Website cost estimate needed

blizeH

Hi chaps,

I apologise for the rather random question, but I've created a website and need to know roughly how much this would cost should the company purchase it from a professional website. I should also point out that this is purely out of interest; the money side of things have already been dealt with so please just give an honest opinion of how much you think it's worth.

As a side note, the page comprises of a total seventy four pages, all of which were hand coded and aimed at being fully standards compliant, it also includes around forty printable PDF files.

Mark

It's worth is a simple calculation: (# of hours worked to create website * hourly rate) + (# of hours required to set up on new server and make necessary changes * hourly rate) = Total cost.

blizeH

Yup, I know that's the proper way, but I was just wondering how much on average a site like that would cost? Like I said, it's purely out of curiosity.

Mark

Well, did you do all of the graphic design? Did you have to photoshop the hell out of anything?

The only real programming on there is the contact form, and you might have used a prewritten script for that. So it's hard to say. If I were to make it it would probably have taken at least three days - but I try to stay away from css because it hurts my head, and that looks very css'd. I digress.

So.... (3 days = 24 hrs) * 100 = $2400.00

Minisweeper

No wonder it hurts your head if you work for 72 hours straight!

MySchizoBuddy

how can anyone compete with templatemonster.com they sell templates for $65

c-unit

Side note: looks a lot like http://parcrittenhouse.com/

3stripe

Is the content updateable by the client?

In the UK the value of a CMS enabled HTML/CSS site is roughly £8,000, that's from a web design company, not a freelancer though.

Looking at the extra non-standard sections (eg when you're looking at the houses) you have there it's definately worth this.

PS. I used to live in Gloucestershire. Nice.

Mark

how can anyone compete with templatemonster.com

I don't consider any company like that to be competing with what we do. If a company wants to go that route, then they have low standards and expectations - they just want it done and don't really care about the results. Clients that I work with are looking for something more, and that's why they come to me.

I think you should never undervalue your work. Believe it or not, a lot of people *want* to pay for quality. And pay they will.

blizeH

I did everything from scratch, although the photos and floor plans were given to me, I just worked with them to create the pages and the pdf files.

MySchizoBuddy

thanks Mark for the reply I left webdesign cause i thought no one will pay for it when they have templatemonster Now i know better

aloicious

Mark's right. I've given the cheap 'mates-rates' jobs the flick. You get a lot more respect for having high regard of your own work and self worth.

Thunder

Mark hit it on the head. There's companies that see it as a cost, and therefore want out of it as cheap as possible. However, on the flip side, when you have a client that realizes that the right site that's done by a professional becomes an investment, that's where the tables turn. There's lots of hacks out there that can throw a table together with some images. It "might" look OK, but there's so much more to it than that. It's what's underneath that counts. Visual is important, don't get me wrong. However, there is so much more that has to be accounted for to make a successful investment for the client. Of course, each client is different too. aloicious is right as well. If a potential client is dead set on getting the bare minimum with the cheapest cost, it may be in the best interest of both parties to part ways. They to find a cheap designer, you to move on to a serious candidate. As for your site blize, it does the trick. Should be simple enough for the target audience to browse through. Do check your validation though, as there are a few minor errors, but overall not many. I didn't read the source though. It comes down to what your time is worth. If you have an honest client that has a limited budget, but sees the value in your services, if you can work with it and it's worth it then cool. Personally, we have a standard rate for straight time. For full projects we estimate the total number of hours, multiply by the hours required, then we multiply that by 66% to put together the package price. But that's us, and each situation is different. Some people do hours*rate=cost, like Mark exampled above. Some have other methods. With some companies, you're paying a premium for them to do your site, just because of who they are. Essentially, it isn't different than big name clothes like Armani, or what have you. There's the actual cost of the garment, and then the cost for the tag with the name. Or for that matter, cars. There's your Ferrari, Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, Toyota, Ford, Nissan, Chevy, Yugo, etc. A Yugo and a Ferrari may both go down the road, but how they get from point A to B and all that goes with it are two completely different things.

TomTester

Eeeh, I'm 99% sure I had a long post here which is now gone?!? Did I hit friggin' preview again? (aside: oh how I wish there
were a digg-like 'edit this post' feature to allow a 're-open for edit' for 20secs after posting to make preview superfluous)

The gist of my 'best practices':
- Never sell yourself too cheap. Cheap clients cost as much as expensive ones (or more).
- Set a minimum project size/budget. Tell anyone approaching you with a smaller budget that you have a minimum.
Refer them to (good) people who can do it for their budget. Over time people will come back or only refer higher paying clients to you.
- Ask 50% in advance. Make sure that 50% covers the MINIMUM of what you want to be paid for the project (i.e. you gotta eat).
- Only exception to accepting cheap ones: anyone who wants to reduce the initial payment but commits to a generous monthly retainer
for maintenance and small enhancements. Initially this may work against you (spend a little more time than the retainer suggested),
but if you can keep them as a client (and help them succeed) you'll end up with consisten revenue streams that do not require sales effort
(and should exceed the hourly wages)
- If you do end up in a project (or retainer) that exceeds the alotted time, don't be afraid to renegotiate (and related:
always keep track of your time, even when you signed off on a fixed price project, so you have a metric to discuss)

Good luck. Site looks good, but it does really resemble that other one mentioned here... (don't steal!)

Wanderer

Yes the site looks good, I especially like the boxover script in the "Our Homes" section.

As for the similarity to that other site, they say imitation is the best compliment you can give, however imitating style is not the same as copying it outright.

I'm not an expert on what to charge, I know I used to under-charge because I worked for enjoyment not to eat! Seeing some of my ex-clients move on to much more expensive outfits makes me a little irate because they are not getting better results and definitely not better service.

As others have already said, don't under-value your skills, people are coming to you because they don't have them!