Cost to make website?

Andyt_uk

Andyt_uk

Andyt_uk

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Malvern
Just been asked if I can make a website for someones Work. I've got the experience to do whats needed although it would be the first I've made for someone else.

Just wondering though whats the average cost that people charge to develop websites? This ones needed to store educational info, policies etc. Will also need admin sections to allow members to change/update policies etc.

Do people usually charge by the hour or per job for this kind of work?

Cheers
 
I normally try to charge per job, as it can take many "unfair" hours for me to come up with a design that's suitable, or solutions to certain features that may be needed.

If though, they insist on an hourly breakdown, then I simply give a rough estimate which fits in with a fair hourly charge. That's anything from £15 to £30 per hour really.

As for costs, from what you describe, it sounds like you need a simple design with a little back-end admin section. I personally wouldn't ask for any more than £200 for something as simple as that :).

Then again, I am cheap. :p

Phil.
 
At the moment i'm not sure how many pages there would be exactly. Possibly a CMS though, could make the whole thing a little easier. Basically all i think they need is a site they can use to post educational info on, upload docs for people to download. The admin section would just need to allow certain users to update/delete articles etc.

Then again i'd like to use their existing AD logins for the user authentication which I'm guessing would push the price up slightly.
 
Andyt_uk said:
At the moment i'm not sure how many pages there would be exactly. Possibly a CMS though, could make the whole thing a little easier. Basically all i think they need is a site they can use to post educational info on, upload docs for people to download. The admin section would just need to allow certain users to update/delete articles etc.

Then again i'd like to use their existing AD logins for the user authentication which I'm guessing would push the price up slightly.
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Hmm, with all that extra information, it does seem like I would ask for more than £200. Maybe closer to £400 really.

The best thing to do, is try and be realistic to yourself, in terms of what you can offer and how well you can do it. If someone asks you to do something like, an upload script for example, and you don't know how to do it; then it's not fair to charge the customer the hours it takes you to learn.

But that's me, and it certainly goes against the "need to be selfish and greedy" rule, which is what business is all about to be honest. But, at the same time, lower and honest prices could possibly bring in more future work.

It all depends on how much you've done in the past, how reliable you are and if they wish to receive future help or adjustments. Always set any further work as an hourly rate on the invoice. That way, they know they can come back and work will be more consistent.

Phil.
 
something like £200 is not even on a companies scale, and I think it's too cheap.

Value it a bit more, say something like between £300-500. And then when they have what they want and are very pleased charge them the £500.

a Pro (a company web-builder) build 1 static page is £100 and upwards for example. Of course a 1 page company site is not very good so, five is about £400.

With all your your databasing and customised security that easily makes £300.

Sorry to be a bit aggressive but companies are scumbags and will say stuff like, "can you add a new logo, it'll only take a few minutes" and want other free stuff like that. "Oh someobody forgot to tell you to add field and report section to the database". bla bla blah. So by giving them a price range you have a little bit of movement.
 
Blade007, I understand that £200 isn't on a companies scale, which reminds me of a point which I missed out.

I think it also depends on who your client is exactly. A small one-man business, a company, a friend of a friend etc. They're all very different and have different levels of disposable money for things like buying themselves a website. They seem to come into their own little bracket of charges, so to speak.

So, who exactly wants you to build this site? The best way to approach it, for me at least, is to put all these little factors into consideration; even things that don't necessarily affect the work you're doing.

If they're black-african skinned, then the price obviously doubles after you've reached the final figure, etc. :)
















That last part was a joke :p.

Phil.
 
I asked the same question once, the reply I got sounded something like:

"If you aren't embarrassed by the price that you give then it isn't high enough".

Kinda made sense in a way at the time.

Cheers
 
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The wonder that is trying to price a website! This question gets asked here so often yet as everybody should realise there is no clear and simple answer. The problem is every client is different, every client relationship is different and everybody puts a different value on their work.

If you decide to charge by the hour, what happens if you suddenly have a bill for over £1000 for example, then do you have a cut-off point beyond which it becomes fixed cost. Then if that happens could you be out of pocket if the project then drags on.

Even pricing by the page is difficult, in the end it really depends on what the clients wants. If I priced by the page some of the pages I have done (just coding up 1 design into XHTML and CSS) would cost over £1500 per page, but then you have to know what goes into coding that one page, who the client is and the timescale their working on (it's a site I'm sure most of you would have visited).

Try and get certain items set in stone from the client and then give a price from there, for example:

Who's doing all the graphics?
Who's providing the design?
How many pages/sections are there going to be?
Are you just providing what they want or is the client going to expect feedback as to whether what they want will actually help their business?
What does the CMS need to control/edit on the site?
Who's adding the content?
How many revisions might there be of the site before it goes live?
Do you want to make any profit on the project or do it at cost?

Hope that helps?
 
Cheers for all the replies guys. Very helpful. I'm guessing I'll need to get some more requirements from the client to be totally sure, but at the moment I'm estimating £400-500.

Cheers once again guys.
 
OvertoneBliss said:
I think it also depends on who your client is exactly. A small one-man business, a company, a friend of a friend etc. They're all very different and have different levels of disposable money for things like buying themselves a website.
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I didn't know lawyers, decorators, mechanics, doctors or dentists reduced their charges for people who didn't want to pay ;)

I mean heck, getting a room decorated is not cheap; nor is getting a company's physical premesis looking nice.

I think the attitude of "it's only a website, come on" is fading away now that the post-dot-com blues are going and the internet is being seen as a serious tool which makes serious money - Google being the popular example :)
 
Like OvertoneBliss over there, the price I charge depends largely on the client I'm working with. I would quite happily charge my best mate £50, a local business £500 and a big corporation £5000 for exactly the same finished product, purely because that's the way the web development business works.

I tend to start off by establishing what a client's budget is, then move on from there. I'll have a figure established in my mind already - what I think my time is worth - and if they're willing to pay over the odds, that's what I'll charge them (making allowances for any issues as they come up). On the other hand, if they undervalue my time, I'll consider whether I want to work with a client who really thinks they can get a custom built design and CMS for £25.

On the basis of the information you've provided, I think £500 is about right :)
 
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