Hey everyone! I've been designing websites for friends and family, and I'm ready to take on real clients. I want to get a better understanding of what to charge for my services.
Right now, I'm working on a project for a local coffee shop that has some bold branding. Here's what the project includes:
- Standard pages and a menu.
- Online ordering capabilities with customization options.
- Integration with the current payment system (Square).
Just to give you some context:
- I create custom sites from scratch and don't use template builders.
- I also handle standard SEO and technical setup to ensure performance and proper site mapping.
So, I have a few questions:
1. What do you think is a realistic price for this project?
2. How much should the difference between custom development and using a site builder affect pricing? Do clients typically care about that?
3. What are your typical price ranges for a basic brochure site compared to one with added features like online ordering, booking, and forms?
4. What do you usually charge for maintenance and hosting?
I'm not trying to lowball; I just want to know what's fair as I gain experience. Thanks for any insights you can share!
5 Answers
I typically calculate my estimates based on an hourly rate or discuss it based on the client's location and the type of project. In the past, I would just charge what felt right, factoring in a bit of haggling. But it’s important to find a balance!
Make sure to factor in that the Square integration might push your quote higher than just the standard pages. Integrations often take longer due to quirks in the API, and clients tend to want custom features that weren't outlined initially. Generally, clients don’t mind whether it’s custom or a builder unless they’ve had bad luck with builders before. They care more about how fast the site launches and if it aligns with their brand. For maintenance and hosting, I recommend a monthly retainer of about $150-200. This would cover hosting, monitoring, and content updates without tying you to any specific host.
For a project like this, you’re realistically looking at $2k to $6k, especially if the online ordering is complex. Clients are less concerned about whether it’s custom vs builder and more focused on the final results, speed, and reliability. For maintenance, charging around $50 to $150 a month sounds fair.
You should be looking at a range of $4,500 to $7,500. Just to break it down:
- Branding: $2,500
- Base website: $2,500
- Online ordering with customization: $1,500
- SEO: $1,000
I’d suggest having the client pay for their own hosting; using something like Webflow allows them to manage their site easily without requiring ongoing maintenance from you.
For a coffee shop with online ordering and Square integration, I’d suggest quoting around $3k to $5k, depending on how complex the customization gets with the menu. The ordering system can add a lot of hours, so be clear about the scope at the start to avoid overruns.
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