Beginner Web Designer Rates

fun.bobby1981

I'm just getting into the business of web development, have minimal experience & a coupel of potential clients.

I'm just looking for information on what is the going rate in the industry for development work at my end of the scale? Can anyone give me an idea as to what kind of rates I should/could be charging?

Thanks

hobochris

It depends entirely on the site and the man hours required.

Also will you be providing any sort of support service for the site? will updates be required?

eddiehead

I'm by no means an expert but it seem's like that is a very difficult question to answer for a number of reasons. Firstly,what is "your end of the scale"? Links to some examples of your work could help.

I am actually a bit curious about the subject myself too, but I'm nowhere near ready to worry about that yet.:pac:

skelliser

imo work initally for a small amount to build up your reputation and your experience and thus your portfolio, well thats what im trying to do anyway!

Axwell

Your rate should be based on your ability and the fact you are starting out trying to get some clients and build a portfolio. How much do you value your time for the work you are producing at present. Without seeing some samples its hard to value your work or rate it for you. Also you say development, are you a web designer or a programmer/developer or both, will they be brochure sites or full blown dynamic database driven sites?

p

By beginner do you mean recent graduate who knows a bit about what they're doing but isn't a professional, or do you mean someone who's built 3 or 4 websites and is now trying to charge for it?

You need to show us your work in order to try evaluate it's quality and worth.

Dirk Gently

on a related note, what way do people charge? payment on completion / a little up front etc? Also, do people offer small updates free of charge or invoice for everything, or do people prefer to just build the site and then give the client access to change content themselves?

Getting paid is my biggest worry as the people I deal with are in a particular industry and are being hit hard by the recession. Following up on payments is a worry. Has anyone come up with an efficient system. I was even thinking about making the whole thing pre-pay, as in apply online and pay by CC before hand. Anyone tried this approach? It's not good to hound clients, especially when I know they're suffering but I need to be sure of getting paid all the same.



Re the OP,

There are a lot of people doing websites and every now and again you see very close to your own product advertised for little or nothing. I suppose I can't complain, I'm one of those doing this for some extra cash afterhours when I've finished my day job which I'm sure annoys other people, but I have to do what I have to do. Work out what kind of web design you'll be doing and then compare with other people offering similar products. You'll be able to work out a price from there if it's not too depressing for you. Try get an angle or niche market unique to yourself and concentrate on building that. Being helpful, going the extra mile and good reviews by word of mouth is the best way to get new business.

Axwell

clown bag wrote: »

on a related note, what way do people charge? payment on completion / a little up front etc? Also, do people offer small updates free of charge or invoice for everything, or do people prefer to just build the site and then give the client access to change content themselves?

In terms of charging previously I would have asked for a percentage upfront on any job and then the rest on completion/sign off.

With the way things are now any job thats less than say €1000 I ask for full payment upfront and then anything more than that get a percentage up front and the rest on sign off. It depends on your projects and prices but those are just example figures.

As regards small updates etc, if the person requests a CMS they geta CMS and are billed accordingly and can therefore make updates themselves. If they dont then I would offer a maintenance contract with them beforehand to include so many updates in a 3 month period for a set fee. It depends on if they are going to be making lots of change or not, if they are then a CMS is a better option and just charge for it accordingly in the project price.

p

With web work, I would try get 50% upfront, and then the remaining 50% before you put the site live.

fun.bobby1981

Thanks for all your feedback people.

In terms of my experience & portfolio, I have no previous work to showcase. I did some web development at college but moved away from that area when I went to work. Its a request from a client that has prompted me to think about moving into this as a line of work & for the moment it would be an "on the side" job.

The website I will be building will be a small brochure style website with, at most, a scripted form for catching contact details & queries.

p

If you're going to focus on the developement & technical side I would recommend investigating potential designers to work with. Trying to d the design & build is messy and means you can't charge as much.

onemorechance

Axwell wrote: »

As regards small updates etc, if the person requests a CMS they geta CMS and are billed accordingly and can therefore make updates themselves. If they dont then I would offer a maintenance contract with them beforehand to include so many updates in a 3 month period for a set fee. It depends on if they are going to be making lots of change or not, if they are then a CMS is a better option and just charge for it accordingly in the project price.

By CMS, do you mean one of the commercial / freeware ones, or do you create some admin screens where they can add, delete, modify etc, a database to update the screens?

Axwell

onemorechance wrote: »

By CMS, do you mean one of the commercial / freeware ones, or do you create some admin screens where they can add, delete, modify etc, a database to update the screens?

When i speak to them at the start and get their requirements if they want a CMS then I decide what one suits best for what they want. I mostly use one of the free/commercial ones out there and build the site around that. Why try reinvent the wheel and make something that isnt robust and expandable? Theres a good few CMS options out there all with modules/plugins that can be added down the line should the client require extra stuff.