. Maybe try helping them ask the right question by saying something like: "Well it depends on what you want, what kind of website are we talking about?". It might take a couple of minutes more to answer their question but it has a much higher chance of actually gettin…

But why do web developers and designers always get these kind of questions? One would hardly go into a shop selling watches and ask how much _a_ watch costs. Why then ask a vague question that just cannot be answered? I think giving an equally vague reply is fair.

But that is completely different. In a watch store, I can point to a specific watch and ask "how much does that one cost?" It's hard to do the same with a website unless the designer/programmer has a portfolio to browse.

Re: "How much does a website cost?" – a survey of web designers

#67

Post by eru »

shabble wrote: post #51
fleitz wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't worry what other people are charging, worry what your clients are paying and that they are happy.

If you quote a number and people are happy to pay it straight up, there's a reasonable chance you're pricing too low. You might not want to scrape out the absolute maximum each client will pay for each job (at the least, it's a very difficult thing to actually determine, and makes for a bad client experience if you're negotiating too hard), but it's always good to have a sanity check that they're not happy merely bec…

Wasn't there a rule of thumb: Unless a sizeable portion of your potential clients think you are too expensive, up your rates.

Re: "How much does a website cost?" – a survey of web designers

#68

Post by asto »

HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #66
asto wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But why do web developers and designers always get these kind of questions? One would hardly go into a shop selling watches and ask how much _a_ watch costs. Why then ask a vague question that just cannot be answered? I think giving an equally vague reply is fair.

But that is completely different. In a watch store, I can point to a specific watch and ask "how much does that one cost?" It's hard to do the same with a website unless the designer/programmer has a portfolio to browse.

Why not point at a website and ask how much would that cost? In the sense "I'd like a website that works and looks like HN. How much would you charge to make it for me?"

Maybe watches aren't perfectly analogous. How about walking into a real estate office and asking how much a house costs?

Re: "How much does a website cost?" – a survey of web designers

#69

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

asto wrote: post #68
HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But that is completely different. In a watch store, I can point to a specific watch and ask "how much does that one cost?" It's hard to do the same with a website unless the designer/programmer has a portfolio to browse.

Why not point at a website and ask how much would that cost? In the sense "I'd like a website that works and looks like HN. How much would you charge to make it for me?" Maybe watches aren't perfectly analogous. How about walking into a real estate office and asking how much a house costs?

A good real estate agent would sit that person down and find out from them what kind of house they'd be likely to want. So questions like how many people will live in it, how long a commute can you have, how much can you afford, etc will all come into play. And from that info, the agent will be able to show a few houses and home in on what the person really wants.

I remember buying my first house and that's pretty much how it played out.

The point is that the RE Agent takes the buyer seriously enough to figure out if they are just fishing or ready to buy and doesn't just blow them off with flippant responses.

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