As a website designer, I get asked by my colleagues all the time on how I determine my design charges? To be honest, there is really no straight answer to that question. Most of the time, I always say “it depends on the work”. It could be per page, per hour, or per project.

Now here is my advice for aspiring designers who are just getting into the business. Before you ever give out a quote to the potential client, you need to consider a few things first.

• What is the project and how complex would it is?
Ask your potential client, a couple of things. Some questions to ask include:

o How many pages will they be needed?
o Are there images and/or templates that need to be used, or will they be created as part of the project?
o Are all contents will be provided by the client or will be written by the designer?
o Will there be any Flash, multimedia, programming or scripting required?

Depending on the answer to those questions may raise your prices.

• What is the deadline of the finished design? The more urgent a project is, the more you can generally charge.
Most of the time you will end up dealing with customers that will say, “I need the website like yesterday”, if this is the case then prioritization on this specific project is a must. So it is always advisable to charge additional cost on your effort as there is a possibility that you’re other projects might be delayed by a day or two because of this.

In addition to the fact that working late nights and weekends might be needed to finish the work. So when you are handing the invoice to the client, include a column there for “RUSH” work and the additional effort. This way, you are not hiding any added cost to the design.

• How much experience do you have?
The more Web design experience you have, the more you can charge, consider yourself as an expert on this field. Keep in mind, however that if you don’t have a lot of Flash experience and that’s what your clients want, you shouldn’t rely on your six years of HTML coding to increase your prices.

• How much long-term maintenance is required?
Often, when a Web site is commissioned, the clients have not thought beyond just getting the page up on the site. As a Web designer, you should make sure that your clients have maintenance covered. If they expect you or your company to cover it, you should probably get a separate contract for that aspect of the job.

• Find out the on-going rate around your area?
This can often be difficult to determine. The best way is to network with other designers. Consult for a web-page work see how much they will charge and you can also ask a firm’s hourly charges.

• How much do you want to make?
The bottom line, after everything else is: how much do you want to make? For example, you might have a project you would love to do, because it would be fun, or interesting or challenging. Your bid might reflect that. On the other hand, you might feel uncomfortable doing a job or would have to do extra work just to complete it, such as if you would have to hire a database programmer to complete the project.

Some General Rules of Thumb

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