Deciding how much you will charge for your services is very important because prices that are too high will likely discourage potential clients and prices that are too low will not give you sufficient repayment for your time and effort.
If you work for a web design company, then this may not be a major problem for you because you are most likely not part of the department that decides the company's pricing policy.
If, however, you are a freelance web designer, then you must decide for yourself how much to charge for each project that you undertake.
There are a few factors that need to be considered when attempting to decide how much your time is worth, a few of which are shown below.
Web Design Factor #1: Project requirements. In order to determine the value of the project that you will undertake.
You have to know the requirements and details of the project, such as how much time it will take for you to complete the project and how much effort you will have to put into completing it. Here are some questions to ask yourself:
What is the total number of web pages you will have to create? Do your clients require you to create original images or designs for them?
Is the content for the project provided by your client or will you have to create your own content for them?
Does the client require other services such as programming, Flash animations or other types of media? The answers to these questions along with the total amount of effort you will have to spend on the project should provide you with a guide as to how to price your services.
Web Design Factor #2: Deadlines. It is common practice to charge clients more if they require that you complete their project in a short period of time.
The less time you have to complete it, the higher your price. However, it is important to remember that you must be able to hand in the completed project on time.
Web Design Factor #3: Prior experience. Any prior experience that you have that is relevant to a project will allow you to price your services higher.
Web design companies that have a good image and are known for completing high quality work are also able to charge clients more than other, less reputable, companies.
You must, however, ensure that your prices remain at a reasonable level.
Web Design Factor #4: Maintenance and follow-up. Some clients request that you continue to maintain and update the site that you have created for them after you have completed their project.
In such a situation, you or your web design company should obtain a separate contract for the maintenance work, and charge accordingly.
Web Design Factor #5: The current market rate. You should base your rate on the current rate that other designers are charging for similar projects.
If your rate is too much higher than the market rate, your client may decide to seek the services of someone who charges less.
Try to obtain information about the pricing and salaries of web design companies that operate on your a similar level to yours and work out your pricing strategy accordingly.
Web Design Factor #6: Your expected earnings. The amount that you wish to earn for the month or from a particular project will also affect your price.
If you need to meet some financial goal or requirement, then you can vary the amount you charge according to your needs.
Rules of Thumb There are some things that you should always consider before you decide to accept a project and also in deciding how to price your projects.
Both you and your web design company should always consider the following when accepting new work:
1. Always ensure that you can complete any projects that you accept in time. If you are unable to meet the deadline or any project requirements, then you should not accept the project.
2. Always obtain a contract from your buyer that clearly sets out the details of the project. Doing more work than you agreed to is never a pleasant experience.
3. Have personal integrity. Your clients pay for you to meet their requirements and if you accept a project, then you agree to meet those requirements. If you are unable to meet them, you should inform them immediately.
A web design company usually decides on its pricing policy using the same set of factors.
However, because they can obtain more work than a freelancing individual can, they usually give employees a good salary and bonuses, privileges and overtime or bonus pay for good work.
If you are part of a web design company, this problem is most likely not part of your coverage and you will have to rely on others to do the quoting for you.
However, if you are doing freelance web design, you will have to think about just how much you will charge for each project. To give you an idea of how much your work is worth, there are a few things you need to consider. Here are some factors you need to think about before you quote a price:
1. Web design factor #1: The nature of the project. Before you start evaluating any web design project, you will need to determine the nature of the project - how much effort it will entail and just how extensive it is going to be. To help you know this, here are some guide questions:
I. How many web pages do you need to make? II. Will they require you to create images or designs from scratch as part of the project? III. Does the client have ready made content for the site or do you have to do everything yourself? IV. Will the client require multimedia, Flash, scripting or programming? Depending on how much work load you expect and what the answers are to these questions, feel free to raise or lower your price.
2. Web design factor #2: The deadline. Practically, you have to know how much time you have to finish the project. The more urgently they require you to finish, the more you charge. However, make sure that you agree with a schedule that is possible for you to meet.
3. Web design factor #3: Your experience. The more experience you have in web designing, the more right you have to charge higher. This is true for a web design company as well. The better the image of the web design company, the higher they generally charge for their expert service. However, make sure that your price is relative and reasonable. If you, for example, have seven years of experience in HTML yet very little on Flash, and your client wants Flash, do not rely on your seven years of HTML experience to raise your price.
4. Web design factor #4: The long-term maintenance required. If you or your web design company provides site maintenance on top of the site design, you should charge accordingly for maintenance coverage. If the client wants you or your web design company to cover maintenance of the site, it is better to get a separate contract for this aspect of the work.
5. Web design factor #5: The present going rate. Knowing the going rate can be a little difficult. For starters, you can ask other designers in your area. You can also check out the salary and pricing of web design companies in your area relative to their experience and level of service. Benchmark from there to determine how much you deserve.
6. Web design factor #6: Your target earning. Of course, you should also consider just how much you want to make out of the project. You might, for example, have a project that you want to do not for the salary, but because it is fun. There are also some design work that might be uncomfortable for you and you need to work extra hard to complete it, such that you want to earn more for the additional effort.
Rules of Thumb Here are some rules that you need to follow in accepting and pricing your projects. Keeping this in mind will spare you and your web design company from a lot of headaches:
1. Never accept a project which you do not have enough resources to complete. If a client requires Perl due in a week's time and you have no idea how to do Perl, do not assume that you will find yourself a Perl programmer in time to do the project or that you can learn it in a matter of days. This is simply impossible!
2. Come up with a clear and specific contract. You do not want to end up providing more service than you initially expected.
3. Always be honest. Your clients expect your integrity; if you tell them that you can meet the deadline, and then meet it. If you can't, inform them about the situations as soon as possible.
A web design company usually quotes their prices based on the same factors. Of course, they usually give you a set salary with bonuses, benefits and additional pay for excellent job done.