Design Costs:
How much is a website going to cost me?
1. Why Web Design is Different
2. Pre-packaged Costs
3. Hourly Rates
4. SpiralArt Rates Guideline
|
In one form or another, this is usually my first conversation with a potential client. They ask a fair question. For anyone who's ever been on either side of a business transaction, cost is generally at the forefront of our concerns. But an answer to this particular question is not immediately forthcoming. At least it shouldn't be.
Shooting off a price with only a vague notion of what will be involved is a dangerous way to begin a relationship with your client, and could leave either (or both) of you feeling resentful about the whole project. Preparation and education are the keys to defining these crucial first few minutes and making this random caller a real paying customer.
Why Web Design is Different
The first thing one needs to understand is that Web design is not very clearly defined in terms of pricing. At best, we can call it a hybrid of product sales and professional services. As a result there needs to be a variety of differenet prices for all aspects of the design project, depending on the needs of the client, and the complexity the website requires.
Pre-packaged Costs
When you walk into your local grocery store and buy your weekly box of Cornflakes, you know how much it costs. The price is right there on the shelf. This is because, as a pre-packaged product, every box of Cornflakes is the same. They all weigh the same, contain the same ingredients in the same proportions, and took the same amounts of resources to create. When you open the box, there is little surprise regarding the quality of its contents.
Some designers have taken this approach to their Web design, choosing to market their talents in the form of different packages of pre-defined Web sites. You can visit some of these designers' sites and get their pricing right away:
Site 1; 5 pages, 3 custom graphics, up to 10 links \\$X.00
Site 2; 8 pages, 7 custom graphics, 1 animated graphic, up to 20 links \\$2X.00
Site 3; 12 pages, 12 custom graphics, 2 animated graphics, up to 30 links, form parsing script, guestbook \\$3X.00
The obvious advantage of this method is that both designer and you, the client, know how much money is going to change hands up front. This type of structure is especially good for small sites, like personal homepages and online brochures.
The disadvantages are a little more profound, especially for the designer.
First, to the uneducated client, the designer has asked them to make a decision they are not prepared for: which package to choose.
Granted, most of these designers would be happy to assist the client in choosing the package that is most appropriate for them, but in doing so, they have also permanently limited the scope of the project. If the client has a genuine need for a shopping cart or searchable database, it will be infinitely harder to convince them to go ahead with it. "Oh.. how much is THAT going to cost?" and "How come you don't list that in your prices?" will be the questions that follow the introduction of these ideas.
A potentially worse scenario for the designer that pre-packages their work is to run into the truly educated (and slightly shifty) client. It wouldn't take a lot of effort to twist the word "page" or "custom graphic" into something that the designer never intended.
And if the designer balks at the amount of work for the price and tries to adjust, the good old "false advertising" claim gets thrown around until he concedes. This is why many designers choose to charge hourly.
Hourly Rates
Like most providers of professional services, designers who charge by the hour eliminate the risks illustrated above - losing potential business or getting screwed out of a lot of time and effort for a minimal (or no) fee. Rates are set for various kinds of work and no restrictions are placed on the amount of work to be done. This allows great flexibility and no opportunities for the client to abuse the better nature of the designer. The client gets exactly what he paid for!
Assuming you're perfect. You will be hard pressed to find a client who will be willing to pay for your inefficiencies as you go through different designs, flip-flopping between frames and tables or between green and blue. Where does the designer draw the line between experimentation and legitimate coding?
If you ask an accountant or a lawyer what their rate is, they'll tell you up front. If you ask them to give you a flat fee for a particular project, they'll laugh and point and then light a Cuban with a \\$100 bill.
Why? They can. They are perceived as possessing a necessary skill whose value is defined by an hourly rate. However, in my experience, Web designers are viewed as techno-geeks-artists turned salesmen who are hawking a product.
Even the clients who represent Global 1000 companies expect a flat fee. Of course, every client is different. Some understand the hourly rate and are fine with it. But, by and large, they are looking for the number that they are going to have to part with when the project is complete.
There must be a way to combine these two schools of thought to come up with an appropriate way for Web designers to charge for their services that the client will accept.
So how can SpiralArt give an accurate estimation of a website so that the client can make an informed descision, and if necessary compare the quotation with other design proposals?
My estimations are made as follows:
Rate Per Hour x Hours Spent = Total Fee For Project
Rates Guidelines
Note: these rates are set in rands for the South African industry. adjustments and new rates can be made on demand to overseas clients.
R950 for the front page of the website
R750 for each page thereafter
OR
R250 per hour**
For Maintenance:
R250 per hour for changes made to exsisting content,
and R750 for each new page
Costs will depend on the complexity of the site, i.e. logo design, photography, links, custom and animated graphics.
** Database programming, like CGI & Perl cost more than for HTML. These services will cost more. Copywriting, logo design, photography etc will also be factored into the estimation.
I use my best judgement to decide what is reasonable.
Change orders that seriously alter the time it will take you to complete the project will be handled separately.
Maintenance charges are R250 per page, unless the pages require copy-writing and a professional freelancer/copyrite expert is needed.
Bear in mind that situations will vary with each client, but these guidelines should at least provide a starting point when determining how much you are going to charge for your services.
Confidentiality. SpiralArt regards all client information as strictly confidential and copyright of the web site is transferred to the owner after payment.
CONTACT ME FOR AN ESTIMATE
TO TOP |
