Website Maintenance Proposal

crackity_jones

Hi there,

Perhaps this is not the ideal place to post this query so please let me know if I should go elsewhere.

I have been asked to submit a tender for a website maintenance contract. The contract in question will involve regular updates of the website. These updates might only take 20 minutes. Other updates might require 2-3 hours.
There will also be quarterly events which will require the addition of brochure information to the site along with booking capabilites etc.

My question is simply what is the going rate for this kind of work? I haven't done any contract web development in quite some time and I have never had to submit a tender for a contract. It was always done by word of mouth.

Should I charge on an hourly basis? Or should I ask for a retainer? Like I said, they are somewhat vague in relation to what the level of work will be.

Thank you in advance.

ianmc38

crackity_jones wrote:

Hi there,

Perhaps this is not the ideal place to post this query so please let me know if I should go elsewhere.

I have been asked to submit a tender for a website maintenance contract. The contract in question will involve regular updates of the website. These updates might only take 20 minutes. Other updates might require 2-3 hours.
There will also be quarterly events which will require the addition of brochure information to the site along with booking capabilites etc.

My question is simply what is the going rate for this kind of work? I haven't done any contract web development in quite some time and I have never had to submit a tender for a contract. It was always done by word of mouth.

Should I charge on an hourly basis? Or should I ask for a retainer? Like I said, they are somewhat vague in relation to what the level of work will be.

Thank you in advance.

I'd charge €100 an hour personally, especially if a weeks work may only be 20mins.

crackity_jones

Thanks for the reply Ian.

I was thinking more along the lines of 80 euro an hour. However, as I mentioned I'm not at all up to speed on what the current rates are. I've actually never really negotiated something like this so I'm very much in the dark as regards costings.

Like I said, most of the updates will take little more than an hour every week. And there will be major additions maybe 4-5 times throughout the year. But I guess I need to be wary of charging too little and ending up doing tons of work for little monetary gain.

Also, is it simply enough to put down on the proposal what I will charge per hour? How else might I break it down?

I appreciate your comments.

Seth Brundle

should you factor in what the client reckons this is worth?
If you charge them say €400 per month for something they know takes a short while might they may give you the two fingers?

crackity_jones

Yes, they most certainly will.

The fact that I might end up doing only 5-6 hours a month means I will have to charge it on a per hour basis.

Is that the right way to approach the proposal?

ButtermilkJack

kbannon wrote:

should you factor in what the client reckons this is worth?
If you charge them say €400 per month for something they know takes a short while might they may give you the two fingers?

Exactly, your best bet is to charge by the hour. If you charge a monthly fee you will have to take into account the 'large' months so to speak. This means the client will be seriously peeved at having to pay you a couple of hundred euro per month for a few text changes during the quiet months.

Also, you don't want to get nailed down for a 9 or 10 days during the longer months for a few hundred euro!

And BTW, explain all this to the client. Let them know you don't want to charge a monthly fee as this would be "uneconomical to both of us" in the long run.

Not sure if this is relevant but factor in travel if you're not working from home.

stormin

"I said, they are somewhat vague in relation to what the level of work will be."


I would definitely try to get some more specific info on the actual work. They must have an idea what's involved.

seedot

I've done this for a few companies, both with web dev and maintenance on software systems. I reckon a retainer offering defined hours, with a clear hourly rate for extra work.

Example - 1 place I've had this relationship for about 3 years I charge 1 day per month, which includes a meeting on their premises and a couple of hours work onsite and then other small fixes that are requested in the run up to the meeting.

Then, if they request extra work you flag that it can't be handled in the standard retainer and submit a quote. This means that every meeting is not about money (i.e. most of the time you are just working under the agreement) but you are covered if they look for more. I've found this a much easier way to work than to be constantly trying to justify hours.

onedmc

Dont sell yourself too short. Its quite reasonable to say charge a flat fee of 400 a month which includes up 4/5/6 hours and then a reduced rate thereafter.