Hi. I have an independent web design firm and am trying to find the best way to charge for my services. I had been offering small business web design on a (very, maybe too) affordable, per-page basis. I often find that in order to do justice to a business' needs (not always, but often), I end up having to create several additional pages, over what I had originally estimated.

For example, I tell Mr./Ms. BusinessOwner that I will do a five-page web site for them for $500. But then I discover that they really need 10 pages, due to the fact that their auto sales business has a large inventory and that to list them on fewer pages does not allow for in-depth, helpful information to be well displayed.

Now that I have quoted them $500, how do I now ask them for $1000? I ended up doing the entire job for just the original amount, but should I regular be building in a cost-overrun buffer into all my web design quotes?

It would seem that way since often people will later come up with additional site features they want to have added, like voice intro, slide shows, videos, login/member sign-in abilities, etc.

Anyone have any particular insight/input on this?

Thanks in advance.

Edie Wiske, "bizrsc1"
WeDoWebSites.biz

I think that you are not getting enough info from your customers before you give your quote. You need to get much more specific. Ask them how many pages, how many products, do they need photography services, what additional site features do they want, etc. Quote a price based on the exact info you have and get a contract signed for the quote. Also tell your customer and list in the contract that additional pages/features will be quoted as they come up. That way the customer knows that sdditional charges may arise and you are not locked into a certain price. I am not a professional in this area. This is just my opinion.

If it were me I would want to look at from the standpoint of getting the job, getting paid fairly for the job, and keeping the hope of referrals for future business.

To these ends I would probably set my pricing as follows. I'd charge $500 and spell out that it includes 5 pages, with any additional pages charged at a rate of $90/page. As a customer, I don't like open ended deals where I don't know the finished cost. I'd rather know I was going to pay $10k for something than not know it's going to cost me %8k. I can budget for one and only guess at the other.

This should minimize any misunderstandings and ill-will. You have additional costs in the first pages developing the template etc. so the $100/page rate is fair for the first 5 pages. You should make sure you have a clear understanding of the number of products and pages you'll need and provide them with an estimate based on that and then try to come within 5% of that estimate.
Hope this helps

Denny

I'm with Denny - I don't like "surprises" when I get my bill. If you go with your model you're going to have a lot of people saying "I never agreed to this" and not pay you at all.

It sounds like you're pretty new at this - live and learn. That is, ask them those questions up front and spell everything out in an agreement - and I do mean word for word everything. This will inform your customer and clarify things for you

Good luck!
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http://pagebuzz.com - Small Business Website Hosting. $19.99 per month, no up sells, no contracts, no surprises. Shopping cart, photo galleries, drag and drop editors, graphics, specialized programming for car dealers, real estate agents, and others.

No, I'm not "new" at this. And yes, I have had people do contracts, spelling everything out. I haven't had nobody pay, nor have I had any hard feelings EVER. I'm not springing surprises on ANYONE. I'm trying to avoid having them sprung on ME. E. Wiske.

Edie Wiske, "bizrsc1"
WeDoWebSites.biz

Correction: I haven't had anybody NOT pay... actually, I haven't had a lot of problems but I have had a lot of different people trying to tell me how I should do this thing! My original setup was very close to what "Denny" said, prior to others insisting that was NOT the way to do it! So bottom line, I should just take my own advice and listen to me!

Edie Wiske, "bizrsc1"
WeDoWebSites.biz