Hourly Rates

Bananna man

Does anyone have an idea what type of hourly rates web designers work for? I do css sites designed Valid HTML 4.01 Transitional and a bit of php and mysql. Would €50 per hour be a reasonable standard? I have done alot of smaller poster websites but i have been asked for a large site so was thinking about charging by the hour.

forbairt

Depends on level of experience really ...

between 20 EUR and hour and 100 EUR and hour seems to be the going rate

Again though it depends on the job .. task and so on ...

mrlynam

I dont think its hourly rates they should be charged (as you could say you worked your ass off all day) but you get paid per job. Obviously that pay depends on the job, so just negotiotiate what you think you should get for finishing it.

Laslo

Basically, you shouldn't be doing it at all unless you can do it responsibly and to a professional standard. Assuming that much, between 50 and 100 per hour.

louie

I will say charge per hour based on small projects like fixing a search function, etc. otherwise price per project.
Is not the customers fault you spend 3-4 hour trying to figure out a function that doesn't work or why an error keeps showing up, etc...

MacAonghusa

Just to echo what the guys said, from the research i've done and the ppl i'ev spoken to charging an overall project cost would be far better.
Leave the hourly charges for maintenance etc.

TheUnicorn

Hi Bananna,

you give them fixed price for the project and at some stage when the project is finished you ask them to sign off what you've done - they should confirm everything is fine and follows the directions approved in specification. All amendments and additional things that weren't included to the specification (which you or they should prepare before approval of your agreement) should be charged per hour - unless the size of the job is like another project (which happens sometimes as people ain't mules and they change their minds). I used to do it that way and thats how I secure myself and make customer respect my and their own time. Everyone's happy.

Good luck,

TheUnicorn

Trojan

(Moved as not SEO specific)

smemon

Yeah, hourly rates don't cut it with buyers.

As a buyer myself, i want a fixed rate. I'll lay it all out in plain english - exactly what i want, and i want a fixed quote so that i can budget and sort myself out.

Otherwise, and it doesn't matter who you are or how good a reputation you have, an hourly rate allows you to take me to the cleaners

Trojan

(As a buyer and a seller) I find that hourly rates have their place - particularly after you've established a good working relationship with someone based on a few fixed rate projects before going hourly.

The Corinthian

smemon wrote: »

Yeah, hourly rates don't cut it with buyers.

Ultimately it does come down to hourly rates, so it really comes down to how you package a quote. You might estimate that a site will take X hours to develop at a rate of Y per hour, so your 'fixed' price will naturally be X * Y.

Of course, by fixed this does not mean in stone. After all, clients often change their minds even after signing off on a functional specification (assuming they even read it before signing) and there are other factors (such as the writing of that aforementioned spec) that need to be worked into the price also.

In short, give a fixed price but be certain that there are terms and conditions attached that will allow you to charge more if there are issues like the above down the road.

As a buyer myself, i want a fixed rate. I'll lay it all out in plain english - exactly what i want, and i want a fixed quote so that i can budget and sort myself out.

That is assuming that your plain English makes any sense. There is both a skill, and thus associated cost, to business analysis - the distilling of what is in a client's head and turning that idea into something practical. Most clients simply don't know enough about the Internet to be able to define what they want without assistance - it's not their business after all.

As for rates, it really depends on the skills and the market. Web development (programming) appears to come in at between €50 and €100 per hour. Level of experience, professionalism and specific skills are also a factor.