What's the going rate for creating a small website

Created a five page website

[Senmar50]

Hi All,

I created a website for the friend of a friend. I am not sure of how much to charge them. I created an About Us, a Home and three pages of pictures.

Questions:

What is the going rate?
Do I charge her per page?
Do I charge for being a webmaster?
Do I charge one lump sum?

I'll appreciate any help.

Thanks in advance,
SenMar

[bumpaw]

We always settle the payment questions before the work starts. There has been only one exception and that was for a Realtor who was selling some family property. He needed a page to create a user friendly interface to a big database multiple listing service. By the time I was done I didn't have the courage to bill him for what I thought it was worth. I made him pay me according to what it was worth to him and he reluctantly gave me twice what we would have billed. It goes to show that we sometimes undervalue ourselves.

[physics]

I don't think you'll get a straight answer to this because this figure varies for every webmaster. Probably a good guide is to charge somewhere between what you think it's worth and what you think they think it's worth (like a poker game ;). Also, you might get an idea of what's reasonable though by putting yourself in a client's shoes and shopping around a bit for web design services (maybe on some of the 'freelance' sites). See what sort of quotes you get. Remember that very experienced webmasters and companies will probably charge more than you can due to experience and reputation, but it should give you an idea.

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

Are you doing this as a favour to a friend or because this is your job? If this is your livelihood then you have to be realistic. It also depends on where you are.

[Rosalind]

It's a bad idea to create a site for someone without having something in writing detailing costs, ownership of copyrights, payment schedule, and how much time you are prepared to spend fiddling with the details and changing minor things.

Charge a lump sum if it's a little job, which it seems to be from your description. Estimate your costs based on the time it takes you, your level of skill, and the complexity of the code.

Don't charge per page, because it's the initial layout and design that takes a lot of time, and subsequent pages are mostly just a case of copying that and changing relevant details. So if you charge £500 for 10 pages, the cost for 20 pages might be £600 (assuming that nothing too fancy is involved in those extra pages). Again, it all depends.

[TerryG]

Being medically retired, I sit on my thumbs all day. I charge $25.00 an hr, this does not include getting the dot com name nor the web provider.
when asked I normally state 350 to 500 for a 5 page site and I bill on a 4 hr format.
But I also find with that much time on my hands I do a lot that I don’t bill for also.
one last note, so far this year I have 10 sites on the web and have a few waiting for me to do.
Some are going to say thats way to cheep, mabie so but it pays for my beer and medicin, heheh

[Senmar50]

Thanks everyone for all of your great responses!

Now...

I charged $500.00 for the 5 pages. (nothing extra)
She was "thrilled" with the job I did.

I found a web host called "<snip>", they charge
about $60.00 a year to host the site.

<snip> Plus Hosting
(1 Year) 500MB, 10GB, 10 E-mails
$59.40 per year

Domain name Registration:
$4.95
_______
$64.35 <<<<<total

I am new to this.

Should I pay the web host, and add the cost to my fee?
She asked me to be the webmaster, which means I have to maintain and update the site on my computer system. I think it would be alright to charge her a flat monthly fee. Her website should be rather easy to maintain. It may need to be updated every 2-3 months (I think).

Thanks in Advance,
SenMar

[edited by: physics at 11:06 pm (utc) on Aug. 29, 2005]
[edit reason] No specific web hosts please, see charter [/edit]

[moltar]

Senmar50: we usually try to stay away from specific host names as per TOS.

[physics]

You should charge extra to be the 'webmaster' or 'steward' of the site. When things go wrong, you'll be the one up until 3:30 in the morning fixing them. For me it usually ends up being 10 times as much work as I think it will be ;)

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

Specify, define, specify, define, specify!

Ensure that your client(s) know exactly what they are getting in any deal that you do with them. Take an hour to create a detailed specification of the service you will be providing and get them to agree with this beforehand. Otherwise you will end up either falling out or working for nothing.

[Senmar50]

Thanks again all...

BeeDee said...
[Specify, define, specify, define, specify!
Ensure that your client(s) know exactly what they are getting in any deal that you do with them. Take an hour to create a detailed specification of the service you will be providing and get them to agree with this beforehand. Otherwise you will end up either falling out or working for nothing.]

You are absolutely right BeeDee, I should have specified and defined my services beforehand. I will not make that mistake again. You all taught me a great deal with your postings.

*What if I did not want to be the webmaster of the site?
Do I make a copy of the website files and send them to her?
How do you all handle this situation?

Thanks again...
SenMar

[stef25]

if its a static 5 page site you could mail it to her in a small .zip file.

if you're a nice guy then write a little user manual and give it to her in pdf format.

or, include being the webmaster in your offer and specify that this includes X hrs of work per month. 5-10hrs a month should cover basic updates and adding the odd page.

Also specify an hourly rate for work done outside of those X hrs.

SO, 50$ per month for X hrs of work and X$/hr for work outside of that.