I have someone interested in a basic website - no bells, no whistles, just five pages with some pics and information. I'm stuck on what to call a fair price for that - I don't want to be unltra cheap, nor do I want to be way high either, and have them run away.

Can anyone give me a price range so I can quote a fair price. The client just wants something pretty basic, which is how I'd write it in the contact as well.

Thanks!

__________________
Lori http://www.solterravs.com

For something like this, I estimate how log it would take me and multiply by my usual hourly rate. Something small like this I could finish in a couple of hours, so would charge 2 hours of time. However, I would make clear that excessive revisions would cost extra.

__________________
Jodith Allen
Administrative Arts

I agree with Jodith. I created my own website and there is a lot of information a client needs to have pre-prepared in order to passover the task of building the website. I would be sure to have an initial consultation with the client in order to determine the style that your client wants and possibly if there are any specific formats he/she would like to use. I will caveat my response by saying it took me more than two hours to get my website the way that I wanted it and it took many revisions. Therefore, I would avoid giving a specific timeline for the project until you know what information your client already has prepared. I hope this helps.

That's what I was wondering - if I should treat it as an hourly charge, or as a project - tho a project is usually based on the hourly charge anyway! I have already spoken to the client about any text, photos or other info they may want on their site.

Good point about excessive revisions.

Thanks for the info - I'm sure the first couple website I do, the client will be getting a real bargain until I really get a feel for the time!

__________________
Lori http://www.solterravs.com

Although I take the time I think it might take me to create a website into consideration when giving a client an estimate, I also look at what the work involved is also, for example, am I creating a custom header and/or logo (graphic design elements)? Am I installing plug-ins and customizing them? Is there any css coding involved? Each of these items add to my estimate.

One thing I will tell you is not to under estimate what your time is worth when building a website.

If I were to break down my website prices into an hourly rate it would be about 3 times higher than my basic virtual assistant rate. This may seem extreme, but website creation requires an extremely high degree of know how, technical skill and an eye for design, all of which command a higher rate. And that's not to mention all the tweaking and changing that goes on.

__________________
~Tina Marie Hilton of Clerical Advantage
& founder of VA Survival School

I also think it's important to remember that you are imparting LONG TERM value to your client.

And you're not just selling them 10 or 20 hours of your time, or whatever it is. They're also purchasing the countless hours/years you've spent learnng and fine tuning your craft - something to consider when creating your proposal and pricing our the project.

__________________

I have to agree with Tess and Tina. I charge more for a website than I do a regular hourly fee. I know you are trying to be fair, and of course if it is much simpler than what you would normally do I would discount your usual fee for creating a website, however I would be very clear on what it is you are including in the price.

__________________
Serita Diana, the List 2 Close Assistant
REVA Academy

I agree with other people's advice about charging MUCH more for web design than for other services. It is a very time-intensive project. There are several consultations, untold hours of design and tweaking work, editing/optimizing/finding graphics and pictures, revisions, etc. Most clients have no clue what they want and are also slow in communicating with you and providing content. Your special knowledge of HTML, FTP, graphics design, marketing, search engine optimization, etc. is very valuable. You are creating a sales and marketing piece that will be visible to the world for many years to come, the ultimate advertising for this company.

Here's a great resource you can use to help you figure out a fair price:
Web Design Cost Estimate Calculator
http://www.designquote.net/html/dq_estimate_wizard.cfm

Also, email about 3 web design companies in either your local area or the client's city and get quotes from them for a basic 5 page site with no bells or whistles. These figures, along with the figure from the Web Design Cost Estimate Calculator, will enable you to come up with a good price for your services. You'll be shocked at how much professional web design companies are charging, even for basic sites. Print all these quotes out and tell your prospective client that you've obtained written quotes for a 5 page basic website like what he/she needs from 3 different local companies and one online calculator and what the range of the 4 prices is. Point out that your price of $______ is much more affordable. Then tell them what else makes you the best choice (freebies you'll toss in, etc.)

Be sure to use a written contract.

I hope you'll find this info helpful,
zippy

I agree with others about charging more for web design and other technical services. Here's an article that came through my twitter stream on how to hire a programmer to build a website, application, etc. The details in items 1-5 are really useful. If you do a fixed price project for something like a website, the more details you have up front, the better. Cuts down on some of the after-tweaking. I took items 1-5 in the article, and turned them into a form/checklist from MY point of view, asking a new client for info about their website project. I think the article helps show how non-trivial even "a few simple pages" can be, which in turn, helps me feel more confident about higher charges for more technical work.

http://sivers.org/how2hire (it's not my site/I am not an affiliate)

__________________
OffTrackLiving
The perfect balance of passion and organization.

What do you guys think about creating a blog page as opposed to a website page?
For instance, my website page is actually a blog that I set up through a hosting company and WordPress. In this case, it only took me a couple of hours to set up the particulars of my page. Would you try to turn a client onto a blog page rather then a website? Websites seem so much more work intensive when there are other, more simpler options??!!?? By the way, I do not offer website creation as a service .

__________________
Erikka Cullum
My Freelance Secretary