The most common question I hear from web developers is "How much should I charge for a website?" It is an understandable question, especially if you think of a website as a product. I've seen sites developed for free and others developed for $1,000,000+. So how can one figure out what is an appropriate price to charge for a website?

I've seen many different techniques. A few include charging by the page, charging by the hour, and quoting the solution relative to its expected results (an ecommerce site for a small mom-and-pop shop would be quoted much less than the exact same site for a Fortune 500 company, simply because it is worth more and will make more money for the latter). All these methods have flaws. When charging by the page, you don't take into account the technical details of each page; an "about us" page with one paragraph and a picture would be much easier to develop than a complex article page that takes articles from a database and sorts them by date and type -- but both would cost the same on the "pay per page" payment scale. When you charge by the hour, the client has no idea what the final price will be, which can lead to budgeting problems. And don't ever tell a client you'll charge them more for the same product because it is worth more to them, you'll lose that client for life.

My method is an obvious, but often overlooked, one. "Charge for the hole, not the drill." A client doesn't really want a website, they want a result. Results include online sales, lead generation, cutting down on support calls and increased brand awareness. Identify what it is your client wants and build your solution around it. Most developers jump straight to the "how many pages do you want?" and "exactly how do you want your website to look and operate?" questions. The client doesn't know these things, that's why he hired you. It is your job to look at the client's goal and lay out a plan that addresses it.

Once you have the result in hand and have a good understanding of the business (through multiple meetings, phone conversations and emails), you sit down with the client and come up with the two most important documents: a sitemap and a user profile. The sitemap defines the pages of the site, their architecture, and a brief summary of what that page contains. This is like the blueprint for developing the site. The user profile describes the typical user: age range, gender, occupation, salary range, online experience (newbie, experienced, very savvy), online frequency, connectivity (56K, DSL...), types of sites visited, online purchases per month, and, most importantly, the reason she is at your client's website. This last one is important because it will shape how the website is developed. If the main desired user action is to purchase from the store, access to it will be made as easy as possible and it will be featured prominently on the homepage.

Once you have these project details in hand (the goal, the sitemap and the user profile) it is time to come up with an appropriate quote. You can't just look at these three documents and pull a number out of the air, it requires much more work. First, lay out the process for the development of the website. We often use the following:

1. Define Scope - Through a series of meetings, we will help you define the scope of the project and come up with an appropriate solution. Deliverables: Creative Brief, Contract, Sitemap, User Profile
   
2. Concept Designs - Using the Creative Brief, our designer develops one or two concept designs of the website. The concept design consists ofa homepage and inner page design. The designs are used to show the website's structure, color themes, visual presentation, and information architecture. Deliverables: Homepage and Innerpage Concept Design
   
3. Comprehensive Designs - Using the Concept Design, our designer now adds the content of the homepage and develops specific inner pages (see sitemap). Deliverables: Homepage and Specific Inner Pages Designed
   
4. Prototype Development - There are two parts of the prototype development: content-only site (whitesite) and the actual website. By this time all the website's content is required. We set up a simple site that contains just the content for you to proof-read and confirm the menu system without being distracted by the design itself. Once the concept is confirmed, we copy and pasted it into the acutal website design and come up with a working prototype of the website. Deliverables: Whitesite and Working Prototype
5. Testing - After the website is developed, we test it in many different browsers and operating systems to ensure there are no problems and that everyone can see it. If there are any problems that require us to modify the website, you will be given a Problem Summary and we'll make the necessary changes. Deliverables: Problem Summary
6. Delivery - We give you a hard copy of the completed website on CD and upload it to your server. Deliverables: Completed Website and Source Files (if applicable)
   

Now you identify specific tasks within each phase of development. For example, concept design might have:

• Design home page and inner page.
• Have it checked internally by Project Manager; make necessary changes.
• Have it checked by Client; make necessary changes.

Once you have all the expected tasks laid out, provide a time estimate for each and multiply by your hourly rate (or, if you have more than one person on your team, assign tasks to each member and have him quote his parts). Then add a certain percentage (I recommend 10-20%) to cover unforseen problems.

Now that you have an appropriate quote, it's important that you document exactly what that quote covers. You don't want to quote for a small 5 page website and end up doing a 500 page website. We detail the specifics in the Creative Brief. Finally, write up a contract and get an initial downpayment (I recommend 50%).


Now I cannot think of any project I've worked on that went exactly according to plan. You need to be prepared for the unexpected. The 20% extra should help cover most problems, but when you see your client wanting to add more and more to the project, you'll need to charge extra. I recommend having him fill out a Work Change Order that specifies exactly what the client wants to change/add to the project, then quote that separately. The additional expense will be added to the final bill. If you make them fill out the work change order and charge extra, they will be more hesitant to demand additions and make your life easier.

Also be prepared for the client who is never satisfied with your work. Add a clause in your contract specifying a limit to 2 (or however many you want) changes per phase as described in the project brief. For example, if the client isn't happy with the concept design, you go back and fix it. When you bring it back, if the client isn't happy with it, you will charge extra to fix it again. Some might say this is unfair, but it is the client's fault for not articulating exactly what he wanted, or changing his mind faster than the designer can make it. Also charge extra if, after signing off on a phase, the client wants you to go back and change something. For example, if you are on the prototype development (you are coding the actual website) and the client wants you to redo the design (concept phase) that will cost extra because it is a lot of extra work you will need to do.



All in all, when quoting for a project make sure you are providing the hole and not just the drill. This means selling a solution rather than just a website. And remember that most of the time a solution includes more than just a design; consider online marketing, maintenance and hosting. No matter how good your design looks, it won't be successful if no one knows about it or the content is never updated.

An excellent article. Thanks for the tips Bill. I have always thought to follow the concepts you outline here but have never been really been able to work them into the project lifecycle in an effective manner.

Thanks again.

This article is a real help. Working through the process like this also gives you the ability to show the client what they are paying for. Thanks